Thorp Air Command - T18.net

Rich,
I landed a little after 4pm. Fueled in St John and had to jump in and go before another thunderstorm came in. Made it all the way from St John to Fallbrook without stopping, and still have 9.7 gal left. Glad to see you made it OK. Thanks again for letting me tag along.

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Jon Levi
N165JL
Fallbrook, Ca

No problem . Do you have a TruTrak autopilot ? If so I would like your "settings" you put in . We had to dodge WX from ABG to CZG and not a square inch of smooth air the entire way . Same from CGZ to KSEE . Beat the S..T out of us . OSH needs to be sked early Spring early Fall . No BOOM ! , just pooped !

RB

Sun 'n Fun is in the Spring.

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Bob Highley
N711SH
SN 835
KLAL

Left Wisconsin & got home to Denver Sunday about 1 pm, safe & sound. Everything worked out for me this year... perfect weather in Oshkosh - the best that I can remember. Great parking area for us. At least 30 Thorps, maybe a couple more. Like Lee said, it was reminiscent of the "old days". What a great group of people - good times!

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John Evens
Arvada, Colorado
T-18 N71JE (sold)
Kitfox 7 SS N27JE

BTW- I was sorry to see what appeared to be a rather average turnout of Tailwinds this year, what with their 60th anniversary. It looked like just about any year, with a turnout that is almost always less than the T-18s anyway. THORPS RULE!

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John Evens
Arvada, Colorado
T-18 N71JE (sold)
Kitfox 7 SS N27JE

Indeed John .. The Thorps outnumbered every other home-built on the line by a healthy margin (excluding RV's of course)

A few pics ...













Bill Williams entertaining the croud at the Friday night awards banquet.

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Lee Walton
Houston, TX
N51863,N118LW
KEFD

Hey guys, Renee and I are still in the Midwest, leaving Iowa Tuesday morn. Anyone care to meet us at We B Smokin' in Miami County, Kansas, we will be there about 8:30/9:00 am Tuesday morn.

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http://www.dixiefriedfabrication.com/

There were (for me) many highlights of OSH. They included:

1. Flying there and landing in a multi-ship ....uh....semi-organized gaggle - it's just way cool!!
2. Seeing old friends, making new friends and having many laughs
3. Learning snobbish ways to consume barley pop. From Chuck Kincer via Dr. Scott, we learned geneaological beer tasting - a talent enabling one to tell the difference between....say a Belgian White and a Sweaty Red Scotsman. I still can't believe it!!
4. Seeing the T-18 formation flight of Jim Grahn, Tony and Scott Ginn and Brian Maisler - right on guys!! You really did us proud!
5. Learning that there are people that are "Nuttier than a squirrels T*%D"
6. Seeing the innovations and outstanding workmanship (again) of David Read and his rehab'd T-18. The guy is my hero!

It was a great time - I wish I had taken more photos

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Fraser MacPhee
N926WM
Serial #279-1
Angel Fire, NM (KAXX)

Freakin' fog advisory in Oskaloosa. Have no idea when we'll make our stops, including Miami County.

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http://www.dixiefriedfabrication.com/

Glad to see so many T-18's on the field!! I took pictures of each one, but wasn't able to get to the flight line during the day when you all were potentially around your aircraft. LOVED the fly-by!!

Great job everyone, and I'm glad you all enjoyed yourselves. See you next year!

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Chad Jensen
Vertical Power Sales & Support

Made her in yesterday. three nights in Iowa and a bonus night in Santa Fe sitting out WX.

my first OSH spoiled me in many ways. 40 thorps for the big FIVE ONE!

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http://www.dixiefriedfabrication.com/

Well, the Patriot Tigress brought me home last night. After two in flight diversions due to T-storms that popped mid flight and a late departure caused an unscheduled overnight at Front Range. What a great week. I enjoyed it a lot until I added up my fuel bill last night. I'll follow up with the totals, but it was ugly. I"d like to hear everyone elses numbers.
cubes

N711SH and N30WW are back in their hangar after a great week and a half. The trip back from Chicago was replete with retrograde operations and lost wingman procedures. Seems the wx some of you west guys encountered decided to hang in Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Florida. Most of the 6 hour trip was accomplished below 2000 AGL. But the Thorp is a tough bird and soldiered through. Now to plan for Kentucky Dam.

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Bob Highley
N711SH
SN 835
KLAL

So here are my totals....a direct route should have been 2604 NM round trip. I flew 3039. I burned 180 gallons in 24.6 hours of flying. That is an average of 7.3 gph or 16.8 mpg. The total cost of the trip minus food and toys I bought was 1708.11, of which 1368.11 was spen.t on the Tigress. That's a fuel bill of 993.52. The average price of fuel was 5.51 a gallon..
Cubes

Here are my stats. Route as planned 3195nm. With the extra time spent doging storms, I figure 3554nm (300+nm dodging). 25.7Hr at an average speed of 138.3kts. 156.7 gallons of fuel at average of $5.57/gallon ($873.76 for fuel).

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Jon Levi
N165JL
Fallbrook, Ca