Oshkosh, AirVenture, Mecca, Call It What You Will ... Back on Track!
By Ian Brown, EAA 657159, Editor, Bits and Pieces, Board Member, EAA Canada Council
August 2021 – Precious few Canadians were able to attend AirVenture this year, but those of us who did had a marvellous time. As I mentioned last month the Canadian tent space was repurposed as a rest area next to the International Pavilion. Maybe we can have extra Tim Horton's coffee next year to make up for missed times.
Just spent the Thursday evening prior to Oshkosh week planning/living the experience. One way to participate is to listen to the tower, welcoming arrivals and directing them. Although I'll be arriving in an RV with six wheels, I remember the arrival with my RV-9A landing on the blue dot like it was yesterday.
Arriving on Sunday afternoon, the camping was almost totally full already, a sure sign of pent-up demand for the aviation experience being fulfilled. Camped way out by the dump stations — we seemed to have been selected by the Goodyear Blimp crew to be their turning point for a run down the flightline.
The rallying point for Canadians is often our Canadian tent, just below the control tower. This year the site was repurposed as an open-sided tented area with appropriate spacing of tables so visitors could take a break and decide where they were going next.
Interestingly, one American attendee did stop me to discuss crossing the border. He'd attended our “border crossing” talk for three years and recognized me but still hadn't found the time to make the flight to Canada. Hopefully, easing of restrictions and next year's updated presentation will provide all the encouragement he and many of our other southern neighbours need to pay us a visit.
The control tower was still proudly displaying that “world's busiest” sign, something that impresses the heck out of anyone who sees it.
We will have a more complete article about AirVenture in the September issue. Meanwhile, we hope you have a happy and safe summer now that flying is almost in full swing.
Thanks as always to our contributors. If you'd like to submit an article or send us a comment — positive or negative — don't be shy. We'd love to hear from you and you can contact me directly at newsletter.eaacc@gmail.com.
