Oh now, don’t go telling everyone that I’m the only ‘Bad Influencer’ around here… @BeachAV8R and @Wes have that badge too! 
Now, if Eric ends up convincing you to buy a helicopter…thats a whole new league of bad influencing right there…which deserves a completely new badge. Something like the Supreme Bad Influencer badge or Grand Master Bad Influencer . 
I would wear it with pride!
Might I fix this for you sir?
“We definately need to lobby @smokinhole to stay as far from any of us as humanly possible with any machine he claims to have built. I heard he doesn’t even know the difference between a sheet metal screw and a wood screw (true). This contraption, should it ever be completed (highly doubtful), should then immediately be set on fire and be tossed into the same hole where he threw most of his money.”
Three times yesterday I was met with screams of “Eric! Eric!” by people I had no idea were here. The first was a new competitor I met in Vermont last week. That was no surprise, really. The second was from Gus, one of the guys from my glider club in Blairstown. The third was a bit of a mindwarping surprise. I was walking away from the STOL competition and the scream came from Brian and Andrea, two FOs I flew with on the 737, married. They were driving a volunteer golf cart and forced me to hop on. In the back was their precocious daughter Sadie who, with no introduction, preceded to tell me not to work too hard on trying to follow her dad’s ingoing conversation because he’s had a couple this evening and is starting to slur. The kid was funnier than her dad. Turns out, his family have volunteered here every year since it’s inception. As a kid, Brian would ride ride around in the VW with Paul Poberenzy. Sadie helped clean out his basement after Pauls wife died. Many of the items she collected are now in the EAA museum. We drove over to watch the end of the STOL competition just in time to see one guy break his tailwheel off.
That sure sounds like a lot of fun!
Makes my desire to visit, even stronger…
We need a Mudspike meet up, somewhere…
Are you here too?
I can’t make it up this year, sadly. But seriously one of these days we need to find a time and a place to get meet up. Especially if we can wrangle the health situation.
For those of us who can’t make it this year.
For those who haven’t gone, the arrivals video only captures some of the fever pitch of operations. The amount of air traffic of all types coming from every direction is amazing.
There is no way I will attempt to caption these properly with my phone. So let’s just say that among the following we can find: More P-51s than I thought there were P-51s; Mudspikers in their PJs briefing up before a DCS session; a gift for @BeachAV8R; another unasked-for gift for @BeachAV8R; the cleanest Korean era fighters I’ve ever seen (also being the ONLY Korean era fighters I’ve ever seen; and some Low Level Heck!
Just outstanding SH. Please keep them coming.
Great pics!
I’m sad that they aren’t streaming the afternoon airshows this year.
That’s Amazing…Thanks for Sharing
Dang…a Skyraider AND an Mi-2…! You are the bomb!
Impressive “derecha” storm last night. They evacuated everyone who wanted to go to either the EAA museum or a nearby school. I stayed. My REI tent performed as promised. I’d guess we had winds of 45 knots+. No hail that I know of fortunately.
Oh man…a derecho during Oshkosh week has the possibility of being an epic disaster. All those vintage and classic aircraft in one place…some with grass spot tie downs with those grass anchor screws… Oooph… Hopefully all people and hardware came through intact…
Found this "After Storm"report on Tube
Here’s a nice addition to the thread. Some really nice views of the aircraft arriving this past Sunday.
Here’s a look at aircraft arrivals and movements on Wittman Field on Sunday, 25 July 2021 the day before the show opens. This airshow packs a lot of stuff into every day; pull up a chair beside the runway and enjoy the view.
