Article and photos by Ron Sisco
Making the trip to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EAA) AirVenture, otherwise just known as just “Oshkosh”, is a cross-country trip that most pilots have high on their must-do “list”. Held July 26 – Aug 1st this year, AirVenture is the world’s greatest aviation celebration, and for that week in July, is the busiest airport in the world with more operations than major airports like JFK. AirVenture is a combination general aviation fly-in, displaying warbird, vintage, homebuilt, and showplanes, daily scheduled airshows, and a dynamic tradeshow featuring displays of all the latest aircraft and equipment. From educational and safety seminars to airshows every afternoon, there are activities that the whole family will enjoy. The daily airshows are amazing, consisting of aerobatic, military flying exercises, and simulated bombing that will make you jump out of your seat. Top aerobatic pilots and teams will be performing, including our local favorite Michael Goulian. This is also the first year that a night airshow event will be held. Most important, you will have the opportunity to meet many other aviation enthusiasts that share your same passion, whether it is building a homebuilt, flying an ultralight, repairing a Cessna, or flying a vintage military aircraft.
Aeroshell Square is the heart of it all, located right at airshow center where many of the exotic and large aircraft are parked. Here you may see a Harrier, C5A, Spaceship2, Beluga transport, and other popular attractions. From here, daily afternoon airshows are kicked off as well as special airshow events. This year is the 75th Anniversary of DC-3s and over 50 of them will be flying in to Oshkosh for the birthday event.
AirVenture offers other points of interest and activities for the whole family. EAAs AirVenture Museum is truly one-of-a-kind and one of the best aviation museums I have been to. Families with young children should be sure to visit KidVenture, the children’s activity hanger, the arts and crafts tent, and other events arranged to keep the children entertained. The daily airshow will be a highlight for children as well as adults.
In the evenings, AirVenture attendees gather in the large, cool Theater in the Woods for entertainment and to hear aviation leaders speak. I have personally listened to Burt and Dick Rutan, Mike Mellville, Chuck Yeager, Sir Richard Branson, Harrison Ford, NASA astronauts, and others talk about their flight experiences and visions for the future. These are some evenings not to be missed.
Whether during the day or during the cool evenings, you will want to walk the flightline, taking in the warbirds, homebuilts, vintage, showplanes, and amphibians. Airventure hosts a unique collection of airplanes you’re not likely to see anywhere else in the world.
Seaplane Base
Another point of interest that you will not want to miss is a visit to the seaplane base on Lake Winnebago, the site of the AirVenture “Splash In”. Walk down to the south end of the field where the amphibians are parked, near the ultralight field and catch the shuttle bus ride to the seaplane base. All the better if it is a hot day as the seaplane base is nestled in a beautiful tree-lined cove where you can sit in the shade and watch floatplanes takeoff and land for hours. The cove where all the seaplanes are anchored is set to a beautiful Midwest backdrop of trees, corn fields, and a beautiful barn and silo. Here you will see seaplanes ranging from ultralights to Grand Caravans on floats. Check the schedule and be sure to arrive around dinner time for the fish fry at the water’s edge.
Lodging
While there are housing options such as hotels, dorms, or housing rentals nearby, these options fill up well in advance. By far the best Oshkosh experience is flying in and camping under the wing in a tent. With over 10,000 aircraft flying in, there is a “sea of aircraft” and tents as far as you can see; it is truly an amazing sight. The camaraderie between pilots and families is fantastic and you will make many friends, especially if you are the person running the chainsaw blender on margarita night. Plan to arrive early in the week to ensure you get a camping spot. The facilities are nearby, and restaurants, grocery store, and some hotels are within walking distance.
Length of stay
I have stayed from a couple days to a week at AirVenture. There is so much to see and do that it will take about two days alone just to see all the static displays, aircraft manufacturers, warbird and vintage aircraft, and hangers filled with equipment manufacturers and vendors. Add in some seminars and workshops you may wish to attend, as well as the daily afternoon airshow, and you will most likely need about three days to effectively experience the show; five days if you have the time. Be prepared for a lot of walking and wear comfortable shoes.
Flying to AirVenture Oshkosh
I have made three trips to Oshkosh, flying there initially via commercial airline into Appleton, then in subsequent years, flying-in twice from Bedford, MA in an EFA Cessna 182. As a pilot, planning and successfully executing a long cross-country flight is a challenge and a thrill. Many of the online planning tools come in handy here and can assist you with your route planning. Consider potential routes and points of interest that you may wish to stop and see during your trip.
Flying halfway across the country, you will most likely encounter different weather systems. Careful weather analysis and avoidance will be important. You can fly the trip VFR; just be prepared to stay over if necessary to wait for the weather to improve. It is summer, flying early to avoid the afternoon convective weather is suggested. I flew IFR for most of the flights out and back, however, I do not recommend filing to fly IFR directly into KOSH. This is a high-capacity event and is subject to the STMP IFR reservation system. I was able to obtain a reservation slot, however, after being grounded for 2 hours longer than anticipated in Ohio waiting for ground fog to lift, we lost our slot. We filed again, however, this time to Janesville, about 45 min south of KOSH. We eventually cancelled IFR past Chicago and flew VFR to Janesville and on to Oshkosh. If you wish to avoid delays or do not have a reservations slot, file IFR to an airport away from the Oshkosh area, then cancel IFR as appropriate and proceed to the Oshkosh area using the published VFR routes. Stopping about an hour from Oshkosh is a good plan. You can stretch, grab some lunch, hydrate, and be rested and ready for the arrival at KOSH.
When approaching to land on one of the Oshkosh runways, be prepared to fly the aircraft down the runway to land on a colored dot further down, if instructed to do so. In this way, controllers can land two planes at the same time on the same runway – one near the threshold and another further down the runway. After exiting the runway onto the grass you place a sign in your window designating where you wish to park. There are designated parking areas for show, vintage, camping, etc. Volunteers will then direct you to your parking area. This is all explained in the NOTAM.
You may wish to visit other points of interest on the way home. On one of our trips back, we departed Oshkosh VFR and headed Northeast toward Green Bay and flew along Michigan’s UP (upper peninsula) to Mackinac Island. Mackinac Island is a gem of the Midwest – a beautiful island on Lake Huron that separates Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas. This Victorian island does not permit cars, and horse and buggy is the only mode of transportation except for emergency vehicles. After landing and tying down the plane on the island, I called for the local horse and carriage “taxi” into town to the Inn where we were staying. Interestingly, we shared the buggy with a couple from Harvard MA who were also visiting on their way home after Oshkosh. After visiting Macinac, we departed and continued south to Traverse City, continued down Michigan to Ohio for an overnight, then back to Bedford.
A visit to Airventure at Oshkosh is a trip that you will remember for a lifetime. Many people attend religiously every year, and some may only attend once. As the largest general aviation event in the world, you will be in for a real treat; it is truly unlike anything you have seen before. Start planning your trip now and enjoy your adventure!
Helpful tips:
- Talk to someone who has flown to Oshkosh, if possible. They can offer up a lot of advice and can be a wealth of information.
- Consider sharing a ride for company and to reduce costs and workload. It is especially helpful if one pilot is instrument rated and current.
- Download the AirVenture NOTAM and study it, study it, study it. I found it helpful to organize the pages that apply to me and insert into a 3-ring binder with tabs for each arrival/departure approach and general info for quick access. EAA and the FAA do a very good job putting this together, with descriptions of the various VFR approaches along with photographs of what the terrain looks like out the windscreen. The link to the NOTAM is below.
- Practice slow flight. The approaches into Oshkosh require light aircraft to fly at 1800’ MSL at 90 kts. Go up to a safe altitude and practice until you can configure the aircraft to maintain a simulated pattern altitude at 90 kts, consistently on the numbers. Know this configuration for your aircraft and be comfortable with it.
- Don’t be intimidated. If you do not like what you see, go around. I did exactly this when a Bonanza ahead of me was flying too slow and got too close. I broke off the approach and circled the lake following the published hold procedure, then came back around and rejoined the approach when there was less traffic and things were calmer.
- Don’t talk on the radio unless you absolutely must. At Oshkosh, the controllers on the ground call your plane by color and type – white/blue Cessna – and you acknowledge by rocking your wings. I don’t know how many times I rocked my wings, acknowledging a “white Cessna” call, only to find out it was not for me.
- Take weight and balance seriously. Most likely you will have your aircraft loaded close to the max with a lot of camping gear and a passenger or two. I created a spreadsheet that listed all major items and groups of camping equipment, weight, and designated loading location to evaluate max takeoff weight and CG.
- For such a large event, EAA and all the volunteers do an amazing job handling the logistics and ensuring that the event runs smoothly, and they are key to the success of the event. Be sure to thank them.
- Enjoy planning and taking your trip! This is an AirVenture!
Helpful links:
http://www.airventure.org/flying/
http://www.airventure.org/flying/2010_NOTAM.pdf
http://www.airventure.org/atc/
