The Hajj To Oshkosh Begins Again

By Tom Woodward

Passengers will endure the ever changing grope-a-dope at TSA, the surly, SS flight attendants and knee room only fit for a Smurfette to merely get to their destination these days. For the most part for fifty-one weeks of the year pilots fly for the journey, the pleasure of viewing this big blue marble from the vantage point of which only an Eagle has, but for one week the destination is the objective and that destination is Oshkosh.

Like Mecca during Hajj, every year pilots flock to the town of Oshkosh for the annual AirVenture air show. Like no other place on this planet, for one week of the year, Wittman airport hosts the largest gathering of not only RV's and campers but more importantly aircraft of every type. Here you will see warbirds still flying, that long ago should have rusted to the ground where they were left 70 years ago. Flying at the same time, over the same plot of ground (but not at the same altitude), on aerial runs not unlike those flown on Polesti, you may see fighters, dive bombers, reconnaissance aircraft, transports and heavy bombers converge over show center to the cacophonous percussion of explosives which will rattle your fillings. There are acres of products, avionics, equipment and necessities for everyone from the average pilot to the Chuck Yeager among us. Bring your checkbook or your big boy credit card and you might take home a kit airplane. The possibilities are endless.

Many of us come just to dream or to see friends who we might only see once a year here at Oshkosh. Without missing a beat the conversations begin where they left off last year and will probably continue again next year. Many like myself come here year after year, 34 years in my case, with only one year missed. It like an addictive drug. Consumption is required for that euphoric feeling. Returning year after year is the fix. Those that haven't been here need to come and see what it's all about. You too will be hooked.

FMI: www.airventure.org