OSH 2021

I’ll be volunteering at the Seaplane Pilots Association Booth Thursday from 2-6 telling lies (if asked) about how easy it is to make glassy water landings:D. One of the more interesting experiences on my check ride.

Cheers
 
@iamtheari where you at? Row 156, 2nd plane in pic in avatar, stop by and say hello, leaving at 11a.
I’m in homebuilt. Opposite end of the show. I just saw S40 from the seaplane bus and laughed about the taxiing Pilatus.
 
Folks with airplanes here... what is your math or decision process on whether to get out of here before the potential derecho tonight? I remember there being damage in 2019 at Appleton that resulted in some bent metal. Do you just cross your fingers and hope everything will be cool, or head out of the potential damage area for the night?


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Folks with airplanes here... what is your math or decision process on whether to get out of here before the potential derecho tonight? I remember there being damage in 2019 at Appleton that resulted in some bent metal. Do you just cross your fingers and hope everything will be cool, or head out of the potential damage area for the night?


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Hope.
 
So .... are all finding a spot to park? Are people being turned away, or do they have enough space even with the higher crowd size?
 
So .... are all finding a spot to park? Are people being turned away, or do they have enough space even with the higher crowd size?
I think the highest I heard of GAC being was 85% full. Not sure if anyone has been turned away. The whole airport looks pretty full but with some space to spare in all areas.
 
Amazing how confused some people get. Guy seemed totally lost on the fisk approach talking to Tower saying he is "north of the lake". He didn't know what lake turns out it was Rush lake. He asked for vectors. Eventually they found him on ADSB after he turned his transponder on and turn him around back to Ripon get him on the right frequency. ATC obviously communicated with Ripon to let them know because they called the guy out and helped him. At one point he had found someone to follow then told ATC he "lost them". They told him just to follow the tracks and he eventually figured it all out.
 
Amazing how confused some people get. Guy seemed totally lost on the fisk approach talking to Tower saying he is "north of the lake". He didn't know what lake turns out it was Rush lake. He asked for vectors. Eventually they found him on ADSB after he turned his transponder on and turn him around back to Ripon get him on the right frequency. ATC obviously communicated with Ripon to let them know because they called the guy out and helped him. At one point he had found someone to follow then told ATC he "lost them". They told him just to follow the tracks and he eventually figured it all out.

Yikes. We share the air with these folks.


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Text from my sister: "Has no one ever suggested they do this in June?"

I'm not from this area, but apparently it really doesn't matter much. They can get severe weather events any time during the summer. I'm happy to be corrected. It does seem like it would be better to do this event when temperatures aren't tickling triple figures. It's blazing hot this week.


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Folks with airplanes here... what is your math or decision process on whether to get out of here before the potential derecho tonight? I remember there being damage in 2019 at Appleton that resulted in some bent metal. Do you just cross your fingers and hope everything will be cool, or head out of the potential damage area for the night?


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If you look at the ADSB there appear to be A LOT of planes leaving this morning. Maybe just because it is mid week.
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I was just thinking maybe a different month would have calmer or less hot weather. June might be a good choice.

If WI is anything like OK, the chance of severe storms and such are a generally a higher probability in June than in July. May/June is prime tornado season, lol. July/August is mostly just pop-up showers or quick-moving storm fronts, but obviously hotter than Hades.
 
Folks with airplanes here... what is your math or decision process on whether to get out of here before the potential derecho tonight? I remember there being damage in 2019 at Appleton that resulted in some bent metal. Do you just cross your fingers and hope everything will be cool, or head out of the potential damage area for the night?


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Was leaving Thursday morning anyway, so I’ve decided to depart at noon, putting me out ahead of the 3pm wave of storms. No sense in screwing around when I was already on a tight departure schedule anyway.

will miss the HOPS/HOPIS/HOPELESS party though. Damn…. You all enjoy it tonight.
 
A lot of planes are leaving ahead of the severe weather already coming down from the NW. Check out the webcams.... Could be an interesting day at OSH. . . not unusual. Tiedowns. https://vimeo.com/event/1154293/embed
 
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Do they allow portable generators and mini tent AC units ? :)
 
Folks with airplanes here... what is your math or decision process on whether to get out of here before the potential derecho tonight?

A lot of planes are leaving ahead of the severe weather already coming down from the NW.

I have several buddies there and they are leaving the area ... they're in RVs so flying a state away like Iowa is no big deal ....
 
Is it possible to even get a room at the HIlton if you plan ahead or is that a who you know type of deal ?

I'd like to go someday, but camping aint for this cat....
 
Is it possible to even get a room at the HIlton if you plan ahead or is that a who you know type of deal ?

I'd like to go someday, but camping aint for this cat....

I went for work a few years ago and we got an Air BnB house. Worked quite nicely, but we also had a parking pass that let us get close to where we needed to be.
 
We got in around 11 and they parked us over by Basler’s for GAP parking, row 636. Other than on guy in a 172 that was clueless it was a pretty smooth run. He cut in and squeezed things together so badly when he couldn’t hold a speed that both the RV in front of him and I got sent for a lap around Rush Lake while they moved him up the line.

My wife refused to come unless we had a hotel room so I booked ours in October 2020. The only room left then was the Motel 6. It’s been a long long time since I’ve been in a motel 6 and it’s everything I remembered about them, except the price. $210 for three nights at a scuzzy, dirty motel 6.

Oh well, maybe it will seem like a good deal if the storms do roll in tonight.

gary
 
We rushed around and left this morning. Had planned to leave tomorrow but the storm and hail potential tonight is higher than I am comfortable with.

We’re currently in a nice air conditioned pizza place near our home field.
 
My wife refused to come unless we had a hotel room so I booked ours in October 2020. The only room left then was the Motel 6. It’s been a long long time since I’ve been in a motel 6 and it’s everything I remembered about them, except the price. $210 for three nights at a scuzzy, dirty motel 6.

There's a reason they "leave the light on for you!" :yikes:
 
Is it possible to even get a room at the HIlton if you plan ahead or is that a who you know type of deal ?

I'd like to go someday, but camping aint for this cat....
I had absolutely no trouble getting a room at the Hilton... ...when I was there for a basic metal work class in January last year. ;)

During show week I think its nearly impossible to get a room there. And if you do find an available room there, expect it to cost a lot more than I paid in January. $600/night wouldn't surprise me.

There are other options though. Lots of locals rent rooms or their whole house for the week. I believe EAA also has access to dorm rooms that are nearby and runs shuttle busses for those.
 
Left this morning around 7. Had a good time, definitely hotter than usual. Felt like it will be another record breaking year. Averaged 11 miles of walking per day.

uneventful flight home. Always stop at Dekalb to gas up before the jump home. Tried to file IFR, got an as filed confirmation with ForeFlight but once in the air Chicago tried to give me like 6 waypoints and kept me low despite never being in their Bravo. After falling behind on writing them all down I just canceled and came home vfr at 15.5k. Just under 2.5 hours from Dekalb to Raleigh NC area.
 
There are other options though. Lots of locals rent rooms or their whole house for the week. I believe EAA also has access to dorm rooms that are nearby and runs shuttle busses for those.

We stayed in the dorms this year again, Sat-Tue. Can't beat the $75 price for a room with no A/C, but it was pretty miserable due
to the higher temps this year. We brought fans but you don't get any airflow once you close your door for the night - some people propped their doors open but the missus wasn't comfortable doing that.

Having to leave the windows (and drapes) open at night meant we got to hear muffler-challenged cars and motorcycles until midnight, and crowd noise from a bar across the street. Plus, a chorus of "f-yous" from 3 guys who seem to have been kicked out of pizza place nearby at midnight. Then, the sunrise and seagull(!) calls first thing in the morning kept us from sleeping longer than around 5:30. But, if we had a different-facing room these wouldn't have
been as bad.

They do have air conditioned rooms for (I think) $125/night but we've never been in one. Or, 4 bed suites w/kitchenettes & private baths for $335 or so - we wandered the hallway of that building & it seemed really nice. Those would probably beat the Hilton.

Parking was fine until we came back at 10:30pm after the Twilight Fun Fest...we ended up having to park 1/2 mile away and walk back over deserted streets to our room.

One high point is the available food - all you can eat breakfast and dinner buffets for $7 and $14 respectively (if you buy 3 ticket "packages").

That all being said, I'd probably still go back
 
We normally camp with our plane, but this year we opted to just fly in and rent an RV and glamp over at Sleepy Hollow. It was expensive but it was so worth it. I’m not sure we’ll every go back to tent camping now.
 
We normally camp with our plane, but this year we opted to just fly in and rent an RV and glamp over at Sleepy Hollow. It was expensive but it was so worth it. I’m not sure we’ll every go back to tent camping now.
How does setting that up work? I tried to look into renting an RV a bit when we were planning our last trip. From what I could tell, reserving an RV and even having the owner bring it out/set it up/take it back was a problem that was easily solved by throwing money at the situation. But reserving an actual campsite in advance to put the RV on seemed nearly impossible. And getting a site with power hookups seemed even more unlikely. Is there a trick to getting that done?

Edit: Nevermind, I just looked at the website. When I was looking into it, I think I was looking at the other campground on the field. I didn't know this one existed. Might consider this for our next trip now that I know its there.:cool:
 
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How does setting that up work? I tried to look into renting an RV a bit when we were planning our last trip. From what I could tell, reserving an RV and even having the owner bring it out/set it up/take it back was a problem that was easily solved by throwing money at the situation. But reserving an actual campsite in advance to put the RV on seemed nearly impossible. And getting a site with power hookups seemed even more unlikely. Is there a trick to getting that done?

Edit: Nevermind, I just looked at the website. When I was looking into it, I think I was looking at the other campground on the field. I didn't know this one existed. Might consider this for our next trip now that I know its there.:cool:

Like most things Osh, it’s all about who you know and/or cultivating a relationship with those in charge. If you want a spot here, contact them now and get on the list—yes the list for next year has already started. The spots aren’t really that expensive especially considering you have to get them for 10 days minimum. That goes for the RV too which is the expensive part.. 2 of the big names are Kunes and Van Boxtel— they have a relationship with Sleepy Hollow and deliver, setup, and retrieve the trailer/motor coach for you— all you do is show up and check in. If you only want to come for a few days, other than crashing with a buddy, this would be exorbitantly expensive option.
 
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