OshKosh 2022
Flying to AirVenture in Oshkosh Wisconsin
Every pilot’s dream is to be, at least once, at the world’s largest pilot event in Oshkosh Wisconsin.
For me it was the fourth time and It certainly won’t be the last. The greatest fun is flying to Oshkosh by plane when you are the pilot, well, at least part of the way. Three of my friends did not need persuasion to join me, and so we arrived four friends to Gaithersburg, Maryland. There at the WIFA flight academy we rented a Cessna 172XP, 210 hp engine, which carried the four of us with our equipment easily.
In order to properly plan such a trip, you must arrive at the starting point two days in advance and leave two days after the last day, in case of a delay during the flight due to weather problems or an unexpected malfunction. On the trip itself, it is recommended to visit various sites along the way and to land at as many airports as possible on the way to Oshkosh and back, which is an experience in itself.
The first day started very badly, no, I don’t mean the flight in the USA, but the flight out of Israel. The Lufthansa flight that was supposed to leave at 8:00 in the morning did not leave until 10:00, the result was we missed the connection flight from Frankfurt to Washington. Then began a saga of a frustrating wait, until we realized that the connection flight would not be until the next day. Only in the evening we got rooms in a nearby hotel and a “standby” flight ticket. Most rudely, they told us that the flight is fully booked, so it depends on whether there are still available seats before boarding. The next day at 7:00 a.m. we showed up at the airport at the stand of Lufthansa, even though the flight is supposed to take off at 10:30. Only minutes before boarding they confirmed that there are seats available for us to board the plane. We arrived in the US about 24 hours late, this extra day paid off. The next day we arrived at the flying school as planned.
Gaithersburg – Maryland
One of our friends was waiting for us with a rental car. We entered the hotel address into the GPS and then it turned out that a small mistake was made in choosing the hotel. The hotel was booked in Gettysburg Pennsylvania instead of Gaithersburg Maryland. Luckily for us, only an hour’s drive separated them, a tolerable difference compared to the previous day. We showed up at the aviation academy in the next morning. A young flight instructor “Made in Israel” tested our flying skills on a short flight to get to know the plane. After that we took off for our trip.
Proper planning of such a trip requires arriving in the USA two days in advance and leaving two days for the return, in case of a delay during the flight due to weather problems or an unexpected malfunctions. The arrival and return from Oshkosh is just as important, the goal is to visit various sites along the way and make landings at as many airports as possible, which Amazing in itself.
In the USA there is no problem with such a decision because there are so many airports that in almost in every segment we were within gliding range to a field. Our first landing was in the Shenandoah Valley. The next stop was the Ingalls Field Airport located on one of the peaks in the Appalachian Ridge. We landed at 4000 feet height with an amazing view. The first night’s rest was in one of the towns on the way.
Nashville – Tennessee
The first big city on our way was Nashville, Tennessee. A happy and joyful city. We were surprised by the heavy heat that greeted us. It was clear that we must visit only in air-conditioned places and we found some. First was the wonderful farmers market, which was full of fruits and vegetables that came straight from the field. The peach reminded me of the taste of the past when even in Israel there were still large sweet peaches full of juice that ran between the fingers. Just thinking about it makes my mouth drool. Most of the market is located in an air-conditioned building. Next to the sales stands there are restaurants and bars for hungry or thirsty people. We quenched our thirst with a chilled local beer and continued to the nearby city hall, an impressive building located on top of a hill (in the heat that prevailed I could hardly climb to the top). From there we continued to the Musicians Hall of Fame Museum which impressively presented the history of country music, of which Nashville is the capital. The highlight of Nashville was discovered in the evening, the main street “Broadway” turned into a pedestrian street, with dozens of bars, pubs and restaurants along it. What they all had in common were live performances by bands that brought their own personal style to the music. The great fun was walking around among the thousands of young men and women who filled the place. A significant number of them are dressed in shorts, cowboy boots and a wide-brimmed hat, which further emphasized the uniqueness of the place.
Memphis is the city of Elvis
We took off from John C Tune Airport to the next destination, the city of Memphis. To my surprise, I always thought that Memphis was a city in Tennessee, and then we discovered that Memphis is divided by the Mississippi River and part of the city is in the state of Arkansas. The main reason to be in Memphis is to visit Graceland, Elvis Presley’s estate. Indeed, the visit was worth it. The visit began in a large entrance hall from which the visitors are driven by buses to Elvis’ estate. The mansion is well preserved, wandering through the rooms gives the feeling that you have gone back in time to the fifties of the last century. The living rooms, the kitchen, the music rooms, the billiard room and other rooms, expressed Elvis’ style, both in furniture and in clothing, which was displayed in glass cases, all in bright colors, including the decorations. Family photos covered the walls. Next to the mansion stood a small house where Elvis was born. Between statues and ornamental pools, are the graves of Elvis and his family. Across the road in a huge hall there is a display of dozens of vehicles that Elvis collected, sports cars next to luxury cars. In the courtyard stood two planes, a Conair 880 specially designed for Elvis and his guests and named after his daughter Lisa Marie, and a second smaller plane, a Lockheed Jet star 1962. Both planes were designed for the maximum comfort of the passengers according to Elvis’ taste.
St. Louis – Missouri
The city is located in the state of Missouri on the banks of the Mississippi. The prominent site in the city is the Gateway Arch which was built in honor of the settlers who conquered the way to the west. The height of the arch is 192 meters, just like the distance between the legs of the arch. It located in Gateway Arch National Park on the west bank of the Mississippi. It was nice to walk under the arch (we were unable to get entrance tickets for the tour to the top of the arch, it was necessary to book in advance), it was quite impressive to circle over the arch in flight before continuing to our next destination.
Sheboygan – Wisconsin
The biggest annual aviation event in the world takes place in Oshkosh. This is the largest event for pilots in the world. hotel prices are sky high. In order to find a hotel at a reasonable price, you have to look for a hotel a little far away and arrive in Oshkosh by rental car. This time I chose the town of Sheboygan on the shore of Lake Michigan. A clean and charming town that is pleasant to stroll along the promenade on the shore of the lake and occasionally to sip a cold beer in a local pub. The next two days we spent at the site of the Air Venture event organized by EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) and held at the Wittman Regional Airport. Thousands of planes land on the site and park on the wide grass fields, with the planes lined up in beautifully organized rows.
The area is divided by zones, huge hangars with hundreds of stalls, offering for sale equipment and accessories for airplanes, along the internal roads there are dozens of tents or buildings of airplane manufacturers offering their airplanes for sale. In another area there is a display of aircraft arranged by production period, old and new war planes. In another area there are training tents and lectures.
Along the runway on the grass at a safe distance there is room for the thousands of visitors to lie on the grass and watch the flight show. The flight show takes place every day at 14:00. until 6 p.m. twice a week there is also a night flight show between 8 p.m. Until 22:00, the flight includes aerobatics, structure flights, stunts and skydiving. Often the event also includes stunts such as a plane landing on a pickup truck, a racing competition between a plane and a car with a jet engine, a real simulation of the attack on Pearl Harbor including impressive pyrotechnics. One of the attractions is the aerobatics of a biplane, which, in addition to an engine with a propeller, has a jet engine installed at the bottom which is activated while flying vertically upwards, which gives the plane acceleration out of this world. In the evening there is music, dancing and beers mainly for the guests who sleep on the site (in tents and caravans).
Dayton – Ohio
We departure from Sheboygan County Memorial Airport. We flew low along the shore of Lake Michigan above Chicago. We enjoyed the sight of the tall buildings, the marinas and the impressive buildings, a very impressive urban landscape. We landed at Gary Reginal Airport to change pilots, and immediately continued our flight to Dayton where the Air Force Museum is located. Moraine Air Park Airport near Dayton welcomed us with respect. The visit is an important added value to the display we saw in Oshkosh. Begins with the history of aviation, aircraft models from the beginning of the last century and continues through the years of the development of aviation, up to the most modern aircraft of our time. In addition there is a room of the rockets that flew the astronauts into space.
Niagara Falls – New York
I have visited Niagara Falls twice before, with mixed feelings about a third visit, I agreed to my friend’s request to visit again. I didn’t regret it, to my surprise, I discovered that there is a huge park and a hiking trail to Goat Island nearby, from which there is a closer view of the falls that I did not know before, when there is wind, shards of water rise from the impact of the waterfall in the water at the bottom, landing on the spectators who get wet until they retreat to a dry area, as happened to us. It is recommended to participate in the tour to the cave leading under the waterfall. The bridge to Canada is one of the crossing gates between the USA and Canada. A one-way gate leads to the sidewalk on the bridge. The view from the bridge to the falls allows another angle to the falls. At the end of the bridge we arrived at the entrance gate to Canada, but we did not enter to Canada, we turned around and returned to the American side. As we expected, we were required to present passports. One of the friends forgot that he entered with a foreign passport and brought the Israeli passport by mistake, luckily the police officer at the border was patient and found the date of his entry into the USA and was content with the passport photo on the phone.
We spent the night in a hotel in nearby Buffalo. After taking off from Niagara Falls Airport, we again flew over the falls, one last look and headed to New York. Finally Manhattan was revealed before us in all its glory. We flew along the Hudson River to the Statue of Liberty, two laps around the Lady and again up the Hudson until we turn to Titirboro Airport in New Jersey.
Manhattan – New York
In order not to waste a free evening, an Uber taxi took us to Manhattan. Times Square was crowded with many people. Actors dressed in costumes of American heroes posed for pictures with enthusiastic girls, the lights of the screens and the neon lamps illuminated the evening as if it were the middle of the day. After we had our fill of the sights of the big city, we decided to allow our stomachs to taste the foods of Manhattan before heading back to New Jersey for the final takeoff back to the Montgomery County Airport Park in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Washington DC – District of Columbia
We said goodbye to the remaining dollars we pocketed in paying for the plane rental, said goodbye to the wonderful people at the WIFA flight school, and set off, this time on the road in a rental car. The hotel in Rockville near Gaithersburg was excellent. The distance to Washington, about an hour’s drive, led us to the decision to stay there and not look for a hotel in Washington that would surely have cost twice as much. Washington is familiar to me from my previous visits. It is always impressive to me how Americans are proud of their leaders and the way they commemorate them, whether it is the circle of statues of the presidents and great men of the nation in the Capitol building, the monuments to Presidents Jefferson and Lincoln, and whether it is in the many museums scattered in the capital about the history of America, the heritage of the Indians, aviation. The Holocaust Museum, which so well represents the lost generation that did not survive the terrible war, is also there.
The return flight went without problems and on schedule. An unforgettable experience of flying over diverse landscapes and landing at many airports, each with its own uniqueness. In short, it’s fun to fly in the US.
