Dummies Guide to flying to Oshkosh

Two happiest days in Wisconsin, the day I bought a snowmobile and the day
I
sold it. Of course the fact that all snowmobile trails go from one beer
stube
to another made the days and nights somewhat tolerable.

Snowmobiling? Yuck.

They're kinda fun, for an hour or two -- but, wow, there's nothing like a
wind chill of -55 degrees to make riding them rank right up there (down
there?) with ice fishing, in my book.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Can I bring girly, fruity drinks? After all, some might call me a fruity girl
:-)

Margy

Jay Honeck wrote:

Wait a minute!
I vaguely remember a rule about wine posted here last year. It was
either on the "you buy at Friar Tuck's" or some other restriction list.

Hmmm -- you may be right! I think we DID make some rule disallowing any
girly fruity drinks on-site. I'll have to check my records...

Perhaps if George were to bring us all some extra special "ground-softener,"
we could allow it?

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

Can I bring girly, fruity drinks? After all, some might call me a fruity
girl
:-)

I'm afraid you'll have to be a bit more specific.

Blender drinks are okay by me, if someone brings a generator?

(They actually brought a gasoline-powered blender along on the National Air
Tour! Those folks knew how to PARTY!)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Well, Thanks to all who posted, I am certainly better informed on the
beer situation, though I am more of a bourbon type, my own self.

Perhaps "Dummies Guide" was not the right phrase - What I am looking
for is advice to a first-timer, not only the flying/ landing part
(I've nearly got the NOTAM from previous years committed to memory,)
but how to improve our chances of having a good time. What to see,
what to avoid, thing you wish you'd done or not done. Its a little
overwhelming to get a handle on, just interested in some thoughts or
experience, admonisions (sp?)

Thanks


Ian


PS - No lite beer. Check.





http://www.airventure.org/

for a lot of good info.


In article , Ian Baren
wrote:

Please pardon if this has been discussed here, but I am planning to
fly to Airventure / Oshkosh with a pilot friend (both of us are
pilot,) and I have to imagine that some kind soul out there has
written a sort of dummies guide to what to do, go, bring, see, not
bring, avoid, etc.

Any pointers to websites or message board records would be greatly
appreciated.

We will be flying from Ct, (DXR) and in a 1979 PA-28-180

Thanks!

Gee, you just wrote something about wine being a fruity, girl drink!! I guess
happy hour has already started at the Honeck's!! Jay, you really have to get
down to the Vintage area more often! A number of folks have the gas fired
blenders. Last year Ron and I were walking to the truck to go get dinner and
we only made it as far as the plane with the gas fired blender. 5 or 6
margarittas, chicken, corn and salad later we had no desire to go to dinner
:-).

Margy

Jay Honeck wrote:

Can I bring girly, fruity drinks? After all, some might call me a fruity
girl
:-)

I'm afraid you'll have to be a bit more specific.

Blender drinks are okay by me, if someone brings a generator?

(They actually brought a gasoline-powered blender along on the National Air
Tour! Those folks knew how to PARTY!)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Ian Baren wrote:

but how to improve our chances of having a good time. What to see,
what to avoid, thing you wish you'd done or not done. Its a little
overwhelming to get a handle on, just interested in some thoughts or
experience, admonisions (sp?)

Well, I'd say decide what you want to see. One thing for sure; if a day is perfect
weather, drop everything and watch the airshow. There's plenty of time for the
museum and vendors when the weather is less than perfect, but there's nothing like
seeing something like Sean Tucker's performance against a spotless blue sky.

George Patterson
Love, n.: A form of temporary insanity afflicting the young. It is curable
either by marriage or by removal of the afflicted from the circumstances
under which he incurred the condition. It is sometimes fatal, but more
often to the physician than to the patient.

Can I bring girly, fruity drinks? After all, some might call me a fruity
girl
:-)

Margy

As long as you wear a "Carman Miranda" hat!

Peter ;)

Perhaps "Dummies Guide" was not the right phrase - What I am looking
for is advice to a first-timer, not only the flying/ landing part
(I've nearly got the NOTAM from previous years committed to memory,)
but how to improve our chances of having a good time. What to see,
what to avoid, thing you wish you'd done or not done. Its a little
overwhelming to get a handle on, just interested in some thoughts or
experience, admonisions (sp?)

What, you wanted REAL advice? :-)

Well, assuming you did the Google Groups search, you should know most
everything from last year. However, here are a few tips:

- Carry water. Drink it a lot.
- Don't pack dark-colored clothing. You will die wearing a black t-shirt.
- Buy "Oshkosh shoes" in April. Wear them every day until thoroughly broken
in.
- Bring sandals for the showers, and for the end of the day. Your feet
will appreciate it.
- Spend at LEAST three days at the show. Don't even dream of seeing
everything in less than a week.
- Spend one afternoon at the seaplane base. It's worth it.
- Bring an air mattress. Oshkosh ground is harder than concrete.
- Wander the Fly Market. There is cool stuff to be had there.
- Park a lawn chair alongside RWY 09/27 after the airshow, to watch arrivals
and departures. That's the REAL airshow, and what you will see will astound
you.

We've gone to OSH 21 years in a row, and we haven't EVER felt like we've
seen everything. OSH is heaven on earth, and every pilot should try to
attend one.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message newsEOUb.231279$I06.2585781@attbi_s01...
..
- Park a lawn chair alongside RWY 09/27 after the airshow, to watch arrivals
and departures. That's the REAL airshow, and what you will see will astound
you.

Or you can volunteer and be standing out in the middle of the 18/36 parallel
taxiway when some yahoo decides to land on the taxiway rather than the runway.
Or see all the arrivals up close as you welcome them to the show.

In article oEOUb.231279$I06.2585781@attbi_s01, Jay Honeck wrote:
- Bring an air mattress. Oshkosh ground is harder than concrete.

Except on wet years, when the air mattress will double as a floatation
device.

I'd add:

If you're not normally very active, take it slow and don't push yourself
too hard the first day or two, or your knees/legs/ankles will hurt so bad
you won't enjoy the rest of the week.

Along those same lines - draw a line on the map for what you want to see
each day, or you'll spend a lot of time backtracking back and forth. If
you don't finish it all, then do it the next day.

Even in a week, you can't do it all. Don't push yourself, or you'll miss
a lot of the fun. Oshkosh is meant to be wandered through in a Cub, not
sped through in a Concorde.

Nothing starts conversations like a compliment on someone's plane, but
don't overdo it. If you can't complement it, ask a question - "Wow,
that gear looks sturdy - do you fly off a rough strip?" . Some of
my favorite Oshkosh time was spent talking to people on the way to or
from the showers.

If you're camping:

If you have a high-wing, bring wooden clothespins, and you can hang wet
towels or other wet clothes on the tie-down ropes. You can also
clothespin wet towels to your prop if you're desperate.

Bring twice as many towels as you think you'll need.

It rains in the afternoons. Don't put your entire week's worth of clothes
in your tent - leave them in the plane where they're more likely to stay dry,
and just take out what you need daily.

Things not to miss (besides what Jay said):

Jerry's One Man Band.
If you own, spend at least a few hours at the tent of your type club.
If you do your own maintenance, the SnapOn tool truck has good show specials.
The forums are wonderfully useful. Spend an hour or two the first day you're
there to decide what you want to attend, and include it in your daily
map.
I can pass on the rest of the airshow, but I have to sit down every day
and watch the Red Baron Stearmans. Acro in an Extra doesn't impress me.
Acro/formation flight done in a Stearman with the level of precision
those guys have is just amazing.
If you're a morning person, spend a few hours one morning at the UL area.
If you're not, spend a few hours one early evening at the UL area.

Tina Marie
(doing SunNFun instead this year)
--
http://www.tripacerdriver.com "...One of the main causes
of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, lacking zero, they had no way
to indicate successful termination of their C programs." (Robert Firth)