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hi rory,
thanks for your well-wishes. oshkosh AirVenture 2008 was HUGE! i can't believe how much it has grown in size and scope since i was last there in 1992. it claims to be the world's largest fly-in and i have no doubt that's true.
the sheer acerage of vendors, merchandising every aviation-related product, tells a healthy story as to today's American economy - at least from outward appearances. the EAA staff really has it down to a science as to how to entertain, feed and shuttle around the thousands of people they bring through the admission gates each morning of the week. the coordination between hundreds of good-spirited EAA volunteers to accomodate all of the guests and vendors and presenters was outstanding.
the daily airshow was put on by the top aerobatic performers on the circuit(at their own expense), warbird formations (at their own expense), along with the state-of-the-art military performers (on the taxpayers' expense). the daily show stealer was "the Raptor!" wow, that plane was amazing!
the best part for me was that i got to show my presentations and meet up with five of my pilots from my 1988 journey: egon grothe, jim zazas, norma hellman, luverne kraemer, and colonel joe kittinger. what fun re-unions to see them again.
also was wonderful to spend time with aerodrome forum members, mike backustudio and my old friend, lloyd, who assisted me tremendously with the presentations.
rory, if your group can foot my airfare and accomodations, i'll gladly show my presentations to them without charge - i'd love to see ireland!
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