An Oshkosh Retrospective

With thousands of other EAA members and guests, I waited for the arrival. Minolta XG-7, 300 mm lens, skylight filter, Fuji color film all checked. Late afternoon. July 1985.

It was unusually and somewhat ominously quiet for Wittman Field. Announcement followed announcement all day, reporting so many miles out, over such and such check point. The winds had died. There was a bit of late day haze.

I was at the north end of Three-Six, about 500 feet from the runway. The line of cameras and spectators extended past the Brown Arch, past the communications center, past the Red Barn, past the order...