December 31st, 2009
Midwest Airlines has announced their fare discounts for travel to and from AirVenture in 2010.
EAA AirVenture discounts are available from Midwest through the following contacts. Be sure to refer to the proper file number when requesting the discounts: 800-452-2022 or www.midwestairlines.com. 8 percent off published fares; 60 days in advance is 12 percent off during roundtrip travel 7/2-8/21 from all Midwest service markets in the U.S. Good for all Midwest arrival cities in Wisconsin and Minneapolis, Minn. File CMZ1723 (online users should enter the file number in the Promo Box).
Categories: AirVenture News
December 10th, 2009
I probably shouldn’t post this where Spike can see it, but I just got word that Liberty Aerospace is selling eight of its XL2 factory demonstrators for as low as $115,600. They’re actually N-number registered and have goodies ranging from gross weight increase to 1,750 pounds, to the S-Tec autopilot or other nifty things. If you’ve got cash burning a hole in your pocket, give them a call at (321)-308-9640.
Categories: Aircraft
December 10th, 2009
This goes into the “just plain cool” category. Rather than try to re-word it, I’m reposting the press release here:
OSHKOSH EXPRESS’ 747 FROM AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND RETURNING TO EAA
AIRVENTURE OSHKOSH IN 2010
Charter flight from “Down Under” making first trip in 12 years
EAA AVIATION CENTER, OSHKOSH, Wis. – (Dec. 10, 2009) – Hundreds
of aviation enthusiasts from Australia and New Zealand will be making a
joint pilgrimage next July, landing in a 747 jetliner at EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh 2010, “The World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration,” in a group
trip dubbed the “Oshkosh Express.” AirVenture 2010, the 58th annual EAA
fly-in convention, will take place July 26-August 1 at Wittman Regional
Airport in Oshkosh.
The Oshkosh Express charter flights from “Down Under” first took
place more than 20 years ago, but the 2010 charter is the first in a 747
since 1998. Several hundred EAA members from that region of the globe
are making the long journey from their home countries to participate in
what is commonly known as “aviation’s family reunion.”
“The enthusiasm of those who were a part of past Oshkosh Express
journeys made their arrival a highlight of the year at Oshkosh,” said
Tom Poberezny, EAA president and AirVenture chairman. ”The ability to
have such charter flights also shows the draw EAA AirVenture and Oshkosh
are for people around the world. We welcome them and everyone with a
passion for flight to join us this summer along the flight line.”
The Oshkosh Express group will travel from Sydney, Australia to
Auckland, New Zealand, then on to Los Angeles before landing at
AirVenture. They are expected to arrive at Oshkosh on opening day -
Monday, July 26 – in an Air New Zealand 747. They will stay throughout
the week, and many of those visitors will also extend their visits to
the U.S. following AirVenture.
The Oshkosh Express is organized by Avtours Australia, which
organizes charters for aviation groups throughout the year. More
information about this year’s Oshkosh trip can be found at the company’s
website at www.avtours.com.au.
“A trip to Oshkosh is a dream for anyone who loves airplanes and
flying,” said Bob Phillips of Avtours Australia. ”For many people
joining us, it will be a once-in-lifetime trip, made even more special
by enjoying it with a group of like-minded people from home. Oshkosh is
famed for its hospitality and we’re very excited to be part of the event
in 2010!”
EAA AIRVENTURE OSHKOSH is The World’s Greatest Aviation
Celebration and EAA’s yearly membership convention. Additional EAA
AirVenture information, including advance ticket and camping purchase,
is available online at www.airventure.org. EAA members receive lowest
prices on admission rates. For more information on EAA and its
programs, call 1-800-JOIN-EAA (1-800-564-6322) or visit www.eaa.org.
Immediate news is available at http://twitter.com/EAAupdate.
(In 1995, the Oshkosh Express made the flight in a specially painted Qantas 747 named “Wunala Dreaming.” It was also a significant year because Australian Jon Johansen flew his homebuilt RV-4 airplane (foreground) from his country to Oshkosh as part of an around-the-world tour. (EAA photo by Donna Bushman))
Categories: AirVenture News
November 12th, 2009
The AirVenture addicts out there will be interested in this: advance admission tickets and camping reservations are now available online at http://www.airventure.org/planning/advance.html. Next year’s event dates are July 26 – August 1.
For anyone keeping track, Spike will turn 34 while we’re at Osh next year and should be on the really fast track to having the RV done, so get those party favors ready.
(BTW, sorry for disappearing — as I’ve found the last two years, the news coming out on the EAA media list is a bit slow in the time after Osh; hopefully things will pick up soon. I could probably write lots about the Beechcraft press releases I get every week, but we’re an experimental site….)
Categories: AirVenture News
August 10th, 2009
Unfortunately life stole me away a bit longer than I had intended. While John and his dad played in the basement last week (working on the RV-9A), I had to get back to work at the thing that pays the bills. I’ve got several more stories to file, but I need to get through my college final exams first. I promise, the site isn’t going to die just because we’re back.
As we were walking the grounds throughout the week, we were amazed at the crowds that were there with us. We strongly suspected that the economy hadn’t put a dent in AirVenture, and we were right. When the EAA released their final figures this week, it turns out that there were 570,000 attendees; up over 12% from last year. There were also a record number of show planes (2,652) and nearly 50% of them were homebuilt. More than 10,000 aircraft arrived at Wittman and its surrounding airports. Of the 2,182 international visitors who registered at the International Tent, the top three visiting countries were Canada (700), South Africa (220) and Australia (208). There were more than 41,000 estimated fly-in and drive-in campers at Wittman this year. All-in-all, a very good year it sounds like.
The EAA spent over $4 million on improvements to the airport and convention grounds, and it showed. One of the best new features was the change to the entrance. Instead of being faced with a long walkway to Aeroshell Square, there are now two additional walkways. A diagonal to the left will take you to the LSA show area, and a diagonal to the right will take you straight to the Fly Market’s new location. These two pathways work very well to get you directly where you want to go (to the workshops, forums, B & D hangars, etc) in a hurry. The tram routes were also changed up some. We love the improvments, and can’t wait to see what EAA has in store for us next.
We saw quite a few new things this year, some of which we hope to be writing about in the next few days. G3i impressed us with their MSD+mag ignition system. Grand Rapids, Garmin and Advanced were showing off their new EFISs. Samson Motorworks debuted a mockup of their Switchblade “flying motorcycle.” Flight Design showed off their hybrid technology engine prototype. We saw the A380, White Knight Two, ICON A5 and the Erickson Air-Crane up close and personally. We were able to visit the new Founders Wing of the EAA Museum. And who can forget — more LSA airplanes and experimental kits than you can shake a stick at.
If you haven’t checked out the photo album much yet, then I have a real treat for you. The high resolution photos are now posted. I know that pictures aren’t always as good as words, but hopefully they will help tell the whole story for you until I get the chance to put my own words to web. John’s pictures are first, mine are second — given the amount of time between our photo upload sessions there just wasn’t a good way to fold them all in together in order, so you’ll see John’s entire set first and then mine. When you do finally get to the last page, you’ll know what I mean when I say.. “Wouldn’t you have loved to have been a pink shirt on Friday?”
– Patti
Categories: AirVenture News, Photographs
August 1st, 2009
The last couple of days at AirVenture were so long (up early, home late) and busy that I didn’t get everything posted that I wanted to. We’re traveling home today and have lots of posts and photos to catch up on, but I’ll leave you with this beauty from the “Rivetbangers.com Family Dinner” Thursday night at the Black Otter. Check back on Sunday for the remaining scoop on AirVenture.
We love ya, CJ. 
Categories: Site News
July 29th, 2009
More Day 3 Photos here…
Categories: AirVenture News
July 29th, 2009
Over in the homebuilt camping area there is a small group of three cats… Meercats, that is. Three red and white RVs with pictures of meercats on the tail. I spoke with the owner of two of them today to find out just what the cats were about.
Jeff Sharman of California originally built an RV-4 which he named “The Meercat”, which is his nickname. Once it had been flying for a while he found an unbelievable deal on an RV-8 kit, so he bought it, built it and named it Meercat 2. His wife, Sheila, wasn’t so thrilled with having two airplanes, so he sold the RV-4 and kept the RV-8.
Sometime later he purchased a wrecked RV-4 from Texas and restored it to flying order — and named it Meercat 3, then sold it. Sometime later he purchased and built another RV-4 (you guessed it, Meercat 4). Jeff is here with Meercat 2 and Meercat 4, both of which are still owned by him. The Meercat 3 was flown here by its current owner, and all three of them are lined up together in the camping area.
Jeff definitely has his heart and soul in RV-4 building. He gave me a personal tour of some of the customizations he’d made to Meercat 4, which made its first flight in March of this year. He’s modified jump start equipment from a Beechcraft to fit the RV-4, and is now selling it through Aircraft Spruce. He calls it the “Plug & Jump”. He’s also created small storage compartments in the wing tips and the floor pan ahead of the front seat.
In order to provide more room in the cockpit, Jeff moved the panel forward 5 inches and modified the floor pans of the rear seating position. He also showed me special handles that he installed in Meercat 2 to make it easier to push. The handles retract into the fuselage and can be covered with small caps for flight.
By the way, Meercat 2 and Meercat 4 are both for sale. Jeff says that he’s keeping whichever of the two doesn’t sell first. He also says that he’s promised “no more building”, but I have a feeling that the RV bug has bit him a little too hard.
The planes are beautiful to look at, and Jeff seems to love them. If you get the chance to stop by, be sure to get the personal tour of features — he’s done some really neat things with his airplanes. You can see more pictures of the Meercats in the AirVenture Day 3 Photos album.
– Patti
Categories: Profiles
July 29th, 2009
We got the chance to spend some time with Flight Design yesterday to learn more about their hybrid electric drive engine concept. This prototype debuted at AeroExposition in Germany earlier this year, and they are proud to be showing it off at AirVenture. To quote Flight Design, this engine represents the “longterm future for electric flying.”
The engine is a Rotax 914 coupled with an electric drive motor that adds another 40 horsepower. The combination of the two gives you full power up to 5,000 feet density altitude. They are aiming for 160 – 180 horsepower at takeoff. Flight Design does not see this engine combo as being suited for LSA applications as its power output would likely cause most LSA designs to exceed the maximum speed restriction that the FAA has placed on them. However they are not ruling out future LSA hybrid development.
The hybrid engine has been designed with safety in mind. If the electric motor fails, the combustion engine will continue to operate as it would under normal conditions. Likewise if the combustion engine fails the electric motor should continue to function providing up to 40 horsepower for a limited duration.
Right now they are using a lithium ion battery pack and have no current plans for fuel cell operation. The battery is recharged with surplus power from the combustion engine and propeller windmilling. Flight Design firmly believes that electric flying will be figured out and working well before fuel cells are mature enough for use.
John asked about the horsepower penalty for driving the electric motor assembly when it is not being operated. Flight Design tells us that it is negligible.
– Patti
Categories: Engines
July 29th, 2009
While walking the warbird area this morning, I met Steve who flew N9660C, nicknamed the “Dirty Bird Express”, from California. The plane is a C-45 that was converted for business and passenger use after the war. Steve and his wife rescued it from Seattle, Washington last year where it had been sitting (and rotting) for 10 – 15 years. The interior is original from the passenger retrofit, and it is in full mechanical working order. Steve tells me that it took them about a week to get it airworthy in order to make the trip home to California.
Knowing that the plane needs a paint job and that he wouldn’t be winning any show awards this year, Steve has decided to go for the “Dirty Bird” award. And he’s going in style! The plane is parked in the warbird area next to some tables stocked with sponges, brushes and plenty of paint. Guess what kiddies? Steve wants YOU to paint his plane. He’s especially looking for child-artists because he thinks that providing them with an airplane that they can not only touch but also paint is a great way to get them interested in aviation. So head over with your kids, and kids-at-heart and help Steve out. I want to see him on the AirVenture award list!
I’ve even helped him out by leaving my own mark on the plane.
– Patti
Categories: Profiles
