Mooneys to OSH 2020 - Showing the Flag

[Dave Piehler]

Mooney Caravan History:  In the beginning was the gaggle.  Then came the Great Flood of 2010, also know as Sploshkosh or Sloshkosh.  That year the Caravan was cancelled, since EAA couldn't accept arrivals that weekend, and couldn't say if or when grass parking would be allowed.  Still, the Mooney Caravan flag had to be at least figuratively flown at OSH.  Three intrepid Mooney Caravaners flew to Oshkosh that Monday, and demonstrated the feasibility of arriving via formation.  Chris "Toro" Shopperly led and landed, since he'd reserved hard surface parking.  Larry "Joker" Brennan and James "Pepper" Oliphant made a low pass and departed for lack of somewhere to park.  The experiment was so successful that in 2011 the Caravan was a hybrid of three three-ship formation elements with the rest of the group flying the gaggle.  That proof of concept went so well that 2012 and onward have been all-formation affairs.  

Even though AirVenture was cancelled for 2020, the Mooney Caravan flag had to be flown (figuratively again) there in July.  To do otherwise would simply not be acceptable.  Hence, today Bret "Whitey" Lowell (Mooney Caravan 2020 Alternate Lead), Dave "Porsche" Austin, Steve "Fender" Henderson and Dave "Raptor" Piehler did a four-ship sortie from MSN - OSH following the Mooney Caravan route.  Sorta.  We got a Rwy 21 departure at MSN (excellent geometry for the rejoin after takeoff) and managed to persuade OSH Tower to approve the overhead break to Rwy 9.  The winds were from the SE.  RWY 36 would have been a handful with a tailwind, and element landings on Rwy 18 would be tough with that 1,500' MSL crossing restriction over Rwy 9.  But I digress...

OSH ATIS had the Unwelcome Mat out.  The relevant portion, which I wrote down verbatim,. said "EAA AIrVenture is Cancelled.  All EAA facilities are closed.  Hard surface parking only."  As the photo shows, the grounds are empty and forlorn.  Basler has moved to the old terminal, and there's massive demolition underway to re-purpose that.  Taxiway A, aka 36R, is being reconstructed and is closed.  All very sad looking.  However, our undaunted aviators made the trip, showed the flag, and had an excellent lunch at Beckett's patio on the Fox River (Friar Tuck's was open, but has no outdoor dining).  As you can see, social distancing and masks were the order of the day.  We were met by Doc Flamo with his handy dandy Instamatic, whom we can thank for several of the photos.  

Dave Piehler

Postscript:  There were no formations of Cessnas, Cirri, Bonanzas or PIpers in evidence anywhere.

[carusoam]

Go Mooney Caravan 2020!
 

Wish I was there... 

Great pics!

Thanks for sharing...

Best regards,

-a-

[Sled]

Nice to see you guys, from the eyes up anyway. I salute you although some of those pictures make me sad. "Forlorn" is an excellent word here. Let's all hope that this is not the New Normal and we can get back to flying the Mooney Caravan in 2021 if not sooner!

Well done and thanks!

-Sled

[Dave Piehler]

An additional note:  When we were briefing the flight in the lounge at Wisconsin Aviation, the fellow who manned the desk at the South ramp in 2019 came up to us looking very excited and asked if we were from the Mooney Caravan.  He commented on how much they missed us this year and how much fun he had working with us last year.  His statement was that working the Caravan was his "Superbowl."  Nice that we could brighten his day.

Dave

[ThorFlight]

Raptor, you really get around! Great to see you and the other guys keeping the Caravan spirit alive with this flight.

Looking forward to next year!

Thor

[mike_elliott]

I know my vote doesn't count, but in my eyes, this keeps DYL's string of caravan participation each year since inception intact. Thanks for sharing Dave!