Monday, two days before the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 1998 convention even opened, thesound of airplanes at full fury filled the air at Oshkosh Wittman field. Ten very speedyairplanes wrestled for the finish line on the south end of runway 18-36, ending a 822nautical mile cross country race. Though there have been air races at Oshkosh before, thisis the first year of the EAA-sponsored AirVenture Cup, a race designed to showcaseexperimental airplanes and recreate the excitement of the old Bendix Trophy races thatbegan in the 30's. Racers started at Manteo, North Carolina's Dare County airport,swooping down the starting line on the runway at Kitty Hawk, N. C., aviation's birthplace,then headed north. Hoot Gibson in a Sea Fury crossed the finish line first in 3 hours, 11minutes,and 9 seconds, but the 420 horsepower Lancair IV-P, piloted by Jim Rahm, was only6 minutes behind the Hawker.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/air-shows-events/oshkosh-1998-coverage-day-one-tuesday-july-28