Oshkosh Tour Set to Excite

Our first ever tour though is more than ‘just’ Oshkosh. The three week schedule covers a wide variety of aviation interests and even includes a visit to the vast Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. So what is the flight plan?

Departing Sydney by United Airlines on the 25th July, our 747 tracks eastward to LA where a visit is being arranged to the McDonnell Douglas facility at Long Beach. This of course is the very birthplace of the Douglas family of the famous DC series airliners and nowadays is home to the MD-80 range of twinjets, the proposed MD-11 trijet (of which you will see the prototype taking shape), the KC-10 tanker and eventually T-45 Hawk trainers and C-17 air lifters for the US military.

Though it has yet to be confirmed, we hope to be staying aboard the Queen Mary at Long Beach, which should not only be uniquely different in its own right but also afford us the opportunity of having a good look at Howard Hughes’ incredible Spruce Goose, which of course is located alongside the great liner.

Out of LA, the tour heads southeast with PSA to Tucson and the massive Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Centre at Davis Monthan AFB. OM is truly extraordinary and difficult to describe if you have never been there. Even today it is the home of over 2,500 stored aircraft including rows of Connies, C-97s, C-47s, C-117s, C-130s, B-52s, jets of all types and helicopters in kilometre long rows that stun the mind. Quite honestly, a visit to OM must surely rival the Oshkosh convention for sheer aviation excellence.

Following the morning visit to OM (which was subject to US Govt approval at time of going to press) the group will spend the afternoon at the adjoining Pima County Air Museum, again one of the finest in the world with practically every type of US aircraft that has been made since the late thirties. Pima and OM in one day requires a good western style evening’s relaxation and certainly Tucson will happily oblige your desires.

From Arizona, the tour heads northeast to Oshkosh and four full days of doing your own thing amidst one of aviations’ most famous extravaganzas. From Oshkosh we track down to Florida and a most interesting visit to the vast Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral. Time is also allowed for a visit to the fabulous Epcot Centre and Disney World, two must-see attractions by any standard.

Departing Orlando we head north to Washington DC and not only a leisurely visit to the world’s most popular museum – the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, but also to the incredible Garber Facility at nearby Silver Hill. The Garber Facility is home to the hundreds of aviation exhibits that the Smithsonian stores and refurbishes and that are not able to be adequately displayed in their primary museums in downtown Washington. This is certainly something not to be missed and we are pleased to be able to include it in our itinerary.

From Washington DC we head westward to another Washington, this time Washington State and Seattle, the home of the world’. s largest manufacturer of commercial transports. Our tour of the vast Boeing Everett facility (the world’s largest single factory) where 747s and 767s become reality is timely as the first of the new 747-400 flight development aircraft will be undergoing their certification programme.

From Seattle it is homeward bound but not before a relaxing stopover in Hawaii. Indeed, a trip of a lifetime!

If you are interested in indulging yourself (and a comprehensive alternative parallel itinerary has also been arranged to keep any non-aviation member of the family more than entertained) in this exciting three week jaunt across the very home of aviation, then turn to our full page advert elsewhere in this edition for full details. Don’t miss it!

Special Note: Due to circumstances beyond our control the tour itinerary might change without notice from the above, please verify with Torii Tours for full itinerary prior to booking