Camping at OSH

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Tommar98

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Tommar98
I’m flying to OSH for 1st time with a buddy. I see camping rules say only one tent unless for immediate family. How strict are they on this? I’d prefer not to share a tent with my buddy. We each have individual tents.


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Me and another member of our flying club flew up last year and each had our own tent. They didn't mind as long as we kept both tents in the footprint of our airplane. Now if you bring the entire neighborhood and each had their own tent they might care.
 
Thanks for feedback! That’s helpful


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If you flew up in the same plane, nobody is going to care. They're concerned that you'll erect a common camp and pay only one camping fee.
 
What they don’t want you to do is crowd out your neighbors. If you and your buddy each pitch a tent on different sides of the airplane, you may begin to crowd out your neighbors, particularly if you then proceed to set out chairs, a table, etc. The key is to be respectful of the limited space available label between planes.
 
for General Aircraft Camping (GAC), will they let me run my generator (during the daytime) ? I'll have a small camp stove, looks like they have some advice on EAA's website to please not light-up near your wing.

1) How is the access to water/ice / bathhouses situation?

( I asked on the other thread about Camp Scholler, but trying to get an idea about the General Aircraft camping, incase I want to fly-in).

2) Do they normally put general-aviation aircraft at the North 40 ? (I have no special status, e.g. not homebuilt or warbird)

3) there doesn't seem to be any way to "reserve" spot at GAC, they said first-come first served; so.... What happens if I do the FISK arrival, land at Oshkos and they say "sorry we are full go somewhere else" _then_ what do I do ?????
Would they tell me "sorry no room" in the air before landing? or what?
4) What should be my contingency plan if I get told "we are full, go away" where do I go-away to? some other nearby airport? then I am stuck there without a car, only my airplane and a tent, how do I get back and forth to the show at OSH ?

5) _if_ i fly-in (a big "if") can I get AvGas top-up when there? I could fly it non-stop but would it be prudent for me to land somewhere ~ 1 hour outside of OSH and top-up tanks so I land with mostly-full fuel ?


6) how is departing on Thursday/Friday morning (or any other day) if I want to fly-out? I didn't see anything obvious on EAA's website about how this is handled, I assume the site is closed some hours for airshows but otherwise I can ask nicely to be let-out ???
 
Last edited:
ChopAndDrop said:
for General Aircraft Camping (GAC), will they let me run my generator (during the daytime) ? I'll have a small camp stove, looks like they have some advice on EAA's website to please not light-up near your wing.

1) How is the access to water/ice / bathhouses situation?

( I asked on the other thread about Camp Scholler, but trying to get an idea about the General Aircraft camping, incase I want to fly-in).
Click to expand...
Bring crocs or floppys to take a shower - fairly good setup for hygiene, altho nothing like a hotel. More like the college dorm setup
Ice is available across 20th at Target and the PickNSave (grocery store next to Target), as well as on the field, but not near the N40.
2) Do they normally put general-aviation aircraft at the North 40 ? (I have no special status, e.g. not homebuilt or warbird)
Click to expand...
Read the OSH notam/notice for what signs to make for where you want to park
3) there doesn't seem to be any way to "reserve" spot at GAC, they said first-come first served; so.... What happens if I do the FISK arrival, land at Oshkos and they say "sorry we are full go somewhere else" _then_ what do I do ?????
Would they tell me "sorry no room" in the air before landing? or what?
Click to expand...
Most of the time they'll let you know at Fisk or before to go to Fond du Lac (south of OSH) or Appleton (north of OSH)
4) What should be my contingency plan if I get told "we are full, go away" where do I go-away to? some other nearby airport? then I am stuck there without a car, only my airplane and a tent, how do I get back and forth to the show at OSH ?
Click to expand...
There are busses that run between the other 3 airports (ATW, GRB, FLD) and OSH. In fact the GRB route includes the hotels around the stadium. There is camping at FLD. This year, Appleton will not allow camping but you can park there. Regardless of the airport, remember to bring something sturdy to put under the wheels. I use 1/2 in plywood (12 in x 12n) others pick up the really sturdy chopping boards at your local kitchen-supply store.
 
ChopAndDrop said:
1) How is the access to water/ice / bathhouses situation?
Click to expand...
Showers are at a couple of places in the GAC. Water is available at the showers. Ice is available at the camp store (only one).

2) Do they normally put general-aviation aircraft at the North 40 ? (I have no special status, e.g. not homebuilt or warbird)
Click to expand...
There are two GAC camping areas. The traditional one is the "North 40." The other is the new "South 40" or as we call it in Vintage "Green Acres" which is down at the end of the current VAC area. There's another set of showers and camp store there.
3) there doesn't seem to be any way to "reserve" spot at GAC, they said first-come first served; so.... What happens if I do the FISK arrival, land at Oshkos and they say "sorry we are full go somewhere else" _then_ what do I do ?????
Click to expand...
Yep, first come/first serve. No reservations. GAC will close from time to time, sometimes because it is actually full and sometimes because they've just not figured out where the empty spots are. The goal of the EAA is "no one turned away" so the camping space continues to increase. What you do is go to some other airport like Fond Du Lac and camp there and take the bus up.

Note that if the taxiways get congested or something bad happens (crash or other incident on the field). The field will close and you'll be told to go elsewhere.
Would they tell me "sorry no room" in the air before landing? or what?
Click to expand...
Should be on the ATIS. Certainly you'll know when you get to Fisk.

5) _if_ i fly-in (a big "if") can I get AvGas top-up when there? I could fly it non-stop but would it be prudent for me to land somewhere ~ 1 hour outside of OSH and top-up tanks so I land with mostly-full fuel ?
Click to expand...
There are fuel trucks that roam the field continuously during the show. Best to get it taken care of as soon as you get there as it can take a while to get a truck out to you. Fuel prices are not the worst at Oshkosh but not the best either. I'd get on 100LL.COM or the like and find a place not too far away and come in nearly fully fueled.

6) how is departing on Thursday/Friday morning (or any other day) if I want to fly-out? I didn't see anything obvious on EAA's website about how this is handled, I assume the site is closed some hours for airshows but otherwise I can ask nicely to be let-out ???
Click to expand...

The only time departures are really a zoo is right after the afternoon airshow. The field closes down for the airshow and there is ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NO WAY you are even starting your aircraft at that point in time. There are also times when the taxiways become inaccessible (more a problem on 18/36 coming out of Vintage/South40). This means although the airshow starts at 2PM or whatever, you might get stuck if there's a "demo" going on that keeps us from putting people the N/S taxiways.

If you want to leave before the airshow and you are down south, I'd plan on getting no later than right after lunch.
 
Thanks for the Pirep's everyone.
I read through the Notam Pamphlet and its well done info; but thanks for giving me more info on the ground-ops and camping.

I'm going to bring my generator so I'll have power when I camp, from what I can tell the GAC generator rules seem to be about the same as the Camp Scholler rules (daytime OK but quiet-time at night).

Whatever day I do fly-out, I'd do it in the morning, for sure.

Already got my ground-stake "claw" tiedowns on-order, but Aircraft Spruce says they are backordered until next week.
 
Officially, no generators are permitted in the aircraft camping areas, but I've never see anybody do anything about daytime use of something quiet like the Hondas. We run ours in Vintage up until 10PM.
 
I run my Honda generator and watch the airshows under my wing every afternoon. Most folks shut the generators down by nightfall.
Bags of ice ARE available at the Red Barn shop in the North 40.
 
For camping at airplane (GAC) it sounds like they let you stay there and watch the airshow from your plane/campsite?

I was thinking they might clear some sections away for the air shows? (Eg as a safety radius, or overrun areas, or whatever)

trying to understand… it looks like GAC camping is nearby the runways, I might as well just watch the air shows from there if can, instead of going where the rest of the crowds will be ?
 
Airshow is usually 17/35, and the safety area is set up and marked off before anyone arrives. Think of the confusion of moving lots of airplanes every day, twice on Wed & Sat. They will move people farther back, of course.
 
Yes you can watch the show from your plane, although if you’re in the western end of N40 the view won’t be good. All of the aircraft parking areas GAC both N40 and S40, HBP/HBC, warbirds, and vintage are outside the exclusion zone.
 
It's been said many times in other threads, but bring ear plugs if you sleep lightly, and bug spray....and keep that tent closed as much as possible. Those osh skeeters mean bizniss.
 
ChopAndDrop said:
For camping at airplane (GAC) it sounds like they let you stay there and watch the airshow from your plane/campsite?

I was thinking they might clear some sections away for the air shows? (Eg as a safety radius, or overrun areas, or whatever)

trying to understand… it looks like GAC camping is nearby the runways, I might as well just watch the air shows from there if can, instead of going where the rest of the crowds will be ?
Click to expand...

GAC never gets cleared out for the airshows. It's far removed from the flight line. Vintage and the front of homebuilts gets moved back to the speaker poles when the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds came. For anything else, no camping/aircraft parking is affected.
 
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