I enjoyed Burt Rutan's talk at the SPA Corn Roast. That event was marred a little by a mouthy guy sitting across from me who wouldn't stop talking throughout the evening, except when I asked him to because Rutan had already started talking. He turned around, saw it was Rutan, and said, "Oh, Burt Rutan--I gotta hear this!" Then at the moment Rutan stopped talking, loudmouth was back at it again. But the food was good, the beer was good, the table company was good other than loudmouth--I sat with a bunch of Icon staff, a very upbeat, optimistic crowd.
Ran into Rob (Oregon Maule) at an EAA tent, and I've already forgotten the guy with him--my memory isn't what it used to be. Otherwise, saw a lot of old friends from past OSH's, attended a couple of parties, and made new friends in the North 40 where I was camped. Got my tent dinged by Saturday morning's storm--tent and poles on the way to Big Agnes for repairs--but it survived well enough to make it through the week.
Coming in was different. I was on an IFR flight plan Friday, intending to cancel before RIPON and go in VFR. But soon after I was in Madison airspace, ATC called and said that Milwaukee Approach was concerned about whether I'd make it to OSH before the airport closed. I'd not changed my watch, and ol' Dummy here forgot about the time difference. So I firewalled my airplane--gained all of maybe 10 mph and the flow went up to over 13 gph--and when I got into Milwaukee Approach airspace, I asked him to check with OSH to make sure they'd let me in without following the RIPON approach. There was a long pause while he called OSH tower, and then he said I was cleared direct OSH. About then, I could see the airport, so I told him, and he cleared me for a visual to 36L--second to last airplane in, about 4 minutes before they closed the airport.
I didn't leave until Monday early afternoon--second to last to leave the North 40. Total time in the air, approximately 15 1/2 hours. I had a late lunch of a marvelous omelet at Dubuque--Chris who runs the cafe at the airport terminal really makes a great one. I overnighted in Grand Island--just too tired to continue after fighting a 30 knot headwind and a couple of hours of hand-flown IFR. But the stay in the Holiday Inn at GRI was great--one of the nicest HI's I've ever been in. The flight home in the morning began in a light drizzle, but within 15 minutes it was a nice clear flight the rest of the way home--still a bit of a headwind, but that's normal.
Great time. It's always good to get home, but it's also always a bit disappointing when it's all over.
Cary