Let's Look Back At Our First Two Aero-TV 'Dailies'
From Oshkosh 2008
Oshkosh 2008 is nearly a year behind us and the 2009 iteration
is but a week away... So, while the images are still pretty
fresh in our minds (and on our video servers), we're going to take
a quick look over the daily episodes we produced at Oshkosh 2008
for the rest of this week, while our video crews get ready to do it
all again, and then some (yup, we're raising the bar again this
year... wait til you see what we have in mind for you!). We hope
you enjoy these programs as much as we enjoyed producing them.
Herewith... Day One and Day Two of Oshkosh 2008... (with more to
come!!)
DAY ONE: Despite The Obstacles...
Gas Prices, Bad Economy, Whatever - Flyers Flocked to
Oshkosh!
Monday, July 28th, was a banner day for Oshkosh... despite the
fears of many that economic factors might keep aviation fans away
in great numbers, it became clear to many that this year's big
event as likely to be one of the best attended yet.
It was a day of big news and the expectation of far more to
come… we saw the introduction of the new Flight Design and
ICON LSAs, some incredibly exciting news from Lycoming, an
interesting take on the "identity" of Oshkosh from Tom Poberezny,
an amazing airshow that featured (of all things) a fully aerobatic
helicopter demo, the arrival of Boeing's massive
Dreamlifter… and so much more.
DAY TWO: Welcome to Aero-TV's
Daily Update from EAA AirVenture Oshkosh for Tuesday, July 29th,
2008.
If Tuesday's AirVenture highlights had a theme, it might be
aerospace fantasies come to life.
Given the level of excitement over the Martin Jetpack exhibited
by executives of the Experimental Aircraft Association, it was a
little surprising to see them caught off-guard by the size of the
crowd in AeroShell Square gathered to see it. EAA estimated
5-thousand people, but whatever the number was, it delayed the
scheduled 9:30 demo by about a half-hour.
Shortly after 10am, the secret of the Martin Jetpack's claimed
30 minute endurance on 5 gallons of fuel became obvious. There is
no jet in Jetpack. The unmistakeable sound of a two-stroke gasoline
engine made it clear how the two ducted fans creating vertical
thrust are driven.
Even if it's not technically a jet, the craft was a huge hit.
Martin's booth was mobbed all day after the demo. Glenn Martin says
he's hopeful another flight can be arranged later this week,
perhaps on a runway, where more than just the first few rows of
spectators can see the machine hover.
Tuesday was the 50th anniversary of the founding of NASA in
1958, and the agency is celebrating with special displays at
AirVenture. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin appeared on Tuesday,
and very directly countered a recent storm of criticism toward the
agency.
Among his comments, Griffin said, quote - "This is rocket
science. If we knew how to do it, it wouldn't be exploration."
One day after unveiling their next private spaceflight
mothership, WhiteKnightTwo, in Mohave California, an event shared
with viewers at Oshkosh via closed-circuit video, Burt Rutan and
Sir Richard Branson appeared together in person at AirVenture's
Honda Pavillion to make a stunning announcement.
The Rocket Racing League was making news again Tuesday. This
time, it was no taxi test.
Just after 2:30pm, former NASA astronaut Rick Searfoss took off
for a demo flight. Despite threatening clouds which imposed a
2,000-foot ceiling on what was supposed to be a 4,000 foot vertical
climbout after takeoff, Searfoss did a nice job improvising a "low
show" to show off the rocket racer's turns and burns for the crowd.
More demos are scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
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