8/1/2008
Well, we did it. Christine and I flew to Oshkosh and back. We left at about 7:00 am on Sunday, July 27 and returned at 5:30 pm on Thursday, July 31. Wow! 3 days of aviation overload.
On the trip up since this was the first long trip in the RV8 we planned conservatively by going IFR (in VMC) with 2 fuel stops. We following a Cessna but at Fisk another high wing (I think a Tripacer) cut in front. The Cessna slowed down to about 65 knots to create the required 1/2 mile spacing. I was very close to pulling out and circling back to Ripon. Fortunately the controller at Fiske sent the Cessna to one of the 18 runways and the Tripacer and us to runway 27. I was told to land on the first dot (I can't remember what color it was) which I managed to miss by about 100 feet. I think I was a bit pumped up.
This time we stayed in a dorm. We made a big mistake and not listening to advice to bring a fan. The forecast was for lows in the low 60s so why would we need a fan? Wrong! In my defense we were at gross so anything extra would mean less fuel.
This year we spent much more time watching the air shows than anything else. We aren't building a so tools and gadgets weren't as interesting to me. Seeing Dynon's new offering was a little disappointing since it showed what I have will soon be obsolete. We visited the museum this time.
The trip back was uneventful. There was a lot of VFR on top on the first leg but the Garmin 496 showed it ending well before our fuel stop. On the second leg there were scattered small thunderstorms but these were easy to see and avoid. We flew the second leg at 10,500 feet, again VFR with flight following.