OSH26 – Aviation’s Biggest Party

July 19, 2026July 19, 2026 / niffer90 / Leave a comment

It’s that time of year again. Time for THE aviation event of the season… that I’m not attending. That’s right. Normally I’d be on the road somewhere near Chicago. This year I’m sitting at my dining room table, sulking. A few weeks back I broke my ankle. It is healing up well. But Osh is a lot of walking – 20,000 steps a day (or more). Sadly my ankle is just not up to it.

Fear not, however. My intrepid photographer Logan Lynch is boots (tennis shoes?) on the ground so I will still have plenty of photos and details to share. (Even though it’s going to kill me to see all the amazing aviation stuff that I’m missing.)

Old Crow! Do you think it will miss me as much as I miss it?

I’ve been thinking back over my many years at Osh and it occurs to me that there’s one aspect of Airventure that I haven’t written about much… the parties!As you know, Osh is more than a fly-in, convention and air show. It’s an aviation family reunion. There are gatherings and events happening all over the grounds all the time. Some are small gatherings of friends and aquaintances and others are major corporate shindigs that require an invitation. Here’s a look at some of the parties I’ve attended over the years.

Flying Magazine

This event ended when the magazine was sold a few years back. But at one time they hosted a pretty fancy gathering at a marina overlooking the lake. I just happened to score an invite from a friend one year. (OK, he was mostly using me for my car, but whatever.) People discarded their grungy Osh-wear and donned nicer duds. The catering was pretty good. Lots of media folk in attendance. Being merely a humble blogger I remember feeling a bit like a fish out of water. Still the setting was lovely and it was nice to mingle away from the dust and noise of the Airventure grounds.

Pipstrel Podapalooza

This gathering, which was held on the grounds at the Pipistrel booth, also no longer happens. It was organized by the lovely Launchpad Marzari who passed away in a flying accident a few years ago. If you had a podcast or if you listened to them, you were welcome. There was pizza and prizes and it was a nice time spent gathering with like-minded avgeeks.

Hartzell Props and Hops

This is my favorite Osh party, hands-down. It requires an invite so I make sure I RSVP every year. The catered food is really good. There’s live music. The atmosphere is casual and fun. Everyone who attends gets a signature glass which you can then fill with beer or cider or water or whatever. Oh – and the desserts are delicious. And yeah, people duck out of the tents when cool planes fly in. Because it’s what aviation people do!

Piper

This one is also invitation only. Some years I attend. Some years I don’t. The food is always good. They typically have seafood included in the buffet (shrimp cocktail and the like) which is pretty tasty. They also have music – usually a live band. It’s a nice event but I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed so I like to check out the aiplanes around their booth, then tuck myself in a quiet spot to enjoy the atmosphere.

Boeing

This is a big shindig held at the large Boeing booth just off Boeing plaza. You definitely need an invite for this one as they have people at all the entrances, checking the guest list and turning everyone else away. (To be fair, their booth is right at show center so there are a lot of people passing through who don’t even realize an event is going on.) Somehow I ended up there last year. Don’t ask me – I don’t know. I was with a group and next thing I knew we were in. This is the only party I’ve attended that was indoors with air conditioning. Very nice! Lots of people, lots of food and a chance to take a look at all of the displays in the Boeing booth.

But Wait… There’s More!

There are a few other events that I’m aware of but have never attended. EAA hosts a fundraiser dinner at their aviation museum called The Gathering. It is semi-formal and includes a silent auction. If you want to attend you can buy tickets – $250+ per person. Cirrus has a big party on the Sunday night before Osh begins. Strictly invite-only. Doubt I’ll ever get on the list. The UCAP podcast usually hosts their “Tiedown Party” in the North 40 every year. Despite my best intentions, I never make it over there, but I believe it is open to anyone.

You may be wondering how to get invites to some of these events. There’s no magic formula – I just happen to know people who know people. The best advice I can offer is to make your own party. Gather with friends and family. Enjoy time with each other and with airplanes. That is really what Osh is all about. No RSVP necessary!

Stay tuned for more Osh26 goodness. You can follow Logan’s adventures on Instagram: @lynchdronephotography and on Facebook: @Lynch Drone Photography LLC. I’ll be sharing some of his pics on my socials also – Instagram: @Talesfromtheterminal and Blue Sky: @jen-niffer.

Props and Hops glasses 2018-2025. Except there was no 2020. And 2021 is suspiciously missing.

**Author’s note: All my posts including this one were written by myself (and occasional guests) without using any artifical means. **

We Lost Our Spirit

July 8, 2026 / niffer90 / 6 Comments

We got some very sad news a few months ago with the closure of Spirit Airlines. I suppose it is no surprise. The airline was already on life support having declared bankruptcy twice in less than two years. Still, it breaks my heart for everyone affected, including that little boy who loved the yellow planes so much that his dad would bring him to the airport parking garage just to see them.

The demise of Spirit got me to thinking about some other airlines that have shut down over the years. As an airport employee there were some I was sad to see go. And there were others I was relieved not to have to deal with.

Long-time blog readers will recall my early obsession with Miami Air. For whatever reason they insisted on sneaking in and out at odd hours and they refused to park where I could get a good look at them. The more they played hard to get, the more determined I became to catch them. This went on for months. It might have gone on for years. Thank goodness I did finally get a good look before they shut down.

Then there was the little airline whose name I can’t remember that offered direct flights between my airport and Milwaukee via private jets. Normally bizjets operate out of the FBO so seeing those little planes enplaning and deplaning passengers next to the terminal was an unusual sight. The avgeek in me quite enjoyed them.

However, the accountant in me most definitely did not. They agreed to pay ramp and ticket counter fees, among other things. During their brief tenure at the airport (less than a year) they paid exactly… nothing. Not one penny. I billed them every month. Reached out for payment. Was politely persistent. Nothing. I found out later that the only invoices they ever paid were for employee parking. One day they just went out of business and we never heard from them again. There was a rumor that the airport confiscated their computers and ground equipment and sold it to recoup some of the fees.

And then there is Elite Airways. While I’m never happy when people lose their jobs, these guys infuriated me to the point that I wasn’t sorry to see them go. They didn’t operate regular flights to my airport but instead handled various charters. They were never great about paying their bills and eventually stopped paying altogether. Someone in airport operations was able to track down the local sports team who was chartering them and explained what was happening. Suddenly the bills got paid. Briefly. Eventually they stopped paying again and completely ghosted everyone.

It was just by chance that I discovered they had stopped operating. I came across some news stories about other airports that also hadn’t been paid – and these airports had regular flights with gate use and ticket counters. Elite had a maintenance base at one of them and I read that the airport seized everything – hangars, equipment, even parts of airplanes – and auctioned it off. Every last scrap. Elite owed them a lot of money and I know they didn’t get it all back. Made me feel a little less bitter about the few thousand owed to us.

Circling back to Spirit… I don’t know how things were between them and the airport these last couple years. Probably not so great. But when I was dealing with them (2018 – 2024) they were a fine airline to work with. Paid their bills. Communicated regularly. I’m saddened by their demise. The ramp will certainly be more dull without those bright yellow bananas taxiing around. Best wishes to the Spirit team for soft landings and bright futures.

**Author’s note: All my posts including this one were written by myself (and occasional guests) without using any artifical means. **

My Favorite “Dinosaur”

July 30, 2025 / niffer90 / 2 Comments

WordPress offers up a daily prompt to encourage people to write more often. Since this is an aviation blog and the prompts typically have nothing to do with aviation, I usually don’t bother to look at them. But what if I try to provide an aviation response to a throroughly non-aviation question? Hmmm… sounds like a challenge! So here I go.

Prompt

Today’s prompt is: if you could bring back one dinosaur, which one would it be? First I think I need to define what an avaition dinosaur is. To honor the spirit of the prompt I think it must be an airplane type that is no longer flying anywhere. This cuts out planes I’d be tempted to name, like the Lockheed Constellation (there are at least a couple still flying) or the F-14 Tomcat (Iran still uses them, darn it!).

There are two of these flying so… not a dinosaur.

The prompt also states that I can bring back ONE dinosaur. That’s painful because there are several airplanes I’d like to bring back. I mean really – how on earth can I choose just one???

Honorable Mentions

OK, I’m going to cheat by listing some contenders before I tell you the ONE “dinosaur” that I’d bring back. These planes are all amazing and I just have to give them a mention!

PB2Y Coronado

This airplane takes the concept of a flying boat to a whole new level in that it is impossibly huge. (And you all know how much I love big planes!) The Coronado was used during WWII as both a patrol plane and a bomber. Frankly, they could have used it as an ark if they wanted to because you could easily fit a zoo inside. That’s probably why it was often also used as a military transport. At the end of the war most of them were decommissioned with many being scrapped and others being used for target practice. (Argh! Stop using beautiful old planes as target practice!) A few apparently found their was into civil service including one that went to Howard Hughes to use to practice water landings for flight of the Spruce Goose – another amazing plane that could be on this list… but isn’t.

XB-70 Valkyrie

Ah, the Valkyrie! Be still my beating heart! There’s just something about this plane. Not only is it a dino, but an incredibly rare one as only two were ever made and neither entered actual service. The point of the Valkyrie was to fly fast. Really, really fast. Over Mach 3. The theory being that you cannot be intercepted if you cannot be caught. But there were limitations to its capabilities and the advent of things like intercontinental ballistic missles made it less useful than expected. Plus the fuel bill had to be enormous. The planes continued to be used for supersonic test flights but then one of them had a mid-air collision with another plane during a photo shoot and was destroyed. So the decision was made to park the other at the USAF Museum, which is great for me because I get to visit regularly.

Drum roll, please! My one dinosaur is…

The SR-71 Blackbird!

Who doesn’t love the Blackbird? It (and its variants) were pretty much everything you want an airplane to be. It flew fast, was loud, and looked futuristic yet menacing at the same time. And it managed to be super stealthy. Like the Valkyrie, it could fly Mach 3+. It could also fly at high altitudes making it quite good for aerial reconnaissance. It was used in that role during the Vietnam War to keep an eye on North Vietnam. Later in life it was used to monitor Soviet activity. According to Wikipedia it was also used in the search for DB Cooper which, frankly, seems like a bit of overkill. The Blackbird was retired then reactivated a couple of times. It retired for good in 1999, after which the remaining planes and variants were dispersed aviation museums.

So there you have it – if I could bring back one dinosaur it would be the Blackbird. Yes, yes – I know! All those airplanes are military. Well it is MY list after all! Make up a list of your own and let me know what dino you’d bring back.

OSH25 – Fisk Arrival and a Hot Night

July 25, 2025 / niffer90 / 4 Comments

My coverage of Airventure continues! The weather was nice… mostly. The airplanes are amazing… always! And adventure is everywhere.

Tuesday

The day began in the most awesome way possible – we went flying! Mike (Flying and Life Podcast) decided to take his airplane out for a spin and he took me and Logan (my intrepid photographer) along. This meant I had to get up early. And I had to skip donuts. But it was soooo worth it!

Mike camped in vintage near the South 40 so I hopped a bus and met him near his plane. Logan helped push it out of its parking spot and we all hopped in. Taxiing at Osh is almost as fun as flying (at least from the passenger perspective). It is cool to see Boeing Plaza from the airfield point of view. Also, until you fly you may not appreciate all the marshallers and ATC personnel out on the field, moving things along.

What a wind farm looks like from above.

We departed from 18R. The original plan had been to fly over Airventure but a layer of haze prevented that. So we flew around a bit then headed to Green Lake to get in line for the Fisk arrival. Mike got to “rock his wings” and then we headed in to land back on 18R. In case you were wondering, it’s quite a turn to final!

After we landed we taxiied down to Mike’s campsite and parked the airplane back where it had been. I can now say I’ve flown the Fisk arrival as a passenger twice. Can confirm – it’s an amazing experience no matter how many times you do it.

A video overview of the flight!

The rest of the morning was spent in warbirds then back down to Mike’s plane to watch the air show. We were just off the end of the runway where we got some pretty great shots of the action – particularly of take-offs and landings.

Wednesday

The day kicked off with rain. I had hoped to get to the media center before it arrived but I was riding the struggle bus and just couldn’t get my act together. So… I was pretty wet by the time I got there. But I dried out quickly, helped along by donuts and coffee.

Photo by Victor Andrew Karrels – his first time using a “real” camera and taking pics at Osh. And he’s better than me already, dang it!

The rest of the morning was spent wandering through the Fly-Mart as well as the exhibit hangars. The Fly-Mart is an aviation-themed flea-market where you can find anything from aircraft parts to airline seats to memorabilia. They also have non-aviation items. I always check out the car-related booths to see if there is anything for my 1954 MG.

In the afternoon I attended a forum presented by the Airline Dispatchers Federation (ADF). Several of my friends were participating so I was pleased to see a large crowd in attendance. The rest of the day I spent dodging the heat – in the Lifetime Member Oasis (where there are free drinks and snacks plus AC and nice potties) and in the Media Center.

The evening brought the first night air show of the week. In many ways it is the crown jewel event of Airventure. Even if you don’t care anything about aviation, you are going to love the night show. Every year I think EAA will not be able to outdo the prior year. And yet every year they manage. This year they added lasers to the already spectacular line-up of aircraft, drones and fireworks. If you can only visit Airventure for one full day, make that day Wednesday. I promise you won’t regret it.

The night show has it all!

That’s it for me for Osh 2025. I hope to be back next year and I really hope I see YOU there!

OSH 2025 – Mass Arrivals and Test Beds

July 22, 2025 / niffer90 / 4 Comments

Well here we are – day one of Airventure is in the books and things are truly under way. As is always the case, the fun actually starts before the show begins.

Saturday

If you read my last post then you may recall that I gave myself a “stretch goal” of getting to Osh early enough to see the Bonanza mass arrival, I was up and on the road early Saturday to get there before noon. As it turned out there was no need to hurry – the arrival was pushed back till later in the day. This was first really big mass arrival I’ve ever seen and it did NOT disappoint.

I was watching from the North 40 so when they began to arrive they looked like specks in the sky. Many, many, many specks. And they just kept coming. A long line of Bonanzas was taxiing by to their camping area and still planes were landing – over 120 in all.

Sunday

Osh is a marathon and not a sprint. As a result I wanted to take it easy and save my feet for all the walking I’d be doing during the week. I found a nice spot along the runway and spent the afternoon watching planes land and taxi by. Some of the more interesting planes to come in were the Lcokheed Constellation (one of very few still flying), the Boeing 747 SP Pratt and Whitney test platform and the Dragon Lady. That’s right – a U2 spy plane landed at Airventure. As you may know, a chase car is used to help the U2 pilot coordinate the landing. In this case they used a chase truck.

Monday

The very first thing I did upon arrival on the grounds was get donuts and coffee. Hey – they are REALLY good donuts! But the next thing I did was tour the Boeing 747 SP. From the front it looks like a regular 747. From the side it looks oddly stunted. This is because it is much shorter than a regular 747. Apparently it was built in response to requests from airlines for a smaller plane. Makes sense. But looks strange. Adding to the strangeness is a bump just outside the cockpit where test engines can be fitted.

Most of the interior is taken up by computer servers and then rows of desks and monitors. A crew of 12 are capable of testing engines with up to 25,000 lbs of thrust. The plane can go up to 45,000 feet. I took pictures and texted them to my boss to tell her I found our new mobile office. She replied that only if we can get it cheap. Darn.

Oh More to come… Tuesday is looking great to far! A preview:

Osh Madness – 2025 Edition

July 14, 2025 / niffer90 / 5 Comments

The view from the ATC tower during Osh week.

Well hello there, intrepid readers. If you are still lurking about on this blog I commend you! I’m sorry that I have been away so long. I was on a bit of a roll towards the end of last year. But then the holidays came. Then I got the flu. Then other life events happened. I woke up this morning to discover that somehow it is already July and Airventure Oshkosh is only a week away. Time to get a new post out! As usual there’s lots of interesting and exciting events scheduled for this year. Here are a few of the things I’m most looking forward to.

Pratt & Whitney Flying Test Bed (747SP)

You guys know how much I love big planes. (C-5!) You also know how much I love odd planes. (Super Guppy!) well the P&W Flying Test Bed is the best of both worlds. It’s a giant 747 with an odd growth on the side of its face. I cannot wait to see it!

Goodyear’s Good Year

Goodyear is bringing not one but TWO blimps to Osh this year to celebrate 100 years of airships. I believe one of them will be in a retro livery. Hoping I can sneak a close-up look at some point during the week.

A Boatload of Bonanzas

OK, I don’t know what the official term is for a group of Bonanzas, but whatever it is I’m hoping to be there to see it in person when the Bonanza mass arrival happens on Saturday. This is a bit of a stretch goal. The arrival is scheduled for Saturday at 1:00pm and I’m going to have to hustle to get on location in time. Cross your fingers for me! My “phantastic” photographer Logan is back this year and participating in the arrival so even if I miss it, he’ll hopefully have pics to share.

Old Friends

The Connie is scheduled to return this year. So is the Flight of the Cats (Wildcat, Bearcat, Tigercat, Hellcat). And, as always, I hope to meet up with my dear friend Old Crow, the P-51 Mustang. I hope to meet up with many human friends too. Perhaps I’ll see YOU there!

Keep an eye on this space during Osh week for updates. I plan to post lots of pics and video on social media as well so I hope you’ll check them out. I’m on:

Twitter (I refuse to call it “X”): @Jen_Niffer

Blue Sky: @Jen-Niffer

Instagram: @talesfromtheterminal

Stay tuned!

F-14 at the Sullenberger Aviation museum.

How the Spirit Bankruptcy Impacts Airports

November 22, 2024 / niffer90 / 2 Comments

Spirit Airlines announced on November 18 that they have filed for bankruptcy. While the airline will continue operating as usual (for now) the filing will give it an opportunity to restructure its debt and improve its operations to (hopefully) be more profitable. This will have a big impact not just on Spirit, but on all the agencies and businesses that work with Spirit, including airports.

Before I dig into the airport side of this equasion I must first issue my usual disclaimer: every airport is different. Fee structures vary. Spirit may be a major player at some places and a bit player at others. As a result, how an airport is affected will vary.

At the airport where I worked, Spirit is a signatory airline. This means that they have signed an agreement to rent a certain amount of space (ticket counter, hold rooms, baggage areas, gates, etc.) for a specific number of years (I believe 5). In exchange, Spirit is given lower rates for things like landing fees, parking, terminal use, etc. Non-signatory airlines don’t sign contracts, but their rates are higher.

I dealt with multiple bankruptcy filings during my years in the industry. If I was still at the airport today, here’s what would happen once I receved the official bankruptcy notice. First I would record the date in the airline’s file. The date is important because no collections can be done on any open invoices from prior to that date. For this reason I paid close attention to airlines that were struggling financially. I would try to get them to bring their accounts as current as possible. The airport will only collect pennies on the dollar for each open invoice once bankruptcy is filed so the smaller the balance due, the less money the airport will lose.

The next thing I would do is send the bankruptcy notice to the legal department and copy the CFO. The legal team will eventually have to submit a list of all the airline’s outstanding balances to the bankruptcy court, so I would also send along a statement of account, as well as an estimate of when I expect all billing for the pre-bankruptcy period to be completed.

Several types of billings, like landing fees and fuel charges, are entered a month behind. Normally I would bill all the month’s landings together one one invoice, the month’s fuel on another invoice, and so on. However, when there is a bankruptcy I’ll enter two invoices – one for landings, fuel, etc that happened prior to the filing and another for items post filing. It is more work but it is cleaner. (I forgot to do this when Swift filed bankruptcy and they only paid the second part of their landing fee invoice. That left me with half an invoice hanging around. Ugh! Messy!)

Once everything has been billed I would then send a complete list of open invoices to the legal department for them to file with the court. I would also do a journal entry (fancy accounting magic) to record the total amount as a doubtful account – meaning it is money the airport is owed that it probably won’t get. The pre-bankruptcy invoices will eventually be written off to bad debt.

Filing bankruptcy should allow Spirit to renegotiate their contracts. The previous bankrupties I’ve handled were for non-signatory airlines so there were no contracts involved. However I can make some educated guesses about what Spirit’s options might be.

They could cancel their contract altogether and leave the airport. As of September 2024 they have seen an increase of nearly 200,000 passengers over the prior year. That translates to an increase of around 40%. That’s more growth than any of the other airlines. That’s way better than Frontier (a former potential merger candidate) who has actually had a decrease in passengers this year. Based on their growth I suspect Spirit will choose to stick around.

Another option would be to amend their contract by reducing the amount of space they rent. They could also assess their gate usage to see if there are any savings to be had. (They currently lease a single gate but they often pay extra to use an additional gate. Depending on how much they use the additional gate, leasing it might be cheaper.) One thing they probably can’t do is ask for reduced rates. The airport fees are calculated based on what it costs to run and maintain the terminal and the airfield. Those costs are fixed so there isn’t much wiggle room on the rates.

How much is all this going to hurt the airport? Well, Spirit accounts for about 9% of the airport’s total passengers, so the impact won’t be as bad as it would be if American or Southwest filed bankruptcy. However, the airport is planning to break ground on a new terminal next year. This is a big and expensive undertaking so every penny counts. Whatever they lose on unpaid bills this year will hurt, but ultimately they may be more concerned about Spirit’s future, whether they plan to stay and what the impact would be if they cease to operate.

I truly hope Spirit can pull through this and emerge stronger and better. Past experience is a bit of a toss-up – some airlines improved and contiued to operate while others floundered and eventually folded. To be safe I recommend you get those pictures of Spirit aircraft now while you still can!

Airport News Review – 11/3-11/9 2024

November 12, 2024November 12, 2024 / niffer90 / 6 Comments

Since I spent many years working at an airport, I thought it might be fun to take a look at some recent airport news stories and provide some insider perspective. Here are a few items that caught my attention in the last week.

Oh, Laguardia!

Our first story features everyone’s favorite airport – LGA. Apparently a raccoon managed to get inside the terminal and came crashing through the ceiling, startling passengers. I would love to tell you that it is rare for animals to get into airport facilities but unfortunately it’s not. Granted, birds and mice are the usual culprits rather than a critter as large as a raccoon. Still, this incident doesn’t really surprise me much.

A hawk sitting on an airfield light in December 2018.

When an animal invades the airport, who deals with it? Well at my airport the custodial department would bring in exterminators for mice, but anything else would be the responsibility of Airport Operations. Most of the time they are focused on keeping birds and other critters away from the airfield. But when feathered or furry intruders get inside, Ops handles that too.

I was busily working away at my desk one day when I heard a suspicious sound in the air duct overhead. Before I had time to figure out what it was, my co-worker in the next cubicle shrieked – she heard it too. Something spent the better part of the morning scuttling around overhead. The department admin was convinced it was a raccoon or an opossum. Being a country girl myself I know that little animals can make big noises, so I thought it was a mouse. Or maybe a squirrel. Eventually someone from Ops showed up, removed some ceiling panels and looked around. Turns out our big scary creature was actually… a pigeon. Ops left the ceiling panels open and eventually it flew into a conference room where it was caught and escorted off the premises.

This bird is always welcome at the airport!

Oh Laguardia… Again!

LGA had quite the week. If furry bandit invaders weren’t enough, they also had a bomb scare. Gate-crashing racoons are amusing. Bomb scares most certainly are not. Airports take them very, very seriously. There were at least two bomb scares during my time as an airport employee.

The airport police have two bomb-detecting K9s on staff. They mostly work behind the scenes where the checked bags are processed. They also screen cargo. One afternoon I got a notification that a K9 had alerted on a package in one of the cargo facilities. Thankfully these buildings are across the airfield from the terminal so there was no impact on flights. It took an hour or so to investigate before the cargo building was re-opened. To my knowledge, nothing suspicious was ever found.

Adler at his K9 retirement party. He was a very good boy!

We had another bomb scare which shut down one of the concourses, delayed flights and generally created a lot of mayhem. In this case it wasn’t a suspicious package, but a suspicious vehicle that caused the alarm. The car was involved im another security incident which had happened earlier that day. (A story I’ll share another time.) Fortunately the vehicle was cleared and operations returned to normal.

ARFF Down Under

SYD had a bit of excitement when a Qantas flight returned to the airport after an engine failure. Losing an engine can be a big deal, depending on the manner of failure and when it happens. However the pilots, Airport Ops and ARFF (Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting) do a lot of training to make sure these types of events are as uneventful as possible. US airports are required to hold emergency drills every three years. The Authority operates three airports so there was a drill at one of them every year.

ARFF extinguishes a simulated aircraft fire during an emergency drill.

My desk looked out at the south runway so I saw a number of emergency landings. I always knew when an emergency flight was coming in because ARFF would station vehicles at various taxiways just off the runway so they could quickly get to the plane once it stopped. Fortunately every emergency landing I saw concluded uneventfully.

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Well that’s it for this week. I’m going to try to make this a semi-regular feature so if you come across any interesting airport news stories – feel free to toss them my way!

Osh24 – Wrap-up

July 29, 2024July 29, 2024 / niffer90 / Leave a comment

For me Osh 2024 ended Thursday morning as I packed up and headed home a couple days earlier than planned. My spirit really wanted to stay, but physically I just couldn’t. That said, I’m super glad I was able to attend for as long as I did.

Fireworks and Drones

One of the highlights of Airventure is the night air show. There are two of them, actually – one on Wednesday and one on Saturday. Every year the audience is left in awe by an amazing display of flying and fireworks. We walk away convinced that there’s no way EAA can possibly top it. And then somehow they do. This year they added drones. I envisioned extra twinkling lights in the sky perhaps forming some patterns. But this was so much more!

The drones created pictures which highlighted and complimented the spirit of Airventure. We saw Rosie the Riveter, an A-10, a tribute to the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Air Force and a reenactment of a Coast Guard rescue. At the same time fireworks were going off and planes with more fireworks were circling above. It was mind-blowing – truly one of the coolest celebrations of aviation I have ever seen.

My early departure meant that I didn’t get to see some things that I was really looking forward to. I didn’t get to see the Canadian F-18 or the full Snowbird performance. The Thunderbirds and Blue Angels did additional fly-bys, which I missed. Thankfully, I had a correspondent on the ground who stayed through the end of the day on Saturday and he was able to capture some of these things for me to share.

The Thunderbirds break over the B-52 on Boeing Plaza. Photo by Logan Lynch

The Blue Angels in formation. Photo by Logan Lynch

Canadian Heritage Flight! (Wow – that F-18 is GORGEOUS!!!) Photo by Logan Lynch

OK – that’s just showing off! And we love it! Photo by Logan Lynch

Harrier!!! So sorry I didn’t get to see this! Photo by Logan Lynch

Otto Pilot made an appearance! Photo by Logan Lynch

Water cannon salute for the Honor Flight. Photo by Logan Lynch

We P In C

If you’ve been to Airventure before then you know that there are a lot of porta potties. I mean A LOT. Some are very basic. Some are fancy with running water. Not sure how EAA does it, but they manage to keep them all quite clean and not stinky. I usually go out of my way to avoid porta potties, but Osh is the one place I’m willing to use them. That said, if I can get to the real toilets with running water and sinks in Hangar C, I prefer to go there. Usually they are air conditioned as well, which makes them extra-enticing. (The AC was broken this year, sadly.) I’m not the only one with a preference for C so we decided it would be amusing to make t-shirts to celebrate our choice.

About Camping

Let me start by saying that I know people who stay in Camp Scholler every year and they love it. They enjoy the vibe and being near the Airventure grounds and with their friends. It’s an affordable option for those who enjoy camping. However, it just isn’t for me. I don’t mind sleeping in a tent/my car or schlepping to the showers, but being crowded in with so many people all around was not my cup of tea. That said, if I ever get a camper with a shower and toilet that can allow me to bring my bike then I might try it again. In the meantime, I hope I can get back into the dorms next year.

Only at Osh

Airventure is filled with opportunities to see and do and learn things that you can’t anywhere else. I have to give a big shout-out to Logan for not only taking lots of pics for me, but for making the very most of his time at Osh. He spent an entire afternoon on a photo tower. He set up right in the middle of Boeing plaza to capture the night show, then ran over to capture pics of the fireworks over the Lancaster. His pics will be featured in the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum’s upcoming magazine. And he got a personal tour of the Lancaster from the Director of Marketing. Wow!

Well, that’s it for this year. As always, I miss Airventure already and am looking forward to Osh25. Hope to see you there!

OSH24 – Mid-Week Report

July 24, 2024 / niffer90 / 3 Comments

Conditions have been perfect for vapor! Photo by Logan Lynch

Confession time: I’ve been sleeping in my car. I folded the seats down, shoved my air mattress through the hatch and crawled in. On the down side it was a little cramped, but on the plus side I could not hear the guy behind me snoring all night. Another bonus is I didn’t have to worry about where to sleep when my tent broke during a brief bout of wind and rain on Tuesday.

Did I mention vapor? Photo by Logan Lynch

Monday started with a visit to the Textron media event. We found out that they have updated the panel in the Caravan, so Mike asked if he could take a look. In short order, Alex Hunt, Senior Technical Marketing Advisor introduced himself and walked us out to the airplane.

On the way he asked our names and where we are from. When I answed he said, Oh! I know you!” Apparently he’s seen some of my pics and he especially loves my 1954 MG. Needless to say I was quite surprised and very flattered. Aviation is a small world, my friends! The new panel on the Caravan is indeed quite lovely. The paint is nice too. So is the paint on the King Air that they brought with them.

Surprise visit from the Bone! Photo by Logan Lynch

The rest of Monday was spent watching the air show, spending time at the Lifetime Member Oasis, and checking out the planes on Boeing Plaza. The day wrapped up with the Props and Hops event hosted by Hartzell Propellor.

Love me some Corsair in the morning! And a movie star at that!

On Tuesday we began the day in the Warbid area where I found my friend Old Crow. The plane used to be based at the airport where I worked and it was always a highlight of my day to see it. I found out that it left the airport shortly before I did. It has been donated to an aviation museum in Florida.

We worked our way back to show center in time to see the Avro Lancasfer arrive. Belonging to the Canadian Heritage Museum, this is apparently the only flying Lancaster left in the world.

The absolute highlight of the day was watching the Italian Demo Team – the Frecce Tricolori – do a small demo for us before heading on to their next event. 11 jets flying together in formation with precision and grace. It was truly stunning. I am SO glad I got to see them. Truly an “Only at Osb” moment!

Wednesday kicked off with a Tram Tour of the Warbird area. I’ve always wanted to take the tour and let me tell you – it is worth the wait. Great way to see the amazing airplanes that have played such a pivital role in shaping our world today and learn a little bit about them.

Tonight is the always-fabulous night air show. Details about that coming on the next post. Thanks again to Logan Lynch for all the amazing photos!

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Tales from the Terminal

adventures at the airport and other random musings