Your Oshkosh Experience & fly-in debrief
Monday August 19, 2024
6:00 p.m.
We think this was at a particularly serious moment at the August chapter meeting.
A successful fly-in and enjoyable Oshkosh 2024 was reason enough for a little celebrating at the Chapter 54 monthly meeting, so Jay Schrankler and Marlon Gunderson put together a nice pizza and salad party, along with rootbeer floats for everyone.
The program itself started with a look back at the pancake breakfast fly-in. Marlon reported the chapter made about $1,000 for aviation scholarships. He offered congratulations and thanks to the team leaders, volunteers, and friends of the Chapter who helped pull it off. He is assembling a list of "takeaways" from members. Originally, the plan for the meeting was to jump into those things but the night's vibe was so good it seemed like a bad idea. So Marlon encouraged anyone with "takeaways" to send them to him.
Jay reminded folks to include "what worked" along with any "what didn't work". Initial responses on the latter included a need for a setup director, better signage to rest rooms, and an AWOS announcement with tower and ground frequencies.
On the whole, however, the enthusiasm and professionalism shown by Chapter 54 members has given the group every reason to do it again next year. Next year's date is August 10th. Why not put it on your calendar right now.
By far the highlight of the night, though was Jeff Dale's video of enjoying Oshkosh with his family, and the fly-in breakfast. Jeff couldn't be at the meeting so he made a video to share his experiences of Oshkosh, and buried the lede (as we say in the media) in announcing he and his wife are expecting... an airplane. Someday. See the video here.
Other Oshkosh takeaways were shared regarding the chapter group-camping for 54. This year the group was pushed out in the field toward the highway (actually my preferred area to camp. - ed.), which worked out great, except for members like Ed Trudeau who trudged the several hundred miles from show center only to find no one at the camp.
Marlon also shared pictures he took during the week in which he hung out with his pal, Burt Rutan.
And Bruce Olson shared the celebration of the Ray Scholarship recipients held at Oshkosh. Here's a picture. See anyone you know?
Finally, Dale Seitzer reports he attended the annual meeting of the EAA in which it was revealed the organization is awash in dough.
We were joined at this month's meeting by Mark Shanahan and Mike Graczyk who are new members. Our guests included Matt Cooper, John Pierce-Ruhland, members of Tim Redmann's family, Al Knudsen of Chapter 25 (who was recognized for his invaluable assistance with the rotating grill at the fly-in), and John and Nancy Ostrem.
Previous Programs:
January 2024:3D printing aviation applications (and Lake Elmo noise complaints)
February 2024:A fireside chat with Marlon Gunderson
March 2024:Mark Schaible, owner and president of Sonex
April 2024:Joe Harris, MAC director of reliever airports
May 2024: Sim pit design with Jeff Dale
June 2024:Annual picnic and hangar tour
August 2024: Your Oshkosh experience and fly-in breakfast debrief
