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Since I started going to Oshkosh in 1992 this has been my favorite plane There's something about it's bold paint and its long aristocratic nose that just looks right to me. It's a Ryan STA. |
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This is a Culp Special biplane. It has a Russian radial engine and looks like its out of the 30's. Great plane, and a fun paint job too. |
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When this guy says he's going off road he's not kidding! Yes, he does fly with the bike attached like that. I saw him in the air several times. On a side note, I suspect the ultralight flyers have the most fun at Oshkosh. Unlike most other attendees, these guys fly all the time. Once in the morning before the airshows, once afterwards. It's a kick watching a dozen or more of these machines buzzing around. |
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How would you like to polish this up after every flight? Beautiful brightwork, but I don't remember the plane type. |
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Let the airshow begin!. |
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Know who this is? If you don't, you don't know airshows. Bob Hoover is a war hero and the epitome of airshow pilots. If you have a chance to see him, do so. Especially if you are a pilot yourself. Watching him will teach you a thing or two about handling a plane smoothly. Just don't try his routines at home. (BTW: Shame on you if you cheated and read his name off his wings!) |
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This is how this picture came out of my camera. Sadly it's a bit out of focus. Otherwise I love the composition of smoke framing the biplane and it's wing walker. I think this was Gene Soucy flying, and Theresa Stokes wing walking. |
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No special effects on this shot, either. (I did zoom in on it when scanning.) The military forces are doing exhibition flying, pairing their modern day equipment with the equipment from past years. Here's an F-15 Eagle paired with it's predecessor, a P-47 Thunderbolt from WWII. I never thought I'd think a P-47 would look small, but it's closer to the camera in this shot than the F-15. |
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I had to admire the polish in this P-51 Mustang. The whole plane was pristine. I later learned more about it, as it won awards this year. Not only was this plane restored to perfect condition, but all of it's systems were in working order. If it were loaded with live munitions it could have shot them! That's the kind of detailed work it takes nowadays to win awards at the Warbirds end of the Oshkosh flightline. |
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More pretty polished aluminum on this Korean War era F-86 Sabre. It literally hurt to look at in this years blisteringly hot Oshkosh sun. (Man, do I hope next year is cooler.) |
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I've seen this plane several years at Oshkosh, but it's always fun to see again. Kids really love it. I think it's a Midget Mustang homebuilt. |
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Talk about homebuilt. This is a replica of a seaplane used by Johnson and Johnson to find routes in South America, in order to obtain better sources of Canuba wax for various polishes, etc... (What was it with polishes this year?) The more I looked at this plane, the more I noticed little details. It must have been an enormous task building it. But they did, as the white shirt in the lower edge of the picture testifies. |
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I'll finish with this shot of what I think was the prettiest airplane there this year. This is a Knight Twister, a biplane built long ago for racing. It's really small. It's upper wing was about belt high on me. (I'm about 6 feet tall.) Really nifty plane that looks like it belongs in the sky. |
That's it for Oshkosh '99.