Not Quite a Cast Of Thousands... But It's Starting To Feel that Way...

As we told you yesterday, ANN is fielding the biggest crew it has ever assembled for its unparalleled of the 2003 rendition of the Annual Oshkosh Aero-Orgy. We profiled three of our veterans last night and God knows, we have more than a few of those despite the fact that several of them have come close to leaving Oshkosh feet first (and that's even without some of the fallout from our sordid exploits at the Acey-Deucy). But tonight, let's chat about some of the newbies... the names and faces you haven't seen all that much of -- so far.

Herewith, More of ANN's Oshkosh 2003 Special Coverage Editorial Team...

Rob Milford

Rob Milford joins the Aero-News team for Oshkosh 2003 wearing two hats, one for Aero-News, and the other for CBS. Rob is a reporter for the CBS Radio Network, and the self-admitted "staff airplane nut." Rob just returned from Baghdad, where he was an embedded reporter with the 2nd Marine Tank Battalion, the unit that lead the attack into Iraq, and Rob's report was the first to confirm the invasion. In the last year, he's covered a half a dozen hurricanes, Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the troubles of American Airlines, and the Columbia Shuttle disaster. For Aero-News, he covered the HAI Convention in Dallas. He is the last Life Member of the Confederate Air Force, has been a flight crew member of the B-17 Texas Raiders for 14 years, and a Colonel in the CAF since 1986. His first Oshkosh was 2001, but he's covered 5 Sun 'n Funs (and lived to tell the tale), and done the radio play-by-play TWICE for Fort Lauderdale's "Air and Sea Show;" and he's a regular airshow announcer.

Aleta Vinas

Aleta tells us that, "When I was a young girl, my father, who was a private pilot, would take me flying in a small two-seater Cessna. I don't remember these flights, but according to my dad, I would sit with my face plastered against the window, chattering incessantly!"

"I believe I was about 12 years old when I realized I wanted to be an astronaut. I 'settled' for a lower altitude and became a pilot."

"I attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach from Jan 1980 - Aug 1985. I earned a B.S. in Aeronautical Science and A.S. in Aviation Management. I earned my CFI-SE and Commercial multi instrument."

"During my first flight instructing job in Houston, Texas I earned my CFII and my ATP single-engine. I have been an instructor in Ft. Lauderdale as well as St. Petersburg (FL). I also had a short stint as a corporate pilot in Hazleton (PA)."

I have over 2,000 hours flying time and significantly more than that in hangar-flying time. I am currently "flying" a desk at Smiths Aerospace; I work customer service for the spare component sales."

"My writing experience includes the Avion, the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University newspaper and work on the Phoenix yearbook, including editor in my junior year. My experience may be limited but the enthusiasm is not."

Klyde Morris

Klyde is REALLY annoyed to hear that Wes Oleszewski is getting credit as his "creator." "'Biographer' is more like it," says Klyde, who will tell us a little more of his background than Oleszewski was willing to chance.

Klyde Morris says he's "an ant, living among the humans." Of course everyone today is far too politically correct to point out the fact that... well... he is just an ant! No one in aviation would dare deny him a job as a pilot, even if he does have to sit on a stack of Jepps books in order to reach the controls, because he may file a complaint with EEOC.

So they find other reasons to hose him.

Of course, if anyone thought about it, they'd realize that ants aren't a minority -- after all, there's a zillion of them crawling around out there.

Klyde's name was the result of Oleszewski's doing, despite Klyde's desire to describe himself a bit more independently. Wes told us that, "The name of the character comes from the street that runs past the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where the cartoon strip was born. I was a freshman there when I was asked to start the strip in the university's student newspaper, the Avion. I wrote the first strips but could not think of a name for the character. The guys in the dorm kept coming by with name suggestions, but nothing worked. Finally I was on the bus headed to campus on my way to turn in the first, but incomplete, strip -- and as the bus pulled onto Clyde Morris Boulevard, I saw the name, and it clicked! I changed the "C" to a "K" and the character was born."

Meet Klyde Morris "Creator" Wes Oleszewski at Oshkosh Fly Market Display Area #802!

FMI: www.aero-news.net