NetHeads, I'm back from OSH. It was a great time, even if I did only spend two days there. Visiting with Jones, Rich Shirley, Lee Van Dyke, Bob Glidden, Bill Clapp, Pete Klapp, Art Bruce, William Wynne, John Backer, Joe, Weber, and several others that I'm sure I've forgotten to mention, was a complete blast! The KR forum was something of a fizzle, since I showed up unprepared, but at least we answered every question that anybody could think of while we were there. Flying into OSH was interesting, to say the least, but nobody fell out of the sky. Bottom line from that experience is that next year we're going to do the 135 knot routine, rather than the 90 knot version. We were down to 65-70 mph at one point, and that's an invitation for disaster.
It occured to me as I was flying home that I hadn't actually entered a single building other than the bathhouse while at OSH, so next year I'll have to schedule three days rather than two. I'll try to do a web page at some point, but one of the most interesting things I saw there was a wing tank on a Mustang that looked like it was begging to be mounted to a KR. I need to find out if somebody's making these things. It serves as an easy-to-make nav/strobe light mount (the curvature is almost cylindrical), flow fence, and an auxiliary fuel tank, and it's just about perfect for a KR2S wing. If nobody is making them, a KR version would still be pretty straight forward. Check it out at http://www.krnet.org/osh2006/060725314m.jpg . Another good one that was literally a "snapshot" while I was trying to talk to another KR builder. I usually consider the airshow to be little more than a hindrance to conversation and the exchange of useful information, but the one at http://www.krnet.org/osh2006/060725293m.jpg was pretty neat . You'll have to add your own radial-engine rumbling noises, but it still won't be close to acutally being there! I'll try to do more on this trip, but it may be a while, as usual. It really was a unique experience to finally FLY my own plane in there. As a homebuilder that actually "made it", you're treated pretty darn nice, I have to admit. And several of us did interviews with Greg Laslo for a Sport Aviation article on the "KR community". He's a grass-roots kind of guy with a great feel for the meaning of homebuilding, so that should be a breath of fresh air. I wish I'd stayed all week. Having my own personal time machine is pretty cool. The flight back was simply magnificent... Mark Langford, Harvest, AL see homebuilt airplane at http://www.N56ML.com email to N56ML "at" hiwaay.net
