Joe Stewart of St. Louis, Missouri, and his Uncle Marty. Photo by Jack Hodgson

Another morning well spent wandering around the northern edge of the field.

Joe Stewart has been coming to Oshkosh for six years, and each year he brings a special guest. This year it’s his Uncle Marty.

Joe is from St. Louis, Missouri, and he took the scenic route to Oshkosh this summer. He traveled by way of Madison and Fish Creek, Wisconsin. Why?

"A lot of sightseeing and a lot of water. It’s a beautiful area of Wisconsin and Peninsula State Park."

His favorite part of AirVenture is the showcase attractions, like this year’s Boeing Dreamlifter.

"I like the airplanes that are not part of the air show, and the things like the formation flights."

His first time to Oshkosh he drove here.

"I drove in and camped in Camp Scholler at the furthest spot closest to the interstate. So I remember it being a long walk. That was before I had a plane. But I caught the bug, and here I am with my bird."

Joe has been flying for nine years. He flies a 1978 172 Skyhawk II. He’s had it for six years.

"I have a few hundred hours in it. Not as much as I’d like to."

Most of his flying is recreational, "for the $100 hamburger." His home field is Spirit of St. Louis (SUS). In addition to the 172, Joe has flown Warriors, Arrows, Archers, and 182s.

Joe has a great Oshkosh tradition, which is to bring a non-pilot friend along with him each year to the fly-in.

"I brought my uncle up this year. I bring one person. And I brought a different person each year, just to share the thrill of AirVenture. I’ve never brought the same person twice."

Marty Bucher, Joe’s uncle, is enjoying his first time to Oshkosh.

"I love it. I like hearing about all aeronautical information; it helps you to understand aviation much better."

What were his favorite things here this year?

"I liked the HondaJet. I love all the formation flying. The people are just up there having fun. They’re not the pros."

Did he expect to see this many planes?

"Probably not, even though Joe told me there would be a hell of a lot."

Bhrent Waddell has come to the fly-in from Tulsa, Oklahoma. He arrived on Sunday and is planning on staying "till I’ve seen everything and feel like I’ve done it all."

He’s been coming to Oshkosh since 1994. What brings him back each year?

"I just like to watch the planes. Arrivals and departures. I like to watch airplanes, so it’s a good place to do that."

"I like to go to the forums. I build my day around what’s on the schedule.

It’s interesting to see what Lycoming is doing about fuels. That’s a big problem for us. Here I can hear it from the director of engineering. You can get it from the horse’s mouth."

He’s also happy for the chance to meet the folks from Van’s Aircraft, and other people who actually produce and make the products.

Bhrent’s plane is an RV-6 that he spent 12 years building.

"I’m an accountant. This proves that an accountant can build an airplane. Despite what people say about them," he jokes.

He finished his RV-6 in January of 2006. So far he has 130 flying hours in it. "Lots of cross-country stuff. Sun ’n Fun, Black Hills, here, Texas."

"Also it’ll do acrobatics. Nothing real hard. I’ve done a couple loops and a couple of aileron rolls to see how it felt. It’s a nice performing plane. Real quick, real responsive. It’s my first taildragger. I’ve got about 2,800 hours, but I hadn’t flown a tailwheel till now."

Before the RV, he flew a Cardinal for about 10 years. He started flying in the Air Force where he flew C-141s back and forth to Vietnam.

His home field is Sand Ridge Airpark, which is a residential airport. He’s lived there for 11 years.

Bhrent is the president of EAA Chapter 10, which meets at Gundy’s Airport in Owasso, Oklahoma. It gets about 50 members to each meeting and has 100 members total. It has a lot of social functions and provides its members with builder support.

The other day we talked with Dave and Bridgett Benner from Arizona. Another memory they had from their first visit to Oshkosh was a very special arrival on Runway 9.

"Another cool thing that happened was, you know we’re a V-tail, so I see a V-tail coming in on final. They were landing 9. So we were right out here in this area watching them come in, and it’s getting closer and I’m thinking, is it a V-tail? Yes it is. But what kind of V-tail? And finally it gets close to landing, and it is a V-tail, but it’s a jet. We found out the next day that it was the Eclipse concept jet.

"Later we went to the Eclipse website and saw the video of it arriving. It was shot from the other side, and there in the picture we saw us watching it land."