Oshkosh 2022 - The Departure - After two days of awesome fun, it is time to depart Air Venture...

Описание: Oshkosh 2022 Adventure (6) – Departing from Oshkosh

The morning after the night show in Oshkosh was fantastic. Blue sky from horizon to horizon, hot sun, cool breeze.

The day was busy with meeting with old friends and talking to gyro enthusiasts. Many people stopped by to ask me about my Kallithea gyro parked at the Ultralight Field. Most of them were astonished by the fact that this beautiful aircraft was not only gorgeous to look at, but it was also tough enough to fly all the way from Los Angeles to Oshkosh… and was about to do it again on the way back home.

Two days at Oshkosh allows you plenty of time to see the interesting stuff, so I made a decision to depart for Kenosha after the afternoon air show, I watched some of fantastic acts in the air then headed to the Ultralight field to preflight the gyro for the short hop out of Oshkosh.
I have to admit I was worried about the procedures I had to follow to depart from the main runway. I was familiar with the NOTAM and all of its information, but since this was my very first visit here, I was nervous. I pushed the gyro to the edge of the Ultralight Field where it is about 100 yards from Taxiway P5 and sat there waiting for the afternoon air show to end and the airfield to open.

The moment the smoke from aerobatic airplanes cleared above the main runways, quite a few airplanes on the ground came to life – I was not the only one leaving. Flight line personnel helped me cross from the Ultralight Field to the grass next to Taxiway P5, and passed me onto the next set of volunteers. I was allowed to start my engine, warm it up and do my runup. When I was ready, I was directed to follow the hand signals of series of flightline guides. As I got closer and closer to Runway 36L, I was also listening to 118.9 on the radio. An enthusiastic female voice cleared me for takeoff on runway 36L, wished me a safe flight, and a goodbye until next year.

It takes the Kallithea about 40 seconds to pre-rotate, so before I knew it, I was speeding down the runway, climbing out and turning to heading 150 as I was departing the biggest GA airplane gathering in the world.

When executing a plan, sometimes we just go through the steps, but I also allowed myself to marvel at the site I was leaving behind. It was clear now that all my worries about my departure were unfounded – everything was extremely well organized, and all volunteers were simply amazing. Thank you, Oshkosh, thank you EAA…

Immediately to the south I had to pass through the airspace of the temporary tower at Fond du Lac. There was some momentary confusion with so many planes flooding from the north, but it was soon sorted out and there were no close calls with the traffic leaving or landing at that airport.

A little further to the south it actually felt a bit lonely. Aircraft were spreading out in all directions heading home, so the congestions in the skies around me quickly melted away.

It takes a little more than an hour to get to Kenosha. The weather was perfect, there was plenty of daylight still ahead. I allowed myself to enjoy the sights Wisconsin has to offer.

At Kenosha, I was given Rwy. 25L to land. Knowing the horrible condition of the surface of that runway, I decide to land long, almost at the exit taxiway. This allowed me to bypass some of the gaps in the asphalt, but not all. The only solution was to almost stop, and slowly crawl over them.

Well, as I reached the hangar, I was closing the chapter on my first visit to Oshkosh. There were so many emotions bottled in, that it would probably take me few days to process.

For now, though, I had to prepare for the next chapter, the visit to the 60th PRA Convention at Mentone, Indiana…

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