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Europa-List: Oshkosh, Europa & People

Subject: Europa-List: Oshkosh, Europa & People
From: JEFF ROBERTS <jeff@rmmm.net>
Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2008 16:13:06
I hope this doesn't bore too many of you but a personal experience that 
was close to the feeling of my first flight is just too good to not 
share.
  I wasn't planning on going but last Monday the weather between 
Nashville and KOSH was perfect. My wife could see that I was itching to 
go so even though she was afraid for me to fly into Oshkosh, she gave 
me her green light. I had friends that drove up and were camping, so a 
tent and some personal things were all I needed stuffed into Gold Rush 
and I was off!
I had a fantastic time flying over the farm lands and new windmills of 
the midwest are beautiful at 3500. I had no problem flying into the 
busy whitman field, but I must report that I cheated a bit going in.  I 
flew into Dodge county just 25 mils south of Whitman, pitched my tent 
and waited for an early and hopefully slower traffic arrival. A great 
evening and some new friends were found there. My decision was spot on 
as you say. I found it very easy to get in line at Ripen the next 
morning as the traffic was light. The weather was perfect and they 
we're using a straight into approach to runway 9. In fact it was easier 
than flying into some of the Saturday breakfasts around here. 
Approaching KOSH from the air on a crisp morning, seeing a thousand 
planes and campers on the ground with the lake in the background was 
the most beautiful sight these eyes have seen in years.  I'm happy to 
report I can now scratch flying my homebuilt to Oshkosh off my bucket 
list. To some that do it every year I'm sure it's not a big deal but to 
me it was the next best thing to ___! I may even do it again next year 
if the weather agrees. I got to talk to other Europa builders and 
enjoyed every minute of it! On the way back I needed to make two 
diversions because of weather. One of these stops caused 10 other Air 
venture planes to drop down into Rockford IL. Even that turned into 
something special. Two total strangers... one flying a 152 and the 
other a Rans headed for Georgia became instant friends. I had to spend 
the night but by the next day we I had two new, crazy aviation buddies! 
I don't use the term crazy lightly on these guys. ;o) On my second 
(forced by low ceilings) stop in Madison KY I had a great experience 
with a slow FBO that gave me a car to go eat lunch and to wait for 
things to improve.
There is nothing special in this posting except this. Aviation has 
given me more experiences and better friends than anything else I've 
ever done. The EAA and the show at KOSH are great but it's the quality 
of people that it attracts that make it special. Wether it be there, 
Sun-N-Fun or any other aviation event that I may visit in the future. I 
don't believe I will need to second guess my decision to NOT install 
locks on N128LJ. Happy flying to you all, and remember it's the people 
that make what we do so special.

Regards,

Jeff R.
A258 - N128LJ / Gold Rush 140 hours and climbing.


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