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Oshkosh 2005, Lake Superior, Black Hills of South Dakota, Mount Rushmore, Devil’s Tower and Crazy Horse Monument (Use the BACK
button to return from viewing a Photo) 21 July, I departed Arlington Municipal airport (KGKY) at 0738 hours
to start the trek to Oshkosh. Unlike all my prior trips, I would have a
flying buddy for the entire trip. This is Ken’s Titan Tornado S in the run-up
area just before departure: 100_3901. We flew around the east side of Dallas, TX and landed at Poteau, OK
for fuel. We skirted around the restricted area at Fort Chaffee, AR on the
way to Pocahontas Municipal airport (M70) for lunch and more fuel. We crossed
the Mississippi River just south of Neelys Landing, MO and flew past this
huge cross on top a knoll southwest of Alto Pass, IL: 100_3906. We stopped flying for the day at Effingham, IL
(1H2) where a courtesy car was made available to us, and a nice cool FBO to
sleep in. 22 July, A batch of foul weather had come thru during the night and
left some low clouds and poor visibility for us to contend with on the first
leg of flight today. The clouds were thin with lots of holes so we flew over
most of them until the visibility started to get worse: 100_3912. We landed at Jasper County airport (KRZL),
Rensselaer, IN until the weather improved. We joined the Lake Michigan shoreline
at Michigan City, IN with this view looking to the southwest at Indiana Dunes
National Lakeshore: 100_3913. We
would fly the lakeshore to Holland, MI (KBIV) for fuel: 100_3914 and 100_3916. As we continued northward, the FAA closed the airspace around
Muskegon, MI (MMKG) for an air show so we took a vector out to the west over
Lake Michigan to stay clear. This is the KMKG airport from six miles out over
the lake: 100_3918. There was a lot of nice stuff
to see as we rejoined the lakeshore. This is the harbor at Ludington, MI: 100_3921. This is the lighthouse at Little Sable Point, MI: 100_3922. We crossed
the mouth of Grand Traverse Bay and landed at Charlevoix Municipal airport,
MI (KCVX) for fuel. This highly polished B-25 was on the ramp: 100_3924. The last leg of flight for the day took us along
the south shoreline of Little Traverse Bay: 100_3927, and
this harbor at Petroskey, MI: 100_3929. We
crossed the Straits Of Mackinac at the Mackinac Bridge: 100_3931 and continued on to Sanderson Field at Sault Ste
Marie (KANJ), MI for the overnight stop. 23 July, We had only lost a little time to weather so far and were
now a day ahead of schedule. We spent the day doing minor maintenance on the
Kolbra and Titan while we waited for the rest of the Kolbs to arrive from
Tennessee, Texas and Michigan. Steven, Gary and Rick arrived a little after 1400
hours in their Kolb MarkIII’s. Part of the group went downtown Sault Ste
Marie for the night, Steven, Ken and I went out for a local flight east and
southeast of the airport. The terminal building was a good place to sleep
after all the traffic stopped. 24 July, We awoke to some cloudy skies and very low ceilings that
kept us on the ground until early afternoon. The MarkIII’s headed south and
Ken and I headed west to fly the south shoreline of Lake Superior. We joined
the lakeshore at Whitefish Point: 100_3934. The
clouds base was up at 2400 feet and improving as we flew westward. Here is
the Crisp Point lighthouse: 100_3937. This
was some easy navigation, just keep the beach on the left: 100_3938. We flew past Au Sable Light Station: 100_3947 in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Here are a few photos taken while flying by the Pictured Rocks
National Lakeshore: 100_3948 Spray Falls, 100_3951 Grand Portal Point, After leaving Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, we continued
westward to Marquette, MI. We flew by Laughing Fish Point: 100_3958, and I had to take a photo for no other reason than
it’s name. We left the lake at Marquette and landed for fuel at Sawyer
International Airport (KSAW), MI. The direct crosswind at 22 knots made for a
sporting landing and takeoff after we refueled. Since the weather was pretty
good and the wind was only a quartering headwind, we flew on toward Oshkosh.
We stopped at Shawano (3WO), WI for fuel but they had already closed for the
day. A short hop on down to Waupaca Municipal airport (KPCZ), WI for fuel and
we were on the last leg of the flight. We had separated with the rest of the
Kolb’s when we had left KANJ over six hours earlier, but to my surprise we
crossed the entry waypoint into the ultralight strip in perfect spacing on
Steven, Gary and Rick. 25 July, Opening day of AirVenture. A stop at The New Kolb Aircraft
display made for a good photo opportunity: 100_3962. The
people are: Bruce, Travis, Homer, Dennis, Steven, Me, Izek, Gary and Donnie. Here are the photos of Airventure: 100_3964 AeroShell Square, 100_3965 B-24 Diamond Lil, 100_3969 I took photos of the Glacier Girl
P-38 at Sun’nFun so this is of the Glacier Girls, 100_3971 the main entrance to the flight
line, 100_3972 I always wondered what the back side
of the main entrance had on it, The Titan Aircraft display did not have any airplanes to display so
Ken volunteered to leave his on display for the next two days: 100_3973. 100_3979 the White Knight/SpaceShipOne make a
low pass. 100_3984 the White Knight/SpaceShipOne just
before the nose gear touch down. 26 July, More walking around Airventure: 100_3985 The New Kolb Aircraft FireFly and
FireStar. 100_3986 time for the air show to start. 100_3987 my Kolb Kolbra, 100_3989 Mark’s Kolbra, 100_3990 an original FireStar, 100_3991 Rick’s Kolb MarkIII, 100_3992 Steven’s MarkIII, 100_3993 Gary’s MarkIII, 27 July, I have made it thru all the buildings and Fly Market so it
is time to look at Warbirds and walk the flight line 100_3996 one row of P-51 Mustang’s, 100_4011 White Knight/SpaceShipOne at
AeroShell Square, 100_4014 Boeing B-17 Libery Belle, 100_4018 GlobalFlyer on a low pass, 28 July, Time to leave Airventure!
Ken and Gary departed KOSH in trail with me and Gary headed south to
Houston, TX while Ken and I headed west to continue this adventure. 100_4025 Wisconsin countryside. We stopped for fuel at Austin Municipal airport (KAUM) and Pipestone
Municipal airport (KPQN), MN on the way west. 100_4026 Minnesota countryside. We stopped for fuel at Chamberlain Municipal airport (9V9), SD and
crossed the Missouri River just after takeoff. We flew most of the width of the Badlands National Park, South Dakota
on the way to Custer County airport (KCUT), SD for the overnight stop: 100_4032 Badlands National Park looking
north, 100_4034 Badlands National Park looking west, 100_4036 Badlands National Park looking
south. 29 July, We got an early start on the day but had to wait for the sun
to get high enough in the sky to take better photos before we started flying.
Our route today would take us past lots of these mountain meadows in the
Black Hills of South Dakota: 100_4037. On the eastern
edge of the Black Hills is Mount Rushmore: 100_4042. The trip back thru the Black Hills was superb: The western point of this adventure was at Devil’s Tower, WY: We flew back thru the Black Hills to the Crazy Horse Monument that is
under construction: We refueled at KCUT then headed southeast over the Nebraska
countryside: 100_4063 to Searle Field airport (KOGA),
Ogallala, NE. After a quick fuel stop we were off to Brewster Field (KHDE),
Holdrege, NE and then to Freeman Field (3JC), Junction City, KS for the overnight
stop. 30 July, The last day of the trip seems to stretch on forever. I made
Ken fly lead today so I could goof off and take some photos of his Titan: 100_4067. We stopped for fuel at El Dorado (KEQA), KS and then Shawnee Regional
airport (KSNL), Shawnee, OK before we crossed back into Texas across Lake
Texoma: 100_4074. We landed at Arlington Municipal airport (KGKY), Arlington, TX at
1459 hours to complete this very fine trip. Total distance this Adventure: 3,297 nautical miles. Total flight time: 43 hours 13 minutes. Number of landings: 23. Just after arriving home,
Ken was notified that his Titan had won Grand Champion – Light Airplane category at AirVenture 2005 Click Here for More Photos
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