My temporary US correspondent, Dave the Blade of Cutting Edge Tour fame, was fortunate enought to visit Oshkosh 2000 recently. He sent me back some pictures - click on any of them to enlarge.

First out of the bag is a weird Japanese one-man chopper. It appears to be powered by 4 two-stroke engines which drive two contra-rotating sets of rotors (thus doing away with the need for a tail rotor). Directional control is through that dangly stick-thing which moves the whole rotor head assembly - a control system commonly found on early autogyros. All a little dubious - personally I would want a ballistic parachute recovery system fitted as well.

Single seat chopper! 4 engines, contra- rotating blades and weightshift control

(This is not the only recent attempt at a one-man helicopter; check out the SoloTrek XVF, one of the stars of our unusual aircraft links section).

Oshkosh is the busiest airport in the world for the one week a year it is open, and is an annual pilgramage for thousands of aircraft owners and tens of thousands of enthusiasts. For a week it is a city of airplanes and tents. Below are a few pictures which give some idea of the size of the event.

Ultralights feature prominently at Oshkosh; below are the Ultralight Barn, headquarters of the UL section of the event, and the Ultralight Flyer tent, always a popular place. The picture in the middle shows the famous Oshkosh Pig Roast in full swing.

Still on the ultralight theme, trikes are becoming increasingly popular in the US, and several imported trikes were on display. Below you can see the South African Aerotrike Cobra and the British Pegasus Quantum. (Click to enlarge the pictures).

Well, the above is only a small taste of what Oshkosh is about. For full reports and pictures of this year's event, visit the Oshkosh website - and if you can, visit the show itself next year- it's a trip worth taking.

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