The Very Best (And Worst) of Oshkosh 2004! (Part One)

Compiled By The Staff and Readership of the Aero-News Network

For quite a while, we have recognized the highs and lows inherent in the general and sport aviation community. There are but a few places where that is more a propos than at a major event like the Oshkosh Fly-In.

It's hard to know what really is going to make a difference and what really qualifies as exceptional unless you've been watching this industry carefully for several years... as we have.

Unlike past years, ANN readers remarks were heavily incorporated into ALL aspects of this report, and not just the Aircraft awards and such. Their contributions are specifically noted when a particular attribute is based primarily on an individual's report.

Our Annual Best Plane of the Year Selections (tentatively announced after Oshkosh and finalized at year's end) will follow this series shortly… we're having a REALLY hard time making a decision this year - and the reasons might surprise you.

So... here are our picks for the Best and Worst of this year's Oshkosh... and why we think so:

Best Aircraft of Show (Overall)

Cory Bird's Symmetry. This was pretty much a unanimous vote by all of us at ANN. It was pure poetry to the eyes, and as perfectly crafted a SportPlane as we have ever seen. Simply beautiful...

Best Ultralight/Ultralight Trainer

Kolb Mark III Xtra. Homer's legacy lives on! A rugged bird, the demo machine at Oshkosh was fitted with a beautifully engineered float system that begged one to take it everywhere. Nicely done! 

• Runner(s)-Up: Earthstar Odyssey. A great (and capable) plane that the manufacturer always flies  to Oshkosh -- from California.

Best "Affordable Flyer

New GlaStar's Sportsman 2 + 2. Fly this with your eyes closed and you'll swear that you're flying a GlaStar… which is a really good thing… but open your eyes, and see all the extra room and payload, and you'll know that the seemingly perfect little GlaStar SportPlane has finally been topped… by it's own kin. (Jim Campbell, ANN's E-I-C and Chief Test Pilot)

• Runner(s)-Up: Flight Designs CT... One of the prettiest "imports" we've seen so far... and supported by one of the finest companies in the entire business, FlightStar.

Best High Performance Kit Aircraft

Van's RV-10. Van's first four place is gaining headway as a popular and rugged family flyer. The new quick-build kits can only help to keep it that way, when they become available.

• Runner(s)-Up: Jeff Ackland's beautiful 200 kt Radial Rocket, a two place tandem hotrod, powered by a single M-14P radial engine. A truly distinctive design.

Best Rotorcraft

AAI Sparrowhawk gyroplane. Beautifully crafted, it's about time that someone really took gyroplane engineering and aerodynamics, seriously.

I Gotta Get Me One Of These

The Diamond DA42. Dear God, outside of the thought of a few hours alone (Yes, I'm an optimist) with Meg Ryan… nothing got my blood boiling quite as much as the incredibly curvy and aeronautically inviting DA42 Twinstar… this has to be one of the prettiest certified airplanes I have ever seen.. and to ability to cruise around on Jet A and burn so little of it makes this baby a cheap date of the finest kind. I want REALLY bad… (ANN Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell)

Best Construction

Steve Culp's Sopwith Pup. If T.O.M. Sopwith had built planes like that the war would have been over by Christmas 1916. The man is not an airplane builder, he's an artist (which still does NOT forgive him for stealing our girl….).

Best Certified Aircraft

Diamond DA42. It was no contest… and if we had done a flight test on the bird, we have a feeling that it would have won the Best Plane of the Year honors we're currently deliberating.

• Runner(s)-Up: Cirrus Design SR22-G2. The way that this bird has evolved is more than impressive… it seems inspired.
• Runner(s)-Up: Lancair Columbia 400. This is the baddest mudder in the single-engine piston GA inventory… 235 knots… need we say more?
• Runner(s)-Up: New Taylorcraft, F22 flyaway FOB Texas, $60k. Standard or Special Light Sport Aircraft certified!

Funkiest Aircraft

The Helio/Caterpillar/Turbo Porter/Locomotive/Boeing/Flying-Scrapyard or whatever the dickens that was... (Kevin O'Brien)

Best Display Aircraft

Sikorsky S-38. Either one of them! Only Oshkosh could attract two such birds… (Kevin O'Brien)

• Runner(s)-Up: Bob Scherer's Beech Starship. This is the chase bird that ANN's Jim Campbell rode to get those amazing photos of the record-flight of SpaceShipOne… one of the few left that Beech didn't turn into scrap (a scarilege of the highest order, say we). Bob loves this thing… and from our most recent experience, he's got good reason to… we were boogying along in REALLY close formation with a mothership/rocketship at 43,000 feet with a 9000 foot cabin altitude while flying along with excellent authority. Name me all the twin-turboprops that can do that.

Hottest Prospect (not yet evaluated)

Diamond DA42. We simply have NOT seen a new GA airplane make this big of an impression on the GA public in decades. The curvy lines, incredible economy, emphasis on TRUE cutting edge technologies and the not-inconsiderable appeal of Diamond's customer support, make this a bird that we expect to set all kinds of records for the foreseeable. Just as Eclipse has kicked the Very Light Jet industry in the butt, Diamond has totally set the light twin market on its ear.

To Be Continued...

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