Oshkosh
or Bust!
By Kevin Bertorelli
This
year’s
Oshkosh
trip was another memorable adventure. We left early Wednesday morning at
around
6:30
and arrived at
Oshkosh
a little after
11:00 am
. Many of us made 2 stops on the way, the first at
Galt
Airport
and the second at
Dodge
County
Airport
(about 40 miles from our final destination). Other pilots made an extra
stop breaking up that long leg between Galt and Dodge.
6 of us (me, Vance, Bill, Jim, Brian and Rickey) departed
from Clow. We hooked up with Neal and Rich enroute to Galt. Mike,
Brad, and Paul -- flying from Cushing -- got there before us. Phil arrived
a little later. Once refueled the group took off and started the 72 mile journey
to
Dodge
County
. That was the longest leg of our trip, but even after the extra stop that
some took, all 12 landed at Dodge without a problem. While we were there
refueling Joe and John showed up to join us. Now we were a party of 13 (Wolak
had already left) and were all excited about our final leg to the air show.
The all important call was made to the Red Barn and Bill held a short briefing
amongst our pilots to clarify our planned approach. As most
Oshkosh
veterans know, all ultralight pilots are required to call the Red Barn for
clearance before approaching
Oshkosh
for a landing. The Red Barn is the headquarters for ultralight operation,
kind of like the
Oshkosh
tower is for general aviation. Without further delay we took to the air
like a flock of geese heading in an extended line north. The plan was for
the faster planes to circle around a quarry 5 miles west of the
Oshkosh
Airport
until the entire group formed up before making our approach.
Unfortunately we hit a thunder storm that was passing that area and had to
divert further west for our check point. We circled for about 15 minutes
and finally decided to make our approach in the rain which by that time had
almost subsided. Everybody made it in safe but without the fanfare we were
hoping for due to the rain.
Now that we were on the ground the work began. We had to tie down our planes and
set up our camping gear. Before we had finished the sun come out and the
humidity made it feel like we were in a tropical jungle. Of course that
only lasted about 2 hours before the clouds started forming for the next storm.
That’s pretty much how the weather went the whole time we were there.
Every
year our club has volunteers that bring up a pop-up camper and all of our gear.
This year was no exception. We had about 15 nice chairs, 3 of those
portable gazebos, 3 grills, about 7 coolers, and all of the food and drinks we
desired. Each person paid a fee of $45 which covered everything except the
beer; a hell of a deal. During the 3 days I was there I ate like a king.
Big breakfasts and fabulous dinners were all cooked by volunteers amongst us.
Basically everybody helped in some way or another, either with the preparation
or the cleanup. Between 11 and 3 everybody walked around the planes and
exhibits to check out what was new. After 3 it was time to light some
cigars and sit back and enjoy the air show. Later we’d have dinner and
then start the real party. This same scenario repeated itself every day.
I’ll tell you, I would have stayed longer if I could have.
After
checking the weather forecast and Doppler radar, Joe, Neal and I decided to
depart
Oshkosh
Friday at
2pm.
We made our way to
Dacy
Airport
after first refueling at
Watertown
Airport
in
Wisconsin. Dacy is located some 56 miles NW from Clow and was a convenient stop for
everybody. Unfortunately the weather terminal at Dacy showed sever
thunderstorms right over the area Neal and I needed to go. After some
discussion we decided to take our chances and start our final leg home.
Joe’s path was fairly clear so we parted ways but stayed in radio contact.
Of course we had several preplanned airports to divert to in case the weather
worsened during our approach. At the end of this article is a picture of
one of the storm cells that we passed along the way. It was about 5 miles
west of our path but we figured it wasn’t moving fast enough east to catch us.
It didn’t quite work out like we planned because our ground speed was
significantly reduced by a strong headwind that developed just as we got close
to the cell. Still, Neal and I managed to make it safely back to Clow
where we parted ways. I did experience a small amount of rain just as I
entered the pattern but was quite happy when I pulled up in front of my hangar
around
6:30
.
This
years
Oshkosh
trip was challenging. Thanks to good planning and training, everyone made it
home safely.
Other pictures (click for a larger view; press
"back" from your browser to return here):
Where to now?
Home
Oshkosh
or Bust!
Grandpa's
Farm
Quick
Trip to Belvidere
Tommy George's
Chicago
Air and Water Show
Around
the Patch
A Trans-Atlantic Flight!
The Officers
