[singpilot]

That is just one of the reasons Oshkosh and the EAA are so popular. You can go there and see history, and it flew in.

I also thought the MMO can was a special touch.

My first airplane ride was in a plane with a cloth covered, wood spar wing.

I still smile at that when I look down on the cloud tops while at work aloft all these 31 years later. I have seen a lot of changes in this industry in that time. I get F/O's these days that have never dealt with carb ice, have no idea what a fan marker is, have no tailwheel time, have never had a wet footprint, and think the C6b is a little blue pill.

My favourite ride after all these years was a trip to Idlewild from LAX in a TWA Sleeper. Yes, a Connie with curtains. I am probably dating myself here, but I was 6 or 7 years old. I was next to the window, about 15 feet behind the wing. Left LAX at 3-ish in the afternoon, had a real dinner (with linen napkins and real silverware), then climbed into a bunk and supposedly to sleep all night. I, of course, stared out the window all night, and watched the lights of all the towns and the darkened farmland slide under the wing in the moonlight. Watched the tongues of flame from the exhausts lengthen and shorten as the plane climbed over the rockies and the occasional buildups. Saw the sun rise over Ohio. I have had lots of incredible experiences aloft since then, but none as special as that.

These days, I can watch the changes in the contrails in the aft looking exterior camera. Yesterday was so warm at FL450 that even the cooling turbines were leaving contrails.

Some things never change.