A Debriefing from "EAA AirVenture Oshkosh" - Entangled Roots
For all of my readers who are well-grounded, “EAA AirVenture Oshkosh” is a major annual event for those who aren’t. In 2022, the week-long gathering attracted 650,000 aviation enthusiasts from all over Wisconsin, the U.S. and 92 other countries. It’s sponsored by the “Experimental Aircraft Association,” which celebrates everything that flies, from my ultralight that cruises at 35 MPH to the F-22 Raptor that flies at twice the speed of sound.
Adjoining the main Wittman Regional Airport is Camp Scholler with its 12,000 campsites. I drove up last Saturday, two days early, so that I could hopefully stake my claim on a tiny piece of land. A nice guy named John moved his corner markers so I would have room for my pup tent between his, and the neighbor’s, maybe fifty feet away. With large campers everywhere, I held my nose high, just like those who will never retire their landlines.
I could bore all of my land-loving subscribers with things like the amazing vintage airplane restorations, the U-2 surveillance plane, or the new all-electric Pipistrel, but I’ll spare you. I will, however, tell you about a few interesting people I encountered and share some of their stories.
A Voice and Story I Hadn’t Heard Before
John, my neighbor, age about fifty-five, was a disabled Army Veteran of Native American Heritage. He had his roots here in Wisconsin, which he left when he joined the military, including two tours in Iraq. After leaving the military, he worked his way down to Florida, doing both paid and volunteer work on a number of Native American reservations - the latter of which he continues, to diminishing degrees.
He is currently two-thirds of the way through an extended road trip, revisiting multiple reservations where he’s bonded with those working on indigenous rights, while also taking in some pow-wows. His travels also included seeing a few Army veterans he served with both in Iraq and stateside.
We certainly talked about flying, but it was clear that his passion revolved around the plight of America’s indigenous people. Our conversation drifted toward the historically poor treatment of other non-whites, be it Mexicans in the southwest or blacks in the southeastern U.S. Through hours of discussions, it was encouraging to realize that he still loved this country, in spite of its transgressions past and present.
He also seemed cautiously hopeful that we can advance Indian rights and self-determination if our democracy survives the recent turmoil.
Kind Souls Can Turn Up Out of Nowhere
Late afternoon the day I arrived, ominous clouds rolled in over the entire area. The loudspeakers which I hadn’t even known existed started belting out storm warnings. Basically, batten down the hatches and seek cover with thirty-plus MPH winds expected. I had just set up a ten-by-ten foot pop-up canopy with fourteen-inch anchors, so I thought I’d be OK.
Fifteen minutes later, I had my doubts. The rain was almost horizontal, and the scissor aluminum part was flexing as I tried to prevent it from buckling. It seemed like out of nowhere came Shawn, a woman from across the road. She helped lower the corners as I held onto the windward side. Both of us soaked, we gathered up John from beneath his collapsed canopy and took shelter in her forty-foot long bus-style camper.
She handed us towels and reassured us not to worry about getting the upholstery wet - “It’s just water.” She got changed in the adjoining room and for the next hour we shared backgrounds, including flying stories. She appeared to be roughly fifty and hailed from Michigan. Shawn was an instrument-rated pilot and her husband was a former Airforce pilot who was currently flying a Boeing 777 back from Europe.
I was wondering how she got her huge camper and car to Wisconsin from where they lived in Michigan. She nonchalantly mentioned that there was a twenty-foot car trailer she pulled behind the camper . . . and she went through Chicago. She chuckled recounting how she had to back the entire unit between two tractor trailers at one point and got applause from all the onlookers. She recounted, “I backed my first boat into the water when I was ten - so it’s not a big deal.”
Her passion is flying rescue animals to better homes such as when zoo’s can no longer care for exotic animals. It’s volunteer work and as she put it, “My husband earns the money and I spend it - on gas.” She was such a trooper and obviously a kind-hearted soul. Who wouldn’t want her on their team?
An Inspiring Young Lady Wows the Crowd
Two days later, I was at the “Fun Fly Zone,” which was a short grass airstrip off to the west side of the main runway. It was used by ultralight airplanes, paramotor enthusiasts, and homemade helicopters. As we watched, a single-passenger, blue and yellow ultralight touched down in front of us. The announcer informed us - “That Aerolite 103 arrived here yesterday, piloted by 14-year-old Elaina who flew it solo all the way from South Carolina!”
When the young lady had gotten out of the airplane, the announcer asked if she would come up to their booth and tell us all about her flight. She explained that her father drove along beneath her, supplying gas and helping with repairs along the way. Since she could only carry 5 gallons of gas, she had to make 21 “hops” which ranged from 20 to 60 miles each. As remarkable as her feat was, she shared it with refreshing humility.
Toward the end of her debriefing, the announcer observed - “It’s hard not to notice that your airplane is yellow and blue - Does that have any special significance for you?” She explained that even though her mother was half Ukrainian, blue and yellow had always been her favorite colors. I suspect that that might not be a coincidence, but I project.
Had I, as a stranger, sat next to John, Shawna or Elaina on a cross country plane trip, I’m not sure that much of their stories would have ever surfaced had they not been prodded. Decent people tend to accomplish meaningful things without much fanfare, and I suspect the inverse is frequently true. Superficial appearances and characteristics may be misleading, but deep within so many people all around us are mighty fine human specimens. I’m not saying perfect, just mighty fine.
There are a lot of mighty fine folks, which is why I am still here in the world. I'm signed up as an early adopter with Blackfly, BTW! https://opener.aero
Wonderful stories! Thank you.