A really big show
By Tom Benenson
Ed Sullivan used to
promise viewers a "really big show" and gave impersonators a
phrase on which to hang their spiels. The EAA also promised a really big
show and there’s no question, it delivered. The news this year has
been enough to keep my colleague Robert Goyer sprinting between press
conferences and his computer. We’ve been intrigued by and speculated
about Cessna’s promises of future products and proofs of concept.
Garmin made its 396 into a 496 and surprised a lot of us with its G600
and G900X displays; Cirrus’s announcement of a turbocharged airplane
wasn’t a complete surprise but something else to write about. Honda
made news with the announcement it’s going to go ahead with production
of the HondaJet with Piper as a sales and service support partner. And
Eclipse came very close to its promise of an end-of-June certification
for the Eclipse 500 when its provisional type certificate was delivered
here on Thursday.
There was lots more to
write about and we are, but like everyone else here, I too, have had a
really big show¾maybe bigger than some of you.
On Monday, at the Garmin
press conference, I managed to win a "door prize" by guessing
closest to the number of handheld aviation GPS units Garmin has sold. I
was off by some 70,000 but closer than anyone else who participated. The
actual number it turns out is around 362,000.
After Monday, I’ve been
walking the show grounds like Al Capp’s character Joe Bfstplk, the man
who was followed around by a black cloud over his head, except that the
cloud following me is one of envy. It’s interesting how many
people¾ex-friends now¾have offered to hold my prize for me. Oh, the
prize, I’ve been clutching tightly in my hand, is a Garmin 496,
probably the hottest seller at the show. I’m as thrilled as my friends
are envious.
I hesitated, but only
slightly, in deciding to add XM Weather (and radio, "why
not?") to the 496 since I already have a subscription that plays on
the Garmin MX20 in my Cardinal. While I was having it activated, I asked
how many 496 buyers were adding XM Weather and I was surprised that the
estimate was only about half. I would have expected more people to take
advantage of a service that has revolutionized the way we fly when the
weather is less than CAVU.
There are other reasons
this has been a good show for me. The camping has only gotten better as
I’ve learned some of the tricks of the tent. My dome tent isn’t tall
enough for me to stand up in so I’ve learned some acrobatic moves for
getting dressed.
I’ve tried to share the
largess of having access to a golf cart for going back and forth to the
campground. With three empty seats, I’m able to pull up next to show
goers laden with goodies on their way back to the camping area and offer
them a lift. Most of them are suitably grateful. Occasionally, I’m
turned down, but I’ve learned not to take that personally.
On Thursday night I
introduced the film The Great Waldo Pepper at the Fly-in Theater.
Luckily, I was looking out at the audience and didn’t have to see the
five-story image of my face on the screen.
Before the film a pilot
from Elgin, Illinois, stopped by to talk to me. He was the perfect
example of what sport pilot is intended to be. Having flown hang
gliders, he had aspirations of becoming a private pilot but after heart
surgery he knew he couldn’t pass an FAA medical. Instead, he opted to
become a sport pilot and buy a light-sport airplane. To hear him tell
it, it was the best thing he could have done. His only complaint is the
cost of insurance. For his plus-$60,000 airplane, his premium is $2,400,
most of it for hull damage.
The good things just keep
on happening. I stopped by the Appareo booth in Hangar B to see the
latest changes to the company’s software and hardware that let you
play back a flight on your PC. The Flight Lite software takes the track
information from most handheld GPS units and recreates the flight over
high-resolution imagery of where the flight took place. Pretty
impressive. But what makes it special for me is the Cardinal in the
software is modeled with the unusual paint scheme from my airplane. The
replication is surprisingly accurate¾only difference, mine is a
retractable Cardinal¾but I’m not complaining. If I were decades
younger, I’d say it was "Awesome!"
The week’s been
incredible and it’s only continuing. Sunday morning, I’m going to
get to fly left seat in a DC-3...what could be a better way to top off
what for me has been the best Oshkosh ever?
It would be wonderful to
think that everyone’s AirVenture experience has been as good as mine.
I hope so. If not, there’s always next year. Clear skies and tail
winds, till then.
