Our weekend of aviation fun began Saturday afternoon when we rolled into the Iowa City airport with the Texan.  On the ground to greet us was Mark and Celia Godsil who had arrived minutes before in their Kansan along with a couple friends.  Soon after my sister (Lori) and brother-in-law (Tim) stopped by to pick us up for a couple cold drinks.  During that time, Gary Lust landed in his handsome Howard (photo) - wrapping up a trip back from Idaho. 

By now, we were starting to get hungry so we tucked the Texan in for the night and hopped in with Tim and Lori to find something to eat.  We quickly realized that this was the weekend all the U of I students were back in time for classes to start on Monday.  As is turns out the current style of short shorts seems to have a detrimental effect on Tim's driving skills.  After a bit of scolding, Tim got us all safely to dinner, and we had a great evening together.

When bedtime rolled around, thanks to SERTOMA, we had the Pan Am Clipper suite waiting for us at the aviation-themed Alexis Park Inn.  We woke up bright and early for breakfast - in fact, it was the first time we've ever beaten Jim Pippert to a fly-in breakfast.  Of course, he said that doesn't count since we flew in the night before.  ;)

Breakfast was good, the weather was perfect, and we headed back home in formation with the small, red Pitts (flown by Paul Austin). Next weekend?  Blakesburg here we come!

Airbatic Citabria
Jim chose his cheerful Citabria for the Sunday morning flight to enjoy some $50 pancakes. 
With its lineage tracing back to the Champ, the Citabria is known for its smooth handling and aerobatic characteristics (try spelling the name backward).  In a nutshell, it's just a great, fun plane to fly.

Tantalizing Takeoff
Mark and Celia Godsil traveled to the Iowa City pancake breakfast in style in their twin Beech AT-11, an advanced trainer from World War II. Their Kansan is nicely restored and comes complete with an authentic Norden bombsight.

What a terrific week at the world's biggest fly-in.  The weather was good (very hot but luckily no storms) and the scenery was great.  Some of my favorite memories from this year...
- Flying into OSH (always a thrill);
- Walking several miles each day, trying to see as much as possible but knowing we'll never see it all;
- Finding out that Harrison Ford just took a ride in the same jumpseat I was in 2 years before (in Tony Buechler's Mustang);
- Picking out cool planes I'd have if I won the lottery;
- Enjoying a late night campfire with some of our closest friends;
- Watching Gary Sinise and the Lt Dan Band put on a great show; and
- Participating in the Women Pilots photo (I'm the Pink on the farthest left in the photo).
Did you go to Oshkosh?  Share your story!

Birthday Party
A sea of North American T-6s flooded OSH this year for the 70th anniversary of the Texan.  Here's a close-up of ours with rows of advanced trainers behind.