CHAPTER 11 - Oshkosh

About this time, Oshkosh came up. Since I was geographically so close, I decided to attend my first gathering. Judi and I turned my pickup into a Conestoga with a tarp and some long pieces of wood strip, and set up camp in Camp Scholler. Boy, did the weather turn hot!

However, it was a terrific time. Of course I tried to see everything and failed. I did stop daily at Van's display and checked out the new RV-8. I also walked the line and examined all the RVs, especially the -6As. You can see a couple that caught my eye in the photos. I also had to check out the famous RVs: Jon Johanson's Around-the-World cruiser, the Vanguard Squadron, and the all polished aluminum RV. The latter was terrific with attention to detail, but was hard to look at in the blazing sun; I think I'll be happy with a paint job, instead.

I also got my factory demo ride. Ok, I was already sold, but I still wanted to see how it felt in the air. So I climbed aboard and blasted off for the time of my life. Great views of Oshkosh and the lake from the air were secondary to the fun of flying in an RV at last! It was over way too soon for me, but I replay every detail in my mind as I work on my plane. What an inspiration! If you get a chance, you have to do this yourself.