The automobile is one of America’s most enduring symbols of freedom, but it’s not the best. Aircraft offer the same open-road experience without actually having to stick to someone else’s version of a route.
Every kid longs for the time they are handed the keys to the family station wagon and sent off on their way to explore the world. But then comes a job, schedules, kids, and responsibilities, and suddenly driving becomes a 70-mile-per-hour slog on the superhighway. Flying—especially the low-and-slow VFR variety, reminds us of our 16-year-old driving selves. Walking up to an aircraft armed only with the anticipation of going somewhere is a thrill that never wanes—especially if it’s in a machine that’s
new to you.
Our mission was simple—get to Oshkosh, sometime on Monday. My ride was courtesy of Sporty’s Pilot Shop’s John Zimmerman, the owner of a beautiful Robinson R44 helicopter. As a new helicopter pilot getting up early to airline from Washington, D.C., to meet John in Cincinnati, only to then fly a headwind-induced 75 knots for 350 miles to Oshkosh was not at all unreasonable.
Other than the sheer challenge of keeping the thing flying straight and level, the joy in flying a helicopter is all about the view. As we trekked along at car-like speeds at 1,000 feet agl, the farm fields of Indiana rolled along below. Like trees flowing past on a country road, the houses slid under our canopy mile after mile. We stopped first at Lowell, Indiana, the ultimate country airport. Cut out from the surrounding corn fields, Lowell’s version of an FBO is a repurposed trailer, and the owner and operator is just a shade more than 90 years young. Unfortunately he wasn’t around that day, so we put up our feet and waited for his son, who arrived half an hour later and pumped the fuel, during which time he treated us to his colorful political views.
From there it was north and 500 feet along the lakeshore in Chicago, a special treat that every pilot should do someday. We stopped again in Dodge County, Wisconsin, as we waited for Oshkosh to reopen after the daily airshow. There
we were welcomed with coffee, sandwiches, and even a free Coke for John. Imagine getting that at an Interstate convenience store.
Both stops were fun and unique in their own way, but what we discovered wasn’t what led us there in the first place. We stopped at Lowell and Dodge County for the only reason that matters—we could. There was no flight plan, no special procedures, no permissions. We took off with a rough plan and made it up as we went along. It’s the ultimate road trip.
The car may be more ubiquitous, but it’s the aircraft that takes us anywhere we want to go, anytime we want to go there—wherever that may be.
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