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Hello Americans, hello fellow EAAers.
It wasn't that long ago, you know, that you put together that very first fly-in convention
at Curtis Wright Airport in Milwaukee.
But my, look how far you have come.
There is so much the public does not know about you, how you have given over a quarter
million young people their first exposure to aviation on your way to fulfilling your
goal of a million by 2003 through your Young Eagles program.
I got to fly way up and high, the driver let me fly, and when we're discussing this stuff,
I got to go in the plane twice.
How you have worked ceaselessly to keep them flying so that America and the world will
never forget the price of freedom.
I think one of the most memorable for me was a woman came up to me at one of the stops
and she is a very beautiful lady, I mean really pretty, seventy-some years old.
And she came up and she was dressed very nicely and she said, would it be possible for you
to tell me where the waste gunner stood?
And I said, yes, come with me, and I put her through the main cabin door, and I said, well
you can go on in and the place is right up, and she said, what about the left waste gunner?
So I climbed in with her and I said, this is where the left waste gunner would stand.
And she said, I owe you an explanation, I said, oh no ma'am you don't, not at all, I'm
just glad if you found what you were looking for.
She said, no, I was engaged to a left waste gunner who was killed over Europe.
I have married a wonderful man, I have a wonderful family, grandchildren, but I often wondered
how my fiancé was killed, where he stood.
And it just gave me goosebumps, and even right now I have the same special feeling.
It was one of those things that it took our aluminum overcast airplane and just this
woman to get in to maybe fill in a void in her life, that was very special to me.
How you have helped one another and literally thousands of others realize individual sky
dreams by just being there, over 900 local chapters strong, just being there to say yes,
you can, the freedom of flight is a heritage that belongs to us all, together we'll help
you claim it.
How you have built bridges of understanding between your fellow aviators and their government
to create a climate of communication and mutual respect that will ensure free skies for our
children and their children.
We wouldn't be standing here today at this wonderful site in Oshkosh, Wisconsin if it
wasn't for the volunteers.
When I look back over the history of the organization, the volunteers that helped me start this organization,
the years and years of effort that were put into it has made this all possible.
If I had a moment to spend with each volunteer, I'd probably give them a big hug and say thank
you for helping my dreams, aviation's dreams come true.
Let's not overlook your world class museum, which speaks so clearly of your dedication
to preserving aviation's heritage while lighting the lamp of learning for today and tomorrow.
And how many people know of your ongoing support of research and bold projects which challenge
us to ever seek the higher, better way.
Senator Barry Goldwater, who is almost as legendary an aviator as he is a public servant,
was once asked about his affiliation with EAA.
Asked why the organization's work is so important.
With characteristic directness, the senator pointed skyward and simply said, the future
is up there.
So to this celebration of volunteerism, this official EAA year of the volunteer, I'm proud
to add my voice to those of my fellow EAA volunteers.
You do indeed make a difference.
As we again assemble here for our 45th EAA fly-in convention, I'm struck by another fact
that's not appreciated by the public at large.
This largest annual aviation gathering in the world, this international celebration
of flight in all of its forms, all of these activities, which turn Whitman Airfield into
the veritable brigadoon of aviation for one week every summer, continues to be a volunteer
effort, as it has been for nearly a half a century.
So for the Lindberghs and the Yeagers and the Armstrongs of tomorrow, who may this very
day be starting world-changing journeys because of the exposure to aviation that you're providing
them, thank you.
And for those who gave their last full measure, for all of those who served and for those
who cherished the freedoms they won, thank you.
And for all those who dreamed of breaking the surly bonds of earth and were able to
do so because your chapter network was there for them, thank you.
For those who would visit the past in order to draw strength for the present and inspiration
for the future, thank you.
And for those individuals and families who have sought to join the greater extended family
of Skylovers and who take so much from this biggest of all aviation family reunions every
summer, thank you.
Here is part of the story the public at large almost certainly does not know.
EAA, this global organization, founded, focused, centered on volunteerism, sponsors and administers
all of these programs, programs which have literally touched millions of lives with a
permanent staff of less than 200.
EAA is able to do that for one reason only, your tireless giving of yourselves.
You have been the cornerstone of the EAA from day one.
You are volunteerism exemplified.
You are commitment defined, redefined, really.
You lead and inspire by your example.
When we say EAA volunteers, we make a difference.
It is measured by actions, not just words.
This year we want to let you know collectively and individually that your efforts are appreciated,
recognized and are paying dividends for aviation and for all those that you serve.
You know I wish I could spend a few minutes talking to each and every one of you individually
to express my sincerity when I say thank you.
But I can't.
But I hope that you feel by my comments and what is being said here that you know that
your efforts are appreciated by all who benefit from what you have done for aviation and it
is unequivocally true when we say EAA volunteers do make a difference.
So now my friends and fellow EAAers, onward and upward to tomorrow and to tomorrow for
the best is yet to be.
It is you who will write the rest of the story, good day.
How do you get 12,000 airplanes into one spot in a matter of hours?
What kind of big iron does the Air Force roll out to celebrate 50 years?
Can a pusher propeller driven Formula One plane beat a MiG jet?
We'll show you that and a lot more in an Ultimate Flight Special.
Hello from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, I'm John Nicholson.
This is Whitman Regional Airport, home of the EAA, Experimental Aircraft Association
fly-in convention for one week each year, the busiest airport in the world.
You see the top designers, builders and pilots from all over the world here, everything from
ultralights to home-builds to warbirds to state-of-the-art jets.
To celebrities, Oscar-winning actor Cliff Robertson to NASCAR champion driver Rusty
Wallace and every day, the best aerobatic pilots in the best air show in the world.
It's all about thousands of aircraft, hundreds of aviation-related manufacturers, tributes
to men and women who make aviation great, and of course, the daily afternoon air shows.
Air routines and formations, wing walkers and air racers, everything from state-of-the-art
aircraft to distinguished military planes of the warbird spectacular, which we'll see
a little later in the program.
If it's got wings, you'll find it here.
The couple and our first actor celebrating their 25th professional season and their 23rd
Oshkosh appearance.
Daniel Eliguin and Montaigne Mallet are the French connection, and nobody flies a mirror
image formation like this.
The team flies matching Cap-10Bs, the same airplanes used by the French Air Force and
Navy as primary and aerobatic trainers.
Daniel and Montaigne operate an aerobatic flight training school based at the Flagler
County Airport in Bonnell, Florida.
This is a mecca of aviation.
This is where we see all our friends.
This is where we see the best.
And it's like, you know, once a year you need to be there.
And it's a two-way street.
We give our time, we give our energy, but we're also sharing it because we're getting
the energy from the others.
And it's a big, it's like a big mess, you know.
It's just wonderful.
We love being here.
Another perennial favorite is Robert A. Bob Hoover, a war hero, test pilot, and consummate
air show performer.
The 30,000-hour pilot has always tried to live by one rule.
Know your limitations and the limitations of your airplane.
And never exceed either of them.
Bob has flown more than 300 types of aircraft, but is perhaps best known for his famous
Shrike Commander.
His energy management maneuvers have thrilled audiences throughout the world.
In a routine that carefully trades altitude for airspeed, Bob first shuts off one engine.
Then the other.
airplane that wasn't designed for aerobatics.
It's more tricky than it appears.
I try to make it look easy.
But every flight is different.
Today I had a crosswind.
You have to constantly anticipate where you are.
I have no instruments in the cockpit that can define what I should do next.
So it's all eyeballing and a function of your cognitive capabilities, if you will.
If I didn't have good cognitive capabilities, there's no way I could perform this series
of maneuvers without any engines and anticipate the temperature and the wind and package it
all in in that short timeframe.
In addition to his many other accomplishments, Bob also served as backup and chase pilot
to Chuck Yeager on the X-1 flights.
We'll see General Yeager and the X-1 later in the program.
Yeah, I love Oshkosh, this is my third year up here right now and every year I get here,
probably the things I love the most are the Warbirds, the P-51s, T-6s, stuff like that.
So I just got here a little while ago.
We flew in from the Brickyard 400, the race we were in yesterday.
And I had a bad day.
I blew an engine and told the guys that the first thing was on my mind to get to Oshkosh
because that's where that will put a smile back on your face.
Welcome back to ESPN's coverage of EAA Oshkosh 97.
Each summer three quarters of a million people from all over the world are drawn to Oshkosh,
a city of 60,000 on the shore of Lake Winnebago in east central Wisconsin.
They gather because they share a common passion, a love of flying.
You begin to ask yourself, how did they do it?
Especially when you understand that EAA has a permanent staff of less than 200.
The majority of work here is handled by an army of volunteers, almost 5,000 strong.
And it's fitting that one of the fly-ins' themes is the Year of the Volunteer.
In addition to the salutes of volunteerism held during Oshkosh 97, there were other activities
geared to EAA's broad membership.
There were the familiar forums and workshops, the fly market and EAA souvenir shops, the
And the nightly Theatre in the Woods programs capped this year by the Air Force show Tops
in Blue held at the Eagle Hanger.
Also held at the Eagle Hanger was the presentation of the prestigious Freedom of Flight Award
bestowed on Sam Johnson, Chairman of SC Johnson & Sons, Inc., and Johnson Worldwide Associates.
Sam is active in Chapter 838 and was the first and largest corporate supporter of the Young
Eagles program.
The new Air Academy Lodge near Pioneer Airport was dedicated, furthering EAA's commitment
to kids and aviation.
Finally, the convention offered the opportunity to meet one-on-one with government representatives
to make General Aviation's voice heard in Washington.
So far, we've seen some outstanding aircraft, but there's more than just propeller planes
at Oshkosh.
Just look at these jets.
They come in three flavors.
First, the early military aircraft you see here.
And these are not the property of the government, they're owned by private individuals.
Also on display, futuristic jet engines that may see widespread use in light aircraft and
home-built planes.
And there are debuts of conventional business and passenger jets as well.
This is billed as the world's first all-composite cabin-class business jet, an affordable alternative
for corporate flyers.
The single-engine Visionair Vantage is priced at approximately half the cost and can be
operated at almost half the expense of comparable business aircraft.
This airplane is all-composite construction, so it is extremely light, has very low stall
speeds, so it's a very safe airplane to operate.
Handling characteristics are very gentle, and it has range in excess of a thousand nautical
miles, so you can really go someplace with it.
And it has a service ceiling of 41,000 feet, you can really climb above the weather and
ride in comfort.
It has a single Pratt & Whitney JT-15D fan jet engine, one of the most reliable fan jet
engines ever produced.
It has an absolutely fabulous interior, it is a single-pilot airplane, and it's extremely
easy to fly.
This may be the biggest revolution in light aircraft in the last 50 years, something that
may make the piston engine obsolete.
Under cooperative agreement with NASA, Williams International and Scaled Composites unveiled
the V-Jet II, designed for flight testing modern turbofan engines.
We intend to build the lightest engine that's ever propelled four- and six-place aircraft,
the quietest engine, the least polluting engine, and our goal is to produce this at prices
that will stimulate the growth of general aviation airplanes.
We've done that in the past.
We developed a cruise missile engine, have delivered over 7,000 of those, and they had
performance comparable to huge airliner engines of that era.
We are applying a lot of the same lessons to very tiny engines, and we've developed
a lot of expertise in making little engines.
We're doing an automotive engine for General Motors right now.
With no mistake, the convention was buzzing about Dr. Williams' remarkable new turbofan.
Is it possible that someday we'll see a turbine engine in every hangar and every garage?
We were actually just passed by a car.
There was a car going fast here up on the road.
It's really refreshing to ride something that isn't quite that sophisticated.
One ad promises delightful sightseeing, another that this is modern transportation's answer
for faster travel.
Welcome to the infancy of airline passenger service.
The decade is the 1920s.
The airplane, the distinguished Ford Tri-Motor, which can still be seen at air shows and in
a handful of collections throughout the country.
Today for as little as $20, you can be transported back to a time when it took 36 hours to fly
coast to coast with only 12 stops and one overnight stay along the way.
And as you can notice, it's pretty noisy up here in the cockpit.
Three motors and they all make a lot of noise.
We are taxiing.
We'll see it in a little bit.
What does it take to fly this?
Well, we want people that are tail-draggers pilots that have flown airplanes that weigh
approximately 10,000 pounds.
But the biggest thing, multi-engine tail-draggers pilots, the airplane is not a hard airplane
to fly.
The problem is that it's heavy, it's an artifact, and we want to make darn sure that we don't
put this airplane at risk at any time.
And they do have to be strong pilots because you've got to wrestle this baby from time
to time.
Oh, absolutely.
This airplane is very heavy on the controls.
It's a rudder and an aileron airplane.
The elevator is extremely light, but as far as the rudder and the aileron are concerned,
you have to be very strong.
If you fly this airplane on a crosswind and a crosswind on a hard surface runway all day
long, the next day you're going to wake up with a sore leg.
It really takes a lot of strength and pressure to sit there and do it right.
We have the flight attendant on board because I'm in the right seat.
I'm going to go ahead and start the onboard movie now.
It's safe to say that the Ford Tri-Motor single-handedly began commercial air travel in the United
States.
Concrete runways, flight attendants, radio communications, transcontinental flight, almost
all major components of the passenger service we enjoy today were developed alongside the
Tim Goose.
Although only in widespread use for a short time during the late 1920s and early 30s,
the Tri-Motor nevertheless left its mark on aviation.
Designer William Stout convinced Henry Ford to take a gamble in 1924 and a factory and
flying field were built.
The assembly line concept that helped create the world's largest automobile manufacturer
also worked well for airplanes.
Seven basic models were designed and 200 aircraft were eventually completed.
The all-metal construction, used at a time when most airplanes were built of wood, reaffirmed
Ford's commitment to quality and safety in the public's eyes.
Henry Ford's famous business sense served him well.
The airplane was photographed on wheels, skis, and floats to show versatility, and soon the
Ford Tri-Motor was being used throughout the world.
By the mid-1930s, other airliners began to replace Tri-Motors, but most models continued
to be used in other roles for decades, thanks to the all-metal construction.
As late as the 1970s, there were still two Fords flying regularly scheduled routes in
the United States.
George, thank you very much for the experience, first of all.
Tell us about this airplane that you seem to love so much.
Well, John, it's a 1929 Ford Tri-Motor.
It was built by the Stout Metal Airplane Corporation in Dearborn, Michigan.
Stout was a division of the Ford Motor Company.
And so it started its life on August 21st of 1929.
We acquired it in 1973 when it was severely damaged at an EAA event, and then we spent
12 years restoring it to what we have here today, and we've been flying it since 1991,
giving people the opportunity to experience the sights and sounds of the early days of
air transport.
How difficult is it to fly?
Well, it's a very heavy airplane.
It's a rudder and aileron airplane.
The elevator is very light, but you have to be proactive with the airplane because the
plane is slow.
Because of the loading of the wing, if a wing starts to drop, it takes two hands to bring
it back up, and, of course, you want to do that in a coordinated fashion, so you're
coordinating a rudder when things like that happen.
So you're working the whole time you're flying this airplane.
This is not an airplane where you fly it with three little fingers, like, you know, you
try to teach people, you know, it's always pressures.
This airplane, there's some pressure involved, but there's some times when you become very
mechanical in flying it.
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Even if you're too young to have flown one of those planes or to remember those
times, any time you see video like that, man, it gets you right here.
Can you believe it's been 50 years since the start of the U.S. Air Force?
And this year, here at Oshkosh, is one of the places the Air Force has chosen to
celebrate the anniversary.
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And how better to celebrate it than with fly-bys
and static displays of some of the finest aircraft in the
Air Force inventory. Let's start with the top of the line, the
magnificent B-2. Initial operational capability
is scheduled for this year. Full procurement of 21 of these
stealth bombers will be achieved early next century.
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The SR-71 has been called the most technologically advanced aircraft
the U.S. has ever produced.
Here it's joined by a KC-135 and a NASA F-18.
And as the Blackbird completes its fly-bys and departs Oshkosh airspace,
here's a special bird's eye view available only to you at home,
the SR-71 from above, courtesy of that KC-135.
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An incredible sight at Oshkosh this year was the seldom seen
spy plane, the U-2.
It's seldom seen because this reconnaissance plane provides continuous
all-weather surveillance at very high altitudes. The numbers
classified that it's over 70,000 feet. U-2 pilots wear
pressure suits similar to those used by astronauts to fly without armaments.
Chase cars are used to assist during landings.
A pilot is talked in and stalls the aircraft two feet above the runway.
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Major Gause, John Nicholson from ESPN.
Good to meet you sir. Welcome to Oshkosh. Thank you very much, happy to be here.
What is it like flying it in? It's always a beautiful sight when you can see the curvature
of the earth. Very nice. And you see that all the time. Just barely, indeed we do.
This is the newest version of the U-2 I understand. Tell us about it. That is true.
This is the S model. Basically these aircraft have been re-engined with a new GE engine
which gives us a little better performance and a lot better maintainability than we've had with the R model.
Otherwise the same basic airframe. How long have you been flying it? About four and a half
years now. Now we understand it flies above 70,000 feet
and we're not supposed to say much more? That's correct, but I was above 70 on my way in
today.
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The Knight Fighter, known as the F-117, gained its
reputation during Desert Storm when more than three dozen stealth
fighters carried out more than 12,000 successful missions.
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For an historical perspective, the EAA Warbirds
of America Division offered sights and sounds of air power
leading up to the formation of the Air Force as a separate branch of the military.
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And for the final flyby, an appropriate tribute from the Warbirds saluting a
half century of Air Force excellence.
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If you fly, you're well aware of the time and effort it takes to keep your aircraft air worthy.
Altamont Flights would like to help you keep them flying with a timely tip.
Here's aviation research engineer Ben Visser. Let's look at one of the
primary places where severe engine damage can occur. This unheated hangar
looks innocent enough, but for an idle airplane it can be a torture chamber.
There's nothing wrong with the hangar itself. It's what's happening inside the engine that matters.
In
recent years, the annual flight hours of many private airplanes have decreased.
And where there's an idle airplane, whether in a hangar or a tie down,
there's rust. Here's a camshaft from an independent test
that shows how much rust can build up in a week's time under high temperature
and humidity. Rust builds on cams, lifters, cylinders, and other parts.
So why do engines rust?
Rust forms when a plane sits too long, especially in humid climates.
Rust also forms if there's excessive moisture in the oil due to low running oil
temperatures. So the rust is there. Then you start the engine, what happens?
All this iron oxide runs throughout the entire oil system.
Now the oil filter screen will remove some of the pieces, but almost all of the
smaller pieces remain in the oil, acting like grit on critical wear surfaces.
This can increase wear and possibly reduce engine life.
So what can you do? Change your oil at the scheduled interval
and use an ashless dispersant oil that fights rust like aeroshell oil
W15W50. If you fly infrequently, change
your oil every four months, the four month rule. If you're a frequent flyer,
I would adjust the rule and change your oil every 50 hours if you've flown these
for 25 hours in less than four months. If your engine doesn't have an oil filter,
change your oil after 25 hours or four months.
If you don't plan on flying your plane for four months or more, use a preservative oil like
aeroshell fluid 2F to thoroughly protect your engine.
I'm Ben Visser. Good flying!
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Well, it's a wonderful show.
I think it's hard to get a sense of how many folks are
involved in this sort of aviation coming from
which is back east in the city. And it's really an extraordinary
display of enthusiasm and
professionalism and engineering
proficiency. So I'm really
very, very impressed.
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Welcome back to Oshkosh Air Show 97.
We're at the biggest event of its kind in the world and right now
we're going to look at just a few of the more than a thousand showplanes here on the flight line.
There's an old saying that a machine is only as good as the
sum of its parts. But these aircraft disprove that
because the love and care that go into building and restoring them make them worth so much more.
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Thank you. Talk about a dream come true, huh?
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It's a pretty airplane and drew a lot of attention here.
A lot of people have come up to it and admired it. And a lot of people knew what it was.
Not many people. Most people think it's a miniature corsair or something like that.
And I remind them to know it's one of a kind and I tell them about
Mr. Loving and his work.
Now the original Loving's Love is here in the museum
at Oshkosh, Mr. Bill Loving's original airplane.
It's a hands on airplane. It requires your attention all the time.
It doesn't really trim up too nicely although I've put
trim systems of various types in there in order to increase the stability of it.
It actually flies very nice and handles nicely. It just requires
your full attention to solve.
This airplane was a dive bomber in World War II.
Carrier based. And it flew off the carriers
and it had a scouting mission also. It was a scout bomber.
And it flew out, located the enemy, radioed back
and then if they were able to constitute a raid then
the airplane would return, rearm and go back out on the big raid. But it was a scout dive bomber.
This aircraft is very rare. The last time an SBD was
at Oshkosh was in 1976. There's three of them flying today
and there will be another one flying probably within the next six months.
In this particular airplane it was the engine. I love engines.
I love engines.
But I like doing something that has yet
undone. But I try to do things conservative enough to avoid
the danger. So I just try to
make it interesting. I don't enjoy building the second
of anything.
Add these numbers up and you have the most successful kit airplane in the world.
The RV kit plane is 25 years old this year.
1600 RVs are currently flying.
250 of those made it to Oshkosh this year or more than
15% of all the planes available. Five models by the way.
More than 7,000 kits have been sold. Three finished aircraft
take to the sky every week.
Pushy Galore is no stranger to Oshkosh audiences.
This year a man who holds six records, Bruce Bohannon, faces his biggest challenge.
A race to 1,000 meters against a MiG jet.
Down on the ramp is Robert Hoot Gibson.
Former astronaut, Navy pilot, a man who's flown both of these aircraft.
Let's go to him for the story.
Bruce, Pushy Galore has just so far beaten all comers in this kind of an event.
How good do you think your chances are against a
turbo jet after burning MiG 17?
That's a real unknown for me right now. I'll know a lot more about it at about 310 today.
We're running at 3 o'clock so he knows nothing about our airplane, we know nothing about his.
This is anybody's guess. I'm going to be quick off the line.
He's going to be fast. The best rate of climb we can hope for is around
5,000 feet a minute. But we'll achieve that pretty early on.
It's a matter of how quick you can motivate an 8 to 10,000 pound jet.
Well this promises to be a real show today.
When we line up this little tiny yellow plastic airplane next to the fire breathing dragon
What do you think about this, Jimmy? What do you think the chances are of you winning, of Bruce winning?
Well I lost sleep over this trying to figure this out myself.
I really have no idea. I'm not just saying that.
I know that he'll jump right out ahead of me initially and I understand
he'll pull off at about 1,500 feet. If I can get the burner right in
I might give him a good race to 1,000 meters, 3,300 feet.
This is off to a real head start
because of his ability to accelerate
and get off the ground real rapidly.
He's going to be able to do it.
He's going to be able to do it.
He's going to be able to do it.
He's going to be able to do it.
Get off the ground real rapidly and it's just going to be a question
as to whether he can outlast the MiG-17. Once that MiG-17 really gets going
and gets up to his best climb speed it's going to be hard for Bruce to catch it.
And it looks like Bruce is peeling off. I honestly can't tell
from here which one got there first.
Jimmy, Bruce, congratulations.
That was really spectacular. I can't tell you how great that looked
from my vantage point watching it on the ground. Jimmy, congratulations.
I guess this is about the only airplane that has been able to
reach 1,000 meters faster than Pushy Galore did.
How did it go? Well, it went real good. Like I said, I laid awake last night
and tried to give some thought to the strategy. Even talked to Bruce. He was a big help.
Perfect sportsman. He says, what's the best way for it to be fair to you?
We talked about it and used that strategy and the airplane did pretty well.
I didn't expect to do as well as it did against Pushy. Well, it sure looked spectacular.
And Bruce, I guess Pushy didn't work perfectly today
and you had a little bit of a problem with it? Yeah, we started losing
plugs about 1,000 feet. Coming out about 1,200 feet
it was banging out pretty bad. I had to bail out and come on back.
Jimmy had a great run going and had we kept running
it would have been a really close race and I couldn't even think of calling it.
But I know we had a perfect spot to be there and to be here at Oshkosh
and do this in front of this crowd. It was just fabulous.
Now you may not ever push a Formula 1 racer to its limit, but the people who do
have learned a lot that can help you keep your airplane running smoothly.
Once again, here's engineer Ben Visser. Of all the things you can do
to keep your engine running longer, you may not have considered using a couple of simple tools.
One's a thermometer, the other's a permanent marker.
Placing a reference mark at 180 degrees on the green band of your oil temperature gauge
is a good way to protect your engine.
Here's why. The typical green band of an oil gauge can start as low as
120 degrees and go all the way up to 245 degrees.
That's a wide range. On most engines, a cruise oil temperature
significantly below 180 degrees won't
boil off moisture in the oil. This is especially true during a short
flight. You see, as oil goes through the engine, its highest
temperature will be about 50 degrees higher than your oil temperature reading.
If your oil temperature reading is only 150 or 160
degrees, the oil won't get to the 212 degrees
needed to boil off water formed by condensation. The result
is water and acid buildup in the crankcase which could lead to rust
and corrosion. If your aircraft isn't flown regularly
or if it sits in a humid climate, the chances of rust and corrosion are even
greater. That's why it's important that your oil is heated
to a temperature that will boil off the water.
Now, if you had a turbocharged engine, the highest oil temperature is usually 70 to
75 degrees higher than the oil temperature reading. Here the need
is to keep the oil temperature down around 180 degrees
to reduce both wear and deposit buildup. That's where the thermometer
and marker come in. Take your sending unit and
a reference thermometer and place them in a steel container filled with oil.
With a hot plate, heat the oil to 180 degrees and mark your
gauge. Even if your gauge has temperatures printed on its face,
accuracy is worth checking. So is making your mark at 180 degrees.
I'm Ben Visser. Good flying.
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What's your favorite thing to do when you're
flying? See all my old friends. That's the best thing.
Of course, when I see guys like Sean Tucker flying up there doing all kinds of wonderful
things in the sky, plus all these other pilots, men and women,
so many of them are my friends. It's a joy to see them doing their thing.
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Welcome once again to the realm of air show performers.
Last year, Wayne Handley performed at Oshkosh in the new Giles.
As you can see by this footage, he really puts his airplane through its faces.
Wayne returns this year with his primary plane, the Raven. Let's watch
as he begins his routine with a punishing series of inverted flat spins.
It's miserably uncomfortable.
I'm pressed against my seat belt with one and three-quarter negative G's.
So just multiply my weight by one and three-quarter and that's what the pressure is.
My head is being thrown back from the centrifugal force and if you look at the canopy,
I can't see it at this light angle, but the canopy on both sides of my helmet is scratched so bad
now that I can't see through it.
When you're a kid and they had you by the ankles and spinning you around on a lawn, it's a little bit like that.
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Wayne prides himself on his ability to
interact with the audience by radio during his routine.
A trait he shares with several other performers, including his good friend and neighbor
Sean D. Tucker.
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What can be said about Sean D. Tucker that hasn't been said before?
Sean's been flying 28 years, has performed for 21 of them.
His industrial strength aerobatics includes maneuvers
like the baby loop and the alley-oop loop.
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His 360 horsepower Challenger 2 is also known for spending time
hanging by its prop.
And for executing a triple ribbon cut.
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Let's see that again in slow motion.
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The Northern Lights have been together three years. This year they have added
member Eric Hagensen to provide some of the solo maneuvers.
The five member team is based in Ontario. The pilots hail from places as diverse as
England, Minnesota and Switzerland. Each pilot is accumulated
between 2,000 and 3,600 flying hours.
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Long hours of practice have paid off.
Their 4G formation loop and looping rejoin, where three of the aircraft
join up on the other two, are especially impressive.
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We are celebrating 50 years of supersonic flight here at Oshkosh this year.
This is a replica of the airplane that Chuck Yeager did it in 50 years ago.
1947, Glamorous Glenis, and this is the real general
Chuck Yeager. Now we kid about this, you've been asked probably thousands of times over the years.
Chuck, how do you feel about breaking the sound barrier? And you say, I didn't break
anything. I exceeded Mach 1. Yeah, I didn't break anything.
We just got the airplane above the speed of sound for the first time.
And, you know, in looking at it now and thinking back to
50 years ago, I tell it the way I remember it. That may not be
necessarily the way it happened. How do you remember it? Well, it has a
lot of work. Bob Hoover and I were working on about 10 different
test programs, you know, and the X-1 I flew about
50 times a week and we were edging the airplane up towards the speed of sound.
And we really didn't know we would ever get the airplane above Mach 1.
And we didn't plan to do it on October the 14th, which we did.
But we'd had it up to about 95
or 96% of the speed of sound a couple
or three days earlier. And we decided we'd try to maybe take it up
just a little bit faster. And on October the 14th,
we sat in there looking at the Mach meter indicating about 96 Mach and it was fluctuating.
And then it went off the scale and when it did, all the buffeting stopped and we got
supersonic flow with the whole airplane. You know, that's sort of disappointed
it didn't blow up. It really turned out to be very easy.
And, you know, dispelled a lot of myths that had been
put out about the sound barrier. And we were just very lucky and
when I got the airplane above the speed of sound, I just said, sure you have
a feeling of accomplishment, but that's about it.
Because there's a lot of duty involved in something like that. You do your job
and then you go into something else. And that's the way I felt about the X-1.
Coming down with my dad a bunch of rolls and Hoover jumped me
and we got in a little dog fight. And then I finally landed on a lake bed
and then it was classified. We couldn't say anything about it.
After all these years and all the airplanes you've flown so well, what's your favorite one to play?
Probably for nostalgia reasons.
I like to get back in the old P-51 that I shot down Germans with.
I've been flying it since 1944.
It's fun, but it's a tail dryer and it's hard to fly.
And it's a challenge. And see the difference between F-15s, F-16s and modern airplanes
they're extremely easy to fly and you get complacent in them.
And I crawled back into P-51 and I said, Jaeger,
be careful. And that's the way I work at it.
The newest airplanes, just like Carr, like the F-23,
the Advanced Tactical Fighters or F-15Es or airplanes like that,
those are real weapons and boy they're very effective today.
And the test pilots that fly them out at Edwards are really neat guys to watch fly.
General Chuck Jaeger, 50 years after
becoming the first man to go supersonic, looks like he has at least 50 more good years
of flying in him. Thanks General. Okay, my pleasure.
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Tradition is that I get to choose how I leave the convention
each year. And this is the year of the volunteers, so what better way to go
than in this EAA volunteer built ultralight. This is the EAA
FightStar 2SL, the pilot Paul LeCourbier is a volunteer.
And we're on our way for EAA and ESPN.
I'm John Nicholson. So long from Oshkosh.
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Why do you keep coming back? Gets my battery recharged
I guess. If you like airplanes, this is your only place in the world right here.
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This has just got to be a ton of work
for you. You volunteer, why do you do it year after year?
The people, the people that keep coming back, the friendships, there is no greater
people than aviation people.
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Why are you here at Oshkosh?
Because I'm going to go see, I'm going to see the
constellation fly.
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What keeps you coming back?
It's beautiful, I've never seen such a large group of people so well organized
and so clean and everybody has the same thing on their mind, airplanes.
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