On 19 Aug 2004 09:48:58 -0700, wrote:
snip

As another example of widespread selfish behavior, look at the number
of pilots who ignore directions and park themselves so that they can
erect huge campsites before the next airplane comes along, even before

They must have changed things. Every time I've been there I've parked
the old Deb in the Antique/classic/contemporary camping area (to the
south of the out door theatre) and was always guided in. If you put
your tent too far out It would get moved as the wing tips were only a
few feet apart.

I was the computer chairman over in the Homebuilders area.

The last time I was there I had to borrow a steel bar from Cye to
crank my anchors in. I do have the screw in kind, but they are big
and really screw in. I had to borrow the bar again to unscrew them.
Course that was better than the one year it was so wet. I arrived a
week early in the rain, tied the plane down just to the West of the
Quanset hut, and two weeks later it took 4 guys the size of those big
weight lifters to move the Deb which had slowly sunk nearly to the
axels.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com
tying the airplane down (and don't get me started on how many try to
refuse to tie down). Aircraft camping has not closed in the past
several years at Oshkosh, but with the new hangar and ramp being built
on 20th St. next to the Weeks facility it's a solid bet that the
smaller North 40 will be filled at some point next year. In that
case, every oversized campsite means a camping family who gets turned
away completely. In almost every case, the attitude expressed is one
of "I got here early to have a big campsite, they should have been
here early too." I've never seen anybody who was convinced to pull
their tents closer. I also don't recall anyone who gave in on their
tiedown refusals without the threat of involving the sheriff's deputy
who patrols the area.


At an event the size of AirVenture, it takes only a small percentage
of "bad apples" to cause a great deal of grief.