My update about the USS Yorktown trip is coming along. I'm halfway through. Just don't have a lot of time these days and not a lot of time to update. Soon, I promise.
Oshkosh preparations are coming along nicely. Found a master list of events online while looking for a map and it even allowed me to same the events I wanted to attend in my own itinerary. I have all 6 days planned! My aerobatic plane pen pal suggested that I take it easy because people get burned out easy, and I took his advice for Monday. By Tuesday, I had double booked myself a few times. By Thursday, I had 8 different things I wanted to see at once (I have since narrowed it down to 4).
Merlin has it completely wrong about how air shows don't further one towards their goal of wanting to fly! I'm going to learn soooooooo much at this air show!! Classes on how to prepare for the check-ride, survival seminars, forums on how to get good landings and the dangers of hypoxia. Plus, discussions with REAL Tuskeegee Airmen and WASPs!!!! And Sean D. Tucker will be preforming there PLUS has a forum later in the week about aerobatic flying!!!!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3
On Tuesday, there's a forum with Dick Rutan, who flew the Voyager around the world without stopping and without refueling in 1986. It broke lots of records and no one has been able to break them since. That's sounds sooooo neat to hear him talk about that!!! But this is where my first scheduling conflict occurs. At the EXACT same time, there's ANOTHER forum about an F-4 pilot and MiG 21 pilot who were fighting one another in the sky during a war. The F-4 pilot shoots down the MiG 21. 20+ some years later, they meet again and become friends. They wrote a book together about their experiences and will be there talking about it (with the planes!!!!!), with book signing after. Why you schedule them at the same time, Airventure???
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! TWO WEEKS FROM TOMORROW!!!!!!!!! Two weeks from TODAY I get to see Madison where I was born! It just occurred to me today that this was like summer camp!!! heheheh Wheeeeeeeeeeee!!!
Another thing also occurred to me today. I've been wanting to do the Aviation Challenge in Huntsville and thought that maybe one day when I had oodles and oodles of money, I would because it costs about $500 to go. I'm going to easily exceed that for this trip... so why not? :) Maybe that'll be my "summer camp" next year.
Oshkosh planning dinner meeting tomorrow night with two people I'm going up with. More packing, more cleaning, more studying. I've really got to focus at work this week - I'm overly excited and still need to somehow squeeze 3 weeks of work (plus moving the kiddies over to new dorms) into two weeks.
Btw, I have a pilot call sign now - Squee. No..that's actually my name: "Squee". Wasn't too crazy about it at first, but it's grown on me. I have a sign above my desk at work with a chibi Darth Vader eating chocolate chip cookies and says "Do not underestimate the power of the Squee". (Btw, I have a "Squee" t-shirt on its way and I'm totally wearing it to Oshkosh!)
Okay, upwards and onwards! I have a lot of work ahead of me in the next two weeks. I can't believe it's FINALLY here!!!!!!!! One year ago, I heard about Oshkosh for the first time. I had no idea there could be such a thing. I listened to the ATC communications at my desk at work with absolute raging jealousy and asked my boss for this time off a year in advance so I could go the following year (this year!). I had no idea how I would do it, as I've never done a trip like this before. All I knew was that asking for the time off was the first step. So step by step, I planned and I researched to make it all come together and now it is here. Perhaps one of the greatest adventures in my life thus far... and it's happening in TWO WEEKS!!!
"Nothing's difficult; everything's a challenge!
Through adversity to the stars,
from the last plane to the last bullet,
to the last minute, to the last man,
We fight! We Fight! We FIGHT!!!"
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