A Cardinal driver ... a formation flier ... and joint custody of the Apache ...

Bob Thompson lives in Aurora, Ontario, and Andy Weiss lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. Together they own a Piper Apache. Go figure.

The distance doesn’t seem to bother them. Andy used to also live in the east. That’s how they know each other. But when he moved west, they worked out a way to share the blue and white twin.

They say that being on opposite sides of the continent gives them plenty of opportunities for cross-country flying.

At first they had joint custody of the airplane, half the year east and half west.

"And then we’d fly across the country," says Andy. "It’s a good excuse to go. But now we just leave it in Ontario, because the salt air was not helping the airplane."

Bob’s been coming to the Oshkosh fly-in for 10 years, and Andy for 31 years in a row.

When they arrived to AirVenture 2007 on Saturday, planes were still being parked on the near side of the North 40, but they asked to park the 1956 Piper PA-23-150 around the corner, on the far side of the runway, just abeam the Runway 09 numbers. They like it there.

"It’s close to the food," says Bob. "That’s number one. And it’s up on the high ground."

They’ve been parking in that area for eight or nine years.

In addition to flying the Apache, Bob has fond memories of flying Cessna 172s, "and the other one is the Aeronca Champ. That’s the little bird; I think it’s fantastic. It’s a very venerable airplane."

Jim Lane flew in to the convention this year from his home in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

His home airport, Stevens Field (KPSO), is 7,600 feet up in the Rockies.

"We’ve got a runway 8,100 by 100 feet wide, all recently repaved a few years ago. We have a new FBO office, and the opportunity to build your own private hangars. I think we have 51 private hangars. It’s a beautiful community."

Jim arrived on Saturday as part of the 110-ship Bonanzas to Oshkosh formation. His first time coming to AirVenture with the Bonanza group was about nine years ago.

"I try to do it every year. It’s a wonderful experience."

Some people might think that flying in that big formation is stressful, but Jim disagrees.

"You know, we think it’s the safest way to arrive. We sit here and watch people arrive…and it must drive the controllers nuts. We don’t allow just anyone to come with our formation. They have to be able to prove they have formation flying experience—and recent experience, just in the last few months. We’re very, very safety-oriented. And that’s why we think we’re the safest way to get here."

Jim flies a 1979 A36 Bonanza, which he’s owned for 10 years.

"I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s a six-place turbocharged airplane which, where I live, is nice to have in the mountains.

Jim and his wife fly the Bonanza all over that part of the country, and beyond. They fly to visit their children and other family members.

"We use it a lot. We fly it over 200 hours a year even though we’re now retired."

Jim is usually accompanied to the fly-in by his wife. But she recently injured her knee, so he’s here solo this year.

Jim’s undecided how long he’ll stay here. "If you have nice weather for us, I may stay through Sunday. I’ve never stayed past Thursday."

Charles McCluggage with his 1973 Cessna Cardinal RG.

Charles McCluggage arrived this year in his charcoal gray and white Cardinal. He’s been coming to AirVenture six times since his first visit in 1988. He’s from Plainview, Texas.

He enjoys the fly-in because of "the sense of being totally immersed in sport aviation. Everybody’s here for the fun of it, seeing the new things. All of us dream about that next toy that we would like, whether it’s an airplane or a new piece of avionics."

Charles is building a Van’s RV-8. He’s starting to work on the fuselage, so he’s thinking about what he wants to put in it and "what to hang out in front. I’ve got a number of decisions to make. And this is the perfect place to make them."

"I’m going to be looking at avionics. I’ll also be chatting with other builders, about aspects of construction, to see what problems they’ve run into, what solutions they use to solve those problems. And I’ll talk to a few engine providers."

Another fascination for Charles is the older planes.

"I love the antiques. I love to see the craftsmanship that goes into restoring and maintaining those beautiful old airplanes. I’ve always wished that I could fly one of them."

Charles has owned his 1973 Cessna Cardinal RG since 1991, and has done a lot of work refurbishing it.

"But I’m considering selling it," he says, "so that I can concentrate on the RV more. But I’ve enjoyed this airplane very much. It’s just the right size and capabilities for the amount of flying I do."

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