Observations from AirVenture 2013

[kyleb]

Not sure if it was a new museum piece, but they had a few warbirds parked out front next to the pond.

"Marge" has been an Oshkosh resident since I began attending the show 19 years ago. It is a P-38 dressed up in Richard Bong's markings. I have never seen it move under its own power. I think it is static only.

 

[JB1842]

"Marge" has been an Oshkosh resident since I began attending the show 19 years ago. It is a P-38 dressed up in Richard Bong's markings. I have never seen it move under its own power. I think it is static only.

I must have been blind the past few times I visited the museum. I don't remember it inside or outside. That's probably a huge failing on my part since I live a little over an hour drive from Oshkosh.

 

[Jay Honeck]

Can I go back to OSH now, or do I really have to wait until 2014?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[DanielH]

Sorry, can't figure out how to quote just part of the post. My comments are below Jay's.

Volunteers Most were wonderful. Some were rude, and a few were almost crazy with power. On the day BEFORE the show started, two of our group were prevented from entering the grounds by one uber-zealous woman volunteer because they were without wristbands -- which weren't any good until the show opened the next day. WTF?

Another practically jumped in front of my plane to prevent me from getting to my campsite, even though I had "Row 505" in the window, because "there were no open spots in that row" -- as if she had them all memorized! Ah, all my gear was there, set up, and I had to strongly cajole here to move aside. Crazy.

Watched a marshaller stand 20-30 ft in front of a Cheyenne tell him to move forward and then she started running when he applied enough power to actually move, he also moved several campsites in the process. The Cheyenne driver then spent the next hour with a Sheriff after the marshaller filed a complaint. If you want to marshal, great, but seriously, it was ridiculous.

 

[Jay Honeck]

Watched a marshaller stand 20-30 ft in front of a Cheyenne tell him to move forward and then she started running when he applied enough power to actually move, he also moved several campsites in the process. The Cheyenne driver then spent the next hour with a Sheriff after the marshaller filed a complaint. If you want to marshal, great, but seriously, it was ridiculous.

Wait, what? The EAA marshaller filed a criminal complaint against the Cheyenne driver at Oshkosh???

 

[DanielH]

You bet she did. Sheriff came around asking what everyone else saw. She was saying the prop was 5-6 feet away and Cheyenne driver was saying 30-40 ft away. If she really was 5-6 away from the running engine that would be her fault, IMO.

 

[murphey]

Official numbers from EAA (believe as you will)

1. Comparable to 2012 with over 500K in attendance
2. More than 10K aircraft at OSH, ATW and Fond Du Lac
3. Showplanes: 2,341 with 867 homebuilt, 858 vintage, 343 warbirds, 130 ultralights, 92 seaplanes, 27 aerobatic and 24 misc showplanes
4. Commercial exhibitors: 821 (record total)
5. International visitors: 2,115 registered from 64 nations
6. 914 media reps (2 of them from Colorado Pilots Association and 1 from the Colorado Backcountry group)

 

[steingar]

I suspect there were fewer aircraft in attendance than when I first started going in the aughts, but that is only reasonable. There are fewer pilots and fewer aircraft. I didn't eat at the show at all (a longstanding habit) but was impressed with the variety. Previously it was all burgers and brats, and my habit came from having absolutely nothing substantial available I would eat. I saw there was an acceptable menu entry in each vendor and each was different, a substantial improvement in my eyes. The prices were high, but in my view that's to be expected for the convenience of eating at the air show.

I never once had to use a porta-potty, was picked up by a cart on multiple occasions, and was quite impressed with the night airshow even though it was viewed from the North 40. I am quite impressed with the actions taken by the EAA in terms of program and infrastructure. As far as who and what shows up, that is well beyond their control. I didn't miss the militaria at all (though seeing the Thunderbirds would have been really cool). I thought the airshow was quite impressive in terms of act and variety.

 

[flyingron]

Wait, what? The EAA marshaller filed a criminal complaint against the Cheyenne driver at Oshkosh???

Don't know about that situation but we had an irate pilot intentionally try to run down a marshaller in Vintage. He did spend some time in the excellent accomodations at the Winnebago county lockup.

 

[DanielH]

Don't know about that situation but we had an irate pilot intentionally try to run down a marshaller in Vintage. He did spend some time in the excellent accomodations at the Winnebago county lockup.

I don't think this guy had any real repercussions from his actions. Although, he didn't help himself by not wearing a shirt throughout the incident.

 

[Dave Theisen]

I don't think this guy had any real repercussions from his actions. Although, he didn't help himself by not wearing a shirt throughout the incident.

Sounds like an episode of Cops:Oshkosh. "Bad Boys, Bad Boys"

 

[Rick Rademacher]

I had fun on the other side of the table for the first time in 25 plus visits. And, I am very thankful the weather was not hot.

I want to thank all who stopped by to say hello and especially those that purchased old WWII sectional charts which helped me cover the $2,500 booth cost. While Champaign Urbana Illinois is a fine place to see and my birthplace, I hope that everyone now has at least one reason for visiting the other Urbana in Champaign County Ohio.

So, let’s meet again at Grimes Field (I74) in Urbana Ohio.

 

[wabower]

Anybody standing in front of us when we exited the parking spot would have vamoosed as the power on both engines came came up. We were parked on an uphill grade in some thick clumpy grass, and it didn't want to move. . We didn't load pax until on the taxiway but still made a hell of a racket. Fortunately for them and us, no campsites were directly behind the plane.

You bet she did. Sheriff came around asking what everyone else saw. She was saying the prop was 5-6 feet away and Cheyenne driver was saying 30-40 ft away. If she really was 5-6 away from the running engine that would be her fault, IMO.

 

[weirdjim]

I want to thank all who stopped by to say hello and especially those that purchased old WWII sectional charts which helped me cover the $2,500 booth cost. [/FONT]

But that begs the question. All you all were selling were WWII charts to cover booth expenses. Why doesn't EAA have a differential between companies selling multithousand dollar GPS or whatevers versus the little guy selling charts at a couple bucks.

THAT AIN'T FAIR.

ANd I really WANT to participate in the little guy booths.

BTW, got a WWII chart of SFO or SAN you'd like to sell?

Jim

 

[steingar]

But that begs the question. All you all were selling were WWII charts to cover booth expenses. Why doesn't EAA have a differential between companies selling multithousand dollar GPS or whatevers versus the little guy selling charts at a couple bucks.

THAT AIN'T FAIR.

ANd I really WANT to participate in the little guy booths.

Do commercial rentals usually depend on the sort of business doing the renting or the space in which the business is located?

 

[nddons]

Do commercial rentals usually depend on the sort of business doing the renting or the space in which the business is located?

No. I investigated getting a booth to promote Wings over Waukesha, a nice little airshow coming up on August 24th and 25th. We are a 501(c)(3) organization.

I called the EAA, and the minimum booth cost was $2,500. I contacted Lifeline Pilots, also a 501(c)(3), and they confirmed that there was no break for non-profits.

So if there's no break for non-profits, I'm sure there's no break for small retailers vs big retailers.

 

[HBCox@aol.com]

We did not attend this year. Instead we went to Arlington WA KAWO for the AYA convention. We will probably return to KOSH next year.

 

[PW_Plack]

...Now, if only we could get Ford, John Deere, and the ladder guys off the field, we would have a real convention again...

Really? It's too much trouble to walk around a few companies paying big bucks to sponsor the show? I wasn't there this year, but I've always thought EAA did a pretty good job with balance in this area. I suspect the sponsor exhibits, especially Ford's stuff, also provide some welcome diversity to attendees who are not solely airplane geeks.

Especially if the FAA is going to increase EAA's costs by a half-million dollars a year with a single, arbitrary new fee, we should be thankful for all the help we can get.

 

[denverpilot]

You can get 'em off the field, Jay. Tickets will be $250/day and camping $1500 for the week.

 

[Jay Honeck]

You can get 'em off the field, Jay. Tickets will be $250/day and camping $1500 for the week.

Oh, I know. Ford, Deere, and others foot a big part of the bill at OSH.

Go attend the AAA annual fly-in in Blakesburg, Iowa to see what a convention looks like when it is completely, 100% non-commercial. It is...wonderful, but tiny, by comparison.

 

[denverpilot]

I go to an even cooler convention. It's at my hangar. The owner already paid all the bills, so it's free to me.

(Multiple personality disorder helps with airplane ownership.)

 

[wabower]

Whatever deal they made with Deere needs to stay in place if it's tied to the tram usage. I get more than the daily ticket cost just from riding around.

 

[nddons]

Whatever deal they made with Deere needs to stay in place if it's tied to the tram usage. I get more than the daily ticket cost just from riding around.

Agreed. I used it more this year as its north terminus was right near the FLO shack where I worked. I didn't feel like I walked 15 miles a day like I usually do at OSH.