Author: philg

Oshkosh has the following segments:

• the general carnival atmosphere the results from bringing together hundreds of thousands of people
• gearheads and engineers showing off new technology that they claim will revolutionize some aspect of aviation
• certified airplane companies who have hired engineers and have worked through or are working through the FAA bureaucracy in an attempt to put all of the pieces together legally before running out of money
• light sport airplane companies (nearly 100?) that have collectively sold about 1750 two-seat airplanes and that hope to sell a lot more by promising consumers simplicity and economy
• displays of amazing pilot technique by aerobatic competitors and military pilots plus families who come in primarily to see the daily airshow
• individuals who fly ordinary airplanes to Wisconsin every year to socialize with others who share their love of aviation
• individuals who have restored antique airplanes
• individuals who have built, and sometimes designed, their own aircraft

In many ways, my favorite groups were the last two: antique airplanes and homebuilt. These are folks whose interest in aviation is closest in spirit to ancient human dreams: escaping the Earth and getting a bird’s eye view. The home-builders are also the most inclusive. My favorite was a 249 lb. all-metal low-wing airplane called the “Hummel” (site). It qualifies as an ultralight and requires no license to fly. With 37 HP it can lift a 200 lb. pilot, full fuel (5 gallons), and still be 70 lbs. under gross weight. With a 45 mph approach speed and hardly any instruments, there is no need for a 7000′ runway, control tower, and instrument landing system. Given the objectives of the pilots of the Hummel (short, local, daytime flights in excellent weather), they can probably be safe after just 10 or 20 hours of training.

Although the range of homebuilders includes some who are superb craftsmen, some who have done significant engineering work, and some who are expert and highly experienced pilots, the message is “anyone can do this”. And indeed there are quick-build kits, factories who provide builder assistance, and airplane designs that are extremely slow and forgiving.

As far as the most significant innovation on display, my vote goes to envelope protection for light airplanes. Introduced on the Airbus A320 in 1988, envelope protection discourages or prevents pilots from stalling or overspeeding an airplane. Stalls often lead to spins and are a common source of low altitude maneuvering accidents, e.g., by pilots preparing to land. Envelope protection is now available in the Avidyne autopilot, an easy retrofit to the popular Cirrus four-seater, and in new airplanes with the Garmin G1000 panel (“Garmin ESP”). This technology would have saved the passengers of Colgan 3407 (previous post).

Oshkosh is a great place to see the might and cleverness of the U.S. military on display. Our cargo planes were represented from the C-47 (DC-3), celebrating its 75th anniversary, right through the modern C-130, C-17, and C-5. Fights from World War II, such as the P-51 Mustang, were heavily represented. The crowd was shocked, awed, deafened, and shaken by heavy modern jet fighters. Our ground operations were represented by an MRAP, a made-in-Oshkosh $500,000 replacement for the Hummer (at least $5 billion in taxpayer funds will be spent on this program). The one guy who does not seem to be impressed by our fancy technology, i.e., Osama bin Laden, was nowhere to be found among the crowd.

The quasi-military branches of government were showing off as well. The TSA had a booth where they explained all of the great new stuff that they’re doing. Customs was there to show off its new reporting requirements for arriving and departing the U.S. Technically these guys have grown the GDP by making the procedures so difficult and time-consuming. The companies that formerly assisted aviators in dealing with Third World bureaucracies, such as Sudan’s, are now making money helping people travel between the U.S. and Canada in Cessna 172s. The Border Patrol had a booth trying to recruit 3000 new agents to work on the southern border. I asked how hard that could be, with 15 million Americans being unemployed. The agent responded “It just opened up last week; we haven’t hired anyone for about a year.” The Border Patrol brought in an Astar. Apparently the Department of Homeland Security keeps Americans safe from Mexican workers by sending $2 million over to France for a helicopter and some spare parts and then sending additional funds to Hugo Chavez to buy jet fuel to keep the machine flying in circles.

The Chinese presence at Oshkosh, the world’s premiere general aviation event, consisted primarily of two aircraft: the Cessna 162 Skycatcher and the Yuneeq electric airplanes. The Skycatcher was approved by the FAA in the Light Sport category last year. However, only eight examples have been produced in the Shenyang factory. So far it is not a great example of the power of Chinese manufacturing applied to light aircraft, though some of the delay in production may be due to problems with the aircraft’s spin characteristics.

The Yuneec E430 got a lot more attention. It might be fairer to call it a one-seat motorglider rather than an airplane, but it has substantial range and points toward electric airplanes with a lot of practical value, e.g., for flight training. Since the Chinese are the world leaders in battery manufacturing they presumably should have a good chance in becoming the world leaders in electric aircraft (though with the Solar Impulse, the Europeans are also doing some very interesting stuff).

Getting around Oshkosh involves a lot of meandering through parking lots. As many as 100,000 people will drive in to enjoy the show on any given day. Thus tens of thousands of cars with Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan plates surround the airfield. Having lived in Massachusetts for decades, I’m accustomed to cars whose owners have chosen to show the world how much smarter they are than average. The typical Prius in Cambridge, for example, will display bumper stickers showing that the owner voted for a slate of politicians who’ve promised to make the world a better place. These are augmented by direct statements of the owner’s plans for how other people should behave, e.g., a “Coexist” admonition with various religious symbols juxtaposed. How do they do it in the Midwest? The posteriors of the thousands of cars I walked by were shockingly naked. The handful of bumper stickers that I did see were references to obscure products for which the owner presumably had an enthusiasm. I did not see a single political bumper sticker nor any advocating a social cause.

Most of our evenings in Oshkosh were occupied with dinners for Experimental Aircraft Association supporters. At one we sat next to a quiet Air Force veteran named Blair Bozek. He had served as a crewmember on the SR-71 for 70 operational missions. Did he have any problems with the machine? we asked. “Just the usual hydraulic and electrical glitches,” was his response. We later Googled and found out that he’d had to eject out of a failed SR-71 and swim around in the South China Sea for a while. We decided to give him our “Master of Understatement” award.

A fundraising dinner for the EAA Young Eagles program yielded $2.1 million for a variety of items in a live auction. Generally the TV cameras would swing around to show the happy high bidder at the end of the auction for each item, e.g., a $375,000 customized Ford Mustang. Seemingly invariably it would be a pudgy grey-haired white guy sitting next to an attractive young blonde. I can’t quite figure out why Young Eagles needs so much money to operate, since the program is organized by local volunteers at various airports around the country. The actual rides for young people are given by local airplane owners who are not compensated. I have mixed feelings about the program. If someone said “I introduce young people to something fun, unnecessary, dangerous, and expensive”, my first thought would be “drug dealer”. There are a lot of programs to encourage young people to pursue careers in aviation. Is it kind to steer a young person toward a career in which there are 10 qualified people for every job? When the same young person could go into medicine and pick from 10 job openings for every qualified person?

Six of us found ourselves free one evening and of course ended up at Naughty Girls. My previous experience with gentlemen’s clubs had been in Canada. How does the American/Wisconsin strip club experience differ? Let’s just say that as a 6′ tall guy carrying some extra middle-aged weight you would have to abandon any idea that the strippers should be lighter than you. The high point of my evening was watching the youngest member of our gang (about 24 years old) put a dollar bill into a dancer’s panties while seemingly standing in a different zip code.