Greetings all! (Especially those who were at Brodhead and who I didn'tmeet...)A red-letter week for me, never been to Oshkosh before, let alone Brodhead(didn't know what a Piet was this time last year
Both shows were agas, though I was disappointed by the low Piet turnout at the big show.Bill Rawley's Piet was there, and the afore-mentioned GN-1. Talked to Billfor a bit about his project, and it was great to finally see a Piet up close.At Brodhead, I was amazed at the beautiful cream and red jobbie, withlaminated wood struts and straight-axle gear, resplendent with wire wheels- talk about inspiring! Mind you, the rest of the flock looked as prettyas punch, and especially at home on the grass field. The funky Germancamo-schemed number was a hoot, with a couple fake (I hope?!?) machine gunswhere the front cockpit might be.Finally got up the gall to ask Bernie (who's last name I didn't get, moreevidence of my glowing people skills for a ride in his little red 75-hpnumber (I hope I'm getting all these factoids right). The front cockpitwas a little tricky to negotiate for this 6'2" klutz, but once inside, itwas much roomier than I had imagined it would be. Turning crosswind, I didfor a fleeting moment suffer a bit of"Ohmygodsomeguybuiltthisinhisgarage-itis", but it was quickly (*very*quickly) replaced by sheer, utter flying joy. I'd never been in an opencockpit before, and the wind and noise were comfortable, even withoutgoggles or headset. Suffice to say, I knew that I'd have to start dusting off those plans andget going. After landing (and twisting myself out of the 'pit), I wanderedover to where some guys were watching an 'A' run on the uncovered fuselage. Aside from drooling over the woodwork (very tasty, as far as my untrainedeye could see) and the nice woven-cane seats, I got to see and hear an 'A'running. Let me just say that it gave me pause to reconsider my desire toput a radial on my project. Them Fords sure do sound nice, and a good doseof 'funky' can make all the difference in a design.All in all, most enjoyable. Got to fly back to Los Angeles in a Yak-52,which didn't hurt my outlook, either. My butt, on the other hand, hurtlike hell ;-)Happy flying to all, and happy building!Cheers, Steve Pugh Senior Systems Engineer Foundation Imaging________________________________________________________________________________