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The Official Electronic
Newsletter of EAA
Celebrating 100 Years of
Powered Flight
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2003
July 29-August 4
July 28, 2003 Volume
3, Number 32
During EAA AirVenture Oshkosh
2003, e-HOT LINE will be published on a daily basis with current news and
events directly from EAA AirVenture. Visit the EAA
AirVenture website for full coverage of the event. We welcome your
comments and suggestions to ehotline@eaa.org.
The Latest News From Oshkosh
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Celebrating 100 Years of Powered Flight
Just shy of 100 years ago, Dayton, Ohio, bike shop owners Orville and
Wilbur Wright were on the verge of unlocking the secret of powered flight.
Their breakthrough achievements, culminating with the first manned flights
at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, set off an innovation
chain reaction unlike anything the world had ever seen—one that
continues to this day. We are now to the point where personal flight into
space is not only conceivable, it’s on the horizon. (read
more)
Fixed Again: Boeing 307 Stratoliner
Returns
Following a yearlong re-restoration project, Boeing’s 307 Stratoliner,
the world’s sole remaining example of the first pressurized airliner, is
returning to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. The aircraft, scheduled to arrive
Monday, July 28, will be on display at AeroShell Square throughout the
convention. (read
more)
Who Will Fly the Flyer?
On Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m.,
EAA and its Countdown to Kitty Hawk partners Ford Motor Company, Microsoft
and Eclipse Aviation will announce the Pilot of the Century. The pilot
selected—Dr. Kevin Kochersberger of Honeoye Falls, New York; Terry
Queijo of Trappe, Maryland; Ken Hyde of Warrenton, Virginia; or Chris
Johnson of Manassas, Virginia—will fly EAA’s 1903 Wright Flyer at
Kitty Hawk on December 17, 2003, weather permitting. All four pilots were
first introduced to the public at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2002. (read
more)
Special Pre-Convention Program Tonight
at Theater in the Woods
Seasoned attendees know that An
Evening With Champions, the unofficial kickoff program for EAA AirVenture,
is the best way to begin your week of fun at Oshkosh. The Aviation
Speakers Bureau (www.aviationspeakers.com)
presents four of their aviation speakers to entertain the early birds. (read
more)
Enter EAA’s 5th Annual Patch Jacket
Contest
If you brought your EAA Patch
Jacket to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, you can sign up to be a contestant in
the fifth annual EAA Patch Jacket Contest. To enter, stop by the
Children’s Airplane Activity Center (east of the Forum Buildings and
south of the Warbirds) between 1 and 4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, or
Thursday. The Patch Jacket Coordinator will help you fill out a contest
entry form and snap a few photos of your jacket. (read
more)
Experiences Shared at Speaker Showcase
Some of the most compelling aviation personalities will appear at EAA
AirVenture’s Museum Speaker Showcase during this year’s EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh July 29-August 4. Included on the schedule of more that 70
presentations throughout the week are astronaut and last man to set foot
on the moon, Capt. Gene Cernan, who will give his reflections on the
Apollo space program; and Academy Award-winning
actor Cliff Robertson, who will share his personal aviation and movie
experiences. (read
more)
NASA Shows a Century of Flight at
AirVenture 2003
NASA brings its special new touring Centennial of Flight exhibit to EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh 2003, along with the scheduled arrival of two exotic
NASA research jet aircraft, plus the return of some time-honored favorite
displays in the two NASA buildings, spreading over 16,000 square feet. (read
more)
‘Warbirds in Review’ Returns to EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh
Imagine being up close to some of the most storied military aircraft in
the annals of armed conflict—P-51D; F4U-5 Corsair; F-16 Fighting Falcon;
MKVIII Spitfire—then having the opportunity to hear stories of the men
who flew them, all in an informal AirVenture setting. That’s what the
Warbirds in Review program is all about, a daily mini-seminar about
legendary aircraft, Tuesday through Sunday (July 29-August 3), which
debuted at EAA AirVenture 2002 to rave reviews. (read
more)
AirVenture Celebrates ‘The Chapter
Experience’
2003 is unquestionably the milestone year for aviation, thanks to Orville
and Wilbur Wrights’ century-old success at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
But in 1953, 50 years after that momentous achievement, another notable
first occurred: On the heels of the Experimental Aircraft Association’s
formation earlier that year, EAA’s Chapter 1 was formed at Flabob
Airport, Riverside, California. That local hotbed of homebuilding
activity, home to such aviation legends as Ray Stits, Lou Stolp, Ed
Marquardt and Clayton Stephens, saw EAA as the perfect organization with
which to grow their movement. (read
more)
Instructors, Test Your Preflight Skills
and Win at AirVenture
Flight instructors will again have the opportunity to win great prizes at
EAA AirVenture during preflight contests Wednesday through Saturday at the
Flight Instructor Headquarters. Between 0900 and 1200, a Cirrus SR22 will
be bugged with 10 different squawks that render it unairworthy. Perform
the preflight inspection, identify the bugs, and you could win, place, or
show. (read
more)
‘Like a Big Swap Meet’ -
Buyers, Sellers Connect at EAA AirVenture Aeromart
This is Kettle Moraine (West Bend, Wisconsin) EAA Chapter 1158’s fifth
year running Aeromart at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh—”a big aviation swap
meet” Chairman Mark Landvetter calls it. (read
more)
KidVenture for Kids of All Ages
Kids love EAA AirVenture. They love the unique array of aircraft and
activities gracing the flight line. The air shows dazzle and delight them.
And the showcase AeroShell Square…wait until they get a load of that
Airbus Beluga! But when kids just want to be, well, kids, they head over
to the back of the AirVenture Museum for a visit to KidVenture, open every
day of the convention from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (except 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on
Monday, August 4). (read
more)
Advanced Weather Information During EAA
AirVenture from Meteorlogix
EAA AirVenture sponsor Meteorlogix
will provide free access to FlightBrief.com through August 15, enabling
pilots to generate a performance flight plan and file it from any Internet
connection. You can access FlightBrief.com through the AirVenture website,
www.airventure.org. (read
more)
Forget Your Tiedowns for the North 40?
See EAA Chapter 444
Tiedowns are required for all aircraft parked in the North 40—the area
along Runway 9/27. For those of you who forgot to bring tiedowns, EAA
Chapter 444 of Appleton, Wisconsin, has a solution. The members of Chapter
444 will sell you a set of tiedowns for $20 and install the ground anchors
for you. When you leave Oshkosh, you can take the tiedowns with you, or
Chapter 444 will buy them back for $10. (read
more)
Behind the Scenes of AV 2003 - No Task
Too Big or Too Small
EAA staff, volunteers, and so many others perform thousands of
behind-the-scenes tasks, from the miniature to the colossal, from the
ordinary to the extraordinary, to prepare for EAA AirVenture. This year
was no different. Tim Johnson, a member of the AirVenture Museum’s
restoration team, rid the Paris diorama of all its dust and dirt in the
Spirit of St. Louis Exhibit. Manned with a backpack vacuum and small
cleaning attachment, Tim painstakingly vacuumed the miniature city made of
Legos. “There must be a million Legos in that exhibit,” said Tim.
Actually, there are 40,108 Legos, give or take a few, according to EAA
security guard Bruce Baier, whose two sons helped build the exhibit in
1989. Whatever the exact number, Paris never looked better. (read
more)
Welcome Wagons Ready to Transport EAA
Homebuilders
One of the special “perks” for homebuilders who fly their aircraft to
EAA AirVenture is getting chauffeured from their parked airplanes to the
Homebuilders Headquarters in an EAA Welcome Wagon. These modified
minivans, created and meticulously maintained by a dedicated crew of
volunteers, create an honor of sorts for those people who embody the core
of the Experimental Aircraft Association: homebuilders. (read
more)
Couple Meet, Then Wed at AirVenture
With the sound of an airplane buzzing overhead, Tom Brown and Rhonda
Fronczak said “I do” to each other on Saturday, July 26, at EAA’s
Fergus Chapel. That in itself is not terribly unusual—weddings are held
there all the time. Tom and Rhonda’s story is, however, worth an
explanation. The now Mr. and Mrs. Brown met by chance at EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh 2001, two years ago to the day of their nuptials, near the
Ultralight area. (read
more)
Sport Pilot Center Opens at EAA
AirVenture
With the Sport Pilot/Light-Sport Aircraft rule looming ever closer, EAA
again operates its Sport Pilot Center at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2003. The
center, located east of the FAA building. Convention visitors can get the
latest information regarding pilot certification, eligible aircraft and
ASTM standards, and training requirements. Manufacturers of
light-sport-eligible aircraft will also display their aircraft adjacent to
the center. (read
more)
National Air Tour Aircraft at EAA
AirVenture
More than a dozen vintage and classic aircraft taking part in this
fall’s re-creation of the National Air Tour (NAT) will be at EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh 2003. They will be on display parked just east of the
Red Barn in the Vintage Aircraft Association area. (read
more)
Getting Here is Half the Fun
Most of us pilots can identify with the motto of the Cunard Steamship line
that promised, “Getting there is half the fun!” In fact, for us,
getting to most places is often much more than half the fun–it’s the
reason we fly. The fun of being here at AirVenture may be equal to that of
the flights to get here. This year, getting to Oshkosh, was supposed to be
more fun for me because the panel of my Cessna Cardinal was going to be
fitted with some of the latest and greatest avionics available. (read
more)
ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital On Display at
AeroShell Square
One of the world’s most unique examples of a humanitarian aircraft, the
ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital, is on static display at the showcase ramp,
AeroShell Square. The ORBIS is a modified DC-10 airliner that flies to
developing nations around the world each year, working to save sight
through hands-on training, public health education, and improved access to
eye care. (read
more)
2003 Type Club Dinners and Meetings at
AirVenture
EAA is the one place that brings together type club members from across
the country, even the world. Here is the schedule of type club meetings
and dinners for the week July 29-August 4. (read
more)
Federal Pavilion in 13th Year at EAA
AirVenture
There’s one place at EAA AirVenture that brings together numerous United
States and Canada federal agencies under one roof for the convenience of
AirVenture attendees: the EAA AirVenture Federal Pavilion, which will host
the Can-Am partnership’s 13th year. The building is located along the
flight line two buildings north of the EAA Sky Shop. (read
more)
Around the Field
John Vasos is attending his first ever EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. He first
learned to fly in the late ’60s when he was 18. “Me and my buddy
decided we wanted to be bush pilots in Alaska.” So for $7 an hour
in a Cessna 150, and another $5 for an instructor, John managed to solo in
about 15 hours. He had a few flying adventures back then, but financial
reality eventually forced him to quit flying. (read
more)
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