AirVenture 2024 In Perspective

Home for 24 hours, it’s time to look back and think about our eight-day sojourn in Wisconsin. Trading the green, head-high cornfields for the desert and mountainous west with building smoke plumes from summer wildfires always makes this Minnesota-born aviator a little homesick. My home is now the mountains, but I do miss the lakes and trees, the grass and smells of the Midwest. A visit to Oshkosh each summer gives me a taste of that – and, of course, of the humidity, which I must admit I don’t miss all that much.

Every AirVenture is the same, just like every AirVenture is different. They are the same in that they are overwhelming – teeming with people, airplanes, and products. Rich in history while showing us the cutting edge of what will be tomorrow. You can stop and visit a first world war biplane and then in five minutes drop in to the NASA pavilion and find out about the machines that will take us back to the moon and on to Mars.

But they are also different, each with its own, rhythm, its own rumors, its own flavors. This year actually felt relaxed – the pace a bit slower, the mood a bit lighter. I think I attribute that to the outstanding weather which allowed arrivals to happen at their own continuous pace starting on Thursday. There was never a time when the inbound stream of planes were interrupted (except for the mass arrivals, and those went off exactly as scripted, so no one had any reason to be surprised by the gap in Fisk approach operations) so no one was telling war stories of holding for two hours at Green Lake no one at the HBC Pavilion was railing against the work of the EAA or ATC – everyone seemed to be happy to be content.

The corn was excellent – a good measure of the season – sweat and crisp, if you missed out on a corn roast (or two… or three) you missed out on the best the Midwest has to offer in July. There was a new caterer in town – Porker John’s seemed to be the food-supplier-of-choice for after-hour dinners at the EAA venue, so this year the rubber chicken morphed into passably good BBQ brisket, pulled pork, and beans. Now, it’s not (insert your state here) BBQ, but it’s good in and of itself and it was different. And of course, I limited out on Spotted Cow in the evenings, talking with friends and strangers at numerous gatherings formal and spontaneous.

The airplanes were good, as always, with several new homebuilts and upcoming kits that we added to our list to fly in the coming year. No, there wasn’t a lot terribly new – evolutionary instead of revolutionary – in the avionics world, but I sensed a solidifying of the various lines and good support from manufacturers. There was plenty of shopping to be had – I know that because I am at the point in our Rocket project when I have a lot of bits and piece to purchase. I pretty much checked off everything on my list – and if I didn’t bring it all home, I got to talk one-on-one with the vendors I’ll use and now know exactly what I need to order from the comfort of home. AirVenture is a great place to get questions answered.

As Paul Poberezny famously said “you come for the airplanes and stay for the people” – and I realize every year the truth to that. As an introverted engineer (redundant, I know), I am naturally drawn to the machines, but I find that the show brings out the extrovert in me to the point that I enjoy sitting and chatting, and getting stopped by the many, many people who simply shout “Hi Paul!” across the walkway. I may not know your name, but I try always to shout “Hi!” back, and what goes unsaid is that I wish you well in your aviation endeavors.

It’s funny – the week before Oshkosh, I often find myself looking for a way out – a broken airplane, a cough that means maybe I shouldn’t go , or maybe a huge weather system that divides the east from the west. I know it’s going to be ten eighteen-hour days, with some of them wet, some of them hot, and all of them demanding of time. But then the day comes to depart, and I get to fly. And I get to land at the busiest airport in the world. And I get to hang out with friends old and new. I might get to be the first person other than the company test pilot to fly a new type. And I get to share – giving away the knowledge that has been given to me by my mentors and the many airplanes that have taught me over the years.

And in then end, that’s what AirVenture is all about – it’s the Voyageur’s Rendezvous, it’s the chance meeting of two ships of exploration in the far corners of the globe. It’s that opportunity to talk with others obsessed with the same things you’re obsessed with – and to see what everyone else is up to. It brings together so many good ideas – and maybe a few bad ones – for folks to copy, incorporate, or ignore. And it’s a chance to fly – for real or virtually – with like-minded aviators, builders, and dreamers.

Yeah, it’s work, yeah, when next July rolls around, there’ll be the usual pre-show trepidation. But if the creek don’t rise I’ll be back, and so will you. It’s what we do.

Fly smart!