Seen at OSH
Photos from EAA AirVenture 2024
VariViggen
I love the VariViggen because it was the first design that Burt Rutan built, flew, and sold plans for. Our nonprofit, Rutan Flying Experience, got this airplane flying. It cruises at 140 knots true, but it doesn’t have any range. We have a huge engine in it, so we get about two hours out of it. It’s not really fast but it’s way cool because it’s Burt’s first design.
Ryszard Zadow
Houston, Texas
Piper Comanche 260
She’s a really nice flying bird. My dad and I got her together. Dad had a little Piper Cherokee 140 and decided to move up to a Comanche. She’s got nice range, is fairly fast, and is comfortable, with a lot of room. If you can close the doors, she’ll take off with whatever you have in it.
Patrick Lee
Osceola, Wisconsin
1967 Piper Twin Comanche
It’s just a great airplane. It’s a good cross-country airplane, it gets you places, it’s economical, and it’s just a good airplane to fly.
Helen Miller
Enid, Ohio
Mini Lightning P–38
My uncle Jim and my Aunt Mitzi worked together on this for over 25 years. This is the work of staggering genius—the design, the engineering, and the craftsmanship. It’s the only one of its kind. The twin-boom miniature P–38 weighs about 2,700 pounds empty, the main wingspan is about 35 feet wide, and the rear wing is about 15 feet wide. Uncle Jim was an aircraft engineer and a rocket scientist for NASA, who dreamed of this airplane since he was a kid. He and Aunt Mitzi flew it for about 100 hours. Now I’m the proud owner of my uncle’s dream.
William Presler
Nashville, Tennessee
1965 Cessna 182N
I’ve had 30 different airplanes in my life, and this is one of them. And right now, I love this one. It’s a station wagon. It hauls everything. If you can fit it in the airplane, it will get off the ground.
Tracy Crockett
White Bear Lake, Minnesota
1949 Stampe et Renard SV–4C
The Stampe is about the most perfect airplane I could imagine. It checks all the boxes for me: the freedom of the open cockpit, it’s a warbird, it’s aerobatic, it’s experimental, it has a great history, international vibes, and yet mine also has a modern powerplant. I have authentic Golden Age vintage styling with a lower maintenance cost and fuel burn of a modern Lycoming engine in a head-turning classic airplane that is roomy, comfortable, nimble, and very forgiving to fly. It is like living my childhood dream every time I lift off the runway.
Edwin Remsburg
Fallston, Maryland
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