Another great year at Oshkosh:  Good weather, good flying, good get-together for 732 and all the good stuff.  Highlights included the Hughes Racer, Melmoth II, the new Bombardier six cylinder engines, and our meeting at Tortilla Flats.

BUT THE MAJOR HIGHLIGHT WAS CHIP'S SELECTION AS THE NATIONAL NUMBER ONE WEB SITE EDITOR.  CONGRATULATIONS CHIP!

Then there was the Ford Motor Company tent with the replica of the Wright Brothers plane that will duplicate the first flight at Kittyhawk on December 17, exactly 100 years after their flight.  They also had several copies of Microsoft Flight Simulator with the Wright Flyer including the wing to lay on and controls that duplicated what the Flyer had and large screens with sand dunes, the ocean and houses.  Most people that tried it crashed.  My friend Howard Hurlbut flew it for some time and safely landed it.

There was concern for those camping when the thunderstorms hit one night but I didn't hear any complaints.  Then there was the terrible news of Jim Wright crashing in the Hughes Racer on the way home.  Seems we lose some every year but this effected us more than most because of Jim Younkin's association with that airplane.

A lot of my time was spent at Kidventure where we had kids building balsa airplanes, rockets, and ribs for a Wright Brothers replica.  They also went up in a hot air balloon (tethered), flew control line models and simulators including one of the Wright Brothers plane.  We had significant speakers like Patty Wagstaff , Chuck Yeager, and Dick Rutan.  The smiles from the kids were just like when we fly Young Eagles.

Tuesday night 20 of us from Chapter 732 and friends met at Lara's Tortilla Flats in downtown Oshkosh for dinner.  Despite the fact they don't take reservations, Lara took good care of us and put us all together.  Service and everything was good just like last year.  Thanks Lara.

Get ready for next year.

Barry