Well, after a lifetime of dreaming, I finally did it: I flew myself to Oshkosh. A few hours ago I hopped into my Piper J-3C-65 Cub for the last leg of the trip: 63 miles northeast from Dane County Regional Airport (KMSN) in Madison, Wisconsin to Wittman Regional (KOSH) in Oshkosh. The reason for my journey? To attend EAA's annual AirVenture extravaganza.

The flight took about an hour from takeoff to touchdown. Along the way I did a little sightseeing, but mostly I keep my eyes and ears open. In the days leading up to the show--which starts tomorrow--the skies above Wisconsin are abuzz with small aircraft like nowhere else on earth. Indeed, I found myself in the middle of a long line of aircraft, and flying under Visual Flight Rules (VFR), it was my responsibility to see and avoid them. Which I did.

Following the official FISK VFR arrival procedures as explained in the NOTAM, I monitored the event approach control frequency. As per the procedure, I approached the town of Ripon level at 1,800 feet and 90 knots (well, not quite 90 knots, but as fast as the little Cub would go). From Ripon, I followed the railroad tracks to FISK intersection. Approaching FISK, the approach controller told me to switch to and monitor the tower frequency for arrivals to runway 09. The crazy busy tower controller told me to "follow the King Air ahead," and to land partway down the runway, "on the arrow." No worries, I thought. Piece of cake....

So there I was, maneuvering for final approach, the King Air in sight on short final, pretty proud of myself for my flawless aviating into what for a few days is the busiest airport in the world...when all of a sudden I got a migraine.

Now, it wasn't an ACTUAL migraine, but it was a fantastic simulation of what a migraine headache does to your ability to see clearly. This migraine was not caused by dehydration, or by a food allergy, but by technology. The Cub did just fine in the summer heat (I topped off the oil before I left Madison), I did just fine (I left the top half of the door open which let in a nice breeze), but...I think my video card overheated.

You see (if you haven't guessed already), this flight to Oshkosh wasn't a real one, but a simulated one--made possible by FSX and the hard working (and hard playing) guys over at FS-MP.com. For three hours today, the FS-MP multiplayer server was filled with virtual pilots mirroring the pilgrimage our real-world counterparts were making to the real KOSH. It was pretty realistic, too. Having cleared it with the brass at EAA, FS-MP republished some of the real-world procedures and charts on their forum. It seemed that most of the pilots had actually studied them too. While I heard a little chaos on the radio (some lost pilots, some pilots who didn't know how to navigate), it was nothing compared to what sometimes transpires during the real fly-in!

So, back to my video card-induced migraine on short final. For some reason the tower controller couldn't see me anymore ("Cub 186, are you having a problem?") but I was damned if I was going to let ANYTHING mess up my landing after flying all that way to virtually fulfill a lifetime dream. In spite of the amorphous blobs of color and pixilated geometrical patterns my video card decided to splat onto the windscreen, I somehow managed to get the Cub down. Right on the arrow too, just as instructed.

I touched down, slowed down, and turned off the runway into the grass. I called the ground controller (who apparently couldn't see me either), and followed his instructions to taxi to parking.

Shutting down the engine I took a deep breath and thought, "one of these years I have to do this for real!" Thanks to everyone at FS-MP.com who let me do the next best thing. I had a blast, and I look forward to participating in more events in the future.

If you're unfamiliar with FS-MP, they're a community of flight simulation enthusiasts who are pushing the native FSX multiplayer system to its limits, both on the pilot and the controller side. With a dedicated server and weekly events like "String of Pearls" and "Red Bull" air races, they're making those of us who designed the FSX multiplayer system proud. In fact, they're going way beyond what we provide out of the box.

I've been doing so much travelling lately I decided to stay home for a month and let Hal and Brett handle our booth at this year's real AirVenture without me. Today though, I'm confused. Because part of me thinks I just landed a Cub at Wittman Regional Airport.

I'd better unpack and set up my tent. First though, I think I'll go try to find some aspirin to get rid of this "headache." Or maybe I'll just hitch a ride into town and buy a new video card....

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