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2008 OSHKOSH AIRVENTRURE AIR SHOW
We were having a delightful vacation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when we heard the the famous Oshkosh "AirVenture" was in progress. We quickly modified our plans and drove there bright and early on the morning of August 3, 2008. It was the last day of the show, but it was heavily attended. It is huge, reputed to be the largest in the country, though I don't know what metric they use to figure it's size. We sure walked and walked.
We were traveling with my son Tom, and his darling wife, and, actually, he took almost all of these photos.
The parking and traffic were well organized, but it is huge and took a while to get here. My son had bought the tickets on line, and had printed our tickets. Everything went smoothly when we got to the entrance.
This little beauty caught my eye - should be great for getting into back country lakes for fishing. As you can see, the weather was wonderful, but we got more sun than we bargained for.
Now, there's a large plane that we can go and explore.
This is an Air Force refueling tanker that is derived from the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 passenger plane. I believe it is designated the KC-10. This is the view that the pilot in the plane getting refueled would see.
If I could read this then I would know for sure what it is called.
It is a multipurpose aircraft, performing aerial refueling, or hauling cargo, and in some cases some people. All of the cargo goes in out of this large door.
After waiting in line for some time, we reached the top of the stairs, and had this great view of the surrounding areas.
Massive engine.
The inside is humongous!! It can be rapidly reconfiguredTrie different missions.
A vTriepatienTrirew member is answering some of my questions, as we prepared to exit near the rear of the plane.
Some nice views from the exit stairs.
Lots to see and do.
Trie
Tris place is huge!
Tri
e Ford Tri Motor caught our eye.
They were selling rides in this sturdy pioneer of the early air transport business.
I guess that this was considered a large engine in those days.
This B-24 was being towed out to the ramp in preparation for the flight home, or maybe to the next air show.
There were a number of B-17"s here at the show. My son Tom did a walk-around shooting from many viewpoints.
You can see why that was called a "Chin Turret"
This is where the Tail Gunner sat.
Nearby we found another B-17, but this one was painted instead of being bare polished aluminum like the one above.
We could not resist the chance to climb through this historic plane, so we paid our money and started climbing. The sign reported that this plane came out of the factory doors on the date that Germany surrendered, and it never flew in combat.
The Bombardier's station.
I think that this is the top turret.
And, of course, I am sure that this is the cockpit.
View of the engines from the cockpit, somewhat clouded Plexiglass.
Here we are on the cat walk in the bomb bay
There are two 50 caliber machine guns in this waist compartment.
I think that this is the entrance to the Ball Turret on the bottom of the airplane.
Cartridge belt feeding the bullets into the machine gun.
There is the waist gunner's position, and the Ball Turret on the bottom of the plane.
The girls were most impressed by the narrow catwalk through the bomb bay. They loved the tour.
As you can imagine, there were planes of all descriptions flying overhead.
Very impressive.
Lots of action on the runways and taxi strips
.
That B-24 we saw earlier is getting ready to take off.
There she goes! I'm sorry we did not get to see more of it.
We saw the Tri-Ford doing many passes with passengers.
I think this is a real beauty.
There were many of these B-25s in WW II.
Another B-17.
My son, Tom, posing by a great P-51 Mustang. An outstanding performer in the European Theater.
Many bombers returned because of protection by these "Little Friends".
A b-17 does a fly over as it departs the airshow.
And here is the star of the show - the new F-22 RAPTOR, which is our newest and most advanced and powerful fighter aircraft. It is scheduled to perform near the end of the day to wrap up the show.
B-17 leaving the runway.
Another B-17 wends it's way home.
The Raptor.
Closer.
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning - a famous performer in WW II, particularly in the South Pacific.
there is the Raptor again.
And here is a real old warhorse - the superb B-52. This dates back to the early 1950's, and I remember watching the prototypes flying at Boeing Field in Seattle. What an airplane.
It made two passes over the crowd.
I think that is the Raptor starting it's take off roll.
What a roar!
Here is an old Navy Torpedo Bomber from WW II with it's wings folded.
The Osprey gave an excellent demonstration of its ability to transition between hovering and high speed forward flight.
The Marines have many missions for an aircraft such as this.
Now there were demonstrations by a number of teams.
Beautiful!!
Some people found that the best way to watch this was from a horizontal position with one's shoes off. But remember that it has been a long day with lots of walking!
The P-38 Lightning is taking off
The Raptor made a number of high speed passes, generally ending in a steep vertical ascent to the heavens. Fantastic show!
and, as the final act, The Raptor, Lightning, and Mustang flew several passes in this tight formation. The heroes of WW II in company with the newest big kid on the block.
As Bugs Bunny used to say,
"that's -- that's -- That's all folks!"
It was a great show!
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