Page 19 - Volume 15 Number 10

nttuurree2011Wand parking problems, getting out can be a challenge as well. I always prefer the flexibility of easing out of OSH under VFR; my plan to get off 90 minutes before the field closed for Thursday’s afternoon air show almost didn’t execute, after an Air Force F-16 ran off the end of runway 36. That little episode shut down the runway, leaving a mile-long daisy chain of departures stacked up for runway 27. One hour and 12 minutes after engine start, and 10 minutes before show time, we were waved off to conclude our annual Pilgrimage To Paradise.As we pulled the nose up to arch away from KOSH, we allowed ourselves one last look at Lake Winnebago’s summer face, before it disappeared into the haze and low clouds. “Goodbye until next year,” we thought, reflectinghile most people worry excessively about on the next time aviation’s solstice would bring us back getting into EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, what to the shore of this glistening lake in America’s heartland.with the special procedures, kamikaze threatsEAA AirVenture, a.k.a. the Oshkosh air show, has evolved in recent years, maturing from a sprawling picnic for fun flyers into an industry-wide exposition. Business aircraft manufacturers like Bombardier, Cessna, Daher- Socata, Embraer, Hawker Beechcraft, HondaJet, Pilatus and Piper are taking the time to exhibit their wares to a half-million AirVenture attendees. The reason? They’ve learned that aviation enthusiasts often own companies and FBOs, and they buy large airplanes as well as small ones. Everyone now comes to exhibit at Oshkosh.The AirVenture site covers 1,400 acres of privately held land, in addition to much of the Wittman Regional airport, an underutilized facility with multiple runways up to 8,000 feet long. To see it all requires days of strenuous walking; most wiser heads limit themselvesBlackhawk Modifications President and CEO Jim Allmon introduces the recently STC’d XP42A 850 shp upgrade for the Cessna Caravan 208B.OCTOBER 2011TWIN & TURBINE • 17e