Distant parking and distant visitors.

The extreme southern edge of the South 40 parking area is 1.7 miles south of the FAA Tower. If it was used, the highest row number would be #160. The Vintage Aircraft Association, which does the parking in the South 40, put out row number signs all the way up to row #150. After that the potential rows are only marked with orange cones. This year airplanes were parked all the way into row #151. That's 1.6 miles south of the tower. Don't worry, there are shuttle busses.

One of the planes parked in row 151 brought Tom Pelz and his friends Ray Spangler and Dan Weber. Tom is from Boscobel, Wisconson, and owns the 1959 orange, brown & white K35 Bonanza that they arrived in.

Tom has come to the fly-in eight times, but this is the first time for both Ray and Dan. Neither of them are pilots.

"It's only a 45 minute flight here," says Tom, "but I hopped down to Chicago to pick up these guys. Every year I bring along some people who've never been before. This is their Christmas present."

Ray is from Schaumberg, Illinois. "I amazed by all the different type of planes here. Helicopters, ultralights, warbirds."

Dan, from Winfield, Illinois, says it's all very impressive. "There's something for everyone. I especially like the gunship 'Spooky'. And the aerobatics, crazy stunts!"

Tom thinks back on his past visits to AirVenture. "ItŐs always changing. I don't know if itŐs changing for the good or bad, but in many ways it's nice."

Tom likes the commercial exhibits. "I like looking at the electronics. Instead of getting a new plane, you can just update all the stuff in the one you've got."

At first glance they seem to be your basic AirVenture family, mon, dad, and their son. But like so many stories here at the fly-in it turns out to be much more interesting than that.

Sterling Hurst and his wife Nancy are from Walker Field, near Grand Junction, Colorado. Sterling has only been to the fly-in four times, the first time being in 1981. This is Nancy's first visit.

Brian Cloud, who is the third member of their party is 17 years old and is a student pilot. Sterling is his CFI.

"Isn't Cloud a great name for a pilot," says Sterling. "Brian did all the flying on the trip here."

"I really learned a lot on the trip," says Brian, "especially about navigation."

The 1961 Comanche 250, that they flew in is owned by Brian's dad, Richard, who isn't here at AirVenture this year. Richard bought the Comanche 19 years ago, before Brian was born, when Sterling taught him to fly. Now, years later, Brian is learning to fly in the same plane, with the same instructor, as his dad.

Brian is pretty comfortable with this flying stuff. "I've been flying with my dad ever since I could drool. When I was really little he would put foam pads on the right seat and I'd get on my knees so I could see and hold the yoke.

"When I got bigger and the pads didn't work, I'd sit in the seat and fly on instruments." This is Brian's first Oshkosh.

One of Sterling's fondest memories of AirVenture is watching the late Ken Brock fly his gyroplane. "I saw it every time I was here."

Randy Hytry is one of those guys who wears an orange vest and rides a scooter from dawn to dusk, in all (and we mean ALL) kinds of weather, to help you to safely taxi and park your plane.

Randy's been volunteering for Vintage parking for 10 years. He volunteered in other areas of the fly-in for 19 years, and this is his 21st Oshkosh overall.

Randy and the rest of the parking crew work hard, but they have fun too. "One year, while waiting for a delayed launch of the Concorde, we put on an impromptu performance of formation scooter riding along the taxiway. We got a big round of applause."

And the hours are long. "During the whole week I get to spend about a total of a half-day north of the Vintage Red Barn."

Randy is an electronics professor at Northcentral Technical College, which leaves him free in the summer to do a lot EAA volunteering. He's also an A&P mechanic. He arrived at Oshkosh this year in early July to begin preparing, but by that time he had already spent 5 weeks travelling with the EAA B-17.

Norman Smith and his gang come to AirVenture from South County Airport in San Martin, California. Norman and his nephew Adam Brown, age 14, flew here as part of the Mooney Caravan last Sunday in his 1968 M20F Mooney. When they got here Norman and Adam met up with Steve Schrepfer and Norman's son Patrick, age 10, who arrived via the airlines. They all pitched their tents among the Mooneys near the west edge of the North 40.

Norman loves coming to the fly-in for the "variety of planes and people you see here." One vivid recollection from his first year is how many planes there can be in the sky. "I once counted 100 planes in the air at one time!" Norman's advice for preparing for the trip to AirVenture: "Pack clothing for hot, pack for cold, pack for rain. But pack light."

Norman says his flying 'claim to fame' is that he has landed at every public use airport in California. "283 of them. Some are pretty small and rugged. It's taken me the whole 19 years that I've been flying. I didn't start out to accomplish this, but a few years back I was looking at my logbook and I realized I already had most of them, so I set out to do the rest." He finished by landing at San Francisco International in November 2001.

Young Patrick is a fan of the jets. "We waited in the rain for the Harriers to arrive. They were really cool." Patrick is excited about the arrival of personal jets, like the Eclipse, "Hey Dad, it's on $875,000."

Adam is a bit more philosophical about the AirVenture experience. "I like the general atmosphere. Back home, out on the street you donŐt see much aviation stuff. But here it's kinda like Mecca."

Well that about wraps it up for EAA AirVenture 2002. As always it's been a great year. We met many old friends, and a bunch of new ones. It was hot, it rained, it was cold. But best of all, sport aviation continues to thrive.

It is satisfying (but not surprising) to see that in these troubling times, the EAA family is not diminished. We are paying respect to the fallen, and making the sacrifices needed to protect ourselves, but we have not lost the spirit of independence, inventiveness, and the joy of flight, that we all share and which we celebrate here each summer.

See you next year.