A dream of 29 years of flying finally to be fulfilled! I decided after retiring that in 2004 I would finally fly my Cherokee 180 to the aviators’ Mecca—the EAA AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. I soon found others interested in the adventure, too. By July we had rented a house in Oshkosh and had 12 committed friends to fill it. Five airplanes with 10 people would brave the skies; two decided to "commercial it". Another 25 friends also would be at that famous show; the numbers kept growing!

Chuck and I departed into clear blue skies and headed for Apple Valley, to stay with friend Barbara.

Off to Double Eagle Field, Albuquerque, to visit two more friends, Curt and Pearl. Had some bumps after getting gas at Holbrook, but not to worry, the weather was great! We would miss the monstrous thunderstorms in Albuquerque, which were to show up later that evening.

Meteor Crater near Winslow, AZ (Photo by Jeanne Fenimore)

Hmm…, the weather for departing Double Eagle wasn’t exactly perfect. Two other guys at the weather table were also pondering the weather situation, not the best the other side of the mountains. The four of us decided to take off together. The Cherokee would be faster than their Stinson and we would report back to them.

Flying over Eastern New Mexico under the clouds (Photo by Ed Burnett)

There were scattered clouds sufficiently high to get over the highest ridge northeast of Albuquerque. After crossing over the ridge that dropped into a beautiful valley, clouds were solid overcast and we had to fly under them, but it easily met VFR minimums. We reported the weather to our Stinson friends and continued past Las Vegas, New Mexico and on to Raton. The air was smooth, the cloud cover steady, and visibility great.

Stinson in Raton, NM—Note the gray skies! (Photo by Ed Burnett)

After getting fuel at Raton, nestled in a green slope going up to the Rockies, we checked weather, by calling Flight Service and the various ASOS numbers at airports along our route. We took off again, flying under the clouds and hearing about rain and possible thunderstorms all around us. It was still VFR, smooth, stable and good visibility. But, even though the terrain would be steadily descending along our route (northeast) after passing the Raton Grade, the weather and the afternoon were catching up with us. We all decided to land at La Junta, Colorado, and spend the night. Rain, and more rain, that evening!

Ceci and Chuck with their Cherokee – Fremont, NE

We woke up to a low overcast, deciding to go back to bed for a couple of hours. Up later, we saw thick fog! Finally at 1 p.m. we were able to take off, again under a steady overcast, flying VFR over the countryside about 1500’ above the ground, 500’ under the clouds, in light rain with about 10 miles visibility. As we flew northeast, diverting around the rain showers, gradually the clouds started lifting and we climbed to 4500’, but we had headwinds—93 knots ground speed on the GPS (normally it’s 110 knots). We landed at Kearny, NE, for fuel and more weather checking. Ed and Rick, our Stinson buddies, followed.

Evening was starting so the four of us opted to land at Fremont, Nebraska for the night.

Ed and Rick with their Stinson – Fremont, NE

No cab being available, the hotel folks drove us to the airport in two (!) cars. We were most impressed at the kindness of these Midwestern folks. Weather was much nicer, though there were scattered to broken clouds. We took air-to-air photos of each other as we climbed out from Fremont. Flew about 4500’ all the way to Wisconsin in smooth air, under scattered, puffy clouds. Rick and Ed went on to Cedar Rapids to visit family, then to Watertown, WI to meet up with other Stinsons. Due to headwinds, we landed at Mineral Point, WI (Iowa County Airport) to get fuel and feed our bodies before the final leg to Mecca!

Cherokee 601 flying over Nebraska (Photo by Ed Burnett)     Aeronautical Chart Showing Area Around Oshkosh

At last!! We were nearing Oshkosh!! We listened to Oshkosh ATIS and then spotted Rincon, the initial approach checkpoint. We dropped to 1800’ and slowed to 90 knots, per the NOTAM . Swiveling our heads all around, we finally spotted a Cessna entering the approach ahead of us. We followed him to Fisk, got instructions to rock our wings, and to turn east, following the road to Whittman Regional Airport. No other traffic!! Where were all those other airplanes descending to Oshkosh? We were cleared to land mid-field on Runway 36. It was 2:30 p.m. and sunny. Still, no one else around! My airport, Whiteman, is much busier!

Approaching Whittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh

We were directed via a L-O-N-G taxi to General Aviation Parking (per our "GAP" sign in the windshield), at Basler Aviation. As Chuck was tying down the airplane in the grass, Jesse and Robert sauntered up. We all hugged each other happily, jumping up and down. We had made it! Ruth and Bill’s airplane was nearby, too.

Ruth and Bill picked us up in Bruce’s car (from the home we were renting). They whisked us off to the house, a 1911 small 2-story, 4 bedroom, 2 bath home, remodeled by Bruce and Anne and their 2 children. It was barely big enough for 8, but we were to be 12! Several of us went shopping for food. Jeanne and Bill arrived a few hours later and we all enjoyed drinks in the bountiful sunshine, sitting in Anne’s beautiful garden, sharing stories of our adventures getting to Oshkosh.

Our Home in Oshkosh

The story continues in Part 2.