All the Difference in the World

Sharing a common perspective

article and p

otos by S. Mic

elle Souder

Oshkosh 2006—my first trip there, and it happened to be the hottest week of the year. I flew there in a twin Cessna with some friends. The plane was full with seven of us. We parked at Basler Fight Service, did the rental car thing, and checked in at the de luxe, air-conditioned suites at the University of Wisconsin.

Well, okay. It was a place to sleep. The rooms weren’t suites. They were not air-conditioned, and deluxe is definitely an overstatement. The rest is true.

I’d traveled with these folks before, so I knew what I was in for. Good folks; good pilots whose reason to fly was getting from point A to point B quickly. With a cabinclass airplane their focus was primarily on things related to business flying like GPS, weather equipment, and electronic goodies.

While I was out watching the air show they were walking through the vendor hangars. While I was getting photographs of warbirds in 40 SEPTEMBER 2012

flight they were checking out the latest technology relevant to them. When we met back together my stories of what I had seen didn’t begin to resemble theirs.

Same place, same event, same people—totally different perspectives. The majority of the trip I enjoyed solo. For me, even though I had a good time, it felt a little empty.

Fast-forward to Oshkosh 2010. The noble steed was a Honda Civic instead of a Cessna. Yes, that’s right. I drove. (Not the ideal way, but the event was nicknamed “Sloshkosh.” Besides, it took the place of a rental car to get dinner.)

I arrived on Saturday night at a dear friend’s house a few miles from OSH—my home for three days with wonderful hospitality and a beautiful view. It was not the hottest week of the year, though wettest might be close.

Two of my flying buddies arrived via airplane Sunday morning. Together we saw lots of vintage aircraft, ultralights, the DC-3s, and

“normal” airplanes—and talked about them. We enjoyed Sunday afternoon at the museum and that evening walked through uncrowded aircraft exhibits in the pleasant evening sun. Things the “traveling” aviators would have missed were now conversation pieces.

Monday we met friends from the Midwest who also are at home with old airplanes. We sat and talked amid aircraft from early aviation years to present, enjoying the radial’s deep noises and embellishing a few stories besides. We may not have traveled there with the latest glass panels, but we certainly had a grand time to remember.

Two trips, same location, but oh, so completely different. How much more fulfilling it was to share the experience with close friends who have common interests. How good to take those memories home and share them over again as each of us saw something different as we looked at the same things. It makes all the difference in the world.

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