Oshkosh day three-the official opening

By Willie Bodenstein


The days at Oshkosh are long. It gets light at about 5.30 and one is up for shower, coffee and a quick bite to eat and then it's off to whatever is planned for the day. The weather today is brilliant, lovely clouds creating a backdrop for the photographs and the sun is out. We opted to spend the morning at the Warbirds section.

Being there early means that the crowds have not ar5rived yet offering some wonderful opportunities to view the classic Warbirds from up close.







I counted more than fifty Harvards and P51 Mustangs are like Impala at Kruger Game Reserve, there are so many one tends to get blasé about seeing them.






AirVenture is not an airshow, it's a fly in for experimental aircraft and the category does included Warbirds. Every afternoon at 2.30 there are displays and the crowd line quickly fills up.



By the end of the show more than half a million people would have visited. The first display act was the dropping of Skydivers which whilst descending were circled by the Shell Harvard display team.



The afternoon display can last until after 7 in the evening, the sun only sets at about 8.30. The displays which include solo and team aerobatics will leave you in awe and one quickly realise that the Americans are in a league of their own.








No afternoon display will ever be complete without Wing walkers.




And then of course there are the featured aircraft and on Monday it was the turn of the BD5 Micro Jet and the legendary Mitchell and the only privately owned Hawker Harrier, Jump jet.







We will be spending tomorrow afternoon in the trenches, a section between the runway and taxi way and will publish a full report on this special privilege on Tuesday evening.







Oshkosh 2013








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