Oshkosh 2023 is now in the History Books. It was an awesome time with my wife coming along this year!
- 4,121 miles flown
- 26:33 hours flown
- 4 States checked off (South Dakota, Minnesota, Indiana, Missouri)
- 9 New Airports landed at
- 37.2 miles walked at AirVenture (Sunday clocked in at 10.3 miles)
It is difficult to nail down the highlight of the trip. Stay tuned for more posts in the coming weeks covering the flights, the sights, the fun, and the misery. (Spoiler alert, it was the departure.)
We were parked in the South 40 Show Planes (aka Vintage) in row 148, just two rows from where BFE begins. But, it was Show Planes, and with the new paint job (that my wife insisted on) I decided to have my plane judged this year, unlike 2021 when I passed on getting judged.
When we woke up Sunday morning after the Saturday evening rain, I grabbed a microfiber towel and wiped the whole plane down. The bugs which had been soaking all night came right off the leading edges and the plane looked great!
Sometime Monday they came by, took a picture of the plane complete with towels drying on the prop, and judged it. As part of the process you can get a plaque with your plane’s picture. I stopped by the Red Barn where VAA (Vintage Aircraft Association) is located, looked at the plaque, and informed my wife I “didn’t want the plaque.”
“You’re getting the plaque,” she responded.
Well, Tuesday ran on into Wednesday, and while watching the afternoon airshow I did what every good husband whose wife supports his love of flying and insisted on spending money to paint the plane would do. I walked back to the Red Barn and picked up my plaque.
Fast forward to Saturday evening and my wife and I are in a hotel room in Oklahoma City after an amazing BBQ dinner at Clark Crew BBQ when Brenda from Art Craft Paint sends me a text along with a picture.
Brenda: “We are here and just saw you won!”
Me: “What!?”
Brenda: “Did you enter a contest for vintage?”
Me: “We had to leave Thursday, I filled out the stuff and asked them to judge the plane.”
Brenda: “Well you won!!”
Me: “Congratulations to ArtCraft! You guys did all the work! That’s awesome!”
Brenda: “We are here supporting a C-140 we just painted and also received an award so we are here and they had your Mooney on the screen and said your name.”
Me: “That’s amazing!”
Brenda: “Yes!!! CONGRATULATIONS”
In the Contemporary Awards Category that covers 1956-1970 models it received the Outstanding Mooney Award!
I asked Brenda if she and Teresa would go up to accept it for me, I felt that was only appropriate as I have Art Craft Paint to thank. They went up and took a picture with the award and then also sent me a picture of the award itself. VAA will ship the award to you if you aren’t there to receive it.
This is where I must launch into the acceptance speech. 😊
Tons of credit must go out to Brenda, Teresa, and all the folks at Art Craft Paint. They did an exceptional job on the plane! If you haven’t read my review of Art Craft, please take the time to read it here. Additional credit to Robert at Flight Lines Designs. He was a pleasure to work with and took the ideas floating around in my head and turned them into reality. A huge thanks to Rupert Reyneke of Red Stone Studio who designed the logo for my Blog which is depicted on the tail of my plane. He also redesigned my website. Taking the initials of Into The Sky and shaping them to fit the iconic Mooney vertical stabilizer was his genius at work. Finally, thanks to my amazing wife who insisted that the plane must be painted!
If you are considering painting your plane it is worth it to take it to Art Craft Paint. The C-140 won in its category, and a Lancair that they painted won the Paul Poberezny Founder’s Award for Best Classic Homebuilt. That’s a “Hat Trick” for their paint jobs in 2023.
As mentioned earlier, stay tuned in the coming weeks for more posts on the 2023 Oshkosh Adventure!
