Unofficial Oshkosh 2023 Thread

[Noha307]

There was also a midair collision between an ELA Aviación ELA 10 Eclipse and and a RotorWay Exec 162F. The aircraft landed on a Mooney, but the owner had luckily decided to go to the seaplane base rather than back to their tent.[1] Both occupants of the RotorWay survived.[2]

[Cvairwerks]

Will they announce the winners today?

If it's like usual, they'll screw around and not get them published til sometime next week. The winners are known to the staff buy Saturday morning at the very latest and it's shouldn't take someone more than a few minutes to copy the award page template, update the information and have it ready to add to the website a minute or two before the ceremonies. I've pointed this out to staff members several times and get nothing but crickets for a response.

[FuryFB11]

P47D won WWII grand champion warbirds.

[kalamazookid]

Here's EAA's official statement on the two accidents yesterday.

https://www.eaa.org/eaa/about-eaa/eaa-m ... nt-updates

Updates on two accidents at and near Wittman Regional Airport on July 29 involving aircraft attending EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2023:

Just after 9 a.m., the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office received multiple calls about an airplane that had crashed into Lake Winnebago. The Winnebago County Marine Units with Dive Rescue/Recovery Team members, along with the Oshkosh Fire Department, Winneconne Fire Department, Neenah Menasha Fire Rescue, Calumet County Sheriff’s Office, Wisconsin DNR, U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary all responded to the scene to immediately begin an emergency rescue response. There were two occupants in the plane, a T-6 Texan, and recovery efforts for the deceased occupants and also the plane began shortly afterward. The sheriff’s department is working closely with EAA, the NTSB, and the FAA in the investigation.

At 12:24 p.m. that same day, there was a mid-air accident involving two aircraft at the south end of the EAA AirVenture flightline at Wittman Regional Airport. EAA, Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department, and Oshkosh Fire Department personnel responded immediately to the scene. The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department confirmed two people were killed and two injured in the accident. The injured parties were transported to a local hospital and are each in stable condition.

According to the NTSB, the aircraft involved were a Rotorway 162F helicopter and an ELA 10 Eclipse gyrocopter. These were aircraft that belonged to event attendees and were not involved in the air show. Aircraft operations at Wittman were halted while the accident was initially investigated, but the afternoon air show began at approximately 2:45 p.m., after a short delay.

The names of the deceased individuals in both accidents have not been released pending notification of family members.

[rtwpsom2]

What about Thunderbird?

[rtwpsom2]

Just found out from Mark Phillip's YouTube channel that The P-47D-23 Bonnie won not only Grand Champion WWII but also The Phoenix Award, both of which are Golden Wrenches. Thunderbird won the Keep Em Flying award, a Silver Wrench.

[FuryFB11]

Awards are up!

https://www.eaa.org/airventure/eaa-airv ... -announced

[JohnTerrell]

Fun to see Charles Osborn/Vintage Fighters on there, being awarded for Rod Lewis' Corsair, almost 20 years after Osborn completed that restoration.

Also great to see Mark Denest and Fagen Fighters win Reserve Grand Champion with the newly-restored Stinson L-5 44-17184.

[Lynn Allen]

What about Thunderbird?

Should have been at least Reserve Grand Champion behind the P-47...

[hurricane_yank]

What about Thunderbird?

Should have been at least Reserve Grand Champion behind the P-47...

Was it registered as a Warbird?

[4RG.I.'S]

What about Thunderbird?

Should have been at least Reserve Grand Champion behind the P-47...

My understanding is it wasn't a good candidate for a warbird competition: No military equipment, mismatched wing to fuselage (D model wing, C fuselage), civilian paint, 2 seat, rebuilt to match it's look after the war, etc. It is an unbelievably beautiful aircraft and very deserving of an award, just not in a warbird category in my opinion.
I can't wait to see it at the National Air Races.

[marine air]

I think Bonnie is a real aircraft. They started with a huge amount of airframe that was rescued decades ago, not recently retrieved from a jungle. There are still bits and pieces of Thunderbolt to be found. Just today there's a P-47 windscreen for sale on the internet. The P-51C was restored as a racer, not a warbird. So, I might have entered it in either Antiques or Classics. IF someone restored/recreated "Galloping Ghost" "Strega" or "The RB-51 Red Baron" I don't think it would make sense to judge them as warbirds.

[mazdaP5]

Any idea on which T-6 went down?

[hurricane_yank]

Any idea on which T-6 went down?

My favorite T-6 of the bunch...had lots of folks inspecting it when I was there Tuesday. I spoke to the pilot that morning:

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[rtwpsom2]

What about Thunderbird?

Should have been at least Reserve Grand Champion behind the P-47...

Was it registered as a Warbird?

It won a Keep Em Flying award (silver wrench) in Warbirds, so my guess is yeah.