Post Oshkosh Blues - Dana Brejakova, Contributing Writer & Photographer

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Post Oshkosh Blues

Dana Brejakova, Contributing Writer & Photographer

Oshkosh, Wisconsin

I am pretty sure we all have been there. I am talking about that unpleasant feeling of missing something mixed with "I don't wanna go to school" sensation around the stomach when we return home from Oshkosh. When the buzzing stops, everyone bugs out, and the gates of EAA AirVenture close, the strange sensation of emptiness creeps in and our aviation loving soul sinks. Oh no, the post Oshkosh Blues strikes again.

Did all that even happen? YES! It happened, Dana. Just look at all the material you accumulated and stop crying.

No matter how much I try to stay positive, every year is the same struggle.

Another summer week filled with daily airshows, lectures and forums, STOL competition, evening airshows, fireworks, a lot of walking, sweating in the heat, chitchatting with the fellow aviators and vendors, sticker hunting, picture taking and mostly having a wonderful time is gone. Puff!

You could be there the whole month and still not see it all. I always want one more week of it.

So here we go one more time for the amazing past week of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2023.

Starting with bright colors of this gorgeous M20F Mooney that was adding a pop of color to the whole corner of exhibitors. I am not a fan of busy paint jobs but this one pulled it off. I love it. Very photogenic layout.

More colors! The ATC Team in their traditional pink shirts was sizing the Boeing Dreamlifter that took the center position at Boeing Plaza. Huge bird that was.

Guess who else was stationed at the Boeing Plaza. Our Super Guppy! Yay! I was so happy to see her there getting all that undivided attention from the visitors. Back home in KELP she just quietly sits on the ramp but here she was a star.

Hanging out under the Dreamlifter's butt after walking all day in a hot sun. The shade provided by the massive tail was an oasis for us. Plus, the view was pretty spectacular too.

Oh, no! That big airplane was eating all those people! Haha. Different day, different bird at the center of the Boeing Plaza. This time it was C5 Super Galaxy's turn.

Visiting Aviat Husky corner was among our top priorities. Since Jimmy the Squirrel and our friend own these fine birds, we visited the booth twice and made new friends with the Aviat Husky Team.

And how about all those airshows? My Gosh, every day around 2PM there was always something spectacular happening in the sky. Each day the segment of performances was opened by skydivers with the National Anthem sounding from the speakers.

Can you spot a tiny little dot at the right bottom corner? That would be the skydiver.

Squadron of Migs passing through. Nice formation, guys!

Exhausted after another hot day, we crashed under the wing of the beautiful turquoise blue twin-engine Beech 18 and were enjoying the airshow.

Another day, another mission. While I was walking between the rows of all those colorful RVs, one particular RV caught my attention. Vans RV-3 with a blue dragon (I presume) looked quite spectacular. When I looked closer, I felt like I had seen that creature before. The airbrushed beast started looking a lot like the apex aerial predator from the movie Avatar. What a great theme to have on your RV-3. Beautiful!

Speaking of Vans Aircraft, guess what we had to check out. The RV-15 prototype that was designed to connect the total performance and the backcountry flying. To sum up, this bird should be a very fast bush plane. Currently under the development and testing but hopefully soon ready to amaze.

RV-15 - detail of the flap hinge.

Wisconsin specialty cheese curds meets tacos! What!? When we saw that we all had to go and try those. How could we not? A perfect combo of our home specialty (tacos) and Wisconsin specialty (cheese curds) sounded like a great idea for our last lunch in EAA AirVenture. They were delicious, btw.

Wednesday night was all about the fireworks and night airshow. After we finally found that perfect spot where we could watch the whole spectacular show without crowds, we happily sat down with our heads tilted back and let the performers take us to the world of magic. Aeroshell Team was going through their routine of breathtaking loops while looking stunning as usual.

I nearly gave up on taking pictures of the fireworks and the Chipmunk flying alongside the fireworks while spitting more colorful marvel from its wing tips.

I did not have my tripod with me and I had only a little faith in the settings I punched into my camera. I kept pulling my camera out of my bag then putting it back in, not sure what to do. I knew I did not have all I needed and I was worried that instead of enjoying the evening I would be battling with settings while getting frustrated as everything would be coming out blurry. So, I only shot a few pics on risky settings and then I put the camera into the bag not even wanting to see if I caught anything. Well, what a nice surprise when I put the memory card into my computer. My "let's wing it" experiment paid off!

Who here also agrees that EAA AirVenture has one of the best fireworks ever? What a beautiful evening that was. All performers were on the top of their game and I was fighting not to start tearing up from the sheer amazement.

Early morning at the Terminal. We were about to start our day and we were waiting for our bus to take us to the War Birds when this layout presented itself. Snap!

While waiting for the bus, I was looking around to see if I could spot something interesting. Cirrus Vision Jet with a reflection of the sky in its windows? Yes, please!

Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning was parked close by the Terminal. What an elegant stealth jet! I am super happy I was able to zoom on it.

War Birds section. Beautiful dark beast Corsair with a mighty propeller disc was exactly what I wanted this year. Score!

Mustang Gunfighter with American flag could not be missed in my 2023 collection.

Taxiing Mustangs were always a magnet for everyone. Each time they were passing through, a crowd formed to watch these beauties returning to their spots. And I could not miss those moments either.

Sea plane base trip. What a relaxing spot that was. Together with our friends we spent a nice afternoon simply chilling and having a blast with the floatplanes.

The unsung heroes of the event – the yellow school buses and tractors pulling little trams in order to cover transport on the ground for all of us so we could get to all different spots of AirVenture in a timely manner.

With great pleasure I can proclaim that the AirVenture 2023 sticker hunt was very fruitful. I am especially proud of the Aviat Husky and RAF stickers. My note pads and file covers will look amazing once I style these on. Yay!

Almost a poetic ending of EAA AirVenture 2023. A handful of hot air balloons were released early Saturday morning when we were leaving. So long Oshkosh, until next year!

By Dana Brejakova, Contributing Writer & Photographer

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