By Aleta*

I admit it. I'm a newbie to Oshkosh and EAA AirVenture.

Oh, sure, I've been to airshows, even to the Reno Air Races but I was not prepared for what was spread out before me at AirVenture. My visit to the airshow was to be a double-edged sword; I was going as media, meaning I was working and had articles to write, BUT I would be at AirVenture for four and a half days!

My first view of Wittman Field was actually that night after being picked up from the Milwaukee Airport. I was not impressed. The next morning, however, as the field came into view, in the light of day, amazement took over. A sea of General Aviation airplanes was spread out before me. The word 'wow' came out of my mouth several times in the course of a minute, along with some colorful expletives.

I expected to see signs saying Chip & Dale or Minnie parking lot.

My first day was spent gathering info for the couple of articles I was assigned, as well as scoping out the best freebies. I have to say my alma mater, Embry-Riddle, did rather well; pens, blow-up airplanes, oven mitts, they even had popcorn. There was a dead heat for second with Exxon giving away those cool tiger tails, which disappeared as soon as they were put out and The Discovery Channel which gave out little personal fans, which came in handy.

With my freebies and notes in hand, I set about writing my articles in the ANN 'News-Center' but the call of the jet engines, props and the big ol' radial engines continuously lured me out to watch their performances.

On succeeding days, I did manage to cover more territory, in addition to gathering the material for my articles. AirVenture was aircraft overload. Rows of Mustangs, Corsairs, T-6s and other WWII champions sat shined and polished, sunning themselves in the Warbird area. Rows of Cessnas, Pipers, Mooneys, Grummans, homebuilts and more, with tents alongside for their occupants. These were only the rows of aircraft flown in by their owners. This doesn't even include the "owned" aircraft that were on display, many available for tours such as the Orbis DC-10, The Beluga and more.

Ford Tri-motors were displayed next to jet fighters, which were next to small 4 place 'personal' jets, which were next to the pavilion housing the reproduction of the Wright Flyer, scheduled to fly on Dec 17, 2003, to celebrate 100 years of aviation. There were also bright, shiny new models for sale by Aerocat Amphibian, Cirrus, Diamond, Eclipse, Extra, Lancair, Piaggio and others reaching to my credit card (as if I even have enough for a down payment).

As I looked at these planes beckoning me from every direction, I risked falling flat on my face because the airshow being played out skyward was once again competing for my attention and winning. I continued walking, risking a crash at any moment as I craned my neck skyward watching things I shouldn't be seeing - the wingtips are not supposed to be pointing in the direction of flight (and it wasn't the Harrier), aircraft are not supposed to somersault around some imaginary axis never taught in school. Which axis runs from right front to left rear of the plane? Most of all I should not be hearing a jet engine coming out of a biplane. Jimmy Franklin souped up his Waco, to guarantee he's got the fastest biplane on the block.

The airplanes are not the only part of Oshkosh. The vendors, including the typical overpriced food concessions, were spread across four hangars, the Fly Market and in some of the pavilions. I spent my allowance in the first two days. You can find anything and everything for you and your aircraft, even items you didn't even know you needed, like the DVD/CD/Radio entertainment center for the plane. You could also stumble upon legends like Bob Hoover, (who graciously signed his autograph and posed for a photo with me), Chuck Yeager, Sean D. Tucker, Patty Wagstaff, astronauts, SR-71 pilots and other flying greats.

Aside from the airshow, the aircraft static displays and the vendors, there are forums on everything from welding to regulations, life on the International Space Station, the aviation job market, spins, SR-71 flying and almost any topic you're interested in. There are approximately 15 forums going on at any given time so some serious cloning is in order to be able to see it all. AirVenture does have CDs of the forums available for sale. If that weren't enough and if you're not dead tired from walking around all day, there are evening programs, sponsored by Nestle, with aviation greats like Chuck Yeager, Neil Armstrong and descendants of the Wright Brothers. Do I even need to mention the hangar flying?

There is nothing like the aviation immersion of EAA AirVenture. The best part? Getting pinched by aviation legend Scott Crossfield and even making the guys jealous…

FMI: www.airventure.org