Oshkosh 2010 Pic Stream #6 - Seaplane Base Serenity (15 pix)
Monday, August 2, 2010 at 10:39AM 
In my 34 years of Oshkosh experience, I've only been to the Seaplane Base four times, and that's all been relatively recently. But just those four trips there are like giant steps moving me to the brink of getting a seaplane rating (never mind the financial obstacle currently in the way). The Seaplane Base at Oshkosh, and the people that operate out of it, are so intriguing to me that I feel an active draw to experience it... this feels kinda new to me as most of the cool stuff I've experienced has strangely just 'happened', but seaplanes are off in the distance, calling my out to me. The call is getting louder, and my ability to resist is about to breakdown : )
After driving over the the base and parking, I walked down the beautiful tree-lined path that leads you to the gorgeous spot where water, land, and airplanes all come together. Along the way, you pass by some of the camping area as seen in this picture. Wow, what a place to camp! It just fits right in with how the whole Seaplane Base experience is very special.
I had planned to get over to the base at some point during the week, but sometimes it's so hard to pry me away from the Wittman Field that it gets difficult to work it in. But this year, I had a catalyst. It was Thursday, and I'd been pushing my 'media cart' all over the airport for several days by this time, so it was getting more common for me to stop for short breaks to get some rest. During one of them, a guy named Tom saw the AirPigz graphics on the cart and since he's a fan of the site, he stopped to say hi. We had a great time talking, and when I asked if he flew in, he said he was with a group that flew into the Seaplane Base in and airplane I probably hadn't heard of... a Noorduyn Norseman. As it turns out, I did know what a Norseman is, and I thought wow, what an adventure his 12 hour flight down from Canada must have been! Anyway, he said they were leaving in the mornng at 8 am. I figured I should make a plan to be over to watch that depature.
The Norseman crew was right on time with their 8 am departure, and I didn't get there early like I should have, which meant I didn't get to talk to anyone as they were actually just starting the engine as I spotted the airplane. I did get to watch it taxi back and forth thru the small bay area on the north side of the base as they warmed up the engine. It's interesting to see the operational differences that seaplanes experience compared to land based airplanes, like the simple fact that you don't warm up the engine by holding the brakes and sitting still.
The picture here is shortly after the power has come up and the Norseman begins the take off run. With a long trip home and what I imagine was a cabin pretty full of people and stuff, the airplane was far off in the distance before I could see the wing dip a little as one float was lifted off the water, then followed right away by the other as the big ole seaplane became airborne.
You can tell that this pic is from a really long way away, but I thought it looked cool with the small boat also visible. You can also see how the wings haven't leveled out yet from the float un-sticking procedure where one float is lifted out of the water before the other. This makes it much easier to get the water to let go of the airplane.
I trust that Tom and the crew had a good trip back home to Canada.
