Oshkosh has evolved for us over the 12 years we have been going. At first Brandi and I scoured the field and took photos of every angle of RV-10 doors, RV-10 bellies, engine compartments, paint jobs, panels, and every other nook and cranny of the build since we were still working on ours. This was back in 2011. In 2012 we flew in for the first time, having arrived with 48 hours on our new ugly duckling (unpainted). We used to attend workshops and forums, shop for necessary items, get ideas on how to mod/maintenance the plane, and be better pilots and travelers. Now we find ourselves enjoying the ambiance of it all, but 90% of the trip is a reunion with friends old and new. Lucy started joining Airventure with us at 2 months old in 2014 and each year since has been different going from teeny baby to toddler to now completing a 3 part FAA activity set to win a prize during her 9th Oshkosh! Its been a joy to watch her play with her Oshkosh kid friends each year and we have an amazing time each and every time.
This year we got there the Thursday before the show started, which is fairly early. It was really nice and chill and no conga line and crazy traffic arriving. We had a relaxing few days hanging out with friends. Notably this year an osprey landed right in front of us while we were on the line watching aircrafts arriving. The kids had a riot playing on a makeshift slip and side in the rain. I got a breezy ride from my friend Jeff, thank you Jeff!! We made kid and adult pyramids back at camp after taco Tuesday Margaritas got everyone pretty excited lol. We enjoyed the homebuilders beer exchange, the Wednesday night airshow, Kidventure, and as mentioned earlier just hanging out with good friends each day.
We did have to endure a 1 hour taxi time to depart Thursday morning as there was a huge rush. Our flight home was easy breezy as we went direct and enjoyed a nice tailwind for a ~3:30 minute flight.
I'm looking forward to Oshkosh 2024 already!
