Saturday morning opened with thunderstorms and rain covering us at Rockford,the radar showing rain,rain &more rain plus the TAFs agreeing that the weather wasn’t getting better soon. Convective activity was dominating this area of the USA and a massive storm was slowly working its way towards us from the west. The leaders of Bonanzas to Oshkosh had been talking to some senior weather briefers who confirmed that any predictions beyond 2-3 hours would be wild guesses at best.
We gathered at Rockford airport terminal for a great breakfast supplied by Hawker Beechcraft,watching the rain on the tarmac outside and the weather radar updates on our phones &tablets. Eventually there was a break in the rain and the indications were that the weather was lifting so we headed down to the Embry Riddle auditorium for the pre-flight briefing. This involved reviewing procedures,frequencies,what-if scenarios and the announcement that there would be 109 aircraft in the formation (down on previous highs but still a very sizeable number).
From the briefing everyone headed out to the UPS ramp where all 109 aircraft were parked on the wet tarmac,starting their pre-flights and going through final briefings for the pilots in each element. Excitement was building as everyone could see the skies clearing and the few remaining light showers that passed through didn’t dampen spirits.
Starting up on time at 11:45am,the first rows of Bonanzas taxied out to the runway,each successive row following them out until they were all moving,at which point the Barons joined the conga line. Once the first aircraft entered the runway,Rockford airport closed to all other traffic as we lined up,three abreast across the runway &10 feet between the nose of one aircraft &the tail . . . →
Read More:Oshkosh 2011 –Day 3 –Arrival en Mass
