Vern's Bit Sep 2003

September 2003

So I did go to Oshkosh and what a long week it was. Airplanes!! I have never seen so many! For those that have been there, the aircraft parking was as far as the eye could see, and I read in the EAA daily rag it was 5.2 miles long. Eight to ten planes wide every hundred feet. In any case, a bunch had to go to other airports because it was full. Something of a Spam Can Paradise and if you could recognize each of them you were a G A gen-man. A sort of, "If it's been built, it is here!" I think there was special effort for the One Hundred Years of Flight Celebration. What amazes me, they all sleep in tents under the wing. Visitors? Well, the crowd was definitely down in numbers, and we did have several days of heavy rain showers.

Did not see much new in the Ultralight area, a new sailplane by Davron, The Mini Stratton D 9. Nice, but still aways from production.

The new engine that was shown at Sun N Fun had been fitted to a new Alliance Destiny Fusion Powered Parachute. Built by Gilmore Racing From Plymouth. A three cylinder, 100 horsepower, it sounded kinda funny starting up. but when it got going it was normal, all those gee - gees on a Powered Parachute, power wasted in my view. But it's a test bed at this stage.

A new Oshkosh addition is a team of volunteers. P.O. P. (protect our planes). Eight or more going about in pairs, and on scooters. That's just in the Ultralight area. I did not see them anywhere else. It was like the Gestapo and acting like them, even going into the vendors booth's checking for smokers, and leaving notes

if the vendors spot was not occupied by staff. You have no right to want to pee! " A good job they did, too"? Yeah, Right? (Two planes were vandalized), and they had no answer to that. I really don't like to knock the EAA but they do make some bloody stupid decisions at times, they upset a lot of people. It costs a lot of money to show your wares and they should not go out of their way to antagonize.

The good news is Chairman Chas Humphrey has retired after ten years, bad news he is still coming to Sun 'N Fun.

Yes, I did go up and work on the brand new tower built by Jim Beckman whilst the powered Parachutes flew. It is a copy of ours at Sun 'N Fun that the F.F.G built in 1993. Jim has made a very fine job of it. Frank and Mark are well pleased with his skills.

A S C has bought Sun' N Fun, (no Paradise City) a new tower which will have air conditioning. OK so I might use it, but then again I might not. Get off my butt, Charles!

Two planes had a mishap, a Sky Raider with an M Z engine which did not seem to have the power on take off and made a mess of that. I am told it was a write off. The other was the cathedral stained glass window wing version CGS Hawk, undercarriage repair a days work and it was back in the air. Thankfully, no one was hurt in either accident.

New trike called an Astra, something similar to a Peqasus from England, which they no longer import. Pegasus had to defend themselves in a court case which cost them $80,000 to prove they were innocent. Par for the course in the good ole U S of A. Remember Wayne Ison Mini max Airbike.