Oshkosh 1982 Memories, And OSH10 Butterflies
Tuesday, July 6, 2010 at 09:52PM 
The homebuilt Breezy I flew to Oshkosh in 1982... that's some great camping!
I found this picture a couple days ago and just had to share it. It shows the Breezy I flew to Oshkosh in 1982 when I was 21. That's the trip that covered a whopping 300 miles in 2 days and 13 airports! My podcast #4 covers the details of that wild adventure, which included that orange 10 speed bike leaning against the tree that I had tied to the airplane : )
As I mention in the podcast, back this far in Oshkosh history, you could actually park your 'showplane' (antique, classic, warbird or homebuilt) right in around these beautiful trees. They're located a bit south of the Theater in the Woods. It's really just a handful of trees, and they're over by the fence, actually just across the road from Camp Scholler. The trees are still there today, and people are always camping there, but they don't let you park an airplane under them anymore. I gotta say that it made for the best Oshkosh camping ever. I put the clip-wing Cub there once and the Breezy twice.
Finding this picture really stirred up the butterflies in my belly. Maybe you're not like me, but when I start thinking about Oshkosh coming up, I get butterflies in my belly from the excitement. It's been like that since I was a kid. There's nothing on earth that compares to being at Oshkosh. The butterflies usually arrive about 2 months out, and then a couple times a week they remind of their presence. I've got 'em right now!
If you've been paying attention over the last year and a half, you might notice that I never ever mention AxxVxxxxxx. I've probably only said it out loud 10 times, and I never write it out. The Oshkosh web links above, where that word is used for the url, I cut and paste... I don't write and I don't type it. (I get to the site via the link at EAA.org)
You might think this all makes me weird. You'd be wrong. There's lots of other things that make me weird, but not acknowledging the existence of that word isn't one of them. It just makes me hardcore, old-school EAA, the same way that throwing away the 'modern' logo stickers does when they arrive with my membership. There's only one logo the EAA ever needed, and I'm hoping it'll make a comeback!
So, you may be going to AxxVxxxxxx, but I'll be going to Oshkosh... and I can hardly wait!
Reader Comments (2)
You're not alone - I've got them too.
Oshkosh is one of the only vacations I take (except last year I visited a Space Shuttle launch and another is on the manifest for this year) and I start really thinking about it quite a ways out.
I'm particularly excited this year because I'm actually FLYING and that makes me incredibly happy. I'm not taking a Breezy, but from home to my fuel stop outside of Oshkosh will be 3 times the distance of my previous "record" leg (128nm, whereas I'll go about 400 to my fuel stop). I just don't fly that far that often and gearing up to do it has me fired up.
In fact, there's a shelf in my garage with a letter-size sign that says RIPON on it. The last place you go before you start the arrival. It holds everything to be carried that has been weighed and measured so I can determine where things go from both weight/balance and space available perspectives.
Plus, launching a new project to help others enjoy THEIR Oshkoshes, my mind is racing. But more about that later...
Adam- I'm really glad you'll be flying in this year! It'll be an awesome experience for you : )