This map covers the whole area covered by EAA's AirVenture. The runways are part of Whitman Field, the Oshkosh airport. The yellow sections at the top of the map are the areas set aside for parking display aircraft. Many people camp in these areas under the wings of their aircraft. Visitors flying in may park in the white camping areas and camp beside their aircraft.

The AeroShell Square is almost centre of the yellow section and is where the special aircraft are on display. Most aircraft have no barriers of any type around them because attendees are assumed to be 'informed aviation' people or members of the EAA. People respect the aircraft and it makes for a lovely atmosphere.

Oshkosh and Kenosha photographs

To attend the EAA's AirVenture Oshkosh has been high on our goals list for many years. For those of you who don't know of Oshkosh or like us haven't been there (until July 2005) there is much to learn. Oshkosh is a city on the edge of Lake Winnebago. It is in the state of Wisconsin, capital city is Madison some 200 miles to the south-west. It is flat corn growing country. The people are very friendly, especially to Australians.

Our journey started many months earlier when I contacted Dick Knapinski, Press Manager for the EAA to ask if we could apply for media accreditation. Dick was so friendly and welcoming. We immediately started receiving almost daily media releases about the EAA and this year's show. I have to say this was the most professional and easiest to deal with show we've ever attended. The passes were issued without any nonsense, they were ready at the main entrance when we arrived and everyone was friendly.

Once the media accreditation was organised I set out to book our tickets and find accommodation in Oshkosh. Stewart had so many Qantas frequent flyer points we decided we'd use them to upgrade to Business Class for the long flight from Sydney to Los Angeles. Not so simple. Qantas has no 'cheap' fares at that time of year because it is the summer season in North America. We paid full price cattle class tickets from Canberra via Sydney via Los Angeles to Chicago. Our return would be Chicago via Honolulu for a four day stop over and then Sydney to Canberra.

Qantas made us wait until the evening before our flight to find out we had our Business Class upgrade. This is a dreadful system as the points have been earned by fully paid tickets and it is Qantas's own scheme. Would you believe there were so many empty business class seats there should never have been any hesitation in approving the upgrade? Stewart was so stressed about how he was going to cope with the discomfort (he's 6' 4" tall and most of the length is in his legs) of such a long flight. He'd done it a year previously and swore he'd never do it again.

We left Canberra on the first flight (to avoid possible fog) on Thursday 21 July to Sydney. We caught the bus across to the International Terminal to clear customs and security. We couldn't get into the lounge for our LA flight as it is 'a secured flight' and we had to wait until the extra security people arrived. They went through all our carry on luggage and scanned us with electronic scanners. Stewart lost his cigarette lighter, and he was not happy.

Our flight in Business was wonderful. Qantas has very good cabin staff and they certainly make you feel spoiled during your time aboard. We ran into a friend we hadn't seen for many years on this flight and in business. He and Stewart caught up on what they are both doing now. The food was great and the wines were lovely - we only had a glass of champaigne as we left Australia and a glass of red with dinner. We're not big drinkers.

Los Angeles airport. What can I say? The security people are rude, they yell everything, they assume you can mind read - a most unpleasant experience. Thank heavens for the Qantas Club. We were able to avoid the noise and crowds until just before our flight. I sent SMS messages to our American friends on my Telstra mobile. I later found they didn't receive them so maybe the two systems don't work together.

Our flight to Chicago was a code share with American Airlines. Our belief in good air travel was shattered here. Our aircraft, an MD-80 was sitting attached to the airbridge and had been for half an hour. When we should have been loading the people from the previous flight started deplaning. Curious looks from all around us. We were told there was a problem with the airbridge yet no-one was working on it. Immediately the in-bound people left the aircraft we were loaded. Stewart and I weren't seated together. I asked the young man beside me at the window if he would swap seats with Stewart. He told me he is terrified of flying and has to have a window seat. No problem as Stewart's seat was the same. They swapped.

Stewart had trouble getting into the seat as there was so little room between seats. I took the window and he sat in the middle. A young lady sat in the isle seat. There was all sorts of activity getting people on and off trying to fill all the seats. We don't have anything like this in Australia - ticketing staff stay in the terminal. Next an announcement was made that the CPU engine was not working so there was no airconditioning to help with the humidity and heat. People didn't understand what this meant and got worried the aircraft was going to fly on only one engine!

Talk about a PR nightmare. Our mate who swapped seats stood up and demanded to get off. He's told firmly to sit down. Next our ticket lady is back telling us the aircraft (plane) is heavy and she's taking two people off. PLEASE but what difference will that make!

We learn our four hour plus flight does not have included food even though we've paid full price. We may buy a sandwich for $US5 (only one type) or a sugary snackbox for $US3. Well, we went without because we were angry we didn't know about this before we flew and we didn't have any US cash. Lucky I had a couple of macadamia nut bars from home in my bag.

We are still on the ground waiting to move and have the airconditioning start about half an hour later. Finally the MD-80s engines kick over and we're moving. Many people in the aircraft are most distresed because of the silly announcements made by airline staff. The young lady beside Stewart grabs his arm and asks if we're going to take-off on one engine. He explains what they meant and assures her we have two working engines.

We were certainly heavy, we rushed down the runway for what seemed forever before the aircraft lumbered into the air. Not a good feeling. The majority of the flight was okay. Stewart swapped seats with the young lady as she could see he was struggling with leg room. We had a pleasant chat until the aircraft lurched to the right. We were on appoach to Chicago. Everyone screamed with the sudden jolt. Stewart looked out at the wings to make sure there wasn't an asymetric problem with the flaps - no. Then the pilot did the same lurch to the left. Now everyone was unsettled and frightened. No announcement was made to assure passengers that everything was okay. We made a very heavy landing and I think everyone was delighted to be on the ground and in one piece.

This is the first time I've ever been frightened in a commercial aircraft. The seat pitch was so close that I wondered if we'd be able to move if it crashed. Stewart was jammed in with his hips in the back of his seat and his knees into the back of the seat in front. He screamed in pain when the person in front put their seat back. He asked them not to because of his discomfort...they couldn't care less. I had the woman in the window seat behind me put her bare feet through the small gap between the back of my seat and the wall of the aircraft and scratched me with her long painted toenails. I pushed them away so many times I lost count. What a flight!!

O'Hare Airport is so big. We went to the luggage collection area and had to move to three different carousels as they changed their minds where our luggage was. Ours took forever to arrive and Stewart's bag had a large tear in the back of it, right through all layers. Both bags had been opened by the TSA. Next problem was finding our hire car...after much walking and pulling bags we were told we had to catch the hire car company's bus to their yard. Why didn't they tell us that!

A most unpleasant drive with us standing up surrounded by bags in a small bus. The staff at Enterprise Car Hire were most helpful. They carried our bags inside and gave us bottled water to assist with the heat and humidity. We didn't get the type of car we'd ordered but ended up with a funny thing called a Pontiac Vibe. It was more little truck than car. I didn't look but I'm sure it was Korean or Japanese, it certainly wasn't American built. Within half an hour we were away, driving on the wrong side of the road and trying not to cause an accident.

Now to find our hotel so we could catch up on sleep. Well, we got well and truly lost. I pulled the poor lost Aussie routine with a lovely man and his wife walking down a road. He was so nice, he asked me to follow him and he'd put us on the right road. He did - except it was a toll road. Stewart remembered he had two $US1 notes in his luggage. I pulled over just before the toll gate so he could unlock his bag and find his money. We paid our toll and continued on as directed. To cut a long story short it took us hours to get to a hotel that we should have been able to reach (with correct instructions) in about 20 minutes. A lesson learned.

Budgeting for a trip in the US is difficult because nothing is priced as you expect. Hotels give you their cost but when you actually pay there are additional taxes on your bill for the local county and state. Every county and state has a different rate of tax!

We had private accommodation organised for Oshkosh because the city is overflowing during each year's AirVenture. We have to thank Paul and Cathy for making us so welcome and trusting us with their lovely home for a week while they were on holidays. We were only 3 miles from the airfield which made daily travel a pleasure. Our car parking was a short walk to Press Headquarters to find out what was happening each morning. We walked at least 12 kilometres each day up and down the flightline and around the exhibitor displays.

More than 290 Australians attended this year's AirVenture - and we ran in many of them. They couldn't miss us as we were wearing loud Australian flag hats. They worked like magnets for Americans and Australians alike. It was interesting to hear their impressions of the show and find out how they'd come to be there. We all agreed CASA and AirServices should be forced to attend and see what a real flying display is like...hundreds of aircraft in a small section of sky at the same time, it was wonderful to watch. A true spectacle.

The air traffic controllers worked extremely hard over the show period. Stewart spent some time listening to them on the radio, sorting out problems (usually first-timers) and get everything down (or up) safely. We experienced it ourselves on the Friday morning and early afternoon. We did a flight in a light aircraft taking off from the east-west runway very close behind three other aircraft and returning some hours later and landing in company with other aircraft. A wonderful experience and something that would never happen in Australia. Very impressive.

We highly recommend the EAA's AirVenture to any aviation enthusiast who can afford to visit America in the high season. You will never see so many interesting aircraft in the one place almost anywhere else. We believe there were more than 10,000 aircraft at this year's event. You have to see it to believe it. It is primarily an experimental aircraft event with so many workshops to attend you could be 'working' for the whole seven days. There is a large number of ultra lights, experimental aircraft of all sizes, vintage and antiques, general aviation aircraft, kit aircraft, light jets and turboprop business aircraft and vast numbers of warbirds.

The next issue of AERO Australia (issue 8) will have a large photographic report on the EAA show. After the show we made our way to Dayton, Ohio to visit the USAF Museum. There are so many military aircraft here that your mind becomes numb after you've walked from hanger to hanger and looked at them all. We went on the bus trip onto the active air force base to see the Experimental and President's aircraft. Depending on your interest level you can cram it all into one day as we did (time) or take it easier and spread it over two days. You have a lot of walking to do and there is just so much to see. If you have time you can visit the Wright Bros workshops. Sadly we didn't have time for this - next trip!

We have to thank Victor Stottlemyer for taking Stewart for a flight in his Canadian built Harvard trainer. This was during the Friday training sessions at Kenosha a few days before Oshkosh. Stewart couldn't believe his luck at taking part in a formation training flight...mind you he dropped his camera into the bottom of the aircraft while he was being strapped in!