The Show Must Go On

That's probably the best way to put it. Hi, I'm Dick Knapinski from the EAA staff, one of several people who have hijacked Steve Taylor's blog for the next few days to update you on what is going on throughout the AirVenture site. Steve's pretty busy racing around with all the extra needs on-site because of the rain we've received. Even in a normal year, Steve is "the hardest working man in show business" during AirVenture week, so we don't think he'll mind if we steal his space for a bit.


You may have heard that it's pretty wet in Oshkosh. You're right. It has rained a lot -- a record 10-plus inches in July, according to the local paper.


That's the bad news. The rain has altered what we're doing and how we're doing it to welcome the world to Oshkosh. For instance, as of this morning all aircraft camping and parking areas (transient, homebuilt, vintage, and ultralight) are temporarily closed. All ground operations are on hard surfaces such as taxiways. Protecting the airplanes and the grounds are the top priorities. We'll have regular updates on aircraft parking/camping status at the "Planning/Flying To AirVenture" area at airventure.org.


The good news is that the sun is out and the forecast looks pretty good for the next several days. Here's a current glance out one window at the EAA museum. There are still two days until opening day, who spirits are still high around here.




One quick word about our volunteers: Wow. They have been amazing, pulling extra shifts to keep things going under very trying circumstances.

We'll be coming to you during these final two days of prep to start, so follow us to see how things develop through the weekend.


Tom Poberezny just poked his head into my workspace. He read a John Wooden quote today he thinks is pretty apt for this situation: "Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out."