This is the 100th installment of The New Owner, and I suppose it’s only natural that the milestone is occurring amid a maniacal blend of emotions swirling around said ownership.

On one hand, EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is next week (July 22-28), so there’s massive excitement for epic times just ahead. On the other hand, some maintenance issues have arisen over the past couple of weeks that create severe trepidation and directly threaten those amazing times.

It’s a perfect representation of aircraft ownership as a whole. Amazing experiences put at risk of derailment from unforeseen circumstances, fighting back and forth like so many Hollywood heroes and villains. But instead of the villains threatening the powers of good with swords, guns, and death rays, the threats come in the form of grounded airplanes and massive repair bills.

Frankly, I’d prefer to take my chances with the guns and death rays.

• READ MORE: Airplane Types Unlock AirVenture Locations for Parking, Camping

The first sign that something was amiss came several days ago in the form of engine oil. More specifically, a few extra drops on the hangar floor, slightly higher consumption than normal, and a new sheen collecting on the bottom of the engine. It wasn’t that my Continental engine was leaking oil. That’s pretty typical for most old Continentals. It was that mine was quite suddenly leaking in new places, at higher volumes, much differently than normal.

At any other time of year, it would be a simple matter of postponing future flights and booking some time with my mechanic. But this was Oshkosh month, a time when the severity of any mechanical problems increases exponentially as the date of the magnificent fly-in nears. And being that the big event was only a couple of weeks away at this point, panic quickly set in.

I immediately texted my mechanic, Ryan. He’s a great guy who embodies rural Wisconsin friendliness and honesty. He’s the kind of person who will bend over backward to help you and happily provide educational lessons about the tasks he’s performing along the way. He and his brother own and operate Johnson Brothers Flying Service in Lone Rock, Wisconsin, about 40 miles west of Madison.

While I was waiting for his reply, I examined my engine. I couldn’t quite pinpoint the source of the oil, but I suspected my Continental C-145 was experiencing weepy pushrod seals. This is a known issue with the type, as well as with the later version, the O-300.

I’ve always been amused at the engine’s midproduction name change from C-145 to O-300. Continental evidently figured that referring to the engine by the displacement (300 cubic inches) made it sound more powerful and impressive than referring to it by the 145 hp it produces. Marketing 101, I suppose.

Ryan replied that he would try to make it out sometime during the week before my departure to Oshkosh. But because he was so busy, he couldn’t guarantee it. I’d just have to wait and hope. In the meantime, I opted to remove my upper and lower cowls for a closer inspection.

To someone like me with close to zero mechanical aptitude, dismantling your airplane’s upper and lower cowls to reveal an entirely naked engine is simultaneously empowering and intimidating.

In one respect, it makes you feel like you know what you’re doing. Anyone walking past the open hangar door would naturally assume you possess some rudimentary level of knowledge and proficiency. But in another respect, you’re pretty sure you’re fooling nobody.

For the purposes of an engine inspection, however, it worked out just fine, and I was able to trace the leak to the oil temperature probe on the back of the engine accessory case. I forwarded this intel to Ryan.

The next afternoon, I received a text from him. Unbeknownst to me, he made it out to my plane and addressed the leak. I was ecstatic and headed right out to the airport for a shakedown flight prior to my trip up to Oshkosh.

Sure enough, the oil leak appeared to be taken care of. I preflighted the airplane, pulled it out of the hangar, and hopped in—only to discover that the throttle was inexplicably encountering some kind of blockage halfway into its travel.

Thinking that a running engine might somehow solve the problem, I started it up but found that nothing had changed. The throttle knob would only advance about halfway to full throttle before encountering a hard stop.

Now, things were getting serious. It was a Friday evening, less than a week before my planned departure to Oshkosh. Ryan was busy and wouldn’t be able to chat until Sunday or Monday. Desperate not to miss the big event, I gave my friend Dan a call.

“Hey, man, have you sold your Ercoupe yet?” Dan replied that he had not. “And you’re not going to make it to Oshkosh this year, right?” “That’s right,” he replied. “We’ll be in Michigan all week.”

• READ MORE: Flying In to AirVenture: A Carefully Orchestrated Cacophony of Chaos

He knew I was angling for something, so I explained.

“I’m dealing with some mechanical issues on the 170, and I’m not sure if it’ll be fixed in time for Oshkosh,” I said. “If it’s not, how about I take the Ercoupe up and hang some of those big ‘for-sale’ signs on the prop so a half million people see it?”

After considering this for a moment, Dan agreed that it would be a win-win sort of situation.

With a backup plan firmly in place, Saturday came and went. On Sunday morning, I received a text from Ryan. He was available to zip out to the hangar and have a look at my throttle issue.

The fix took him all of about five minutes. He explained that he must have inadvertently dislodged part of the throttle cable while inspecting something else during the oil leak work. He assured me it wasn’t likely to occur again and said he’d be entirely comfortable flying it. He also said that because it was his fault, he wouldn’t be charging me for the trip out. I gave him a 100-dollar bill anyway to show my appreciation.

At the time of this writing, I have just about everything packed up. My tent, sleeping bag, cooler, chairs, underwing party lights, and coffee supplies are ready to go. This afternoon, I’ll fly a shakedown flight to check for any errant oil leaks and confirm all is in order. With any luck, I’ll be flying my own plane up to Oshkosh tomorrow and, much as I sincerely appreciate Dan’s offer, hopefully not an Ercoupe.

If you wonderful readers will also be at Oshkosh next week, please come find me. I plan to be somewhere around Row No. 67, right up on the airshow crowd line. I’d like to thank you in person for your readership and support over the past few years and give you a sticker or two.

Just look for the blue 170 with Alaskan Bushwheel tires. Or, depending on how things go, a classy little Ercoupe.

The post When Unforeseen Circumstances Threaten to Derail Amazing Experiences appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The aircraft were flying in the pattern of the Fun Fly Zone (FFZ), which is located in the Ultralight area.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the accident occurred when the gyroplane pilot violated established and briefed FFZ procedures by making a prohibited 360-degree turn in the pattern before colliding  with the helicopter.

• NTSB: Rule Violation Contributed to Fatal Midair Collision at EAA AirVenture

The pilot and passenger of the helicopter were killed and the pilot and passenger of the gyrocopter were seriously injured. No one on the ground was injured, however, an unoccupied aircraft was destroyed when the gyroplane came down on top of it.

According to the NTSB final report (below) on the accident, in addition to the one-strike rule, the EAA has adopted the following changes to prevent future mishaps:

• Standardized briefing for all types of FFZ operations
• Standardized traffic pattern for all types of FFZ operations with exception of the powered-parachutes group due to speed performance
• Standardized aircraft spotter locations for all types of FFZ operations
• Designated sterile corridor for traffic on base leg over the north/south paved road

The NTSB’s final report is below.

The post EAA Adopts New Procedures in Wake of AirVenture NTSB Crash Report appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

1. If you drive to the event, pack your patience. 

You may end up parked well away from the show grounds and bused to the front gate. Take note of where you parked (for example Blue Lot) and write it down. Also consider dropping an AirTag in your car, so at the end of the day when you’re tired, you can find it more easily.

• READ MORE: Airplane Types Unlock AirVenture Locations for Parking, Camping

2. Conserve your energy.

Don’t run when you can walk, and don’t walk when you can ride. Use the trams and buses on the grounds to get where you need/want to go, or close to where you want to go. You get a map when you enter the grounds. Use this map to plan your visit. For the map-reading challenged: The big runway is aligned north-south; the warbird runway is east-west.

• READ MORE: Air Force B-52, C-17 Headed to EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh

3. Carry a backpack.

Most people carry a backpack to the event to hold water bottles, sunscreen, etc. The pack will be searched when you enter the grounds, so do yourself a favor and make sure you’re not carrying a firearm or other contraband that is not allowed.

• READ MORE: Flying In to AirVenture: A Carefully Orchestrated Cacophony of Chaos

The best packs are the ones with the waist strap as they take the load off your shoulders. Make sure your name and phone number are on the bag in the event it goes missing. EAA has an excellent lost-and-found department.

4. Self protection is important.

Wear a hat with a brim and sunglasses on a lanyard. Carry a rain poncho and an extra pair of socks. Even if the sun is shining, weather comes up quickly and ferociously. You can also use the poncho to make shade or to sit on when watching the airshow. When your socks get sweaty, change into the dry pair. This prevents blisters, which can ruin your day. Also, don’t forget earplugs as it can get loud during the airshow.

• READ MORE: Oshkosh 2024 Notice Outlines Changes for Pilots Flying to AirVenture

5. Study the map.

Plan your route carefully. You may want to make a loop of the grounds, starting at one end and going to the other, rather than zigzagging back and forth.

• READ MORE: EAA AirVenture: A Vintage Aircraft Paradise

6. Visit the hangars early in the day.

If able, visit the hangars before 11 a.m. because they can become uncomfortably hot later in the day.

7. Carry a small first-aid kit.

This kit should contain hand sanitizer, Band-Aids, anti-diarrhea medication, pain reliever, etc. Hopefully, you won’t need any of it. There is a first-aid building on the grounds for more serious injuries.

The post 7 Things to Know Before You Go to AirVenture appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

As is the case with any first-time airplane owner, he’s pretty excited and has been asking me all kinds of thoughtful questions about the logistics of flying into the biggest aviation celebration in the world, EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. One of his first questions pertained to the geography of the July 22-28 event and in what area he should plan to park and camp.

• READ MORE: Oshkosh 2024 Notice Outlines Changes for Pilots Flying to AirVenture

Without hesitation, I recommended that he join a mutual friend and me in the centrally located vintage area. A solid week of knuckleheaded antics with a couple of old friends as our airplanes are parked side by side at Oshkosh is the stuff of dreams. As I looked into it, however, I discovered that his airplane—a beautiful 1973 Bellanca Super Viking—was built just past the 1971 cutoff for the vintage category.

I found this to be frustrating. I know the cutoff has to be made somewhere, but his Super Viking is relatively rare, with a sweet design and old-school craftsmanship. It seems wrong that it’s not permitted in the vintage area while scores of Bonanzas and Mooneys that are barely distinguishable from their 1980s-era counterparts fill the rows there. 

As it turns out, the Experimental Aircraft Association clearly defines not just the vintage category of aircraft but the subcategories as well. Within vintage, they are as follows:

• Antique: Aircraft manufactured before August 31, 1945
• Classic: Aircraft manufactured from September 1, 1945, through December 31, 1955
• Contemporary: Aircraft manufactured from January 1, 1956, through December 31, 1970

Chris, therefore, needed a quick lesson on the lay of the land at AirVenture. And so I presented him with an overview of his options, such as they are.

As his aircraft doesn’t fit into the EAA’s categories of vintage, experimental, or warbird, he will be directed to one of two areas upon landing—the “North 40” or the “South 40.” Located at the far north and far south ends of Wittman Regional Airport (KOSH), respectively, these are the largest areas where most airplane owners park and camp.

• READ MORE: Flying Into AirVenture: A Carefully Orchestrated Cacophony of Chaos

They are, however, quite different. And while arriving aircraft are not guaranteed to have a choice of which they’ll be directed toward after landing, pilots can print and display a sign requesting one or the other.

If the incoming traffic flow and the workload of the ground marshallers allow, they’ll direct you to your preferred area. So it’s good to know how they differ. 

Additionally, each area has its own unique vibe, with differences not readily apparent in the Oshkosh Notice and markedly different pros and cons. Here’s how I described them to Chris:

North 40

The North 40 is the area surrounding Runways 9-27 at the north end of the airport.

It’s got a lot going for it. The proximity to businesses and restaurants makes it easy to walk to grab a bite of non-EAA food or pick up some supplies. The latter comes in handy when a severe storm approaches and materials for last-minute hail protection suddenly become needed.

Because parking/camping spots are arranged on both sides of the runway, the views of arriving and departing aircraft are fantastic. One needs only walk to the end of their row to sit and watch all the arrivals and departures. It’s not at all unusual for your morning wake-up call to come in the form of multiple P-51s banking directly overhead as they depart for a dawn patrol formation flight. Few alarms are so sublime.

Amenities abound in the North 40. In addition to a small shower trailer on the north side of 9-27, the south side has two separate shower/restroom buildings. Several rows down, there is also a cafe that serves full meals and a small store for toiletries, snacks, and necessities.

A regular procession of dedicated school buses makes constant loops from the show entrance to the Basler ramp in the northeast corner of the airport. Simply flag down one as needed, settle in among your new friends for the ride, and call out the row number where you’d like to be dropped off. I like to leave a small tip for the driver after reaching my destination.

The biggest downside? The steady noise from Interstate 41 and adjacent roads. While mostly just background noise, it adds something of a rest area vibe to an otherwise magical aviation experience. At night, it’s not uncommon for an errant semitruck, Harley-Davidson, or emergency vehicle to wake you up from an otherwise peaceful slumber.

South 40

If the North 40 is city living, the South 40 is quiet life out in the country.

The very southern end borders a 55 mph county road, but there’s otherwise no automobile traffic noise to speak of at night. It’s a peaceful, relaxing vibe.

While the peaceful tranquility is nice with respect to cars, it’s a bit of a downer when it comes to airplanes. Situated well south of Runway 36-18, there are no great views of the runway and only approaches—not landings—are visible from most rows. The vast majority of the South 40 is well south of the action.

The EAA has done a good job bringing the recently expanded South 40 up to speed with amenities. It still falls short of the North 40, but it now has a small store, and showers are easy to find. In addition, there are now more numerous and more frequent shuttles to and from the main show grounds, making it easier to get back and forth. 

For those regularly frequenting the ultralight strip, the South 40 sits in relatively close proximity. Campers stuck walking back to their airplanes after the legendary STOL demo and Twilight Flight Fest face a walk of only a mile to the most distant row in the South 40. This compares with a walk of nearly three miles to the most distant row of the North 40 and provides strong motivation to catch the last shuttle before being shut down for the night.

Armed with a clearer understanding of his camping options, Chris is now better prepared for his first trip to AirVenture in his first airplane. With any luck, the EAA will gradually expand the cutoff for the vintage category to include his sweet Viking.

Until then, I’m sure he’ll have a blast wherever he ends up.

The post Airplane Types Unlock AirVenture Locations for Parking, Camping appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Maybe you are planning a flight to visit your grandkid on their first birthday, or perhaps you are flying to EAA AirVenture for the very first time. Even more excruciating is the decision to press on to your destination when the weather encountered in flight is far worse than what you originally anticipated or had hoped for. A flight with some initial acceptable risks and challenges now becomes one with discomfort, and perhaps disappointment for you and your passengers if you must turn around or land short of your final destination. If you have some self-awareness, that little voice in the back of your mind wonders what the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) final report might say about your poor decision to press on.

You often hear pilots blame this on “get-there-itis.” That is, the pilot departed and continued on into adverse weather because of outside pressures as well as the intense desire and alternations of confidence and misgiving to complete the mission. It’s the Little Engine That Could mentality, or “I think I can, I think I can” belief that may have been drilled into them over the years as a kid. I don’t pretend to be a trained psychologist, and it’s not to say that this “try-and-try-again” mentality isn’t useful for other aspirations in your life. In aviation, however, some pilots become caught up in this way of thinking too often, and it usually doesn’t end well.

The decision to press on, despite the conscious, elevated risk that has just entered into the picture, is a new branch growing on this budding accident tree. The discussion should not be wrapped up in why the pilot chose to continue on but instead focused on the underlying cause of why they made a decision to launch in the first place without an actionable, low-risk plan to turn around or terminate the flight early.

Other than how much reserve you have in your bank account, weather limits your flying activity more than any other physical factor. There’s no doubt that some flights are more challenging than others, especially as they relate to weather. Finding the best time to depart or finding the optimal route or altitude often comes with more questions than answers. From the perspective of risk, each pilot is inherently unique. What represents low risk to one may be high risk to another. Nevertheless, anything that adds these challenges to the flight needs to be controlled.

• READ MORE: Here’s the Lowdown on ‘Vertical Visibility’

But how does a pilot objectively quantify risk from a weather perspective? The short answer is that there’s no easy approach to quantifying risk for any given route of flight, other than trusting your gut, which may not always be reliable given the circumstances surrounding the flight itself and previous experiences when confronted with specific weather challenges.

No matter where you get your weather guidance as required by FAR 91.103 (a), the data you will use to make critical decisions about time of departure, route of flight, and cruise altitude, as well as your final decision to go or stay, is often a free-for-all. That is, weather reports and forecasts, sometimes quite complex, are thrown at you to see what sticks. There’s no question that for some pilots, much of it does, in fact, stick. The bad news is that the popular heavyweight aviation apps and services such as Leidos (formally Lockheed Martin Flight Services) are all guilty of throwing a bunch of weather guidance at pilots to see what sticks, hence the reason we continue to see weather-related accidents that include some pressing on into adverse weather they had not anticipated.

The real dilemma is that there is no efficient (automated) way to objectively quantify the risk on any given flight. But what we do know is that risk is very personal, and that’s not something these services directly integrate into their application or discussion as a route-based approach. In the end, it’s left up to the pilot to take that next giant leap to quantify the risk.

A difficult question to fully address is to what extent does a pilot’s individual personal weather minimums weigh into their decision to fly, and how can they be integrated into their preflight planning? Personal minimums, in general, represent a set of criteria, rules, guidelines, and procedures to help a pilot decide on the conditions and circumstances under which they can begin or continue operating a flight. These should encompass all elements that may add risk to the flight. Certainly, weather is one that adds risk to every flight.

In this context, personal minimums allow you to further tailor, quantify, and acknowledge the risk you are willing to assume, thus adding a margin of safety based on a set of criteria coupled with your own self-analysis and level of flight experience. In this case, “minimums” reference the minimum acceptable weather conditions at an airport or along a route of flight. Personal weather minimums are thought to be more conservative than the minimums set by the FAA, but applying them is 100 percent optional. And therein lies the open manhole.

As a flight instructor who has been teaching pilots how to minimize their exposure to adverse weather for the past 25 years, I am intimately aware of how few pilots understand how to interpret many of those complex charts and diagrams the FAA touts as essential. Since I’m a meteorologist, pilots and other flight instructors come to me as online students to learn what all of those H’s and L’s they see on the prog chart really mean to them. On one flight, they may have experienced little or no weather issues, while a seemingly similar weather pattern on a subsequent flight was fraught with poor or challenging weather they did not anticipate.

I wish there was a simple answer. If there was, I would not be giving it away for free—it would be worth millions. A common contributor to many fatal accidents is the pilot’s inability to definitively assess the hazard prior to departure from the relevant weather guidance available prior to flight. Therefore, the lack of sufficient weather reports and forecasts and their accuracy are not the core concern, but instead the primary contributing factor is that general aviation pilots have a difficult time consuming the forecast guidance in order to develop a plan as a precursor to making a decision to fly or continuing a flight. This is further compounded by many pilots’ lack of aviation weather knowledge.

Even though high-resolution weather forecasts are now more robust and have become increasingly ubiquitous online, pilots are not utilizing all of this information to their advantage to assess the risk. A GA pilot is not a trained meteorologist and often has a difficult time distilling all of the available information to make good preflight and in-flight decisions, especially when challenging weather is more likely than not.

It’s a gross understatement, but the weather is quite complex and requires a challenging dialogue. Pilots tend to prefer an easy solution (e.g., a few taps on a smart device or making a quick phone call to a briefer) to get their weather information and let someone else interpret it for them. Much of the weather guidance used to make an informed decision to fly on any particular day and time is spread over many different and sometimes complex charts, diagrams, and textual reports they never were taught how to interpret. As such, they often do not have a comprehensive approach that seamlessly integrates all of the pertinent weather guidance to make it obvious if they will encounter adverse weather along a proposed route of flight.

As mentioned earlier, anything that adds risk to the flight needs to be controlled. Both fatal and nonfatal accidents take place in adverse weather elements, such as strong and gusty surface winds, airframe icing, turbulence, reduced visibility, low ceilings, high density altitude, and/or threats associated with deep, moist convection. All of these elements add risk to the flight and must be evaluated based on the departure, en route, and arrival phases of flight. They need to also take into consideration time of year, time of day, type of aircraft, and perhaps the terrain over which the flight takes place.

Pilots often are lured into thinking that personal minimums are always about a single threshold. That may work to some extent for some. However, with weather, one thing that helped me over the last two decades is to create three buckets of risk—low, moderate, and high. Think of this as a simple traffic light concept—green, yellow, and red—whereby each personal weather minimum category you define is evaluated at the departure and destination airports and along the route of flight based on the forecast weather available for a specific time.

Green is used to define a conservative threshold. When the forecast weather is equal to or better than this threshold, the flight risk from a weather perspective is deemed to be negligible or low risk. Red, on the other hand, is at the opposite extreme. Red defines the pilot’s actual personal weather minimums. That is, if the forecast weather is the same or worse than this threshold, the flight risk is deemed to have a high risk based on these minimums. Lastly, yellow advises caution. In this case, the forecast weather is better than the pilot’s personal weather minimums (i.e., red) but worse than the conservative threshold (i.e., green). Yellow is deemed to be of moderate risk as the weather is forecast to approach your personal weather minimums.

This three-bucket method tends to work a little better since it allows you to float the risk across a range of values and not just straddle a hard line in the sand that most pilots employ. Moreover, the goal is to lean toward the conservative minimums that create a margin of safety. There’s probably an underlying psychological element that may factor in as well. Green is more attractive than yellow or red. You are free to make that moderate (yellow) risk as wide or narrow as you see fit.

The challenging part of this exercise has less to do with setting or determining your own personal weather minimums. In a few minutes, most pilots can figure that part out. The challenge is how to evaluate the weather forecast at your departure and destination airport and along the route against these personal minimums for ceiling, visibility, wind, icing, turbulence, and thunderstorms. Unfortunately, as mentioned, there’s no easy (automated) way to do this without consuming a great deal of your time. That data for this exercise is indeed freely available. What’s missing is the automated application of those personal weather minimums against all of this useful guidance.

If you want to do this manually, you might consider using the graphical forecasts for aviation (GFA) found on the Aviation Weather Center website at aviationweather.gov/gfa. For example, let’s assume your ceiling height personal minimum at your destination airport is 700 feet. If you are landing at 0300Z at Maryland’s Carroll County Regional Airport (KDMW), which is not served by a TAF, you should expect the ceiling will be at or below your personal weather minimums of 700 feet given the forecast from the GFA (depicted above). This shows a ceiling height forecast of about 400 feet based on a quick comparison of the color scale for ceiling height at the bottom. This will be evaluated as red and represents a high risk to the flight. The same could be done with your departure and en route personal minimums for ceiling height.

For other variables, such as airframe icing, turbulence, and thunderstorms, you could perform a similar evaluation for the flight using the GFA tool. Airframe icing, for example, could be evaluated based on the probability (percentage) of icing at your proposed cruise altitude and/or the icing intensity (trace, light, moderate, or heavy). Turbulence could be based on the eddy dissipation rate (EDR), so you could set your personal minimums to values you are comfortable with.

For example, if you want to remain clear of any exposure to severe turbulence, set your personal minimum (red) to 36, which is the threshold for the beginning of severe turbulence in a light aircraft. You might set your conservative personal minimum (green) to 16, which is near the threshold where moderate turbulence begins.

If all of your personal weather minimums evaluate to green, then the weather at the time of your departure and while you are en route has met all of your personal minimums with a conservative margin, and you have a low-risk flight ahead of you from a weather standpoint. But what if you have a bunch that evaluate as yellow, implying some elevated risk? This likely means you’ll need a “look-and-see” plan before you depart to alter your route, altitude, or destination while en route if the weather is far worse than originally forecast.

The advantage is that you have already determined this action plan in advance based on quantifying that personal risk. Taking the time to set your personal minimums and evaluating those along your route of flight will give you a better grasp of the risk you are assuming. The goal is to avoid any surprises after you depart so you can feel more confident in your plan.

This column first appeared in the December 2023/Issue 944 of FLYING’s print edition.

The post Go or Stay? Getting Personal with Your Pilot Minimums appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The mass arrivals in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, begin on Friday, July 19, at 11 a.m. CST with the Piper Cherokees. Later at 5 p.m., the Cessnas will make the scene. On Saturday, July 21, at 10 a.m., the Mooney contingent will arrive, followed at 1 p.m. by the Bonanzas. On Sunday, July 21, at 10 a.m., the Cirrus group arrives.

How to Get Involved

These group aircraft arrivals are organized by specific type clubs well in advance of the annual aviation convention. To participate, you need to be registered, as there are a limited number of spaces available in the mass arrivals. Move quickly on this since reservations fill up rapidly.

Pilots are also required to attend a flight clinic and to be very familiar with the multipage Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) issued each year for AirVenture.

• READ MORE: Dates for Next 4 EAA AirVenture Conventions Announced

The mass arrival aircraft stage from an airport near Oshkosh’s Wittman Regional Airport (KOSH).

For pilots who aren’t going to be part of the mass arrival, the times of these events are published in the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2024 NOTAM to help with planning. You do not want to cut in line and disrupt the mass arrival—that’s like cutting in on a funeral procession. Just don’t do it.

More information on EAA AirVenture can be found here.

The post AirVenture Announces Group Arrivals appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The upcoming dates are:

• 2024: July 22-28
• 2025: July 21-27
• 2026: July 20-26
• 2027: July 26-August 1

For the aviation community, Oshkosh represents the highlight of the year. So much so that other life events, such as weddings, retirements, and even pregnancies, are planned around it. The EAA recognizes this, according to Jack Pelton, EAA CEO and chairman of the board.

“We wanted to announce the dates for the next several years, so people can plan for their trips to Oshkosh,” said Pelton, adding that there are other events in Wisconsin in the summer that sometimes also conflict with or overlap with AirVenture, so it is important to lock down the dates now.

• READ MORE: AirVenture 2023 by the Numbers

About AirVenture

What began as a few airplanes meeting in Milwaukee and later Rockford, Illinois, has grown into the largest fly-in in the world. The annual event was moved to Oshkosh in 1970 because it had outgrown the other locations.

More information on EAA AirVenture can be found here.

The post Dates for Next 4 EAA AirVenture Conventions Announced appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

At the air show, flying car manufacturer Samson Sky garnered record orders of its street legal Switchblade, expected to be able to both drive on highways and take off and fly from airports. The company added 115 Switchblade orders to its books, which, at about $170,000 per vehicle, would represent nearly $22 million in value.

With the added interest at Oshkosh, Samson Sky now has more than 2,400 reservations across 57 countries, including from customers in all 50 U.S. states. Those buyers will put down a $2,000 deposit within 45 days of the announcement of Switchblade’s first flight. But about 100 have already prepurchased the vehicle at full price to skip the queue.

“It was great to be back at AirVenture to take advantage of all the industry experts and suppliers who attend the show,” said Sam Bousfield, founder and CEO of Samson Sky and lead designer of the Switchblade. “We were able to hold several key meetings with future partners and investors that made the show an even bigger success for us.”

Bousfield and Samson Sky revealed the current iteration of the Switchblade, which has been in development for more than a decade, at Oshkosh in 2018, where it picked up over 100 reservations. Now, the design is headed for its first full flight after the company received the FAA nod to begin airborne tests in June 2022.

The firm describes its design as a flying sports car: the two-seat, three-wheel, street legal vehicle parks in the owner’s garage, drives on highways, taxis and takes off on an airport runway, and flies like an airplane.

To get where they need to go fast, customers can drive Switchblade from home to a nearby airport, where it transforms from drive to flight mode with the push of a button. The vehicle’s retractable wings swing out, its tail unfolds, and within three minutes it’s ready to fly.

After taking off from a runway at least 1,100 feet long, the driver-pilot can then cruise to their destination at around 160 mph (139 knots). The vehicle needs about 700 feet of runway to land, after which it transforms back to driving mode, again with the push of a button.

“The feedback we’re getting is, the practicality of the Switchblade checks all the boxes for what people truly want in a flying car,” said Bousfield. “We hope a Switchblade will grace the skies and streets of your city very soon.”

With a proposed 575-pound payload, Switchblade is projected by the company to hit airspeeds of 200 mph (174 knots) and a top road speed of 125 mph. A 200 hp, liquid-cooled, 3-cylinder engine—which runs on premium gasoline and can be fueled at a gas station—supports a 450 sm (391 nm) range during flight. It includes state-of-the-art flight instruments as well as a high-tech dashboard for driving.

The Switchblade’s safety features include a whole-vehicle parachute, disk brakes, an optional autopilot, and a safety shell to protect against collisions akin to a Formula 1 race car. The vehicle also runs on the Skybrid safety system, which enables regenerative braking and reverse thrust that act like a drag parachute on a wet runway. Those features allow for shorter takeoffs and air brake assist on descent, among other capabilities.

The flying car is expected to start at $170,000, but it could also cost hundreds of hours of the owner’s time. That’s because the Switchblade is being certified as an experimental category kit-built aircraft to avoid a more rigorous FAA certification path and is sold unassembled. This requires the owner/operator to have built at least 51 percent of the aircraft—customers would need to spend about 2,000 hours building it entirely on their own.

However, a purchase also includes access to the Samson Builder Assist Program, which can bring the owner’s build time down to a week. Company engineers will provide training and automation for the owner’s portion of the build, preserving the 51 percent rule, then taking over the process from there.

On the ground, the Switchblade will be certified as a custom motorcycle or kit car, requiring an automobile or motorcycle license to operate it. Users will require a private pilot certificate to fly, but nonpilots can still purchase it as a car. In fact, it can be used as a flight training vehicle through the Samson flight school program.

In addition to the Switchblade, Samson Sky is building a special edition vehicle with features designed for specific uses or climates and limited editions that allow buyers to customize features. Later models will include the “winterized” Snowbird, the rugged Aurora, and the multiuse Trek, each with its own unique features.

But first, the Switchblade will need to fly. A preproduction prototype rolled out for taxi testing in April 2022, a few months before it received the FAA green light for flight testing. Shortly after, the aircraft began taking short “hops” from the runway at Moses Lake Municipal Airport (WA40) in Washington. That testing is expected to continue for several months.

Simultaneously, Samson Sky is gearing up for the Switchblade’s first full flight and has made some key design changes in preparation. For example, it switched from a five-blade to a seven-blade propeller and added custom transmission gears to improve thrust and rearranged its vertical fins to add control.

The company expects its Builder Assist assembly line to be up and running within 22 months of that maiden flight. Because of its experimental category classification, Switchblade needs no further certification before production can occur.

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The post Switchblade Flying Car Garners Record-Breaking Sales at Oshkosh appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

According to EAA volunteer Gary Sternberg, the toy was reported lost by the parents of a little girl.

“The little girl was very upset,” Sternberg said. A day later someone found the toy—a plush cat—and turned it in to EAA’s Lost and Found Department.

Sternberg, who has been making the pilgrimage to AirVenture since 1970, took to social media to spread the word, posting the photo on Facebook and asking others to share the story.

“For whatever reasons, I make this and similar losses a priority,” Sternberg said. “Good luck at finding its home.”

• READ MORE: Oshkosh 2023 In Pictures

As of Tuesday, EAA had not been able to reunite the toy with its owner. The stuffed animal is in the custody of EAA’s Lost and Found and will be there for approximately another 80 days, as the policy is to hold items for 90 days.

Friends, you remember what it was like when you lost your attachment object as a kid, or when your child, brother, sister, etc., lost theirs. These become painful childhood memories. We don’t want this child’s memories of AirVenture to be tainted. Please help us spread the word and help this lost plushy kitty get home.

The post Oshkosh Lost and Found Seeks Home for Left-Behind Kitty appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The first accident occurred the morning of July 29 when a North American AT-6D, N49961, piloted by 30-year-old Devyn Reiley of Guadalupe, Texas, crashed into Lake Winnebago shortly after takeoff. Also killed in the accident was 20-year-old Zach Colliemoreno. According to San Antonio Express-News, Colliemoreno was a family friend. His hometown was not available as of publication time.

“The Winnebago County sheriff’s department received multiple calls about the accident, EAA spokesman Dick Knapinski said.

• READ MORE: NTSB Investigation Underway After T-6 Goes Down Near Oshkosh

“The Marine Units with Dive Rescue/Recovery Team members, along with the Oshkosh Fire Department, Winneconne Fire Department, Neenah Menasha Fire Rescue, Calumet County Sheriff’s Office, Wisconsin DNR, U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary all responded to the scene to immediately begin an emergency rescue response,” Knapinski said in a statement.

According to a publicly available flight tracking application, the T-6 had taken off from Wittman Regional Airport (KOSH) Saturday morning and within minutes had reached an altitude of approximately 3,900 feet. At approximately 9:06 a.m., the aircraft entered a vertical descent of 11,520 feet per minute, and the ground speed diminished to 105 knots.

One of the witnesses to the accident was Brayden Hiebing, who was fishing on the lake with his grandfather. He told television station NBC 26 Green Bay that he saw the airplane spinning as it descended. He thought the pilot was performing a trick until the aircraft impacted the water, fragmenting into multiple pieces.

By Monday morning, both bodies had been recovered from the lake, along with the majority of the aircraft wreckage.

“It will be taken to a secure facility for examination,” said NTSB spokesperson Keith Holloway.

Warbird Pilot

Devyn Reiley held a private pilot certificate with an instrument rating. According to her LinkedIn page, Reiley is the co-founder of the Texas Warbird Museum in New Braunfels, Texas. Previously, she had been the general manager of Texas Aviation Academy, where she earned her private pilot certificate in 2017.

Friends of Reiley’s said she had wanted to fly since childhood and looked up to members of the World War II Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) as her mentors. She soloed a Vultee BT-13 Valiant, the same type of training aircraft the WASP flew during the war at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas, the WASP training base. Reiley had plans to acquire her commercial pilot certificate so that she could fly museum aircraft to fly-ins and air shows around the country, sharing the WASP story and her enthusiasm for aviation with others. At AirVenture, Reiley was often clad in an olive drab flight suit that featured aviation patches, including Fifinella, the mascot of the WASP.

Reiley’s family has established a GoFundMe campaign for Hunter Reiley, Devlyn’s husband. The pair celebrated their third wedding anniversary just days before the accident. On his FaceBook page Hunter Reiley, also a pilot, posted, “All you wanted was to make the WASP proud. You earned your ‘Fifi’’ wings.”

In addition to being an aviation fanatic, Reiley is the daughter of NFL player Bruce Collie, a former star player with the San Francisco 49ers and a two-time Super Bowl champion.

The FAA did not have a record of a pilot certificate for Colliemoreno on file. 

Rotorcraft Midair

A few hours following the T-6 accident, a second fatal crash occurred when two rotorcraft collided in flight at the south end of the airport, killing two. 

According to witnesses, just before 12:30 p.m., a helicopter and gyrocopter collided in mid-air. The gyrocopter landed on top of a parked and unoccupied Mooney. Photographs and video of the incident show the Mooney and the gyrocopter in a tangled mass of metal.

The deceased have been identified as helicopter pilot Mark Peterson, age 69, of Foley, Alabama, and his passenger Thomas Volz, age 72, of Amelia, Ohio.

The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department confirmed the two persons injured were transported to a local hospital and were last reported in stable condition.

The aircraft involved have been identified as an ELA 10 Eclipse gyrocopter, which is a two-seat ready-to-fly model. The aircraft, which was introduced in 2004, is produced in Spain by ELA Aviación of Córdoba, Andalusia. 

The other aircraft was a kit-built Rotorway 162F helicopter. The kits are manufactured by RotorWay International of Chandler, Arizona.

Aircraft operations at Wittman were halted while the accident was initially investigated, but the afternoon air show began at approximately 2:45 p.m., after a short delay.

According to Knapinski, both aircraft were being piloted by attendees of the show, but were not participating in airshow activities at the time of the accident. In his closing day comments to the media on July 30, EAA chief executive officer Jack Pelton expressed condolences to the families and friends of those involved in both accidents.

The post 4 Killed in 2 Separate Oshkosh Crashes Identified appeared first on FLYING Magazine.