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Position Report
by Dianne White
Oshkosh Treasure Hunting
EAA AirVenture is the perfect place to find the classic aircraft of your dreams.
Each year, like moths to a porch light, swarms of pilots descend on the normally quiet hamlet of Oshkosh, WI. Nowhere on Earth will you witness and
experience the breadth and depth of aviation and aircraft of every conceivable type. If it’s new aircraft you’re pining after, you’ll have plenty to see from Textron Aviation, Piper, Cirrus, Socata, and Pilatus. If it’s a homebuilt, come take your pick.
At OSH, you see it all – including what we will call “classic” aircraft: factory-built, out-of-production, and many with round engines, cloth wings, and little-to-no modern avionics. Think of the Globe Swifts, Piper Cubs, Stinsons, de Havilland Beavers, Boeing Stearmans, and T-6 Texans. Thousands were built and thousands are still flying, many of which will be at Oshkosh. And some will even have a feature you might find irresistible: a “for sale” sign on the prop.
4 • TWIN & TURBINE / July 2024
If the siren song of that classic bird becomes too hard to resist, here are a few tips I’ve gathered from a group of long-time owners of such “classics.”
First, decide if you plan for the plane to be a “hangar trophy” or something you will truly fly regularly. In addition to much love and care, these birds will be best served if a competently trained pilot regularly exercises them. Be realistic about how much time you will have to fly it. I know a Cessna 195 owner at my home airport who religiously flies his aircraft at least every two weeks to stay proficient. If he were to go a month or two without flying it, jumping in the left seat would give him pause.
Second, find the type club for the aircraft you’re targeting. There are owners’ groups and type clubs for almost every classic aircraft type, such as Stinsons, Fairchilds Cessna 120/140, Cessna 195, and so on. You’ll find most of them represented at Oshkosh. Their knowledge about what