Oshkosh Bound Posters, Approach Procedures, and Such

Morgans wrote:
No argument from me, but an observation. The controllers are good at
getting the spacing, and it is usually at altitudes under 200 feet, when
things get messed up, by someone not exiting the runway when they are
supposed to, or someone not landing on the correct portion of the runway.

Yes, the controllers at OSH are excellent at what they do.

I've seen all kinds of things done, including s turns (if nobody is close
behind you, for you to mess up) and even 360's. Anything is fair game, if
the controllers tell you to do it, and if you feel capable. The go-arround
and saying unable if always a good way out.

Now that I think about it, I do remember hearing a controller tell
someone on final to do a few S-turns for spacing.


--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane
Arrow N2104T

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

"What is that idiot ahead of us doing? He's slowing down!"
"He was told to land at the far dot, he's landing on the near dot!"
"POWER! POWER! POWER!"
"GO AROUND! GO AROUND!"
(Based on a true experience!)

Yep, all kinds of fun things happen at OSH -- but they usually work out
just fine.

What Jack says is absolutely true -- you've got to be on your game.
Here are a few things I've learned over the years:

1. Do NOT arrive at RIPON at the end of a 4 hour leg. Stop short, and
arrive fresh.

2. Try to arrive mid- to late-morning. Don't be the first, don't be
the last -- and it's usually too danged hot to arrive in early
afternoon. (And don't forget the airspace is closed every afternoon
for the daily airshows!)

3. Eat a good breakfast. You will be in a high-stress, very busy
situation, and you do NOT want a blood sugar crash in the middle of it.


4. Try to hit Ripon coming in from the Southwest (for example, the
course from Iowa City is perfect), so that you don't have to make
radical turns to get in line over the railroad tracks. This will make
your life MUCH easier.

5. Be prepared to hold. They've added a new holding pattern this year,
to the usual "Rush Lake" pattern, and I suspect they'll use it.
(Although last year was actually the first time we were ever sent
around the lake. We have, however, been told many times to "hold in
place" by circling over a spot on the ground, prior to reaching Ripon.)

6. This means HAVE ENOUGH FUEL. You do NOT want to find yourself out
of fuel and ideas while holding in the busiest airspace in the world.

7. Practice holding an airspeed -- please! It's 90 KNOTS, folks, and
every year we seem to get behind someone who misinterprets the NOTAM,
and flies way too slow. And it's not just Cessa 140s and Cubs
puttering along -- last year we were stuck behind a Bonana going about
80 mph, which really backed things up.

8. Practice landing short -- and long. You might be asked to float it
down the runway -- and you might be told (not asked) to plant it on the
numbers. The runway is big, but you MUST be able to do what the
controller tells you to do, or you risk yourself and others.

9. KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT. Do NOT talk on the radio -- only listen.
Idiots talking on the radio instantly announce their ignorance to a
*very* educated audience, and risk blocking essential ATC instructions.


None of this stuff is hard -- IF you are current and proficient. If
you have any doubts about your ability to fly the plane as described in
the NOTAM, go practice!

But DON'T land somewhere else, cuz you're intimidated by all this.
Landing at OSH is the thrill of a lifetime, and, quite frankly, coming
to OSH by landing at Fond du Lac or Appleton and riding the bus up is
like kissing your sister. It's ALMOST right, but not quite...

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Peter R." wrote

Jim, what day and time in your opinion is the busiest arrival period for
Oshkosh?

www.LiveATC.net has an Oshkosh feed this year and I want to be sure to
catch all the audio action.

Hmm, that is a good question.

I have never gotten there before Sunday before the week starts. It gets
pretty busy that afternoon, and I'll bet some people come in Saturday
afternoon and Sunday morning.

On Monday, there is a rush right after they open the field in the morning,
from people that have staged at nearby airports. It gets slow for a while,
then picks up about 11:00hrs, till around 14:00 hrs, when they are getting
ready to shut down the airspace for the airshow.

Same goes for the other days, but the volume is a little less, after that, I
think.

Around Wednesday and Thursday, right after the airshow, which is around
17:30, there is a rush as people start leaving, with departure lines
sometimes 45 minutes long (especially VFR departures) and a few are coming
in for the weekend on Friday evening and Saturday morning. Friday and
Saturday morning, there is a rush of people leaving from 07:00 till 11:00,
and also after the airshow, with sometimes big departure lines.

Depending on weather predicted to come in towards the end of the week, you
will see a bunch of people all getting the same idea, at the same time.
They have seen what they wanted to see, and don't plan to stay the whole
week, and would rather avoid the crowds. If _you_ would want to be getting
out ahead of a front, so would (and will) they. g

Oh, nobody has mentioned that when the field closes, at that tick of the
clock, (21:00hrs) nobody better touch their wheels down, because at that
minute, you will be violated. They will usually count it down, on the
frequency. Not one minute past!!!

You know, when it comes right down to it, it is almost always busy.
Sometimes it is REALLY busy!

What do you all think? That sound about right?
--
Jim in NC

In a previous article, "Morgans" said:
The color of a sign does not really matter. The darkness and size of the
letters (and the contrast) does matter. I'm guessing that my bosses told
the EAA that fact, so they deep six'ed the colors. Just a guess. G

I would think that coloured signs are a bad idea - the reduced contrast
would make them hard to read, and there is too much variation in what
people consider the right color - ie if it specifies "red", some people
are going to have an orangey-red and some are going to have a yellowey-red
and so on.

I also note that the designations that the RST signs have are not in
keeping with the NOTAM. Instead of "GAC", he says to write "N-40 Camping"
or something like that. According to NOTAM, it was "GAC" in 2003, the
last time I came, and it's "GAC" now, so did that change in the interim
and change back, or was that a mistake by the RST signs?

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Every program has two purposes -- one for which it was written and
another for which it wasn't.

Montblack wrote:

be free to sit and enjoy - on Sunday.

I didn't see OSH on the www.LiveATC.net site, yet.

To see it listed, for now go to the class D feeds here and scroll to it:

http://www.liveatc.net/feedindex.php...class-d-center

To listen to it, go he

http://audio.liveatc.net:8012/kosh.m3u

I imagine that the feed will be placed front and center on the liveATC
homepage sometime over the next day or two.

--
Peter

Who has their "wheel boards" ready?

Montblack, are you selling any at the show?

"Paul Tomblin" wrote

According to NOTAM, it was "GAC" in 2003, the
last time I came, and it's "GAC" now, so did that change in the interim
and change back, or was that a mistake by the RST signs?

Dunno. GAC is good, because less letters mean bigger letters, means readable
from further back. The best is big BOLD letters. A fat tip black marker
and a full piece of paper, or light posterboard will be fine.
--
Jim in NC

In a previous article, john smith said:
Who has their "wheel boards" ready?

Oh damn, I forgot to check the line shed to see if they're still there.
And the tie downs. Since I'll be the first club plane to leave, I think
I've got a good chance of getting them.


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Just another organic pain collector racing to oblivion

("john smith" wrote)
Who has their "wheel boards" ready?

Montblack, are you selling any at the show?


Yes ...and no. I made 10 sets of 3, or 15 sets of 2 g

3/4 inch plywood (16" x 12")

A flat 2x3 (cut 30°) is screwed, from underneath, to one end - as a chock.

I'll scrounge up some loose boards for backside chocking tonight.

10 of them have no chock board screwed on - just in case (?)

FREE. Keep em, or leave em behind. They were a scrap theater set.

They might (or might not) get primer'd today :-)

I did them up months ago ...then forgot they were in the garage. Thus, no
paint,
yet.

If 16" isn't enough, next year they'll get cut ...longer.

Contact me if you want a set. We'll get them to you.
7 sets (of 3) are not spoken for.

Give me your name and N-Number
Type of plane and color.
Your Cell number. I'll give you mine, etc.
Day to expect you.

Then your location on the field - when you arrive.


Montblack
a t (vi s i)
no 4's or Y's

In article ,
"Montblack" wrote:

Montblack, are you selling any at the show?

Yes ...and no. I made 10 sets of 3, or 15 sets of 2 g
FREE. Keep em, or leave em behind. They were a scrap theater set.
They might (or might not) get primer'd today :-)
Contact me if you want a set. We'll get them to you.
7 sets (of 3) are not spoken for.
Give me your name and N-Number
Type of plane and color.
Your Cell number. I'll give you mine, etc.
Day to expect you.
Then your location on the field - when you arrive.

Is this guy good, or what?
I certainly hope anyone who partakes of a set delivers just compensation!