I have to believe that sober reporting and in-depth coverage of the mishaps that sometimes occur on Whitman Field during AirVenture week would be a good thing for all pilots to consider and learn from. Prop strikes, wingtip damage, hard landings, and the rest of it occur with some frequency. This year, while seated comfortably on the grass near the Super 8 motel, I watched arrival after arrival taxi past my vantage point. Most airplanes were taxiing waay too fast and if you've taxied on it, know how bumpy that surface can be. Worse, too many planes had the elevators pointing in the wrong direction while they were doing it. A lot of oleo struts got a serious workout, that's for sure.


Item: Tuesday, July 26 around 7:40 more or less, I was witnessing the always fascinating organized chaos of getting all the departures out while working in the inevitable last minute arrivals. On this particular evening, Runway 9 was in use. Such as it was when something happened. I did not actually see what occurred but I could partly see the result....a red high wing aircraft resting at an acute angle. Someone correct me if I am wrong but I believe the accident airplane just arrived. Several emergency vehicles immediately swarmed the aircraft. As a consequence, all departures suddenly came to a screaming halt. A few departing aircraft, apparently tired of waiting did peel away from the stalled queue and taxied to parking in the grass. It took many minutes for the emergency crews to clear the incident aircraft away from the runway. Departures finally resumed and that occurred just minutes before official closing time of 8:00 P.M. In the end, those that decided to leave managed to leave but for the last of the departures, that was past 8:00 P.M. As for what part of the damaged aircraft I could see, anybody know what that was about? Think of the sick feeling that guy must have felt upon his dramatic arrival in Oshkosh. What happens then? Certainly, some planes are field repaired, others, the wings removed and the wreck trucked home. Whatever the circumstances, there are stories to be told here. I once saw a warbird nose over and trash its huge and expensive propeller while taxiing in the Warbird area. How does one deal with that? Expensively for sure. If most people stopped to think about the logistics involved when the unfortunate does happen, maybe the odd pilot who knows he or she is rusty just might decide to brush up on landing technique or as illustrated above, taxiing technique.

Stuff happens. You can't bring so many aircraft together and have nothing happen. The world doesn't work that way. Still, when the unfortunate does happen, I want to hear it from the perspective of the first responders, the controllers, the FBO, the repair facility and its mechanics, the pilot involved...all of it. That type of slant is what makes the TV show "ICE PILOTS" so popular with pilots and the public. The EAA has proven to be very professional employing its camera and sound crews. The production value of its videos can be excellent. As EAA members, we know the propaganda about AirVenture. Sell that part of the story to the public but maybe it is time to give a little more focus to its pilot population and share the unvarnished INSIDE scoop, the sometimes ugly truth about what can and does occur. After all, what better learning experience for pilots of all experience than is found on the celebrated grounds of our beloved Oshkosh?