At long last it has finally happened – Airventure 2018 has started. As always, every day is packed with all kinds of aviation awesomeness, and Monday was no exception.

The day began with breakfast at the media tent. From there I headed down to Boeing Plaza where Mike from the Flying and Life podcast and I toured the Honeywell Boeing 757 test plane. It looks like a regular 757 except it has a huge propellor sticking up on one side. Inside we were able to see the computer stations where technicians monitor the test engine in flight.

Shortly after that the new C Series from Bombardier arrived. Yes, I know it is being called an Airbus 220 now, but it’s still a C Series to me. Since i happened to be right there I decided to take a tour of it too. The cockpit is GORGEOUS. And the cabin was really quite comfortable. The seats were set at different pitches so you could sit in different locations and get a feel for how comfortable the seats might be in different configurations. The middle seats were designed to be a bit wider, which I thought was a great idea.

In the afternoon we attended a media briefing from Piper, as well as one from Jack Pelton of EAA. He told us there were 3,000 landings on Sunday. Considering that the airport was only open for VFR flights for about 9 hours due to the morning rain, that’s a pretty crazy number. The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring around Boeing Plaza and watching the airshow.

The day wrapped up at Hartzel’s Hops and Props party. There was music and food and tents and places to sit and relax. It was an excellent way to end day one.

Want more Osh??? (Who doesn’t want more Osh!) Check out the Flying and Life podcast all this week for updates and interviews. And you might even hear from me!