Sploshkosh 2010
EAA Fly-in Battles the Elements
Story by Richard VanderMeulen
Celebrating 75 years of the Douglas DC-3 is none other than the Seattle Museum of Flight’s DC-2. Resplendent in TWA color scheme the DC-2 shows the distinctive ancestry from which the venerable DC-3 was developed. As the civil DC-3 or military C-47, the common airframe has many followers and operates in passenger and cargo capacities around the world as well as military versions including turboprop conversions produced by Basler Aircraft right on the EAA’s home field, Whitman Regional Airport. (Richard VanderMeulen)The Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture 2010 at Oshkosh, Wisconsin’s Whitman Regional Airport 26 July through 1 August run began as a battle with the elements following record rains and an unofficial nickname of “Sploshkosh 2010” complete with “I survived” pins circulating the grounds.
On opening day visitors to the North Forty or South Forty were greeted with an eerie sight with not a single aircraft parked where normally thousands reside. As a result of the torrential rains, virtually any non-paved parking area for aircraft or campers became a soggy mire unable to support aircraft or vehicles of any kind.
With a normal attendance surpassing ten thousand airplanes over the week, EAA organizers, FAA representatives and local and regional officials were faced with the massive challenge of finding homes for the displaced arrivals. Traditionally used as an overflow for AirVenture, Fon Du Lac covered every available paved area, including one runway, with aircraft packed as tightly as possible, as were Appleton and virtually any airport in the surrounding region. EAA quickly set up additional busing to accommodate displaced attendees.
Astronaut for a Day: STS 132 and the Ship Atlantis
By Pete Trubucco
From Left to right MS Garrett Reisman, Shuttle Pilot Tony Antonelli, Pete Trabucco, Commander Ken Ham, MS Michael GoodAs a pilot and space fanatic, I have always followed our NASA space program closely and secretly hoped that one day that I would be able to work with these astronauts in space. Of course this could never really occur but a funny thing did happen to me on my way to Houston (and Johnson Space Center) not too long ago. As we all know, the end of the Space Shuttle program is right around the corner. Due to budget cuts, it looks like after the final mission is scheduled for next June and the program will truly be concluded. However on a faithful day in March, I did get to play “astronaut in training” with these star voyages and I can tell you, not many things that I have done can top this experience.
As the Space Shuttle Atlantis was scheduled for its last flight, I got a call from the NASA front office saying if I were able to get down to Houston, I would be in for a real treat. The flight that was up next was designated as STS 132 and the ship Atlantis was scheduled for liftoff (from pad 34A) on May 14, 2010. This flight marked the 32nd and (at the time) final flight for Atlantis closing almost a quarter century of service for NASA and our manned space program.
