OSH11 Will Be The Best Oshkosh Ever! (10 Pix)
Saturday, July 23, 2011 at 11:41PM 
The Farmers Zeppelin NT is on site at the world's greatest aviation event: Oshkosh!
(10 pix)
If you've been paying attention, you'll know I typically put up a pre-Oshkosh post that claims that the current year's event will be the best Oshkosh ever... and each year I believe it's true because the best Oshkosh ever is the one you're at right NOW!
OSH11 is no different. Even tho this is somewhere around my 34th Oshkosh experience, (just imagine all the memories I have from all that avgeekery) - the reality is that this year will have the greatest impact on me because it's here, and it's now. I hope you're either already here or will be making the trip here soon. I arrived late Friday night and spent the day today setting up my part of the #CampBacon plantation (lots of cool people are living here!) and then I went out to survey how things were looking for the official start of the event on Monday.
Under the tail of the Farmers-branded Zeppelin airship looking forward
A big highlight for me already is seeing the Farmers Zeppelin airship from AirshipVentures already on-site and looking fantastic. As is common at Oshkosh, the weather can change pretty significantly thru the day, but the sky was pretty much perfect for these pix.
Saturday morning waking up with clouds and light rain at Camp Bacon
The day started out with the remnant of an overnight storm still bringing us light rain. Nothing like the rains seen last year tho! It wasn't long before the rain stopped and got started setting up more of the campsite along with the sizable @larryoverstreet family and @pilot2b were setting up more of the campsite. By the end of the day, Camp Bacon was filling in with more avgeeks like @adamcanfly, @PilotConway, @DaveFlys and @PilotStu - see pic at bottom of post. Another wave of cool campers are expected to squeeze in on Sunday.
Supermarine Aircraft 90% scale Spitfire powered by the V8 LS2 engine
This great looking Spitfire is actually a 90% replica from Supermarine Aircraft who has been building Spitfire kits for many years, but in 2004 they introduced the enlargement to 90% to be able to add a second seat. With the company now located in Texas and with the airplane being here at Oshkosh, along with plans to race one of them at Reno this year, you can expect to see a lot more people showing interest in this retro two-seater powered by the LS2 V8 making 430hp!
I plan to provide a lot more coverage of this fascinating aircraft in the future partly because it's just awesome, and partly because I have a cousin (Bill Gunn) who has been very helpful to Supermarine Aircraft's boss (Mike O'Sullivan) in establishing operations in Texas. The Spitfire is on display in front of the Replica Fighters Association building. I talked with RFA president Tony Pileggi about the al aluminum Spitfire and also about his composite 82% Corsair project powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-985. The completion of the Corsair is still a way off but it sounds extremely delicious! Lots more info on these great replicas coming in the future.
The commercial exhibit area is soon to be all set up and ready for thousands and thousands of gawkers. This Purdue University SR20 looked pretty happy to be shining in the Wisconsin sunshine. Even tho Oshkosh doesn't start until Monday, the exhibitors looked almost ready to roll.
For anyone who has a long history with Oshkosh, this brown arch entrance has a lot of meaning. I especially like it because it proudly displays the original EAA logo design. I think that's some great stuff : )
This beautiful 1928 Stearman C3-B looked stunning in the sunshine. This 3-seater (two in the front cockpit) is a great, yet typical example of the deign thinking of the 20's... and I think that's pretty awesome!
OSH11 will be a year to look back at the very successful career of Burt Rutan. There should be a lot of aircraft he's directly responsible for on the grounds this next week. Here is the very bizarre (I love it!) Grizzly, with the 'it-looks-like-it-was-designed-today V-Jet. I should have lots of interesting 'Burt stuff' to come.
Here, a really clean example of a Rutan designed Long-EZ was just arriving. By the middle of the week, I expect that will have a pretty amazing EZ Street to look at!
And here's #Camp Bacon by late evening on Saturday. This spot at the corner of 48th and Lindbergh is a pretty happy place... and once the bacon starts flying, it's only gonna get better!
Reader Comments (1)
Wish we could have made it, have a ball and don't wear yourself out too quick ! Looking forward to your excellent photos.