Wincing on every bump we frequented the semi-tractor sides of rest stops for picnic lunches since it was difficult to turn our rig in typical parking lots. The three overmights – in Troy, AL, Bytheville AK and Bloomington IL – were based on finding hotels with large parking lots.
Setting up our dual tent and kitchen campsite took the first Oshkosh day until finally the Lake Michigan weather cleared enough for our longtime penpal Andy McKee to fly in with his Twister, having departed England about 10 days earlier. Andy and his #28 were none the worse for wear following his solo flight across the Atlantic via Scotland, Iceland, Greenland and Canada, he’d made the longest leg (540 nm) with reserve thanks to his added gas tank behind his seat. Saturday morning we assembled our #6 alongside, first twin Twister appearance in the US.
EAA honored us with a special parking spot. That’s us in the tiny yellow circle seen below as “Doc,” the second flying B-29, arrived. Total showplanes: 2,991 (up 5 percent over 2016): 1,107 homebuilt aircraft (second straight year over 1,100), 1,162 vintage airplanes (up 12 percent), 351 warbirds, 168 ultralights and light-sport aircraft, 79 seaplanes, 54 rotorcraft, 60 aerobatic aircraft, and 10 hot air balloons.
Both “Doc” and “Fifi” overflew us several times during the show. Andy participated in the homebuilder’s review portion of the airshow, thrilling the crowd with a Spitfire-like profile pass as the B-29s warmed up on the runway. Of course there was a real Spit on display in the Warbirds area.
Lots of interest in the Twisters as we handed out zrsthemovie.com website cards to anyone passing by. Debbie and Andy were interviewed and photographed by EAA, Kitplanes and a UK magazine, Norwegians, and perhaps others, as we lost track.
Our illustrator John Mellburg took these photos of an identical summer ’42 paint job on what appeared to be an SBD. It’s actually a SNJ (or T-6) that was so well done it should obviously be considered for the movie.
Wed. morning we rolled over to the Homebuilder’s hangar and gave a talk about our build experience. A total of 1,050 Forums and Workshops sessions were attended by more than 75,000 people. Debbie volunteered to help teach composites and the producer gave his updated “Airships: Past, Present & Future” presentation Friday morning in Forum 1.
Hard to believe this was the US Navy Blue Angel’s first Airventure appearance. Is Twister longing to take to the sky here?
This photo from the EAA website says it all: last day, pilot and producer too pooped to do anything more than just watch the afternoon show. Approximately 590,000 people attended AirVenture 2017, an increase of five percent over 2016.
Packed up and heading home, worked off a bucket list item – a stop in Metropolis, Illinois, to visit the Superman Museum. Now re-assembled and working off some minor issues after the trip, we’re ready to resume flight testing.