Top Ten Things that Suck About Oshkosh

A little landscaping around some of the troubled areas prone to
flooding need to be addressed, those are simple fixes if someone just
takes the time to do it.

But then they wouldn't be able to park airplanes there!
Each of those airplanes represents $19/day.
They would lose money, and as we know, it is all about money.

I believe that he is talking about landscaping in terms of providing the
correct slope and proper drainage, so that water does not stand in your
parking and camping area, not the kind of landscaping that plants pretty
flower beds and trees and such.

As a contractor, I agree that it would not take that much to provide some
storm drains and french drains, and build a few permanent shower building
with real hot and cold water and private dressing areas.

I was always told that part of the reason that there are shower trailers and
holding tanks was that the airport powers that be would not let anyone build
permanent buildings and real sanitary sewer systems on the airport property.

Perhaps some of the city elders are starting to see which side their bread
is buttered on.

There are more events held on the airport property than airventure every
year. More permanent infrastructure could only be a good thing for these
events to grow, and attract more events to the grounds.
--
Jim in NC

On Jul 29, 5:55 pm, Jay Honeck wrote:

10. Seaplane Base Boredom.

did it one year, but realized we was wasting time riding a bus that we
could be using looking at planes, have decided not to return.


9. Dirt. It's everywhere at OSH, except when it's raining, and then

wasnt that much in scholler. you must have had bad luck.

8. Showering one-handed. Using a sink sprayer to wash is an exercise

get wet, let go of sprayer, apply soap/shampoo, lather, rinse, etc.
It's what i did. amazing that water stayed so nice and warm tho

5. Eating Late at Night. Because everyone wants to make every day
......
eat at OSH -- that means essentially living on Rolaids and Tums all
week, or suffering terrible acid reflux.

yep, forgot mine, had to get some at the camp store

4. Being Bald. In the intense sun at OSH, being bald can be a very
painful liability. Your only hope is to wear a hat all the time,

have hair and wear a hat to protect your neck from excessive burnning.
head feels like it is soaking in soup

3. Wearing Sunscreen. Each day, after showering off the topsoil, the

I didn't. burned the first day, got a great tan afterwards

God help me, I miss it so already...

me too, got my student SLA this year(free to EAA members attending)
and paid for a set of double eagle plans, the cheapest LSA at Osh, and
possibly anywhere

On Jul 29, 9:13 pm, "Jim Burns" wrote:
Spent over 45minutes two days in a row standing in sweltering heat in line
for Zogg food..

woke up when i felt like it in scholler(about 6ish) showered, went to
either vickis or the church place to eat breakfast, both offcially
offsite, both fairly cheap. lunch in aces cafe. ate zogg food once to
use up the $1 coupon in my EAA book.

yeah, all were madhouses after 11 am. didnt bother with dinner. ate
tons of popcorn at the fly-in theater instead.

On Jul 29, 10:03 pm, Jay Honeck wrote:
When you're staying at Wittman Field, you are immersed in the
experience, as opposed to watching it. In many ways, if you haven't
stayed on the field, with your airplane, you haven't been to
AirVenture.

or in scholler if you dont have a plane/liscence. I think it might be
better than plane camping even!

On Jul 30, 3:29 pm, (Paul Tomblin) wrote:
In a previous article, john smith said:

And lest you think these are real stalls, all it is are 3 slimy mouldy
shower curtains.

oh! camped in one fo the more remote areas? like the west scholler
stalls?

the ones by the barn camp store are real stalls, not a rats nest of
curtains like other shower areas

And lest you think these are real stalls, all it is are 3 slimy mouldy
shower curtains.

oh! camped in one fo the more remote areas? like the west scholler
stalls? the ones by the barn camp store are real stalls, not a rats nest of
curtains like other shower areas

The showers in the North 40 are REAL shower stalls, with no curtains
at all. Dunno where Paul saw shower curtains, but it wasn't in the
North 40.

The rest of the description is accurate, although they are actually
kept quite clean. I met and spoke with the guys who clean them thrice
daily during the convention, and they took a great deal of pride in
keeping them spotless.

Well, okay, by week's end the trough/sink was getting mouldy, but
whaddya expect in a high-humidity environment?

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

6. Idiots on Scooters. This is expanding exponentially, at roughly
the same rate at American's waist lines. The Korean War vet with no
legs deserves a scooter. The guy who hasn't seen his knees in 20
years should either walk or stay home.

Seems a tad harsh, if not downright insensitive. There are people with
serious heart conditions or other problems that keep them from walking
long distances. Who appointed you to decide who is worthy of a scooter
or not?

Airventure is an outdoor event, with a flight line that is 3 miles
long by 1 mile deep. Unless and until EAA comes up with dedicated
scooter/cart paths, the spread of these abominations will be a threat
to every able-bodied participant at Oshkosh.

My family spent the better part of every day dodging idiots learning
to drive these things, and it got old real fast. It was especially
fun when they would try to ram their way through crowded exhibition
halls. Nothing like having someone stuff their face in your armpit,
as they try to ride through the steaming masses.

(Just to be clear, I'm bitching about those stupid rental electric
tricycles, not the Honda scooters that many volunteers were riding.
The volunteers at least had the common sense to stay outdoors with
them.)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"I'm not really into that NASCAR stuff."

The NASCAR crowd (which is our code for the airshow attendees who
leave a pile of empty beer cans and the ground covered with butts when
they leave) is largely absent from OSH, at least until the weekend.

During the week, the crowds are fantastically clean, well-behaved, and
knowledgable. Most are pilots, of course.

Only on Saturday and Sunday are the grounds flooded with the unwashed
masses -- but this was how many of us were first exposed to OSH, so I
won't complain too much. I once walked among them.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

Well, okay, by week's end the trough/sink was getting mouldy, but
whaddya expect in a high-humidity environment?

Uh ... bleach?

I've been to OSH only once, in 1995 to see the warbird gathering. That
was truly spectacular and mad the trip worthwhile, but little else about
Osh Kosh was appealing to me. I camped right near Basler (had my tail
against their fence), which was a nice location, but a lot bus ride/hike
to the real action.

It was fun to look at the wide array of airplanes, but I have to admit
that I'm not a crowd person and the heat, humidity and crowds took away
most of the fun for me. After two nights of camping, we moved into the
dorms as a room opened up and the showers in the north 40 were terrible
(they were trailers back then) and the lines were long. If you didn't
get up before 6 AM, you had a 60 minute wait in line ... at least. I
usually either got up at 5 or waiting and showered in the early afternoon.

I haven't been back since as I much more enjoy going to a local fly-in
breakfast or smaller airshow. I thought Osh Kosh, even back then, was
too oriented towards the flea market masses and already was emphasizing
commercialism over aviation. I doubt it has gotten better since then
and back then the problems with scooters and carts was fairly minor.
Adding that into the mix would really turn me off.

So, I'm glad it appeals to many folks, but give me a local fly-in
breakfast any day! You get to fly, you don't have huge crowds, the food
is always great and you can actually talk to the people about their
airplanes as they aren't distracted trying to keep 15 people from
walking on their wings or breaking off antennas and pitot tubes.


Matt

flynrider via AviationKB.com wrote:
Jay Honeck wrote:
1. NOT flying. This may sound counter-intuitive, but we fly less
during the week of Oshkosh than any other week during the year, simply
because it's SUCH a pain in the butt to fly in that area and return to
your campsite. (Just ask the guys who went flying Friday, and then
couldn't get back to their site when the airport was closed due to the
Mustang collision.) By the end of the week I find myself looking
forward to the flight home, just cuz it's FLYING.


This is one of the main reasons I don't do Oshkosh. I have limited time
off, and I like to spend it flying.

Last week, whilst flying and camping around Montana, I was asked (for
probably the 1000th time) why I wasn't at OSH. After all these years, I
finally came up with a response that brings the OSH conversation to an
immediate close. My reply :

"I'm not really into that NASCAR stuff."

John, that is the best description I've heard. My sentiments exactly, I
just didn't know how to express them so succinctly!

Matt