Tents, Generators, Crosswind Landings, and his Little Pilot Girl.

All of the tents and canopies here at AirVenture are set up each year by trained installers from the tent rental companies, right? Nope, not even close. On Saturday I pitched in to help a gang of EAA volunteers set up a canopy in front of the Replica Fighter Association clubhouse.

We began with an unlabelled pile of varying length metal poles, and a plastic crate full of different shaped joints.

"How does this thing go together," someone asked.

"Well, it's 60 by 20 feet. I think."

Working as if it were a big jigsaw puzzle, we laid out the pieces and parts on the grass, trying about 5 different possible configurations, until all the parts had all been used up. Of course, don't forget that all of this is taking place in 90-degree heat and 300% humidity.

About 50 minutes (and four dozen iced teas) later we have the unwieldy, 60x20 foot frame of the tent roof, consisting of lengths of metal pipe that are now too hot to be touched by bare human hands, assembled and ready for the canvas to be attached. At this moment, Replica Fighter President Gary Gerber returns from some errands, surveys our work and says, "It's in the wrong spot. Move it 4 feet to the left."

Russell Sauer and his eight-year-old son Caleb arrived at AirVenture Oshkosh 2001 on Saturday. When asked how long the flight was, Russell immediately answered, "8 hours and 950 miles." You see, this is Russell's first time to the Fly-In, so like most first-timers he's been carefully planning the trip for some time. He has it memorized.

Russell and Caleb live in Fredricksburg, Texas and traveled to Oshkosh in their Cessna Skylane. The longest trip Russell has flown before this was to the Grand Canyon. Coming to Oshkosh this year he especially enjoyed seeing the gorgeous farmlands of Arkansas ("green everywhere!") and the Mississippi River as it zig-zagged under their wings.

Russell and his wife have three children. They decided that just Caleb should accompany Dad this year, but Russell looks forward to someday bringing his daughter Emmy, who is now just five years old. "She loves to fly," he says. "She's my little pilot girl."

During the arrival of Monday's big thunderstorm, a lone Citabria raced inbound on left base and final for a landing on runway 36, amidst the threatening clouds, lightning strikes and gusty winds.

"He's gonna have quite a crosswind there." Said one observer.

"But at this stage of the game," said another, "he probably doesn't care if he lands backwards, as long as he gets on the ground."

Next year everyone will have one. The first thing you notice about this North 40 campsite is that they have a large electric fan sitting in the grass outside the door of their screen-house. On closer examination Tina, Karl and Mike will proudly show you that they also have multiple smaller fans mounted inside their tents, as well as some lights, and a hair dryer.

All this is powered by a 55 pound, 1000 watt generator that they brought along with them to AirVenture this year.

During the day the generator powers all these North 40 creature comforts, as well as charging a battery that powers the tent fans at night. The battery is necessary since campground rules don't allow generators to be run after 10 pm.

The inventive trio made the trip from Festus Municipal Airport ("it's spelled just like the Gunsmoke character.") in Festus, Missouri. They came in Mike and Karl's Red, White, and Blue 1971 Cherokee Six.

Tina Beckett has been flying for three years and this is her third AirVenture. Tina is engaged to Karl Blum, the really serious pilot of the bunch. He's been flying since 1980 and has ratings up to an ATP. He's checked out Lear Jets and Helicopters. This is his 5th Oshkosh Fly-In.

Mike Meng is the generator expert of this crew. He picked the right combination of weight and capacity. He's a 3 year pilot and this is his 2nd AirVenture.

Tina intends to spice up the week by planning some exotic menus. In addition to the more common camping fare they'll also be having Elk one night and Deer burgers another.

All three of them really love coming to Oshkosh. They love "all the planes, the atmosphere. It really gets you pumped up."

Mike says he likes that it's "very educational," and Tina raves about how it's, "a big motivator to go home and learn more about flying."

Karl says, "Sitting around and talking, that's really what it's all about."