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Reprinted with
permission from EAA AirVenture Today, July 27, 2004 |
Oshwash, by Gosh!
By James Wynbrandt
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Erika Wiebener. Photo
by Dave Higdon
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Are you bugged by all the insects that splatter on
your airplane as you make your way to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh? One group of
pilots has done away with that problem, thanks to an enterprising young lady
and her specialized service: the “Oshwash.”
Fifteen-year-old Erika Wiebener of Albuquerque,
New Mexico, got the idea for the service last year after arriving at
AirVenture with parents John and Debbie with the Bonanzas to Oshkosh (B2O)
contingent. “I was washing my dad’s airplane and someone came by and said,
‘Hey, would you mind washing mine?’ Because when we do our formation
flight, we fly kind of low, so everyone complains that there’s always big
bugs that hit them.”
This year, when the B2O pilots gathered in
Rockford to prepare for their group arrival, Erika promoted her Oshwash
service, enlisting friend Danielle Mark to help her. Response was
overwhelming. Thirty pilots, one third of those participating in the B2O
flight, signed up.
“I had planned on it was just going to be me
and Danielle, but we got so many planes we asked the boys (Daniel Fritz and
his friend Allen) to jump in and help.”
The $10 Oshwash consists of complete removal of
bug splatters from the leading edges of wings and cowls. And it’s
ecologically friendly.
“We don’t want to mess with any
solvents,” Erika said. “So just water and special scrubbing sponges that
are soft so they don’t scratch the paint. We just soak the bugs down first
to get them kind of softened up and then start scrubbing.”
Among her satisfied customers is Leldon Locke,
of Sherman, Texas, who had gathered quite a collection of splatters on his
1976 Bonanza A36 on the way to Oshkosh.
“There were lots of bugs,” Locke said.
“She did a great job of cleaning them up and making the airplane look good
for the show.” And the service was “friendly with a smile,” he said.
Not surprising, as Erika enjoys both her work
and her clients. “It’s nice because I’m with airplanes, and we all have
common interests, so I like it,” she said.
Her profits will go toward a used convertible
she recently bought in anticipation of getting her driver’s license. As for
a pilot’s certificate, that’s in the future, too. She’s been flying with
her father, a former Air Force F-16 pilot and the B2O’s formation flight
leader, “since I was 6. I haven’t taken any lessons, but that’ll
probably be coming up soon though.” This is her ninth EAA AirVenture.
Noted her mother, Debbie, “This is probably the first year we’ve had so
many teenagers, which is really nice to see.” The reason for the increase:
“A lot of the pilots have been coming back year after year, and so their
kids are starting to grow up, just like Erika has, and they start to hear
their dad’s come home and say, ‘Hey, there were teenagers there, they had
a great time, you really ought to come, you’ll have a good time.’”
That’s something Erika can vouch for. “We
go with all these other people who have airplanes and it’s just really cool,
I like it a lot,” she said.
As for any expansion plans beyond debugging
Bonanzas, “We had 90 Bonanzas this year,” Erika said, “so if I could get
a bigger crew and do all the bonanzas, that’s probably my goal first.”
