By Athol Franz, EAA 680260
Having spent 23 years attending AirVenture camping with Neil Bowden’s South African group, once again this year I have been like a young boy all over again with so much “eye candy” on the Oshkosh airfield. It is almost impossible to take in all the exciting events during the course of one week. There are so many stories, so many wonderful people, and so many amazing aircraft, ultralights, helicopters, and futuristic concepts of all shapes and sizes to view and speak about.
The atmosphere within the South African camp was amazing due to the opportunity to meet new people, renew friendships, and simply enjoy the comradeship of fellow South African aviators. This year Neil’s amazing team have catered especially well for 200 persons in the group, which is one of the largest ever to have travelled with Air Adventure Tours. During my video interviews with many of the group members the comments were about the incredible experience all of them enjoyed within Neil’s “Kamp Plakkerfontein” during the week; especially the delicious evening mostly braai meals, overall comfort of the campsite, ease of access to the airfield, and notably the amazing spectacle that Oshkosh always delivers.
Meet the campers of Kamp Plakkerfontein in their video interviews here.
Whilst traditionally African Pilot’s extensive AirVenture Oshkosh report has always been reserved for the September edition, this year I decided to delay the magazine by a few days to provide this detailed report on the South African camp experience within this August edition of the magazine. I am often asked what is different each year. My answer is that every AirVenture is the same, and just like every AirVenture the experience is always different. The layout is much the same in that the various exhibitors show their latest and greatest, the sheer size is overwhelming, teeming with people, airplanes, and new products. Rich in history while showing us the cutting edge of what will be tomorrow. You can stop and visit a First World War biplane and then in five minutes drop in to the NASA pavilion and find out about the machines that will take us back to the moon and on to Mars.
However, each visit is very different, each with its own rhythm, its own rumours, its own flavours. This year’s AirVenture actually felt more relaxed, the pace a bit slower, the mood somewhat lighter. I think I attribute this to the outstanding weather which allowed arrivals to happen at their own continuous pace starting on Thursday. There was never a time when the inbound stream of airplanes was interrupted (except for the mass arrivals) and those went off exactly as scripted, whilst everyone appeared to be happy and content with the arrival arrangements, which is a big part of the Oshkosh experience.
Although fewer this year, the aircraft that arrived were excellent, with several new homebuilts and upcoming kits that I have added to my list to report on during the coming year. Within the avionics world there were not as many new revolutionary displays, but I sensed a solidifying of the various lines and good support from manufacturers. There was plenty of shopping to be had if you are that way inclined, and you could have your new purchases shipped back home with relative ease. AirVenture is a great place to find out about those important questions answered as well as to find the items you wish to bring home. In fact, some members of the South African group required extra luggage space to bring home their specific purchases from suppliers and vendors.
As Paul Poberezny famously said, “You come for the airplanes and stay for the people,” and every year I realise the truth about this. This is what AirVenture is all about — the voyageur’s engagement, it is the chance meeting of two ships of exploration in the far corners of the globe. It is that opportunity to speak with others who are obsessed with the same things you are obsessed with and to see what everyone else is up to. Oshkosh brings together so many good ideas and perhaps a few bad ones for folks to copy, incorporate, or ignore. It is a chance to fly, for real or virtually, with like-minded aviators, builders, and like-minded dreamers.
Of course, for African Pilot, AirVenture is mostly about meeting with the many exhibitors that arrive from all parts of the world to show off the latest in aviation. This is my annual opportunity to make valuable connections with customers as well as meet with existing and new potential customers all on one airfield during a single week at the end of July each year.
If you did not make EAA AirVenture this year, there is always next year. As one of those persons that considers Oshkosh my “second home,” I firmly believe that everyone within aviation should plan at least one trip to Oshkosh in their lifetime. This year I spent hours shooting specific videos that will be prepared into two longer Oshkosh videos and a series of shorter videos on specific subjects to be published within the September edition of African Pilot.
This story originally ran in the August edition of African Pilot, which can be viewed here.
Photography by Christine Brits and Athol Franz, video by Athol Franz and produced by Bjorn Bottin