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Halfway to Oshkosh - 2021 write-up

jcarne

Well Known Member
Patron
Well here we are, half way to Oshkosh 2022. Figured now would be a good time to write about my trip in 2021 as a nice pick up during these winter months. Hope you enjoy.

This past summer was truly one for the books. I ended up in 12 different states including Alaska and Hawaii and man oh man I will remember 2021 well! It was also the year I did first flight on my plane. :D

This story starts in Hawaii for my brothers wedding. Almost like he purposly planned it for the days right before I wanted to head to Wisconsin. :)

Here is Turtle Bay where the hilarious "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" was filmed. Very nice resort, highly recommend.

IMG_1351 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Coming back from Hawaii on a red eye and then having to drive 3 hours from Billings MT back to my plane in Worland I knew it was going to be a long day. Luckily the first class upgrade on the flight was cheap and the seats were lay flat so I slept OK.

Thank goodness I already had the plane packed (except for personal bags). Also, thank you Van's for designing the baggage area juuuuust wide enough for lawn chairs. :)

IMG_1280 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

First stop, Windom Minnesota for some cheap fuel. First time I ever paid less than 4 bucks a gallon in the last 20 years. haha

IMG_2394 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

IMG_1456 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

We left Worland about 2pm Friday and just barely missed getting into Oshkosh. Luckily we had a plan B and went up to Wautoma Wisconsin. That airport has a phenomenal FBO and to be honest is an absolute diamond in the rough which is why I'm not posting pics. Guess you will just have to go there. :)

The next day we woke up bright and early and were one of the first few in line when Osh opened up. The arrival was simple even as a first timer with spacing being about 2-3 miles. Since it was my first time I figured I would just fly and not take pics.

Got parked and setup next to Scott. I never was able to talk to him though. :(

IMG_1465 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

We were the last one in that row (closest to the big bathrooms) and I really came to dislike that spot which eventually got changed. More on that later...
 
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Ahhh I love the smell of Oshkosh in the morning. haha

IMG_1488 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Time to coffee up at the pavilion and do some exploring.

IMG_1486 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

IMG_1498 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Not much to explore yet, it's Sunday and things are still being set up so we focused on watching arrivals.

Also found this walking around and had to send the picture to my wife. As if she wasn't already mad at me for going to Hawaii without her now I get Chick-fil-a too. :D Many of you may not understand the signifacance here; the nearest one to us in BFE Wyoming is about a 6 hour drive away. haha

IMG_1500 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

After watching more arrivals than I can count it was time for some grub. We also figured out that the buses will drop you off right at the top secret gate so you can walk outside the grounds to many different restaurants. We ended up going to Mineshaft, this place quickly became a staple of our trip! Still can't believe how good the prices were being so close to Airventure. While Airventure is a magical place it was so nice to be able to leave for an hour or two and just enjoy the local sights/restaurants. It just refreshed a guy for more aviation!

IMG_1484 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Time to get ready for bed. I so badly wanted to leave the rain-fly off our tent, it was flippin hot almost all week! Buuuuut as you can see in the picture a dusty environment was near. This is what I was referring to earlier when I said I came to really dislike this spot. Plumes of dust that coated everything!!! Including my lungs. This is going to have to change. More on that later.

IMG_1506 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr
 
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Monday was filled with much exploring of the grounds and of course watching the airshow in the afternoon. The best part of Osh to me is all of the workshops/forums throughout the day. I am a high school teacher by trade and learning is my game, I couldn't get enough of it!

Sadly I only took one picture on Monday... The good ole rub it in to family kind. Man I'm glad we found that Mineshaft.

IMG_1499 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Tuesday however... First up a funny sign I saw in the bathroom. Hmmm... perhaps that's why the bathrooms were down until a pump could get fixed. Some people just don't have common sense. haha

IMG_1508 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Anyone who has been to Oshkosh will remember being woken up in the middle of the night by blaring sirens/announcements of impending weather. The first time I heard the announcement it seemed very draconian to me, like the purge was an actual thing. haha Tuesday however there was talk amongst everyone of a truly nasty storm rolling in that night. Words like hail and tornado were thrown around fairly casually. Didn't sound like my cup of tea and it was a great excuse to go do some flying and to eventually move to a spot not so close to the dust bowl.

I told my buddy I was thinking we should go to Iowa for the night to get out of dodge. He said, "wait a minute, that's where my college roomate lives". With that we were set with a place to stay and a hot meal. We blasted off, passed a few Cessnas like they were standing still and got on top of some clouds. Burlington Iowa here we come.

IMG_1511 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Turns out his roommate lives on a pretty sweet farm.

IMG_1522 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

After doing some exploring, target practice and getting a home cooked meal with some insanely generous hosts it was time for bed.

One last look at the weather. Ya, I'm glad it didn't turn out worse on the field but I'm also glad we got out of there. Even my 2 year old looks shocked at that radar image. :p

IMG_1525 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Bright and early we got back to the airport and headed out to return to Osh. Luckily we had no clouds in Iowa and Wautoma was now VFR and clearing. The entire way we surfed above an overcast layer that was about 1-2k agl. We decided to wait at Wautoma until Osh opened back up as it was IFR.

IMG_1526 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

It would appear that everyone and their cousin had the same idea as us when Osh finally opened back up. That arrival was utter saturation. It was the complete arrival experience with a Stearman that couldn't do 90 knots, 1/2 mile spacing (at best), and there was even a lovely V-tail Bonanza doing the biggest S-turns you can possibly imaging right in from of us. In that moment it became apparent to me that many people don't read the Notam or just don't give a ****. We didn't let them rain on our parade though. I digress... we made it in on our first attempt and got sent to runway 27 again. After shutdown I was supremely happy with our new spot! Closer to the pavilion and no more dust!

Back in time for more exploring, airshows and fireworks! BTW the airshows REALLY pick up on Wednesday!

IMG_1562 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

12 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

13 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr
 
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Thanks for posting. I arrived at KOSH Thursday, July 22. I think I was parked on the south end of the row that you started out on, the last airplane before the road. It was great to be back at AirVenture. I stayed through the bad weather and spent a couple of hours in the museum that night. Like you, I’m glad the weather wasn’t any worse. I left on Saturday, July 31, when the field finally opened up MVFR. When I saw the title of your post as “Halfway to Oshkosh” I thought you had a problem on the flight in. I had no problem flying into Oshkosh but then flew halfway back home before I had magneto problems in Saint Charles, Missouri, and had to leave the airplane for a while for it to be repaired.
 
Nice write-up and pics. I really like the picture that you can see my Alabama flag flying in it! :D
 
Thanks for posting. I arrived at KOSH Thursday, July 22. I think I was parked on the south end of the row that you started out on, the last airplane before the road. It was great to be back at AirVenture. I stayed through the bad weather and spent a couple of hours in the museum that night. Like you, I’m glad the weather wasn’t any worse. I left on Saturday, July 31, when the field finally opened up MVFR. When I saw the title of your post as “Halfway to Oshkosh” I thought you had a problem on the flight in. I had no problem flying into Oshkosh but then flew halfway back home before I had magneto problems in Saint Charles, Missouri, and had to leave the airplane for a while for it to be repaired.

haha ya I thought that title might be a little confusing. Thanks for following!

I'm sorry we missed you Jereme. I don't know how that happened :).

No worries Scott, next year. I just remember flying back and at one point thinking "how the heck did I miss meeting them when they were camped right next to me?". haha

Nice write-up and pics. I really like the picture that you can see my Alabama flag flying in it! :D

Nice touch to the campsite! Saw another dude with a serious light setup in a different row. Pretty cool
 
Tursday and Friday were mostly filled with the usual forums, exploring, and enjoying the airshows. Man I love watching fighter jets perform! Thank goodness it cooled down a bit. It was flipping hot all week until this point!

IMG_1561 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Of course I had to get a pic with Scrappy. Mike P is such a legend of a builder.

IMG_1566 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Saw the coolest cover to date!

IMG_1555 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Am I the only one that took a picture of these epic clouds?!?

IMG_1552 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Or these?!? Seriously, we don't get clouds like this in Wyoming.

IMG_1581 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr
 
I guess I better get a picture with the classic sign in the background before it's time to head home.

IMG_1575 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

After waiting a few hours for the field to finally open up to MVFR it was time to head home on Sunday.

Oh wait... No I think I'll wait a bit for the line to settle down.

IMG_4324 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Let's go find a breakfast burrito. Funny story, dropped the salsa cup on the ground and it decided to projectile vomit all over my copilot. I couldn't stop laughing...

IMG_1582 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Now call me crazy but it sure seemed like us experimental guys got fast tracked into departing on 18. I am certainly not complaining! Would like to know if this is true or not. It sure was nice only having to get in line for 10-15 min before departing. The line to the south 40 was stacked!

Waiting in line almost ready to go.

waiting by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Here we go! Yeeehaaaaw! Nothing like passing two Stinsons like they are standing still to start the day.

takeoff by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

The visibility sucked but we all knew that was going to be the case that day. Thought I left Wyoming to evade the smoke buuuut that didn't pan out.

clouds by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Managed to find our way on top of most of the smoke at about 10,500. Sure was nice to have a horizon again.

FullSizeRender by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Most of the route across Minnesota and South Dakota was IFR due to smoke so we headed south a bit and then cut up. The route worked out great. I really love how fast the RVs are, makes detours a non event.

IMG_2412 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Saw an awesome sign at KVTI that I just couldn't pass up taking a picture of.

IMG_1584 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr
 
After about 6 hours of flying we made it back home. Just in time for 2 more months of this garbage. haha We usually get mass quantities of smoke in this bowl of mountains but dang this summer was bad.

IMG_1703 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

After putting the plane away I made it down to our family favorite hangout spot "The Fort" and was greeted by my son's face that said "why didn't you take me?". Soon kiddo

IMG_1674 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Anyways, figured we could all use a little bit of reminiscing about Osh 21' and something to look forward to as we are within 6 months to go to 22'! Hope you guys enjoyed! I sure enjoyed flying my newly minted plane into Airventure for the first time!
 
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Great story thank you

Thanks Jeremy for a good read! We need the motivation during this harsh winter.
 
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