Thorp Air Command - T18.net

Well Oshkosh 2022 has come and gone and as always what a great week!!

If the price of gas was deterring attendance I certainly did not see any evidence of it. The diversity in Warbirds was impressive, the RV group did a great job celebrating their 50th and the weather was absolutely perfect, 70's during the day and 50's at night. Considering the triple digit temps the rest of the nation has been seeing Oshkosh was an oasis.

We had 9-10 Thorps on the field which is still orders of magnitude greater in number when compared to other custom builts. I think the closest was 2 Dyke Deltas and 2 MMIIs.

Jamie and I left on Saturday after the Oshkosh 5k only to find ourselves flying home via SE IL, Kentucky, Tennessee with an RON in Little Rock, AR due to the massive wx system covering the mid section of our country. I will say that unlike a lot of us I do not generally go out to the airport to punch holes in the sky. We use our Thorp as a travel machine. I'm not sure it's the additional fuel or the new avionics set up but there is no other light airplane I would prefer over our Thorp. We're all very lucky to fly the airplanes we have!

On that note ... next year is the Thorps 18th design's 60th anniversary. I've already contacted EAA about getting the ball rolling on Airventure 2023. Let's plan to have a good showing! For those of us that avoid Oshkosh due to the arrival, if we can get enough airplanes to show up we can arrange for a mass arrival to bypass the conga line.

_________________
Lee Walton
Houston, TX
N51863,N118LW
KEFD

Thanks for all the work you do for the 'type club' or whatever you'd call this group. You can mark me down for flying in next year for sure, and being close to OSH, I can help with anything that needs to be done ahead of time as well.

_________________
Marty G
N50LE
YouTube Channel
martygrosse@yahoo.com

I'm with you, Lee. "Punching holes" in the sky does little for me. But I really enjoy traveling- going places- in the Thorp.

I flew into Osh Sunday morning, as part of the Glasair mass arrival. (My other airplane is a Glasair.) We met at KMSN for a proposed 7:00 a.m. departure. But after we all fired our engines, Osh went IFR. So we waited about 90 minutes and blasted off. The flight of 10 airplanes made it relatively easy, I think.


Ironically, I stopped at Marty's home field (Y51) for a bit of fuel before heading to Madison. This is a very picturesque airport that had a great deal on 100LL!! Now that I know it's his base, next time I'll look for and say hi to Marty...!

I left Osh around 9:30 Thursday morning, and easily made it home (KSAC- Sacramento, CA) the same day, well before dark. The good wx, excellent autopilot, 53 gallon fuel capacity, and O2 made the trip easy.

I'm already looking forward to Osh in 2023!

Thanks Lee, for all you do for the Thorp community. It's really appreciated!!

Peter

Too bad I missed you, Peter! I always go up to OSH early so I miss most of the people stopping on their way. Last year I missed a lady in a Thorp that came from Mojave. I have yet to run into another Thorp in person other than at airventure.

I did, however, see you land with the Glasair group. At the time, I thought "No way that was just a Thorp", and now I know that it was!

_________________
Marty G
N50LE
YouTube Channel
martygrosse@yahoo.com

Thanks Lee, A mass arrival would be the way to go. When I came up in 2021 I decided the general arrival is not the to come. At least not at 1800 feet and 100 knots. As I watched the arrivals from home this year, it was apparent the weekend prior is not the time to arrive. Too many lake circles and the huge conga line looked like no fun at all. Also, watching the landings on 36L/R with big gusty winds looked very exciting. I'm planning on flying TH up for Osh 23. I think with proper notice and planning we can have an awesome showing for the 60th anniversary .

The new 'extended' arrival is a pain but certainly worth the effort ... if someone cannot manage 100kts in a Thorp then they may need to spend some time practicing slowflight. I have been in contact with EAA and they've offered several options for us ...

From EAA ...

Group photo
Homebuilt in Review with two Thorps on display
Anniversary T-shirt
A cookout at the HB Camping Pavilion or reserve a couple of tables at the Homebuilders Dinner.

... I've offered up ...
Daily formation flight (I suggested 6 Thorps) flying overhead blowing smoke as the RV's did this year
Group arrival
2023 Homebuilders Patch to feature a Thorp

_________________
Lee Walton
Houston, TX
N51863,N118LW
KEFD

I think the arrival calls for 1800' and 90 kts (not 100 kts.)

That looong arrival was a bit mushy for me, but I wasn't uncomfortable.

What about the other option- 2300' and 130 kts? Seems like there might be a bit less traffic higher up and faster...

I'm good for either, though, and looking forward to Osh 2023.

I enjoy Peter's description. And it's accurate and I agree - not uncomfortable , until you throw in the traffic you are following that can't hold airspeed or altitude. Then it becomes quite the exercise. I would dare say most of us Thorp drivers are much more comfortable in handling our Thorps - because we have to be.
See what you can get set up - We'll all adapt!

That sounds like fun stuff. Looking forward to that already.