“And let’s get one thing straight. There’s a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight.”
— E. B. Jeppesen
There is a certain amount of dangerous risk when one chooses to become an employee of the extracurricular thing he loves. Once you have made your hobby a vocation the additional baggage causes your passion to be indistinguishable from work. It is when this inevitable transformation has occurred, when you begin to loathe what you once loved, that it is important to return to where you first fell in love. For some it is as easy as a day in an art museum, looking over photographs you took before you were a pro, or reading the book that first inspired you. For me it is OSHKOSH.
Before I begin, allow me to preface this post. Oshkosh, or EAA’s Airventure to outsiders, is an aviation fly-in convention. Conventions are, by nature, usually attended by the extremely bias. (You would have to be to spend a week in a tent, shower with your closest friends, and use a port-o-potty just to be around airplanes.) So with that said, this post is not filled with stories of my travels and descriptions of my flights. No Ladies and Gents this post is the sappy love story, a description of why I do what I do and the fuel of what keeps me flying. It is at this time that without any hard feelings you may move on to the checking of email, the paying of bills, or whatever you use the internet for.
For those that have decided to read on:
As I was saying, it is a jeopardous undertaking to do something you care dearly about for work. Take it from me, for 2 years I had the privilege, on my days off, of traveling anywhere in the world for free. When my friends and family would enviously question why I wasn’t in some foreign country or laying on an exotic beach I would simply reply, “I’ve just spent a week in an airplane. The last thing I want to do on my day off is climb back in an airplane.” Those that knew how much I relished even the thought of flight took my words for insanity.
EAA Airventure
The EAA was established in 1953 by Paul Poberezny as a flying club. The founders of this club were mostly tinkerers who would either modify existing airplanes or build airplanes from scratch in their garages. Because their planes were modified or home built the FAA sanctioned that they would be flown under a new category and regulation, EXPERIMENTAL. The word EXPERIMENTAL was to be displayed on the outside of the aircraft thus birthing the Experimental Aviation Association (EAA). The EAA which started with 36 members now boasts nearly 170,000. Their mission is to keep aviation alive; bring together civilian minds with unique innovations; and to pass on the legacy of aviation to future generations. Although countless local EAA chapters maintain this spirit throughout the year, it is EAA’s Airventure that is it’s most visible event. For 1 week a year aviators, aviators’ families, and aviation enthusiasts make the pilgrimage to Oshkosh Wisconsin to be part of this celebration.
For many it is a family reunion. A chance to spend time among a brotherhood in an exclusive fraternity. My wife has said that I speak a different language around other pilots. So for many it is a chance to speak in another tongue. (Statements like, “…So we were on the STAR when the MFD went to crap. The LP was fluctuating but the TGT was stable. We figured it was something with the common BUSS. So we had to shoot the ILS to DH with the backup RMI.” have conjured unnoticed eye rolling from my wife’s face.) Walking down the rows of planes one sees the tents placed carefully under the wings, making Oshkosh look like a refugee city for pilots. If you stop to admire someone’s meticulous craftsmanship it isn’t uncommon to be offered a beer, brat, or s’more as the proud owner boasts about his plane. As the conversation continues it becomes apparent that I’m as envious of him for having built a working plane in his attic as he is that I get to do this for a living. If you care to witness what this common bond can do, arrive at your campsite after dark. It is probable that within 5 minutes of you starting to set your tent up that other campers will approach. With lanterns and flashlights in hand they will illuminate your rented real estate while you erect your temporary home. I’ve seen someone start a campfire for a complete stranger as the newly arrived residents unpacked their gear. If nothing else your new neighbor’s conversation will be a welcomed, positive re-enforcement when you snap your back-up tent stake in half.
To describe my experiences at Oshkosh would be to describe years of week long experiences dating back to my first Oshkosh at the age of 7. I’ve met many of aviation’s historic figures such as Chuck Yeager, Bud Anderson, Jim Lovell, Burt and Dick Rutan, and Patty Wagstaff. I saw the Concorde up close and in flight; witnessed the flights of spaceship one and white knight 2; I watched as Sean D. Tucker broke the Guinness World Record for consecutive snap rolls; and watched Harrison Ford give rides to little kids. All of these stories are common to EAAers and can be heard almost identically from campfire to campfire during the week. Of all of my memories at Oshkosh the one I cherish the most occurred my first time at Airventure. One can’t imagine the excitement of a 7 year old boy, infatuated with airplanes, when his father told him that we would be camping out under our airplane in the midst of a sea of planes.
Once there, I spent days walking around the field with my mouth agape in a gentle stress that I would miss something. Once my father was satisfied that I could navigate the grounds on my own without getting into trouble he allowed me to explore. With a ten dollar bill in my pocket for lunch my friend (son of the co-owner of my dad’s plane, both of whom accompanied us that year) and I set off to take advantage of our new freedom. We walked around for the entire morning while our fathers took in some of the seminars. When lunch time rolled around we shopped for the cheapest food possible knowing that any left over change would go to souvenirs. With hot dogs in hand we found our way to a shaded picnic table to eat and plan our route for the afternoon. I was 2 bites into my tube steak when an older looking man walked up to our table and asked if he could sit down by us. Being timid around strangers, and noticing that this large picnic table was obviously too big for 2 young boys, we nodded our approval and went back to the map. Perhaps intrigued by our enthusiasm and knowledge of aviation the old man with his straw hat and white mustache began to quiz us. “What’s your favorite airplane? Why? What kind of plane is that? Are you going to be a pilot when you grow up? Want some of my chips?” The guy was starting to annoy us. As we started to reciprocate some of the old man’s questions we heard our names from behind as our fathers approached. When they finally came close enough their faces looked like they had just seen Elvis. Both of them walked right past us and began to shake hands with our lunch mate. “It is such an honor to meet you sir,” I remember my friend’s dad saying. “Honor? Well this is really going to blow your hair back, I just ate this guys BBQ flavored chips!” I thought. Once our new friend had finished his food and told us, “see you at the show” our fathers began an interrogation that would have made the FBI proud. Finally, realizing that we had no clue what had just taken place, my father said, “YOU JUST ATE LUNCH WITH BOB HOOVER!!!” (Now for non aviation people that story is very anti-climatic. For you aviation people I offer you an electronic high five!) Bob “the pilot’s pilot” Hoover is perhaps the best aviator to ever climb into a cockpit. He was a WWII pilot, a major contributer to the first supersonic flights, and Chuck Yeager’s chase man. His signature airplane, the Shriek Commander now sits in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. Although I didn’t know it at the time, this was equivalent to meeting one of the Wright brothers! Later that day during the afternoon air show we watched as a crowd of people tried to get his autograph before he climbed into his plane. His demonstration showed what a pilot in tune with the basics of flight and his airplane could do. He started the show with both engines of his plane running. As the aerobatic demonstration went on he shut down one engine followed by the other. When he started the show, he had used a small stool to climb into the cockpit. As he finished the demonstration, with both engines off, he was able to land and roll to the same spot and deplane onto the same stool. (He was also famous for being able to roll an airplane completely around while pouring tea into a cup not spilling a drop. If you don’t believe me watch the end of this video clip.)
As I’ve told people before, Oshkosh is extremely hard to explain. Simply put, it is something that has to be experienced. I could go on for pages reminiscing about my times here, but I can smell the campfires. Soon my friends will be here to tell me it’s time to go to Oshkosh’s fish fry. I must leave my tent to make future memories and tell others about my past ones. Already I feel recharged, ready to continue on in my profession for another 51 weeks. I’ve realized, once again, what it is that keeps me at the departure end of a runway. I think Ernest Gann put it best when he said,
“We did not begin to fly because we might make more money with an airplane than we might have if otherwise employed. We are, almost without exception, in love. It is more than love at this stage; we are each bewitched, gripped solidly in a passion few other callings could generate.”
So if you find yourself intrigued enough to travel the 3 and half hours from Chicago I’ll see you there! And is always the case with Oshkosh, there’s a cold beer waiting for you.