EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2015: Exhibitors - Final Wrapup

Fred Harl and Carmelo Turdo

The final chapter in The Aero Experience coverage of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2015 exhibitors features a great mix of military service, aircraft manufacturers and component suppliers.  The names of these exhibitors should be familiar to anyone in aviation, and they are a great group to conclude this series!  

United States Air Force     

The United States Air Force brought the "Performance Lab" exhibit, featuring a large recruiting trailer and an F-16 painted in the Thunderbirds scheme.  Attendees can participate in challenging activities and see their performance ranked among others.  The F-16 comes in a semi trailer, but that does not diminish the effect of having the aircraft on display.  This and similar exhibits are managed by civilian contractors, and include military staff at the recruiting location.

Vans Aircraft

Vans Aircraft is legendary in the experimental (kit built) aircraft world.  The dream of Richard VanGrunsven, Vans Aircraft began clean with the RV-3 plans in 1972, and 8000+ kits later, the family of RVs has grown to the RV-14 and counting.  The aircraft are two-seat, except for the RV-10 (4-seat), and generally come in conventional gear (tail wheel) and tricycle gear (number + A) configurations, with a variety of powerplant and cockpit instrumentation options.  Here we feature the exhibit and several examples in the RV model family.

Viking Aircraft Engines

Viking Aircraft Engines markets Honda-based aircraft engine conversions for use in experimental (kit built) aircraft. The exhibit featured Zenith aircraft, though the engines can be used by those made by Vans, Sonex and other popular manufacturers.  Viking promises that the mass-produced Honda auto engines have superior power to weight and parts supplies compared to aircraft-specific models.

Vitatoe Aviation

Vitatoe Aviation (Vitatoe Industries) provides engine supplemental type certificate conversions for Cessna aircraft.  Updates to the engines include Hartzell propellers, cross-flow tuned induction system and turbo-normalization.  These modifications increase available horsepower and provide more efficient operation over time.

Waco Aircraft Corporation
    
The present Waco Aircraft Corporation is an outgrowth of the Classic Aircraft Corporation of Lansing, MI formed to remanufacture the classic Waco YMF.  The YMF Classic appeared in 1986, and the YMF-5C and -D Super have become the new standard.  The Great Lakes 2T-1A-2 is also a popular product remanufactured by Waco.  The Battle-Creek, MI-based Waco has affiliates world-wide.  

Wipaire
      
The Wipaire exhibit is always an impressive site - those aircraft sitting high on floats with their tiny wheels keeping them off the ground.  But Wipaire does more than Wipline float conversions for aircraft up to the size of the Cessna Caravan and Quest Kodiac.  Other services include interior and exterior refinishing and modifications, avionics, AirGlide Ski conversions and other maintenance and FBO services.   

Zenith Aircraft
  
The Mexico, MO-based Zenith Aircraft Company produces the CH650 and CH701/750 series of experimental (kit built) light sport aircraft.  The company formed in 1992 to manufacture and market the designs of Chris Heintz and has grown into a leader in light sport aircraft incorporating STOL (short takeoff and landing) performance.  The company is known for its customer focus, including regular build events and open houses at the factory. 

Antique Airplane Association Fly-In Part of Northern Midwest Road Trip

By The Aero Experience Team

The Aero Experience made a Labor Day road trip to Iowa to visit the Mt. Pleasant Thresher Reunion (fascinating but no aircraft!) and the Antique Airplane Association Fly-In at the Airpower Museum near Blakesburg, Iowa.  We spent Friday at the AAA Fly In and later realized we were there for what turned out to be the best day of the weekend.  Weather through lower Iowa was quite wet that week with Thursday seeing over 3" of rain falling on the airfield, not a good thing considering the use of grass runways.  Friday morning provided clear skies and great weather until later in the afternoon when the skies darkened off to the southwest and clouds started crowding into the area. 



I had been to the APM airfield back in the early '90s for a series of R/C sailplane contests hosted by the Eastern Iowa Soaring Society.  The airfield was a great place to hold a soaring contest, and with the nice camping facilities on site (my wife always loves camping with hot showers and clean bathroom facilities!), I always looked forward to the next year's contest and the trip to Iowa.

This year's Fly-In featured Interstate and Great Lakes aircraft along with a theme of "Stars of the Sky & Screen" highlighting aircraft that appeared in the movies.  The weather impacted the runways such that the larger aircraft were unable to fly in but the Interstate Cadets and Great Lakes types were well represented. 

The Airpower Museum itself is well worth visiting, with a wonderful collection of general aviation mixed in with a little bit here and there of military items.  One in particular that caught my eye was a Westinghouse J30 engine, used in the McDonnell FH-1 Phantom. The gift shop had me digging through many back issues of various aviation magazines and journals, looking for issues to plug holes in my own collection.  There's also a large home on the airfield dedicated to a book collection with numerous artifacts and artwork displayed throughout the library. 

As you'll see in the photos, the variety of aircraft and the ease of capturing them flying, taxiing or parked on the grass made for an enjoyable day for Fred and myself at the Fly-In.  We are planning to return next year.  For more on the Antique Airplane Association and the Airpower Museum, check out their website, "Antique Airfield."    

The following photo presentation groups the vintage aircraft roughly by manufacturer: