What's better than flying to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in your own plane? Arriving with dozens of friends flying their own models of your beloved aircraft. That axiom was demonstrated again on Sunday with the mass arrival of Beechcraft Bonanzas and Mooneys at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2004. “Arriving here together, camping together and enjoying the Oshkosh experience, there's nothing to beat it,” said Bonanzas-to-Oshkosh formation flight coordinator John Wiebener, a former F-16 pilot.

Echoed William Rabek, an air traffic controller from Atlanta and formation flight coordinator for the Mooney Caravan, “When we park together we can camp together and enjoy the air show together, and it's that friendship that makes it ten times better. That's what it's all about.”

Ninety Bonanzas took part in the 15th annual Bonanzas to Oshkosh (B2OSH) group arrival (www.B2OSHshkosh.org). “It feels great, fantastic,” said Wayne Collins, who organized the first B2OSH group flight, moments after his arrival. Since that first group flight, Elliot Schiffman has taken over primary organizational responsibility for the mission.

“This is absolutely the largest we've had since our record-breaking year in 1995” when 132 Bonanzas took part, Schiffman said. This year's fleet ranged from a 1947 Model 35 V-tail to the world's newest A36 Bonanza, right out of the factory, flown by Randy Groom, president of the Beechcraft division of the Raytheon Aircraft Company.

“This is the first time I've had the opportunity to do this,” said Groom, a long-time Bonanza owner, upon completing the formation flight. As for the changes to the product over the past half-century, “There have been advances in technology, our instrument panel's quite a bit better, it carries more today, but fundamentally, they all fly great.”

Following their 1995 flight, which constituted the largest formation flight since World War II, the Bonanza contingent changed priorities and set a limit of 100 aircraft, established formation flying clinics around the county, and made formation-flight training mandatory for anyone wishing to participate.

“At that time we decided that quality was much more important than numbers and we dedicated then to training and formation qualification,” said Schiffman, “and now the training and qualification has gotten so much better that I think we're in a position where we can begin to expand the numbers again, because of the skills of the pilots in formation flying.”

The planes and pilots rendezvous in Rockford, Illinois, for a hangar party the night before. Following a briefing, they take off in groups of three, flying 2,500 feet and 140 knots indicated airspeed.

Wiebener issued an invitation to all Bonanza pilots: “We encourage everyone to come to the clinics, see if they enjoy formation flying, and sign up early for this flight,” Wiebener said. “I always enjoy flying into Oshkosh but this is absolutely the best way to get to Oshkosh, with 90 of your friends in like aircraft.”

Organizers estimate that some 225 people arrived in the 90 Bonanzas. That included David Evans' four children, age 2-1/2 to 7, who accompanied him from Cincinnati, leaving his wife to “have a vacation this week,” as Evans put it. As for the kids, “They all love to come up and grab the yoke when I'm flying once in a while,” Evans said. “We'll just see if they like to do stable flight or aerobatics. I think that will be the question as we move forward.”

One hour and forty minutes after the B2OSH arrival, the first of the aircraft in the Mooney Caravan (www.Mooneycaravan.com) touched down on Runway 36. Forty-two Mooneys took part in this, the seventh annual group arrival.

Said Jody Voss, who came from Austin, Texas, with his 8-year-old twins, Hunter and Joseph, in his Ovation, “You've got to give this a try; it's a great way to meet a bunch of good folks and also have a great time flying.”

The planes had gathered in Madison, Wisconsin, for a social the day before. Following their briefing, the caravan took off in groups of six, flying at 3,500 feet and 125 knots, a speed chosen to accommodate the operating envelopes of both the older and newer Mooneys. The Mooneys ranged from a 1964 M20C to late model Ovations (M20R) and the turbocharged Bravo (M20T).

“I was coming to Oshkosh before the Mooney Caravan even started,” said William Rabek, the caravan's flight leader. “There was a group of us that wanted to camp together that started this whole operation.”

“This whole thing is sort of magical coming to Oshkosh,” said Mooney Caravan registration coordinator Jonathan Paul of Salinas, California, who arrived in his 1966 M20E. “Even without coming in with a group of friends is magical, and it's doubly magical when you are with you're friends and like-minded buddies.”

Yet caravan organizers agree they took their cue from the B2OSH team. “The Bonanza group taught us how to come into Oshkosh,” Paul said.

Said B2OSH organizer Schiffman, “We've done everything we can to facilitate the Mooneys, passing on whatever knowledge we've gained, passing on what experience we have, communicating with each other, and we started a friendship. This is what the EAA is all about,” Schiffman continued, “it's not about rivalries, it's about friendships. And we've really strived to promote that.”

Though limiting the number of aircraft to 50, the caravan, unlike the B2OSH flight, doesn't require formation flight training. But the emphasis on experience and safety is still paramount.

“We try to insist on everyone getting out in the weeks and months ahead of time and practicing the flight profile,” said Paul. “We are not a tight formation; maybe 500 feet is the closest we get to another airplane. So it doesn't require recurrent training.

David Piehler of Wausau, Wisconsin, was one of several arriving pilots who've been a part of all seven caravans. “We've become more sophisticated in our planning, we've become more careful in our execution, and we've become a lot more knowledgeable in how to put the whole thing together.” Piehler said. Also onboard were his sons Steven, 17, and Dan, 13.

“I just love camping,” said Steven Piehler. “It's real fun just to spend the night out here, and talk to everybody.”

The two groups are parked next to each other on the North 40, and each has a barbecue and other social events planned, in addition to plenty of hangar flying. For now, whatever friendly rivalries divide the two groups in their affection for their respective aircraft have been laid aside.

“There's no rivalry,” said B2OSH's Wiebener. “If the Mooney Caravan flies more (aircraft here) than us, it doesn't matter anymore.” At least for the time being. “Once somebody breaks our record of 132, then we might think about it again.”

---