"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:7nDRc.253451$JR4.113312@attbi_s54...
Lest any of you think that I'm so google-eyed about Oshkosh that I can't
find anything to bitch about, here are a few nits I'd like to pick:


This is the year that tore it for me. After we had the tent set, up a
jet was brought in and parked with both engines pointing towards us.
In retrospect, I should have either left or raised a record amount of
hell. When another jet was brought in behind us I flagged down one of
the scooter guys and asked him what the procedure would be for getting
them out safely. My hope was that they would force him to get a tow.
Certainly when I camped at Fond du Lac last year there was no problem
getting one. (I got a tow for my lowly Archer because I didn't want
to blow down the tents behind me.) The scooter guy laughed at me and
said we'd "probably get our asses blown all over creation". I hadn't
ever been close enough to a turbine to be 100% sure that my concerns
were even warranted. One afternoon as I returned to camp with my two
sons we saw that the jet was leaving. I had both boys run to safety
while I went to the tent to see what I could do. As he tried to taxi
away it became clear that the tent was going to break free and go into
the Cessna behind me. In a moment of incredible stupidity I decided
to try to hold it down. I think that if I weighed five lbs. less I
would have seen what it was like to fly like Superman. Finally his
wheels broke free and he turned to the right, ripping my rain fly down
a seam. The Baron owner between the jet and me found tent stakes six
feet from the remains of his tent. I'm not sure that I wouldn't have
been impaled by one of them if he'd had to use any more thrust.

I don't know what kind of flames this post may draw but I certainly
accept that I could have done more to avoid the problem and that
trying to save the tent and the Cessna was waaaay stupid. But I can
only change my own behavior, I don't have the influence or the energy
to teach basic safety to the EAA. They have lost a member and if I
ever attend another show I will fly in to Fond du Lac and take the
bus.

YMMV. Use the information or ignore it, your choice. It's incredible
that any organization can put on an event of this size with volunteer
labor. I applaud them for the good work that they do. But 2004 was
the end of the line for me. I won't knowingly put my aircraft in a
position like this again, let alone my family.

Tom