by
Bob White
I had the opportunity to spend almost a week
at Oshkosh this year. I arrived Tuesday 7/23,
and left Sunday 7/28. All I can say, is that
this is an fantastic event. Last year was
my first year to attend. My wife and I spent
2 days there, and I didn't see 10% of the
show. This year, my wife stayed home, and
I was able to browse in nooks & crannies
that she would have been bored to death with.
There was the Fly-Market where every imaginable
piece of an airplane was available for sale.
I'm sure you could buy enough stuff in there
to assemble a plane and fly it home. (Sort
of like "Junk Yard Wars" without
the war.)
There were the thousands of vendors selling
their wares, or with interesting displays.
I made a point of visiting the Eclipse exhibit
since they are made here in Albuquerque.
Very nice, and with a stall speed only slightly
higher than a BD-4 at 62 kts. The guy behind
me in line was talking about trading in his
Saratoga for the Eclipse for his business
and pleasure flying. They are only a million
bucks or so, and according to their web site
$0.56/mile to operate. I asked when they
would have the kit version, but they didn't
seem to think it was very funny. The Eclipse
is assembled with a new whiz bang welding
technique called "friction stir welding"
that lets them do things quicker and with
less parts. I'll bet Jim Bede could figure
out how to make one of those for use in your
garage, but he's busy figuring out how to
use glue for the same purpose.
The Blue Mountain exhibit was also interesting.
They have a "glass cockpit" which
is $9600 including the gyro's, display, etc.
It includes a moving map display that showed
any terrain you could possibly run into red.
Here I asked "what color does it turn
when you run into it?". He only hesitated
for a moment before saying "black!".
I'll bet Eclipse paid a lot more for their
glass cockpit.
In the past few years, I have heard several
comments that Oshkosh has changed it's focus,
and is no longer oriented toward experimental
aircraft. I have no doubts that it is true,
although I have no first hand knowledge of
Oshkosh pre 2001. I do believe that it really
isn't a matter of the experimental area declining,
but of other areas increasing. I recently
read an Oshkosh report from sometime in the
'70's (I think, and as usual, I can't find
the article to reference) where they were
praising the event and were pleased that
there were almost 400 planes on display.
In any case, there is a tremendous amount
of experimental "stuff" available
at Oshkosh, and many vendors catering to
that market. Also, being a rabid capitalist,
I like seeing all the wonderful toys that
are available even if outside my price range.
Of course my main interest was BD-4's, and
the BD-4 community. I was able to attend
the BD-4 builders meeting, and the BD-4 banquet.
Both were entertaining events. I enjoyed
meeting and talking with others BD-4 enthusiasts.
I also spent quit a bit of time under the
wings of BD-4's on the flight line. Here
is a collection of photos of those present
during the time I was there. click on an
image to get a larger version. Click on your
BACK button to return here.
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John Steere
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Joe and Mary Lou Lienau
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Deene Ogden
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George Wittet
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Dave Anderson
I hope that this gives you a good idea of
what it was like to walk down the line and
see these planes in person. I have the greatest
admiration for these builders who have persevered
and completed their projects. A special mention
has to be made of John Steere and his plane.
He spent 29 years building his plane, and
it is beautiful inside and out. His is also
the newest plane. The others have all been
flying 20 or more years.
There were also two more BD-4's in the camping
area, but I did not get over there to take
pictures.
TVAP has been working hard at getting a flying
BD-4 with their new improvements. Their prototype
was on display, and is nearing a first flight.
It is equipped with a Franklin 220 HP engine.
I'm waiting anxiously to see how much stall
speed is improved with the new flap they
have designed. I certainly hope we will see
some of the TVAP planes on the line in the
next year or two.