Oshkosh or Bust 2021 The Blog July 31, 2021 EAA Day 6
Oshkosh or Bust 2021 The Blog July 31, 2021 EAA Day 6
Good morning and here it is the last official blog of our visit here at EAA/ Oshkosh/ Air Venture 2021.
The morning started off early as usual for the three of us. We proceeded to get ready for the morning with Rob and my father-in-law needing their coffee fix but they were willing to wait until we arrived at the air field.
Arrival back at Air Venture was pretty fast and we walked up to the gates and waited for them to open. We walked up to the same security check point folks that had been checking our bags pretty much all week, the gentlemen that was checking out stuff, was awesome and even went so far as to tell us some pretty funny jokes.
Past the security check point and hauling the wagon loaded with all of our chairs, drinks and of course all the most important stuff, the bag with the camera equipment. Nothing else matters really, just that bag… LOL We headed back to our spot on the airfield, as this would be the last day we would be in section 390 of the airfield we set up and knuckled down for the day.
Looking out over the airfield this morning, at first the sun was breaking through the clouds and then the visibility and the clouds just came pouncing in. Yeah well it wasn’t the clouds, it was the smoke from the fires that was being blown in from out West, and it wasn’t just a little smoke, it was “A LOT!”. You could actually smell the smoke in the air. This practically shut down all operations at the airport unless you were Instrument Rated for Flying (IFR), so many of the planes trying to head out and home were shut down from leaving, that’s only because many of the pilots are only Visual Flight Rated (VFR) which means basically they have to be able to see where they are flying. It’s a little more complicated than that, but that’s the basic jist.
During this time Rob and my Father-In-Law took off to get coffee and breakfast and I began working on the previous days blog. While working on the blog our New Jersey friend Steve came up with his wagon, chair and camera equipment and set-up next to us, we began to talk about many different subjects and he was telling some great jokes as well. After a little bit Rob and my Father-In-Law returned and all of us just talked, especially since there was nothing happening on the airfield.
After about another hour and changing of hanging out talking, I began to receive phone calls from my old Boss (John Rio) from AAR Days and my adopted kid sister Julie. They and their families had made the trek up to Oshkosh and EAA for the day, to see the show and most importantly me. The subject of the calls were to let me know they were almost to the parking lot and to also figure out where exactly where I was at on the air field. Question do they have the clearance or the authorization to ask these questions? Who knows?
Anyway, as soon as I was done with the phone calls to my family and friends, it was back to paying attention to the airfield. By this time there was a huge traffic jam of nothing but airplanes on both of the taxi ways all of it was people and planes trying to take off and leave the area as this was to be one of the last days of the air show. Some of the planes leaving the area were classic planes like Cessna’s, Beechcraft, Yellow Pearls, Home Builds, Douglas DC-3’s, Sport Planes, Float Planes, basically you name it, describe it, it was flying out.
Once again the FAA team and the ground handlers that were at Air Venture handling all of the air and ground traffic, performed excellently and were very impressive. By about 1330 (130pm) all of the traffic on the taxi way was cleared out and only a handful of planes remained that were trying to depart the area.
At around 1400 (2pm) a few of the planes were beginning to get airborne for the 1430 (230pm) airshow. The Douglas AC-47 “Spooky” gunship took to the skies, at first we all thought she was going to depart the area, but were about to be surprised within the next 30 minutes.
So once again and for the last time for us, the show began with the SOCOM Parachute team jumping and the singing of our National Anthem, and once again once this was done, it was time for the Air Force to take control of the skies above the area and bring in the big guns. Yeah the big guns.
The Douglas AC-47 “Spooky” gunship and the Lockheed Martin AC-130J “Spector” gunship made several passes over the airfield both together, which of course is great to see, then the “Spooky” gunship made it’s final approach and prepared to land. As “Spooky” was landing the “Spector” gunship made a low level pass of the crowd and the airfield. Just a great site to see.
After this, we got to see Jim Petiz, Michael Goulian, Jeff Boerboon , Rob Holland, Bill Stein and Kyle Franklin take to the skies in each of their individual planes and they performed all over the skies of Air Venture 2021. Each one of these gentlemen should not be missed as they throw their planes all over the skies.
During these performances both Rob and my old boss (John Rio) showed me their phones, on them was a view of the current weather front that began to move into the area. I was really hopping that it would at least hold out for a little while longer so we could see the “Warbirds” one last time.
The Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane took to the skies above Air Venture 2021 and we were able to see them make a lot of passes past the crowds, during this performance, the Tora, Tora, Tora group began to taxi out to the active runway on the other side of the airport, this didn’t last very long.
The weather front began to move in and the Tora, Tora, Tora gang returned to the hot ramp to shut down since they couldn’t take off. Then the rain began to fall.
It was at this point that I decided that enough was enough, and it was time to head out.
We said our good by’s to Steve from Jersey, I said good-bye to my adopted sister Julie and her family and even took a quick picture with her. Don’t have very many of those now days. My old Boss and his Fiancée decided to pack up too and head out, so with Rob, my Father-in-Law and I in tow, we all headed out, back to our vehicles. We eventually split up as my old Boss was in the Brown Parking lot and we were in another lot.
Once back at the truck, we got the show on the road, and headed back to Fond Du Loc and the campground. While on the road and after talking with our wives, we decided to pack up and proceed to the Wisconsin Dells area. This would allows us to have a good night's sleep and to have the entire day the next day (Sunday) to hang out together.
It took us about 30 minutes to get everything packed-up and the camper hooked back up to the truck, and with that being done, we said good-bye to my Father-In-Law and headed out on the road to the Dells.
The route that Rob and I took to get to the Dells from Fond Du Loc was exactly the same I took last Sunday (just reversed obviously), it was just too funny honestly. But hey it got us to where we needed to go. After about an hour and a half we finally arrived in the Lake Dalton Area and Rob, took me to the RV/ Campground that they stay at during the summer.
The Camp Dalton Club RV Campground is actually pretty nice and Rob and his family took care of us and got us a really nice spot to stay at.
Once we had the camper set-up, dinner was being served and then we called it a night. Tomorrow was going to be another day.
I plan on doing a synopsis of my experience at the Air Venture/ EAA 2021 event with a little more detail of what I observed, and giving a little bit of my own opinion what I think could be changed.
I want to again thank my wife, daughters, cousin, my mom and all of my Marine/ Corpsmen Brothers, fellow photographers, friends and co-workers for their support the past two weeks and for everyone that has taken the time to read my rambling.
Well that’s it for now, begin heading home on Monday, will try to find time to write up the Sunday Blog before we head out, if not it will be a two for one deal..
Have a great night everyone.
Semper Fi,
Frank Sellin
1/9 Everywhere