Twas the Night Before Air Venture
'Twas the night before AirVenture, anticipation is high,
Pilots all stirring, beneath the warm summer sky.
Tickets were purchased, and campsites were booked alright,
Off to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for the glorious aviation sight!
The aircraft were cleaned, gleaming so bright,
Across the nation, pilots spread their charts around, for their VFR flight.
Then what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But an EAA notice, filling all of us with cheer.
Pilots arrived like a great flock of seagulls, to OSH(kosh) they flew,
With NOTAMs and tips, for routes some old and some new.
"Now, FISK! Now, RIPON! Now, WARBIRD! and SEAPLANE!"
Controllers cried, guiding each aircraft around the blustery summer rain.
From Fond du Lac's pattern, to Wittman's main gates,
Thousands arrived, defying the fates.
Up to the heavens, they soared,
With wings full of promise, and dreams they adored.
Static displays lined the airfield, row after row,
From ultralights so tiny, to the biggest jets that could ever go.
A symphony of engines, from the P-51s at dawn till the twilight of night,
A chaotic and mesmerizing ballet, a truly breathtaking sight.
We will explore all the hangars, no detail to shirk,
From vendors with gadgets, engrossed in their work.
Then out on the flight line, a roar fills the air,
As aerobats tumble, not seeming to care.
And what to my inquisitive eyes did I see,
Near the homebuilt displays, for all to agree?
A new ScaleBird creation, so perfectly wrought,
Another miniature marvel, exquisitely thought.
Then Sam jumped into the Hawk, with a loud final whistle,
And away he flew, like the down from a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, as he vanished from sight—
"Happy AirVenture to all, and to all a good flight!"
As I write this, Scott, Nate, and Karen are already set up in Oshkosh, Sam is still waylaid in Ohio with our prototype P-36 Hawk due to midwestern summer weather, Shin is out in Guam for his other job, and I’m holding down the homefront here in Connecticut (toddler, work, running for local office, crumbling 115 year old house). I can honestly say after spending well over two hours trying to write the ultimate Airventure parody of ‘Twas the Night’ (and admitting defeat, asking Grok and Gemini for help, summarily ignoring their inputs, trying again, incorporating some of their significantly better rhyme schemes, and editing it all together), I am having some serious fear of missing out on this annual gathering of all thing aviation. That said, this AirVenture we at ScaleBirds have something new for all of you!
This year at AirVenture, we are unveiling our new and improved production Hawk Series. While the lines of the aircraft will remain relatively similar, we have consulted with some of the best and brightest (and most successful) in the industry to improve the internal structure, reduce weight, and simplify the build for our customers. This means out with the heavy tube and gusset aluminum frame, and in with a much lighter and stronger steel and aluminum hybrid structure.
As I write this, the majority of the 1st an 2nd kits of our Hawk Series Beta kits are sitting in our booth in the Homebuilt section right now. Major props to Scott for coming up with the wooden mockups to let us display these first two kits. So while we will have the P-36 you have all seen and love (assuming the weather clears for Sam to leave Ohio tomorrow morning), we will also have our new sheet aluminum test article tail kit (and yes it already passed with flying colors) paired to our new welded steel forward fuselage.
I hope everyone made it to Oshkosh safe and sound. Don’t forget to buy some merch from our PX (as most of our’s is sitting upstairs in my office here in CT). I apologize to all of my friends I won’t be able to see this year, but feel free to say high through the ‘Contact’ page, as I will be the one answering the mail :-)



Aaron tapping the fuselage into the wooden wingbox fixture while Scott and Nate remove a fixture from the tail; Scott, Sam, and Aaron discuss fit-up; Scott becomes the first person to ever sit over the new wingbox in the new cockpit structure (please ignore the fact that we are doing this on top of our very expensive new router table).