Oshkosh Airventure Fly-In 2010-6
More photos from Oshkosh 2010.
The Savor, from somewhere in the Phoenix area. Saw it at Copperstate this year, before the wheel pants were done. The pilot/builder is also the designer. Steel tube fuselage with composite shells, aluminum wing with tube spar, so no dihedral. Kind of odd configuration - a tri-gear that is also a high-wing tandem seater. Not sure if he's considering kitting this, or if he just likes designing and building stuff.
This funny little thing was trucking around the campground. Yes, the prop turns as it rolls.
Start of day three, Wednesday. Finally found a bus that took us to the main gate.
The proverbial stored-in-a-trailer. Rotax powered, tube and fabric, high-winged, LSA. Just like the rest of them. Really, I don't understand what the market differentiation is for Rotax-powered, tube and fabric, high-winged LSA's. Ours is a little more yellow. Ours is a little more blue.
Not a DC-3. That's the world's only flying DC-2.
AA DC-3 and 737.
B-17, G model. If I hear another airshow announcer say it's the Flying Fortress because of its mighty defensive firepower... In the mid-1930's, the Army could only get funding for a bomber program by selling it as a coastal defense weapon. As in, it would bomb ships, extending the reach of the forts along the shoreline. Thus the Flying Fortress. Nothing to do with defensive firepower, or any other firepower for that matter. The earliest models (stuck with what was a bad joke of a name at that point) didn't have any forward defensive guns. Didn't take long for the enemy to figure out, just attack these things from the front. But they weren't designed as strategic bombers. The program couldn't be and stay sold that way (strategic bombing was not a viable concept in the 1930's U.S. military establishment). In fact, we were lucky that Boeing went out on a limb to design a four engined bomber, nearly bankrupting the company when it wasn't accepted for production. The prototype took off on a test flight with the gust lock installed, it crashed, killed two people, and disqualified itself from the competition. So a much lower performance, slower, lower-payload twin-engined bomber got the production contract. Much to the delight of the Navy, who at that point wanted the Army to challenge their supremacy at sea as little as possible. But world events occurred which allowed the Army to bring Boeing back from the brink. But when you think Flying Fortress, think airborne coastal defense fort.
Uh, the St. Louis Arch special edition.
Now that there is some mighty fine metal work. Weird, but mighty fine.
When is it a replica and when is it an extensive restoration. That's a new WWI airframe built around an original engine.
Another WWI replica.
Turn around, and you're right back to the present day.
Looks like a round engine. what? The crank case is cut off at the cowling.
There's an O-360 turning the prop.
Tip jets for your main rotor. For a screaming good time.
What we'll be flying when the hydrocarbons run out. Nav lights???
Ok, the little motorcycle is kind of cool. But you really need the expense of a pod to haul a ladder?
I think this was auctioned off for charity. The big deal is it's the only Shelby / Roush collaboration ever? I don't follow these things, but if I ever have a Mustang, I hope it doesn't look anything like this.
As we headed out on our last day (Wednesday), early afternoon to catch the commercial flights back home, here was this guy, playing away.
Stuff I didn't visit: Ultralight area. Vintage area. Most of the homebuilt parking. Most of the big-name (Cessna, Piper, Beechcraft, Cirrus) displays. How the heck could I spend a long 2 1/2 days and get all these photos and focus most of my time in two rows of the kit-built vendor area? Guess I'll just have to stay longer next time.
