Frostkosh!

That was the title of the "AirVenture Today" newspaper that went out today.  Every morning we get a copy of the newspaper, and it tells us what happened the previous day and what is scheduled to happen tomorrow, along with some cool photos, weather, and various news items.  I laughed when I saw "Frost-kosh", (from folks who were here through "Sloshkosh" too.)  It's fairly appropriate--it was downright chilly last night, and off and on today.  I think the high was in the lower 60s, and mostly overcast.  Today is the last day it's supposed to be this cool though.  Tomorrow, the first day I'm going to be gone all day, is supposed to be sunny and warm. And :P on that!  That's also the day they're going to Kodiak Jack's, because our group was invited for a guy's birthday Monday.  Since I'll miss it, and I was whining about it, they're going to go back another night just for me.  ;)

Speaking of whining about it, we were unable to get the camp sites right across from us, which was our original plan, so we could put the tents over there and see the air show from our group area.  Perfect plan, but there was nowhere we could get that set up even that far in advance.  There were a lot of tags over there though, so we were hoping it was a bunch of tents.  Nope.  Instead it's a ginormous rig.  I mean a huuuuuge trailer, taller than the big busses.  And he parked it sideways right in front of us instead of long-ways.  It completely blocks our view of the air show and runway traffic.  And there's not a darned thing we can do about it, either.  Not real happy about it, but like I said, nothing we can do about it, so we'll just see what we can see around or over the top of the thing.  The guy also had a huge vehicle on top of their huge truck.  This set up is hard to describe.  I went over and took pictures while he drove his giant utility/ATV vehicle off of the top of his truck and onto the ground.  He has a trailer he can hook up to this vehicle, and he can haul 13 people on this one thing. It's impressive. We're not happy that somebody came along and showed us up on the whole shebbang.  Bigger tent, bigger rigs, better transportation...they stink.  We're talking about going out and renting a big hydraulic platform so we can lift ourselves up high enough to see over his stupid rig for the show.  ;)

The guys went to the store today to load up on all the food and drinks we'll need for the week.  The meals have been planned out, and it takes a massive effort and a lot of money to get it all together.  Everybody chips in an amount per person, and it makes it a lot easier.  It takes a lot of organization to make it good for the group of 20 people we have here for most of 10 days.

The arrivals have started pouring in today.  We're listening to the radio for Oshkosh tower, and they are non-stop talking.  You land, you base, you cleared to land orange dot, you go right on the grass, you go around, go around, you over the shoreline turn final NOW, etc.  It's fun to listen to.  We heard one guy say "Mooney, put your gear down! Land on the green dot"  (which was further down the runway than originally planned to give him time to get his gear down.)  Another was "Just Set it down right there and get off the runway!"  Heh.  This is always a good part of the entertainment, listening to the chatter in the background.

The T-6s arrived today, we watched that.  Nathan told me that some day if I get a FAST card I'll be able to fly that well, 'cause that's the trick to flying the T-6 properly.  Maybe some day.  ;)  (Yes, I'm kidding and so was he, in case you can't tell.)

A bunch of warbirds made it in today, Mustangs, TBMs, Corsairs, B-25s, the Texas Flying Legends, all this afternoon.  The skies were full of warbird noises.  Gotta like that.

Tonight's dinner is BBQ chicken and BBQ pork loin, baked beans, and mac and cheese at the campground. A few more folks have made it in for our group, with a few more coming tomorrow and the rest Tuesday.

I have to go to bed early tonight if I can, as I have to get up at 6 to get to Fond du Lac by 7 to get to Kokomo by 10 to get to Alabama by 2.  I'll fill up in Alabama, leave hopefully by 2:30, back to Kokomo by 5:30, top off and get back to Fond du Lac by 7:30 p.m., back to the campground by 8:15.  A nice 13 hour day or so...I'm really hoping it stays VFR so I don't have to worry about getting a time slot and filing the flight plan 6 hours in advance and all that stuff.  If I can just get from Kokomo to FLD VFR, it will make my life a lot easier, and after getting up at 6 a.m. and flying for 9-10 hours, I'll take as simple as I can get.  ;)