By Kayla Floyd
Over in homebuilt camping, a grey RV-8 might have caught some attention. Whether it was the German registration, the German flag on the tail, or the combination of those with the P-51 Mustang markings and invasion stripes on the sides that caused you to do a double-take, it was Hermann Schiele’s airplane that you have stopped to notice. Hermann’s path to Oshkosh was not a typical one.
Hermann started his journey years ago when the idea to complete his dream of flying his own homebuilt airplane to Oshkosh started to take flight.
“For every pilot, I believe it is a dream to fly to Oshkosh,” he said. “For Europeans it is too far away. There is an ocean in between. It is not just the time or distance; it is the fact that there is an ocean separating them. You need an airplane that is capable to fly over the ocean; you need the range. For that reason, for a lot of European pilots, flying to Oshkosh stays as just a dream. There is a huge risk in flying over just water, but the last three years I read about more and more pilots doing it, so I made up my mind and I said, ‘I have to go to Oshkosh with my own plane.’ Being here is a highlight for me.”
Hermann himself is a pilot for Lufthansa Airlines, flying Boeing 747s all over the world, but when the idea to build and fly to Oshkosh began, he started spending the time at work planning exactly how he would build his own plane when he would land back home in Germany.
“Initially when I decided to build an airplane I got an RV-7. I had a young son at the time, and I thought it would be better for him to be beside me rather than behind me when he wanted to learn to fly. I always wanted an RV-8, so when the RV-7 was completed, I decided that I was going to build an RV-8 for just me. This is the plane that I knew would go with me to Oshkosh,” Hermann said.
“It took one year and four months to build. I bought a quick-build kit and it was still faster than I expected,” he said. “I built it when I was on my way home from working for Lufthansa. I would plan what I would do my next time home when I was flying the 747s.”
Hermann knew he would have to carefully plot his journey to Oshkosh. “I delayed planning. I should have planned the route sooner, but it was just in February that I started talking to other pilots and choosing a path,” he said. “I took off on the 14th of June, going from Europe over to Canada and down to the United States. When I got to America, I decided to fly and see the sights and different cities before coming to Oshkosh.”
The planning wasn’t that easy for Hermann; he knew the risks of flying over the water and had to take certain precautions. “The largest stretch over water was from Scotland to Iceland; it was 660 miles,” he said. “I wore a survival suit, with bags next to me with important items such as an emergency transmitter, a cold-water head cover, two life rafts, and a helmet to keep my head from banging against the frame. I also put foam in the wings so that the airplane would be buoyant and not sink.” Other than the addition of a small 10-gallon auxiliary tank in the aft fuselage, Hermann didn’t modify the airplane or carry additional fuel beyond its normal capacity.
The route was from southern Germany to Greenland, where he faced a closed airport for a day. He flew over ice caps and other hazardous ground before making his next stop in northern Canada. After a stop for customs and fuel, he made his way to the United States for his near-circumnavigation .
Hermann had mutual friends almost everywhere he went and was amazed that the aviation community in the United States is so welcoming and friendly compared to the aviation community he was used to in Europe.
“Everywhere I went I found someone willing to let me park my airplane and give me a place to sleep,” he said. “I knew people were following my flight, too. When I landed in Sedona, Arizona, I will never forget when a man came up to me and introduced himself, and when I responded, ‘Hi, I’m Hermann,’ he answered with, ‘Oh, I know.’ The support was great.”
Hermann was also given a strange experience for a German citizen when he met with a group of men all heading this way and decided to fly with them for a while. He then was given the opportunity to fly over a parade on July 4th, celebrating America’s independence with these other men who were scheduled to do it.
Hermann is thrilled to be in Oshkosh this year and is proud to have made the flight from Germany. His first Oshkosh experience was 20 years ago and he’s continued to come every few years. This year Hermann is excited to be able to share his experience with other aviators and said, “Many people see the registration on my plane and want to know where I am from and how I got here, and it is great to be able to share with others my trip.”