Compiled By The Staff and Readership of the Aero-News Network and Aero-TV (Part 4 of 5)

• Best of Show! The Very Best/Worst of Oshkosh '13! (Part 1)

• Best of Show! The Very Best/Worst of Oshkosh '13! (Part 2)

• Best of Show! The Very Best/Worst of Oshkosh '13! (Part 3)

For quite a while, we have recognized the highs and lows inherent in the general and sport aviation community -- and yes, we’ve had a bit of fun in the process. There are but a few places where that is more apropos than at a major event like the Oshkosh Fly-In -- a place where one can take a solid read on the heart and soul of aviation. It's hard to know what really is going to make a difference and what really qualifies as exceptional unless you've been watching this industry carefully for several years... as we have.

Over the last few years, ANN readers remarks have been heavily incorporated into ALL aspects of this report, and not just the Aircraft awards and such. Their contributions have been carefully considered and (in many cases) incorporated into our annual summation.

The full list of our Annual Best Plane of the Year Selections (tentatively announced after Oshkosh and finalized at year's end) will await the end of the year. So; here are our picks for the Best and Worst of this year's Oshkosh... and why we think so...

ANN Thanks its readers, staff and supporters for their input to this year’s listings... in particular, ANN appreciates the input and assistance of Tom Patton, Nathan Cremisino, Ashley Hale, Paul Audd, Ben Flock, Dave Juwel, Judy Juwel, Gene Yarbrough, Maxine Scheer, Eric Van Gilder, John Ylinen, Bruce Brandon, Rich Davidson, Ginger Davidson, Tom Woodward, Karen Woodward, Maria Morrison, Roland Delhomme, and Katherine Tryon.

Bright Ideas: Concorde Battery

We worked on a great project with Patty Montbriand’s crew at Oshkosh this year -- actually, just before Oshkosh -- to produce some REALLY informative Aero-Minutes to deal with aero-battery issues that they are uniquely competent to opine about... The result is a GREAT series of really informative Aero-TV programs that will be presented shortly... and all it took was a little planning, communication, coordination and discussion... smart folks.

• Sarasota Avionics Promo. While we’ve complained far and wide about the lack of marketing smarts during this year’s Oshkosh, Sarasota had the intelligence to make sure we know about some promotions they brought to this year’s event... and we made sure we covered them because they were smart enough to check in with us... as simple as that. A company this smart is worth doing business with...
• “This Isn't Over” posters for attendees to sign -- Over? It hasn’t even begun. Not even close.

The 'Lazarus' Award: Mooney Aircraft

Great to see Mooney at Oshkosh... but what we REALLY want to see is this company re-enter GA production and show with NEW airplanes. It can’t happen soon enough. An update of Mooney’s top-of-the line, VERY fast, FIKI-capable airplanes, would Cessna a run for its money and kick some serious Cirrus butt.

Conspicuous Absences: Tom Poberezny, Rod Hightower, Burt Rutan, Chuck Yeager, Flying’s Chalet, Canon Building, et al...

'Nuff said...

Runner(s)-Up:

• FAA Leadership (such as it is...)
• Burt Rutan and SkiGull
• Military Flight Displays

Best Marketing Slogan: “This Isn't Over”

Short, sweet and to the point, this is one of the best ideas we’ve seen EAA marketing come up with in years (and mind you, they are no slouches at this stuff). And let us make this clear to our friends at the FAA... It’s NOT Over... not even close. YOU started the fight... we’ll finish it.

Dropping The Ball: The FAA... Who Else?

We have yet to see ANY government agency so willingly abdicate its responsibility to the communities and industries they serve as the FAA. Foolish, arrogant and just plain stupid, the 2013 FAA did something we didn’t think possible... by looking even worse than the IRS, ATF, and Congress -- all rolled into one.

Runner(s)-Up:

1. National media for missing the FAA extortion story and the pushback at OSH
2. GA, on a whole, for too many years: Complacency invites attack, and even cowards and opportunists are emboldened by apathy.

Bad-Biz: Aviation Business Practices Are Often Pretty Unimpressive -- This Year Was REALLY Bad

• The complete lack of professional exhibition by so many aviation vendors. Outselling your competition is easy here.
• Some press briefings were as bad as their displays.
• Trying to get the attention of some companies for media purposes was very difficult... we understand that they want to talk to customers and we specifically try to avoid such conflicts... but the amount of folks who couldn't answer basic questions and wouldn’t call back when we left biz-cards is shameful... most of those companies will not see Oshkosh 2014 -- nor do they deserve to.
• One staffer notes that he “observed one of the worst press conferences I've ever seen. The company personnel didn't know the time of their meeting. There were no handouts. You had to ask for a business card and the CEO couldn't get at his. They had no powerpoint presentation. When I finally got one, their business card had no description of what their company does. The sales manager read a statement about their new product, too quickly and without expression (no enthusiasm, smiling, etc). The press briefing lasted 3-minutes. Fortunately, there were media people well versed in avionics and the Q&A lasted another 8 minutes. The only strong point was the CEO, he appeared very knowledgeable and confident when questioned about avionics.”
• We can do better than this... and if we expect to remain in business, we must.

Same Ol' Same Ol' Award: Avidyne Press Conference

With little to show for this year’s efforts and many products still not ready to ship, they could have used last years powerpoint and saved themselves some time. This company has such GREAT potential and we’re afraid it all may come to nothing...

The Reality Check Award: Icon Aircraft Announcement On FAA Approval of Weight Increase

The LSA industry, by and large, isn’t happy with this decision... everyone knew what the rules were, everyone pretty much played by them... and when one player throws a lot of money and political horsepower at the FAA for an exemption, they get it. No one knows, yet, if this will be a good thing or a bad thing. Time will tell. 
 

 

The Patience Of A Saint Award: Dick Knapinski

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again... EAA’s Dick Knapinski has been the most consistently professional and positive force we’ve worked with, over many years, working for any of the alphabet groups... even when he was telling us things we didn’t want to hear.

Best Kept Secret: China Is Incrementally Buying Up Much of the US GA Ecosystem

In some cases, that appears to be a good thing... and in others... not so much... but there is going to come a time when this uniquely American industry may find out that it has sold more than a piece of its itself... but its soul.

Runner(s)-Up: 

1. Brian Binnie (Spaceship One) at Ball watches - and we missed him.
2. The Maverick Flying Car flew without fanfare, at OSH and has already been in production and international use. Two were recently loaded aboard a MV-22 Osprey. A subject of very high interest from many agencies, NGO’s and the UN.
3. TEAM Aircraft has been busy, busy, busy delivering to South America

Best Way To Trash A $1 Million Bill: Lancair Evolution

The more we see this thing and the more we hear from owners, the more we wish we’d win the lottery. If we did, this is what we’d be building.

Highest Price Food Item: FAA’s 447K Worth of Humble Pie

The indigestion will last far longer than they bargained for. The FAA may not want to admit it, but this decision will set them back more than they would have imagined.

Foodie Faux Pas: What? No Chocolate?

As the staff were working diligently on their articles, video and photos, we had a visitor -- with an IMPORTANT message. He said there was a major controversy brewing at Oshkosh. He couldn't find anywhere to get a chocolate dipped ice cream cone as he stood there with a plain, vanilla soft serve cone. We have come to believe that it might be some kind of FAA conspiracy against chocolate.

Best Food Deal: Cheeseburgers in Paradise -- $3.00 At The Bus Stand

Yum... and we had change left over! A good thing, too... because after we had to pay nearly $2K to rent golf carts, there was not a lot left over.

"Ya Gotta Be Kidding" Award: ANN Staff Conned Into Airplane Cleaning Detail (Grin)

Yes... the CAF crew let some of the ANN gang wipe down Fifi: Nirvana! Where else can you get people to clean your airplane and have them that you're doing THEM a favor? ONLY at Oshkosh.

Exercises In Futility 2013: Terrafugia...

OK, its lovely and its flying nicely (from all outside appearances)... but is there really a market for machine that is not that great a car and not that great an airplane... for over a quarter million bucks??? We’d love to be wrong about this... but we fear we’re not.

Runner(s)-Up: 

1. Trying to be twelve places at once
2. Getting decent bandwidth from AT&T Wireless
3. We talked to two competitors, selling the same products, and I asked each of them for a business card. One said they were out of business cards and handed me a notepad, and the other simply gave me a business card. Which one do you think was properly prepared for the show?
4. This isn't necessarily aviation related, but does affect many people here at Oshkosh. Air mattresses, yes, air mattresses. Some of the staff at ANN have experienced that sinking feeling as they found themselves suddenly 3 inches closer to the floor that they had been a couple of hours before. For the ANN staff, we have had a 33% failure rate. If that same percentage were applied to the vast number of folks camping by their airplanes, someone could make some serious money opening an air mattress recycling center at Wittman Field. Or better yet, a quality air mattress manufacturer in the Innovation Center that offers some kind of guarantee that you'll get a full night's sleep for at least your time at Oshkosh.

ALL The Right Moves: Jack Pelton -- Period

Again, we can't say enough about this... He took over a mess and cleaned it up fast and right. We’ve rarely seen such a swift change in fortunes in aviation... especially when the chips were down... now, the big questions is... can he keep it going?

Give It A Rest For Oshkosh 2014: Batcopter and Batmobile in night air show

It was cool for no more than 30 seconds... then it became an exercise in... “Is that all there is?” This was a lot more interesting as a static display than an airshow act.

The Department of Redundancy Department: AOA Indicators

All of a sudden, everybody seemed to have one. Don’t get us wrong... we love this... but it sure seemed like everyone had the same idea at the same time -- though the Bendix-King intro sure legitimizes the concept once and for all.   

Hey ANN Readers! It's NOT too late to let us know what YOU think! Let's hear from YOU, our readers and viewers, about the all the highs and lows YOU experienced in your examination of what is still the greatest airshow on Earth, warts and all.

FMI: Best/Worst of Oshkosh 2013 Comments? Complaints? Additions? Let Us Have It!