Colonel Jill Long was initially a KC-10 aerial refueling tanker pilot in the US Air Force.  Later, she became a decorated A-10 Thunderbolt pilot who flew over 50 combat missions in Afghanistan.  She then moved on to become a squadron commander in Germany, and is a recent graduate of the US Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.

Underneath the tail assembly of the enormous Airbus A-380. AirVenture 2009, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

We are pleased to report that we had the cover image to the 4 March issue of GA News, as well as a full page spread on page 14.

John Slemp has been busy. . . He's been shooting great photos at the EAA AirVenture in OshKosh Wisconsin, (this year's event was so rainy it's unofficially been called "Splosh-Kosh.")

Last summer at Oshkosh, during the event known as "AirVenture", I was having a casual conversation with Debby Rihn-Harvey, while making a few portraits of her for Women in Aviation International.  We were away from the main hubbub that is Oshkosh, in the Weeks Hangar. It is where all the aerobatic pilots keep their aircraft during the week of the show. It is large, secure, and close enough to maintenance help, should it be necessary. We were shooting in an area off the main floor, where we had set up an impromptu studio.

For those in the know, just the mention of “Oshkosh” brings an instant glimmer of recognition. It is simply the “Mecca” of aviation, at least in the United States. The largest General Aviation (GA) show in the country, it is said that at any one time, 10% of the GA fleet in the USA is at Oshkosh during the week of the fly-in. It is a fly-in, a trade show, an airshow, but it is also much more.