Oshkosh Diary: Leaving OSH

A person can only have so much fun, even aviation fun in Oshkosh, so this morning it was time to pack up and hit the road… er… the air!  Since Foreflight had my return trip estimated at nine hours, I cheated a bit to make sure I got out first thing in the morning by spending the night onsite (in an undisclosed location). I had the airplane packed before heading to bed and that was after attending both the Steinair BBQ and the “Sling Ding,” and then spending an hour hanging with the folks in Homebuilt camping to bookend the week (well, it was actually an eight-day trip in the end).

The great thing about AirVenture is that there are always folks willing to help – when I parked the Valkyrie last Thursday, the ground was a bit wet, so there was no way I was moving it out to the start position by myself, but even at 0600 in the morning, other pilots are willing to lend a hand.

I hit the starter at 0610, taxied down the long parallel behind a flight of two P-51s and a P-47 to the departure end of 36L, and was airborne by 0620, headed outbound at 500’ AGL and a 150 degree heading until clearing the Class D. Then it was a climbing right turn to altitude to my first fuel stop at Y51. It was a quiet morning in Viroqua, so I was once again on the wing in just fifteen minutes. All of northern Iowa was overcast below me, but I had plenty of fuel to get to Scott’s Bluff on the Nebraska/Wyoming border. Another quick turn, and I was up again, this time headed for Wells, Nevada.

But the headwinds built, Wells was a little on the edge, and when I would have gotten there, it would have been 95 degrees, so I stopped early in Brigham City while it was still only 82 there, filled up, got a candy bar, and launched for home, arriving about 1510 pacific time. At least the two hour time difference helps you westbound. Weather was good, no thunderstorms, but the turbulence cooked off over Nevada and gave me a pounding – glad I have a five-point harness.

Everything that needs to be looked at and processed got dumped on the desk, and I ceremoniously cut off the wristbands for the week, another AirVenture in the books!

Time to reflect later – it’s time to just sit and stop moving for awhile.