Around the Field

Ron Wiener and Gay Hamilton are first cousins. And until this year at AirVenture, they had never met.

A few weeks before this year’s fly-in Ron, who is from Arizona, was talking to a business associate in Los Angeles. Ron mentioned that he was heading to Oshkosh and the associate said, "Oh, I have another customer who’s going there, too."

"I said, who’s that?" says Ron, "because I used to be in the L.A. area. And I thought I knew most of the people in that type of business."

Ron recognized the last name. "So we got on the phone and discovered we were first cousins."
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AIRVENTURE HIGHLIGHT:
EDUCATIONAL FORUMS AND WORKSHOPS

EAA AirVenture's Honda Forums Plaza draws the very best from the aviation world. There are literally hundreds of innovators, authorities, authors, and experts who share and exchange information on virtually every aspect of flight. It is the most comprehensive collection of aviation knowledge available anywhere.

EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh 2006
Photo Highlight of the Day

Ultralights fly at sunset over Oshkosh. Photo by Chris Miller
See more photos in the 2006 AirVenture Photo Gallery

The Latest from EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2006
July 24 - 30, 2006

e-Hotline Brings EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2006 to You
Get a daily dose of the World's Greatest Aviation Celebration with e-Hotline, EAA's electronic newsletter. Every day throughout the fly-in, we'll bring EAA AirVenture highlights, as they appear in the official convention publication, EAA AirVenture Today. This year's line-up features everything from sport pilot/light-sport aircraft to civilian space flight, vintage, warbirds, and the people who fly them. For those of you preparing for OSH, we can't wait to see you! For the rest of you, look for us every day in your in-box!

Follow It! During EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2006, e-Hotline 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. Live EAA Radio! Streamed live to you from EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2006! - Showcase fly-bys - Live Air Show coverage - Arrivals and departures - Taped and live interviews - EAA Information and more. EAA AirVenture Oshkosh Photo Gallery Each day will feature new photos of the grounds, events, forums, exhibits, people, air shows and many other daily highlights. AirVenture Video Highlights Video highlights of activities, aircraft, personalities and more starting tomorrow.

The official daily newspaper of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

A broader selection at the LSA Mall this year
Last year at this time, the list of certified special light-sport aircraft (S-LSA) included 14 models. In what may become an AirVenture tradition, a number of those models were gathered together at the LSA Mall. That tradition continues here at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2006, only now there are a lot more certified S-LSA models at this year’s mall, many of which are available for viewing and for sale. Read more  

Gathering of Eagles event tops the $1 million mark
EAA garnered record support in its annual fundraiser, The Gathering of Eagles, held Thursday night at the EAA AirVenture Museum’s Eagle Hangar. More than 1,000 members of the aviation community attended the gala event, and when the night was over, more than $1.3 million was raised to support EAA’s youth inspiration and education mission: promote the future of, and build a legacy for, aviation. Read more  

Largest kit builder working on LSA
With Cessna, one of the world’s largest general aviation aircraft manufacturers, expected to enter into the S-LSA market, it only seems reasonable that the largest manufacturer of kit airplanes would enter it, too. Read more  

Dueling DUATS
Automated weather briefings, flight planning may be endangered
DUATS(Direct User Access Terminal System), the online automated weather briefing and flight planning and filing service, may be endangered, according to the two companies that currently provide the free service to pilots under contract with the FAA. These two vendors (DTC and CSC) are spreading the word here at EAA AirVenture about the potential shutdown. Read more  

Cessna’s Jack Pelton receives Key to the City award
When Jack Pelton was 13 years old, he flew with his father to his first EAA fly-in and convention at Oshkosh in a Cessna 140 from their home in Southern California. On Friday morning, Pelton, president and CEO of Cessna Aircraft Corporation, was given the Oshkosh Key to the City Award at the 17th annual Mayor’s Breakfast event downtown. Read more  

After 35 years of AirVentures, FAA staffer to retire
Mike Simon was an FAA staffer here at Wittman Field back when the EAA Oshkosh fly-in first came to town. And this year he’s back again, volunteering to support the radio and other electronics facilities, for one last time before he retires after 35 years. Read more  

Mustangs and Legends to gather for the last time
In what is being billed as the The Final Roundup, P-51 Mustangs, their owners, their pilots and the legendary veterans who made it one of the most recognizable airplanes in the world, will gather in Columbus, Ohio, September 27th to 30th, 2007. Read more

AeroShell Square Building to honor memory of Daryl Lenz
Daryl Lenz, who worked as EAA’s director of aircraft maintenance for many years, perished in a traffic accident earlier this year. Daryl, who resigned from EAA in August 2004 to take a teaching job at Fox Valley Technical College in Oshkosh, still retained the role of organizing and managing aircraft attractions on AeroShell Square during EAA AirVenture. Daryl also worked closely with the sport pilot and aircraft maintenance offices. Read more

The longest route to Oshkosh
Mike Buser didn’t take the straightest route to Oshkosh, but it might have been the most beautiful one. Buser left Ubatuba, Brazil, on July 1, flying his Pelican with its 100-hp Rotax engine and 100-knot cruising speed. About 11,000 miles later, he arrived at EAA AirVenture 2006 on July 23. He’s staying throughout the week and will begin his flight back to Brazil next week. Read more

B-1 pilot flies Young Eagles in his Bonanza
In 1993, when David Marten was 15, he took a Young Eagles flight in a Beechcraft Staggerwing. It was his first flight in a small airplane. "The pilot, an old Air Force instructor, let me take the controls," he recalled. "He basically taught me the maneuvers and explained everything so I was more comfortable. It was not just a ride." Read more

ASTM standards support development and safety of LSA
Representatives from ASTM International, EAA, the FAA, and various aerospace manufacturers met Wednesday at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh to review progress on developing standards and to discuss the possible needs for additional standards for general aviation. Read more

For NASA staff, AirVenture is unique
If you think EAA AirVenture Oshkosh crowds respect NASA’s accomplishments, you should hear what the NASA staffers at this year’s show have to say about the EAA audience. "Everything and anything that is aviation-oriented is at Oshkosh," says Frank Cutler, earth sciences capabilities specialist from NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in California’s Mojave Desert. Frank, who owns a 1957 Piper Pacer, smiles as he pronounces the AirVenture variety "almost overwhelming." This is Frank’s first year staffing the NASA exhibit building. He enjoys the cross-section of aviation enthusiasts who visit AirVenture, ranging from novice to professional. "We all love airplanes," he adds. Does he want to return next year to help NASA’s exhibit? "I’m going to try every year I can," Frank says enthusiastically. Read more

Autogiro: a "bottle rocket" with radial
Back in their day, autogiros had the best safety record of any aircraft type, according to Ron Herron. Because of that fact and a desire to replicate the classic lines of the early examples from Cierva and Pitcairn and Kellet, he set out to build a fun-to-fly autogiro, with a decidedly retro look. Read more

FAA proposes removing area proficiency requirements for Warbirds
Current FAA regulations covering civilian-owned and -operated military and surplus aircraft are based on the assumption that these aircraft will be flown for exhibition purposes only, not simply used for personal transportation. The regulations allow certain aircraft to operate only within a specified distance from their home airports. Turbine-powered aircraft, like the Beech T-34 Mentor, can currently operate only 600 miles from their home bases. Piston-powered aircraft, including WWII warbirds, are limited to operating within 300 miles of home. (FAA regulations do permit straight-line flights of longer distances to reach air shows or for maintenance or proficiency training.) Read more

SkyWatch chosen for WMU fleet
L-3 Communications Corp. this week announced that the Western Michigan University (WMU) College of Aviation selected its SkyWatch collision avoidance system for its entire aircraft fleet. The WMU has the third-largest collegiate fleet and the largest Cirrus collegiate fleet in the nation. Current aircraft include Cirrus SR20 and SR22s, Piper Arrows, and Piper Seneca IV and Vs, all either already equipped or soon to be equipped with SkyWatch systems. Read more

EAA Annual Meeting today at Theater in the Woods
All EAA members are encouraged to attend the annual business meeting of the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc. today at Theater in the Woods starting at 10 a.m. EAAers in attendance have the opportunity to cast votes to elect eight Class I directors (three-year term). Read more

Sennheiser introduces HMEC 460
Sennheiser rolled out its newest headset this month, the HMEC 460. The HMEC 460 is an active noise-canceling beauty that offers enhanced convenience and audio. Its state-of-the-art NoiseGuard active noise reduction system can be powered by either the aircraft’s electrical system or a pair of AA batteries. Should the pilot choose, the active noise cancellation can be switched off; the HMEC 460 also operates as a superb passive headset. Read more

A really big show
Ed Sullivan used to promise viewers a "really big show" and gave impersonators a phrase on which to hang their spiels. The EAA also promised a really big show and there’s no question, it delivered. The news this year has been enough to keep my colleague Robert Goyer sprinting between press conferences and his computer. We’ve been intrigued by and speculated about Cessna’s promises of future products and proofs of concept. Garmin made its 396 into a 496 and surprised a lot of us with its G600 and G900X displays; Cirrus’s announcement of a turbocharged airplane wasn’t a complete surprise but something else to write about. Honda made news with the announcement it’s going to go ahead with production of the HondaJet with Piper as a sales and service support partner. And Eclipse came very close to its promise of an end-of-June certification for the Eclipse 500 when its provisional type certificate was delivered here on Thursday. Read more

Around the Field
Dawn patrol at Wittman Field... a long-lost family...a history buff...and preparing to wander home. Read more

Ask Tom
EAA members and attendees who have questions regarding aviation, AirVenture or EAA, feel free to drop them off at the AirVenture Today office just north of the control tower, or e-mail asktom_airventure@hotmail.com and Tom will attempt to answer them. Please be sure to include your name and where you are from. Read more