Kirks Pictures from OshKosh 2000

The Super Guppy

Looking like it's in severe need of a lobotomy, NASA's Super Guppy was onhand. It spent the week looming over the crowd. After getting over the weirdness I began finding it's gleeming bulbousness quite beautiful. Given time it grows on you. Really!

There's reason behind the shape. The entire nose section pivots away, leaving this huge opening. NASA uses the Super Guppy to transport large rocket components across country. Without the Guppy it would take months to move these parts via ocean going freighters, as the parts are too large for road or even railway transportation.

And yes, it DOES fly. Actually, it looked a lot less awkward once it got airborn. Gracefull, even.

The Racers

I just love shiny P-51 Mustangs in the sun. This one was part of the air racing display, and flew most days.

This one's a replica of a 1930's racer, one of many such replica's on hand, along with the GeeBees.

This is a WWII era Hawker Sea Fury. This plane, like many WWII warbirds, participates in the Reno Air races. There's a fair amount of controversy over racing old warbirds. One line of thought says that racing is too hard on them, and is causing too many of them to be damaged and wrecked. Another line of thought says that the Reno races have SAVED these planes from the scrap heaps.

Several years ago the idea that anyone would fly a GeeBee again would have brought laughter. Well, here's two flying replica's, and there was a third just around the corner. This years Oshkosh theme was "Speed," and these GeeBees were all at the show as part of the racing aircraft display. (The red and white one in the background was flown during the show by Delmar Benjamin, as well.)

The plane you are looking at is a piece of history. If you don't follow Formula 1 aircraft racing you've probably never seen or heard of Jon Sharp and his plane, Nemesis. But I don't know of any other sport which has been so completely dominated so consistently for so long. For the last half dozen years or so this plane and pilot combination has won nearly every race they entered. The few times they lost it was due to mechanical failure, and even that seemed to happen less often to them than to their competition. Nemesis is now retired, having flown its last flight at this years Oshkosh 2000. It will be restored and given a home at the EAA Museum. Rumor has it that Jon Sharp is working on a replacement, and perhaps a larger, sportplane kit version?

Seaplanes

If you ever go to Oshkosh I highly recommend that you take a half day, or even a full day, and head out to the Vette Seaplane base. It's a great place to chill out from the hustle of the main Oshkosh show. Lots of shade trees, a nice breeze coming off of Lake Winnebago, good food and talk, and a running show of people operating their seaplanes. It's really pretty cool.

Here's one landing. Depending on the wind direction you can get a pretty good look. This guy has just slowed down after landing. When planes first land they "skip" across the water surface. Then, as the pilot reduces power and the plane slows down, it reaches a speed where it can no longer skip, and it settles down "off the step." I took this shot just as this plane started settling. Neat stuff.

Back at the main show, there were MORE seaplanes. The blue color on this Grumman was just beautiful. I'm not sure this picture, especially on the web, can do it justice.

This is a PBY Catalina converted for civilian use. This big glass bubble was an observation and gunnery window when this plane was used for over water search and rescue operations. Now that the big seaplane has been converted into a sort of amphibious flying yacht, these bubbles provide what must be the most glorious view in any stateroom on the planet. Besides, it's painted like a big turle to boot! In the contest to die with all the best toys, these people are WAY ahead of us all.

Ultralights

This is a line of ultralights waiting to take off. They have their own grass strip down at the south end of the Oshkosh showgrounds, and they fly before and after every day of the airshow.

This ultralight was just about to land. I don't think the crosswind was strong enough to require this much of a side slip. I think he was just showing off and having a good time. It was fun to watch.

Twin Engine Jet and Prop Powered Biplane... Huh?

This is a twin engine Waco Biplane. The first engine is the traditional radial prop engine up front. The second engine is a TURBINE TAKEN FROM A CITATION JET. (Inside the tube underneath the fusilage, mostly hidden by smoke.) I first saw this at last years Oshkosh 1999, and it was still giving me giggles in 2000. Believe me, you haven't lived till you've seen this. One minute it's doing traditional big biplane stuff. Slow rolls, flop over the top loops, that kind of thing. Then it lights the turbine, gets up a head of steam, and pulls the nose straight up. And keeps going. And Keeps GOING. And GOING. Biplanes aren't supposed to do this, are they?

Pretty Planes, Odd Planes, Pretty Odd Planes

This was a very modified E-Racer, a Long EZ variant. The workmanship was impecable, looking more like a street hot rod than a flying airplane. For example, look in the engine bay. Purple flame paint job? Gotta love it.

I just thought this was a pretty cool paintjob for a factory built plane.

This plane was designed by, I think, the University of Mississippi. It was built for testing in Saudi Arabia, and was intended to be landed on sand. (Hence the big, fat skiis.) Apparently it worked fine, but the concept wasn't developed any further.

This plane had people scratching their heads all week. I never talked to the future dealers. It looks like it's planned to be a 4 person land plane, even though that engine mount looks like it's set up for a seaplane. I could see benefits to the design. Plenty of visability (the front is mostly clear plexiglass), short main gear for strength (I assume, this mockup/prototype had no gear installed), and a prop WELL protected from foreign object damage. However, it looked like it might wind up being very heavy, and the engine cowling didn't look big enough for much horsepower, and that big arch that supports the engine? Still, odder things have flown, and flown well. I'll be interested in seeing how it's progressed next year.

A Passing Era

In the land of warbirds, P-47 Thunderbolts are becoming very, very rare. Big and expensive to maintain, there just aren't many people with the resources to keep one airborn. I took this shot, thinking that I may not see two of these birds side by side again.

The Homebuilding Spirit

This is my "Spirit of Oshkosh" shot. I have no idea who this guy is. I don't know what his plane is. I suspect that he is some guy who designed his own plane, brought it out to the show, and was just having a ball flying around with everyone else. And that, pretty much, is the roots of the whole homebuilding movement. Sure, it has now expanded to include companies building kits that exceed what most factory built planes are capable of, and planes that break records, etc... But the real ROOTS of the whole thing is right here in this shot. One guy, his plane, and a big grin.