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.)
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.
**Author’s note: All my posts including this one were written by myself (and occasional guests) without using any artifical means. **
This is not the blog post I intended to write. I originally planned to outline all the things that avgeeks can do to try to cope with Severe Aviation Deficiency (aka S.A.D) brought about by the current pandemic. I may still write that post eventually. But the fact of the matter is, I don’t want aviation subsitutes. I want real airplanes and I want them RIGHT NOW.
If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile then you may recall that my mother passed away last year. I still miss her a lot. Then a few weeks ago my brother’s wife had a massive stroke. She collapsed suddenly and had to be life-flighted to a hospital for brain surgery. She survived – a miracle in itself – but she’s facing a very long road to recovery. I’ve been helping my brother with his blog, which he is using to keep friends and family informed.
So you see, I’ve been in dire need of a little aviation therapy. Unfortunately, I’m not at the office these days so the only planes I see are those that happen to fly over my back yard. Then I got an email with two small words that brightened my whole week: military charters. TWO of them! A B767 AND a B777 – planes we rarely get to see. Better still, they’re being flown by an airline that rarely visits. This, my friends, was just what the doctor ordered!
The B777 on the other hand, was much more of a challenge. It was originally scheduled for a Saturday arrival, which would have been great. Then they pushed it back to Thursday morning. Noooooo! Not good! But… a B777! In my nearly six years at the airport I’ve never seen a B777 there. I did NOT want to miss it. What’s an avgeek to do?
ATC
Airport Vehicles
Really BIG Airplanes!
Favorite Experience
On the Wish List
I see a lot of the smaller commercial airplanes around every day. I love them but let’s face it, seeing the same planes all the time can get a little boring. So it’s always fun when something new and different stops by. On a recent Tuesday morning I heard that a Boeing 767 had diverted with mechanical trouble the night before. The 767 might be a common sight at some airports but it is a rarity for us, so I made a point of searching it out.
Wrong! When I checked on the plane the next day I found that it had been moved from the gate to a parking spot on the ramp. Sitting nearby, covered in protective wrap, was the unmistakable shape of an engine. What the… Oh my goodness! They really ARE going to swap engines on the ramp!
I decided right then and there that I was going to stalk the heck out of this airplane. For the next several days I spent every spare moment watching as the work progressed. I got to the office early so I could check in before heading to my desk. I spent my lunch break outside. I stayed late after work. I was kind-of obsessed. OK, actually I was TOTALLY obsessed. How often does an engine change happen out in the open for the whole world to see?
When I returned Thursday morning I discovered that they had managed to remove the old engine before calling it quits the previous day. The plane looked pretty strange sitting there with one engine missing! It did not stay that way for long. By mid afternoon the new engine had been hung on the wing and when I left work Thursday night they were still busily reconnecting the hydraulic, fuel and electrical lines.
AJ told me that weather presents the biggest challenge when working on the ramp. He has completed engine changes in the rain (which doesn’t sound like fun AT ALL). He also said that they will sometime construct a temporary shelter for protection while they’re working. If the weather is really bad they’ll stop work altogether. Equipment can present another challenge. If something breaks then a replacement will have to be brought in which can take time and cause delays.
In this particular case the mechanics were blessed with lovely weather and (apparently) no equipment issues. Friday morning I watched as they closed up all the access panels and began moving the ladders and cranes away from the plane. I had spent so much time watching the work that I felt really invested in the outcome. I wanted to see the engines start up! I NEEDED to see the plane take to the sky!
I spent the rest of the afternoon sweating it out as my desk. A departure time was scheduled and then pushed back and then pushed back again. That was the longest afternoon EVER. I dashed upstairs as soon as I finished work, just in time to witness the engine start. Hooray!
According to a quick Google search, Pittsburgh International Airport saw around 9 million passengers in 2018. Chicago Midway had 22 million. Tampa had around 21 million. My airport saw just over 8 million passengers – the most ever. That’s great! Or is it? How does an airport know whether the number of passengers they are serving is good or not?
I can’t speak to how other airports collect passenger data, but my airport does it via monthly reports that are submitted by the airlines. Each report includes the type of planes used, the number of landings for each, the number of passengers, etc. From that information we can determine the total number of seats and, in turn, calculate the load factors for each airline, as well as an average load factor for all flights during the month.
Max effect
In the United States, National Aviation Day is held on August 19. Here’s how I’ve celebrated at work the last couple years:
I kicked things off early by parking on the very top level of the garage. No way was I going to pass up the chance to do a little pre-event plane spotting! (And lets face it, if they handed out diplomas for plane spotting from parking garages, I’d have a PhD!) My dedication paid off – I got my very first look at Amazon’s Prime Air 767. Sweet!
The tour began with a visit to the Operations Tower. Wow – what a view! And what a lot of computer equipment! The Operations Tower is responsible for all aircraft movement on the ramp. I wish we had a set-up like that for deice pad control in the winter! But then again, the ramp at CLT is a MUCH busier place with 600+ flights per day. We were allowed to wander around the room, examine the different work stations and ask questions. I honestly could have stayed for hours!
After lunch, the awesomeness continued with a tour of the training facility. We met in a conference room first to learn a little about the training program itself and watch a video about the history of American Airlines. Then we visited the egress training area where Flight Attendants learn how to operate various types of emergency exits. Seeing the cut-away plane interiors was actually quite fascinating. They even had an E145 fuselage (minus the nose, wings and tail).
Let’s do a quick word association. When I say “commercial airport,” what are the first things that come to mind? Getting there and parking? (Ugh!) Going through security? (Double ugh!) Delays and cancellations? (Triple ugh!) The truth is, for most people, commercial airports do not conjure up very pleasant thoughts. Oh how I wish everyone could see the airport the way I see it! Here are some of my favorite things:
Tales from the Terminal 