The Antique/Classic Red Barn... Fly-bys of the AirVenture "Ornithopter"... and Wisconsin's "California Burger" (010)

"Around the Field" at the 1998 Oshkosh Fly-in, AirVenture 010

Here is an excerpt from Volume One of "Around the Field: The stories of the people places and planes of the Oshkosh Fly-in". Excerpt from July 1998.

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Changes are everywhere. The traditional Oshkosh fly-in admission badge buttons, that are made by the Antique/Classics Division, have been updated to reflect the new fly-in look and logo. They now sport the AirVenture emblem with a bold "98" in the background.

The new buttons can be had for a dollar each at the Antique/Classic Red Barn east of the Theatre in the Woods.

Yes, we have no avocado. The food gets better every year. Clearly someone is thinking about the fly-in's food offerings and making improvements each year. But we would like to know what there is about a hamburger with cheese, onions, lettuce, and tomato that makes it a "California Burger"?

Would you ride an airplane with one of these things? Regular fly-in attendees will have seen the Ornithopter. It's the tongue-in-cheek, mostly wooden, wing-flapping, wing-walker-carrying, contraption that rolls around the grounds. Well the Ornithopter is the mascot for a more serious, historic exhibit of working, antique engines at the north edge of the big West Ramp.

Steve Hay, Jim Hay and Joe Kohli will tell you about the workings of four historic aircraft engines. The 1913 Gnome Rotary, the Henderson Engine, the 1902 Manly Engine and, our favorite, the 1903 Wright Engine.

You can not only look but touch too. "You can touch everything," says Steve. "We have rags," adds Joe.

When Steve fires up the 1903 Wright, and it starts belching smoke and going chunka-chunka, we found ourselves imagining what it was like that day 95 years ago on the sand dunes, as the Wrights flew that fragile looking plane.

Sixty seconds later, when the engine finally coughs to a halt Steve says, "One minute. The length of the longest flight that day."

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Learn more about Volume One of "Around the Field: The stories of the people places and planes of the Oshkosh Fly-in" and other books by Jack Hodgson here.

General Aviation, Flying, Airplanes, EAA, Experimental Aircraft Association, Wittman Field