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Jon's Oshkosh '96 Photo Album
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Not everything in this "Photo Album" is ultralight related, but seeing as how ultralights are my main interest, most of it is.

1996 was my first year at Oshkosh, and I hope to go every year from now on for a very long time to come. :-) I've scanned in a selection of photos from the 8 or so rolls of film I used to give you a general idea of the "sights and sounds of Oshkosh". Well, OK, maybe just the "sights". ;-)

Why? I dunno. Maybe to bring some of the spirit of Oshkosh to those who have been unable to go. Maybe to convince those who haven't gone to give it a try. Maybe to get rid of the nagging feeling that I wasted too much film. :-) Probably all the above. Whatever the reason, its here now, and I hope you enjoy it!


Here's how it works:

I'll show you a picture and blab about it. You can click on the picture to see the full size version. Some of the nicer pictures I've made available in a larger, 600x600 version suitable for desktop wallpaper (or whatever). If that is the case, you will see the words "High Res" in italics next to the picture. Click on that for the higher resolution picture.
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Who says ultralights can't handle crosswinds? :-) The powered parachuters and most 2-axis machines stayed on the ground, but a few 3-axis types were enjoying this 90 degree crosswind.
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An assortment of ultralights and lightplanes. Lets see... There's a Dakota Hawk, a Javelin, an Air-Cam, a gyrocopter, a CGS Hawk, and a whole bunch more!
A few shots of the ultralight area:

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The sun is starting to set as the UL area prepares for rain.
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Looking toward the CPS tent.
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USUA starts to take down their tent.
Notice the windsocks? The ULs were flying today too. :-)
If you look really carefully, you can see the yellow wings and brown fuselage of Dan Grunloh's Sky Pup off to the right hand side behind the red Challenger and in front of the two white and blue tents.
The red barn in the center of the picture is the famous Ultralight Barn.
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This is what the UL area looks like if you're coming from the main convention grounds. The Ultralight Barn would be off to the right.
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This is the ultralight area tram. The ultralight volunteers were the very first group to have a tram at Oshkosh. EAA picked up on the idea and bought a bunch of their own. Now, many people wonder how they ever got around without them! Of course, the EAA trams are much fancier than ours, but this one works just fine. :-)
Aircraft:

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Step aside Lindbergh, here comes Eppo Numan! He set a world record by flying this custom trike (Raven wing, 4-stroke 80hp, 32gal fuel tank) across the Atlantic Ocean. (Yeah, that Atlantic Ocean!) :-) This thing actually has more instruments than what the picture on the right shows, but I couldn't fit them all into the shot! :)
If you're interested, this trike is for sale, and is listed in my Classified Ads section.

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The police rescue Aventura.
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The Arnet Pereyra crew taxies out to the GA runway for the flight back to Florida.

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Your's truly drooling on the factory Kolb FireFly. That's the FireStar in the background.
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Kolb president Dennis Souder taxing the FireFly.
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The factory Kolb FireStar. That's the Thunder Gull in the background.
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A Kolb Flyer.
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John Hauck's custom Kolb Mark III. He circumnavigated the U.S. in this plane.

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The factory Kolb SlingShot, all folded up for the trip home.

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Part of the Kolb booth. The SlingShot is folded up, and Dennis is in the process of folding the FireFly.

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The Factory Kolb Mark III.

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I go for a ride in the Mark III with Dan K. at the helm. This is the blast off and the landing.

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Kolb's FireFly trailer.
That's my Dad checking out the FireFly in the middle picture.
Check out the windsock in the middle picture. Yep, the ultralights were flying that day too. I had just stepped out of the Mark III. In fact, you can see Nathan flying the Pop's Props Zing in the first picture.

Yes, I know there's a lot of Kolb stuff here. I like 'em. Live with it. :-)

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A Flightstar.
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A Hornet.
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Well, this is the one you thought you'd never see. An ultralight powered by a jet engine. This is the famous Mitchell Wing jet. And yes, its a legal ultralight.

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A TEAM MiniMax. This "ultralight" won Grand Champion Ultralight honors this year.

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Two Quicksilvers in flight. The one on the left is strut braced.

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Dan Grunloh's Sky Pup!
After corresponding with Dan on the Internet for a couple of years, I finally got to meet him in person at Oshkosh '96. I also got to meet Greg Mason and Jim Stephenson, but I didn't see any other FLY-UL'ers there. (Due partly to my own fault. I didn't get there until Monday, and I didn't know that there was a sign-in sheet at the ASC tent.) Oh well, there's always '97.

These pictures show Dan taxing, taking off, and on final. The picture on the right has special FLY-UL significance. ;-) I'm behind the camera, (taking the picture), that's Dan waaaay out there on final, and the top of that head belongs to Greg Mason. Well, actually the entire head belongs to Greg, but you can only see the top of it. :-)

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A Golden Circle Aviation T-Bird.

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An Earthstar Thunder Gull. Earthstar flies this one everywhere; they never trailer it. The map on the fuselage shows which states its flown in.

The Airshow:
This is the airshow after which the announcer doesn't mention that the ultralight airshow/manufacturer's showcase is about to happen in the UL area. ;-)

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This is Dan Buchanan. He needs a wheelchair to get around on terra-firma, but he's right at home in the sky.

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A jet blasts by under the influence of full afterburner. Simply awesome. You can't even hear him until somewhere between picture 1 and 2. Not a bad "stealth" tactic... If you can't muffle the sound of your engine, just outrun it. :-)

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A formation of warbirds. (Navy trainers?)
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This wingwalker demonstrates that surfers aren't the only people who can "hang ten". :-)
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A loop.
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Two warbirds do a close proximity fly-by.

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Bob Hoover is back! :-)
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An airplane takes off and heads up through the clouds.
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Our camping area in Ollies Bird's Eye View Campground. That's my Dad on the left, me on the right.
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That's my Dad standing under the rainbow in front of the EAA museum.
You can't tell in this picture, but its actually a double rainbow, and it went allll the way across the sky.
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A couple of pictures at Pioneer Airport, behind (and a part of) the EAA museum. A really neat place!! (That's my Dad between the fuel pumps.)
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I caught this sunset as we were leaving the EAA museum. This is looking away from the museum, out toward the highway. The day I took these was actually my first day at Oshkosh '96, but they seem to make a good ending to this pictoral.
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Jon N. Steiger / stei0302@cs.fredonia.edu / SUNY College at Fredonia