Life is quiet down on the South Forty

It's not the edge of the earth, but you can see it from there. Latecomers to AirVenture get to park in one of the special places at Oshkosh, the "South Forty".

Down beyond the tower, beyond the AeroShell Plaza, south of the Vintage Red Barn, past the Ultralight area, across the creek, then a little further, past the runway 36 numbers, that's where the South Forty is. It's quiet down there.

Bill Holbrook and Terri Haggard from Ardsmore, Oklahoma are parked in Row 144, not quite the "last row", which this year was Row 145. Bill and Terri are perfectly content in the South Forty. This is their second year to AirVenture. Last year they weren't able to land here at Wittman Field. The airport was full when they arrived so they landed at Fond Du Lac and shuttled the rest of the way to Oshkosh.

This year they arrived on Thursday, making the four hour flight in their Cessna 310. They flew here in loose formation with a friend in his Beech 18. The Beech got to park further north in the Vintage area, but they're just happy to be here.

Also arriving on Thursday was Patrick Doyle and Beth Godden in their Luscomb taildragger from Boulder, Colorado. They made the nine hour flight in one day. But they did have to stop for a few hours in Portage, with about 10 other Oshkosh bound planes. They were all waiting for the daily airshow here to end so they could all continue inbound. Patrick and Beth enjoyed the hangar flying in Portage, as well as the "friendly FBO and cheap gas, it was only $2.25," said Patrick.

Patrick is a 17 year pilot but only a second year AirVenture attendee. Beth is here for her first time.

"This whole camp under the wing thing is fun," she says. "But people do tease us down here. We're supposed to say we're parked in Chicago." She says she especially likes the Staggerwings, which she describes as "modern looking biplanes".

During Thursday night's rain showers we were talking to a couple of the EAA Security Staff while hiding out from the downpour in one of the new Forum buildings.

These blue-shirted folks are temporary employees of EAA brought in for the fly-in. They patrol the grounds doing things like keeping bicycles and mopeds off the Flight Line, and keeping the speed of authorized vehicles to under 10 mph.

"We started working a week ago Saturday," said one of the staffers. "We started with training and equipment preparation."

Another task of AirVenture Security is to assist attendees having medical problems. They help folks having existing medical problems as well as physical complaints caused by local conditions such as the heat. Depending on the nature of a medical situation, they'll call in either one of the AirVenture first-aid teams, or medical professionals from outside the convention grounds.

"There's a lot of ground to cover," he said. They'll often patrol their "beat" on a moped or other motor-vehicle, covering across the entire convention grounds.

Are we EAAers an unruly crowd? "Oh no. There's the occasional troublemaker, but EAA people are really well behaved. One problem that we have a lot of is that people don't know where the limits for bicycles is. So we spend a lot of time helping with that."

Roland Starke is an electrical engineer from Caracas Venezuela. He came to Oshkosh this year via airliners to Milwaukee and then Greyhound bus. In Caracas he flies out of Aeropuerto Metroplitano.

Roland arrived at AirVenture on the Saturday before the fly-in started and is staying in Camp Scholler. He'll be here until it's all over on Tuesday. He describes AirVenture as "Exciting, the greatest get-together I've ever seen."

Doug Latham and his Dad Chester arrived Thursday in their Stinson 108. Doug has only been flying for eight months, his Dad for 20+ years, but this is the first AirVenture for both of them.

Doug describes it all as "mind boggling". He especially likes seeing all the "old planes".

They made the 10 hour flight here from their home base in Dalhant, Texas. They were pleasantly surprised to meet people here at AirVenture who have visited their field to enjoy the airport cafˇ. The cafˇ is an old-fashioned lunch counter with chrome fixtures and great chocolate shakes.

Phil Steiner has been coming to Oshkosh for 25 years. He learned to fly just after WWII in J3 Cubs. He flew for the Air Force before joining Capitol Airlines, which later became part of United. He retired from United 12 years ago, and now flies around the country in his beautiful Cessna 180.

This year he arrived on Thursday after spending the past month on an airport-hopping vacation trip with his wife. Immediately before Oshkosh Phil and his wife attended the 180/185 convention at Pagosa Springs County Airport where about 120 planes gathered for the festivities.

After Pagosa, Phil's wife hopped on an airliner to return to their home in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Phil headed to AirVenture for the big finish of his vacation.

Over the few years that I've been writing this column I've met a lot of interesting people here at AirVenture. This year was no exception. There was the man with 15 airplanes, the guy with the weed whacker, the Aussie with all the pins, the Ultralight Rooster, the Boys from Dodge, the rubber chicken guy, the "Metro Warbirds", all the non-flying Oshkosh residents who come out to volunteer at the fly-in, the guys from Flabob, the visitors from other countries, all the great volunteers, the families.

So many interesting people, and yet each year as I wrap up these columns I always feel like I've missed things. What's the old line? "There are a million stories in the naked city." Well that's true here at AirVenture too. So many interesting people, so little time. I can't wait until next year when I hear someone say, "Welcome to Oshkosh."