By Don Alesi
To celebrate 50 consecutive years of fly-in conventions in Oshkosh, we’re featuring Stories of Oshkosh told by attendees remembering their special moments at EAA’s long-standing home. If you or someone you know would like to share your own Story of Oshkosh, email editorial@eaa.org
My first visit to EAA Oshkosh was in 1978. My brothers and I were heading up to northern Wisconsin when we saw the air show. We stopped and joined EAA on the spot. I only missed one year of Oshkosh in 1985 because I was attending Army Airborne School.
My wife and I love EAA AirVenture Oshkosh so much that we actually spent two days of our honeymoon in 1985 at AirVenture.
In June of 1995, my wife and I had just finished a nine-month restoration on our 1947 Cessna 140. It was also our 10th wedding anniversary on July 27. We decided to celebrate both occasions by flying the 140 from Denver to Oshkosh in the Great Cross Country Air Race, 777 nautical miles. Out of the 40 aircraft entered, we were by far the slowest. We made three quick stops with an average speed of 90 knots.
The Oshkosh tower cleared us to land during an intense rain shower. As we shut down the engine the tower told that our race time was 9 hours, 10 minutes. The first-place airplane had made it in a little more than 3 hours. The best part was that we were featured in Sport Aviationmagazine a few months later and the entire story was put in the book, Oshkosh Memoriesby Jill Rutan Hoffman.
In 2018, our close friends Ken and Lorraine Morris took us for a ride in EAA’s B-17. My wife, Maureen, and I belong to Poplar Grove EAA Chapter 1414 and we support EAA by offering our help whenever we can.