OSH '05 Comments

Kyle Boatright wrote:
"PPT33R" wrote in message
oups.com...
snip



I am not sure about the new scheduling, starting on a Monday. Crowds
seemed VERY light on Monday (which was good for us, but not sure for
the vendors.) It will be interesting to see how this weekend works out
for them. The North 40 was filled by Sunday night, but emptied out
considerably by Wednesday afternoon (when we left.)



snip

Funny, when we got there by air at ~2:00 on Monday afternoon, the ATIS
indicated that ALL camping was full and the only thing that was open
on-field was General Aviation Parking... From my perspective, this was the
busiest Oshkosh I've attended. I managed to get a spot in Homebuilt
Camping, but the guys there indicated that they were essentially out of
room. Maybe a half dozen spaces left (I'd guess there were 1,000 aircraft
in Homebuilt Camping), and they were about to have to "invent" parking
spaces. The North 40 appeared full, as did Antique and Classic
camping/parking...

Amazing how different folks have different perspectives.

I don't see any conflict between your observations and
PPT33R's. I too, observed that the N40 was full by Sunday
night, and emptied out considerably by Wednesday afternoon.
I also observed that the crowds seemed very light on Monday.

Without taking sides on the question of whether all the
scooter drivers really needed scooters, I'll observe that I
felt threatened at times by the scooters.

Dave

"Dave Butler" wrote in message ...
Without taking sides on the question of whether all the scooter drivers
really needed scooters, I'll observe that I felt threatened at times by
the scooters.

Perhaps there should be a definition between the golf carts and the reduced
mobility vehicles. I find it hard to believe anyone could feel threatened by
the electric three-wheelers used by handicapped folks, The golf carts are
another story and are well-matched by the racing Gators.

We were making our way back to the Homebuilt Hooch on Tuesday night after an
evening with friends at Camp Scholler. The beer and brats were delicious and
it was approaching eight o'clock. We learned then that the trams stop
running at ten minutes to eight and head for their corral after a long day's
stint.

It was a god half-mile walk from Camp Scholler at the mid-south location to
the Homebuilder's Hooch in the North. My 82 year-old navigator and I set out
to walk it, as nothing else was available. He was doing better than I,
because my ten year old back surgery has ran its course. Not a problem,
though. I was willing to pay the price. You folks with back problems know
what I mean. I did get really ****ed off at the 20 something girl who ran
her empty four-seat golf cart through the pedestrians calling out "SORREE"
at the top of her lungs.

The painful walk paid off when we reached AeroShell Square. The sun was
dropping below the horizon in the west and the remaining light played on a
bank of clouds above the field. I stared at the wonder of SpaceShip One,
facing me across the square. All my earthly troubles were forgotten as I
gazed upon the reality of those many hours spent reading Robert Heinlein, E.
E. Smith, Ray Bradbury, and a thousand other word weavers.

http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c4/elw...ceship_one.jpg

Thank you, Burt. Thank you, Paul. Thank you, Richard. Thanks to each and
every one of the dreamers and workers who made possible the dreams of all of
us.

I hiked the rest of the way with a lightened load.

For those of you who have nothing better to do than to scoff at those with
pain - Bill the Cat has an appropriate salutation. Phhhwwwwttttt!

Rich S.

Perhaps there should be a definition between the golf carts and the
reduced mobility vehicles. I find it hard to believe anyone could feel
threatened by the electric three-wheelers used by handicapped folks, The
golf carts are another story and are well-matched by the racing Gators.

Years ago my kids coined a term to describe the OSH golf cart riders:
"IIGICs". (Idiots In Golf Carts)

They happily shouted "Watch out -- another IIGIC!" all week long.

This year, for the first time, they coined a term for the 8 thousand little
motor scooters that were suddenly running up our heels all week long:
"IOMS" (Idiots On Motor Scooters) They were EVERYWHERE.

I'm afraid we felt nearly as threatened by these folks as we did by the golf
carts and gators. Because of their numbers, and the fact that the riders
had obviously received NO training in their use, we were nearly run over by
one at least daily. When you're wearing sandals, the thought of a 250
pound scooter flattening your toes is not a fun one, especially after a few
days on your feet.

I, too, resent the fact that we could not bring our bikes onto the grounds,
yet these folks -- most of whom clearly were simply not interested in
walking the immense distances OSH requires -- were given carte blanche to go
anywhere and everywhere with impunity.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

walking the immense distances OSH requires -- were given carte blanche to go
anywhere and everywhere with impunity.

I didn't think Blanche was using a carte (ducking)...

Dave

I think there were more aircraft this year than in years past coming
through, but I was speaking of the foot traffic being very light. Not
nearly as bad as last year.

The difference may be in the weekend traffic. I make it a point to
avoid Fri - Sun...

"PPT33R" wrote in message
oups.com...

Another great OSH. The number and quality of the exhibits seems to
improve each year.

Speaking as a former exhibitor who cannot afford the rent to be an exhibitor
any more, did you notice how many of the exhibits were government agencies
pimping their state, or their college, or their missile defense services?
Did you notice how many of the exhibits had absolutely nothing to do with
aviation, yet could afford the rent to hawk you everything from superglue to
wood stoves? How many truly innovative newcomers did you find -- that
little jewel company that invented a new widget to save you tons of money
building or flying an aircraft? The last one I know of is Bill Bainbridge
at his little electric shop, and he's been around for thirty years.

As to the number of people, I do a pretty fair job of assessing attendance
by looking at the parking lots, both on the airport and at the UWO dorms.
If EAA comes out with a "record crowd" pronouncement (which they have to do
by Rogan's Law -- "grow or die") then somebody is puffing funny weed.

The one thing that really ****ed me off this year (and I will proceed
to rant about) was the invasion of the 'obese scooter people'.

So long as EAA can make a buck at it, there will be an order of magnitude
growth in OSPs for the next couple of years.

Now, I've read this whole thread about who should and who should not be
allowed a scooter, and all I can say at this time is that I thought ham
radio had the market cornered with people sitting around ****ing and moaning
about their gall bladder operations, their hip replacements, and their
various and sundry ailments. I guess a few of them have escaped to the
world of aviation {;-)


More ... MUCH more ... later. It is good to be home.


Jim

RST Engineering wrote:

It is good to be home.

And the election results were? When you get time...

The EAA Board selected two other individuals for the Board, but they really
came with excellent credentials. I do NOT believe that the "old boy"
network was at work in this year's elections.

Jim



"Darrel Toepfer" wrote in message
...
RST Engineering wrote:

It is good to be home.

And the election results were? When you get time...

RST Engineering wrote:

The EAA Board selected two other individuals for the Board, but they
really
came with excellent credentials. I do NOT believe that the "old boy"
network was at work in this year's elections.

Jim

Classy reply Jim
John

\later. It is good to be home.

Jim,

boy I can understand that "good to be home" I was there working for about 12
hours a days on the flight line "boy do I have a tan!" I had a great time
working, boy the first weekend was HOT!

Ps. by the way I have a Honda scooter and a Gator that I use! ( oh boy !!! I
am ducking ) but I do take it VERY slow in ped areas and try to keep it to
the taxiways!

Pss. you can see my volunteer group in the photo gallery under the
24th-25th. we are the group that had the Latin statement in it! we had to
hide all the single malt before the EAA photo tog would take the picture....
I was told that they want the world to believe that their is not booze in
camp ground... ha ha!

David J. Zera
Co-Chairman
Safety / Flight line
AirVenture 2006