Oshkosh 2020

When camping you pay for the whole week up front, 3-night minimum and you get refunded for the nights you don’t use minus the minimum. IOW you can stay for just one night but you are to pay for a minimum of 3 nights no matter what.

Thursday before the show is typically the earliest to time arrive although they have the sites ready to receive aircraft a day or two prior but be advised nothing on the field will be open. IMO Friday is the earliest practical day to fly in if you aren’t volunteering.
 
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It will fill up Sunday, but then spots will become available on Wednesday.
 
tsts4 said:
Thursday before the show is typically the earliest to time arrive although they have the sites ready to receive aircraft a day or two prior but be advised nothing on the field will be open. IMO Friday is the earliest practical day to fly in if you aren’t volunteering.
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The early arrivals have really ramped up in the last 5 years. Two (three?) years of WX problems on the first weekend means everyone just tries to barge in earlier.

- A guy who's arrival window is early Saturday afternoon. That used to be an early arrival. Now it is mid-pack.
 
I arrived Friday in 2019 and was so happy I did, because Saturday and much of Sunday were rained out.
When I arrived around noon on Friday, I got a vey descent spot in the North 40. Definitely walking distance to the main area.
I would not want to be based north of 9/27. I most definitely would not want to be based in the South 40.
Vintage, homebuilt, warbirds all play by different rules, of course.

- Martin
 
Martin Pauly said:
I would not want to be based north of 9/27.
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I've done Oshkosh many times, and found that each spot has its pluses and minuses. The area north of 9/27 near the Hilton is actually one of my favorites. Easy access to get off the field, convenience store within walking distance, and some of the best showers on the field.

It's all about scoping out the place you end up in and finding those positives.
 
Martin Pauly said:
I arrived Friday in 2019 and was so happy I did, because Saturday and much of Sunday were rained out.
When I arrived around noon on Friday, I got a vey descent spot in the North 40. Definitely walking distance to the main area.
I would not want to be based north of 9/27. I most definitely would not want to be based in the South 40.
Vintage, homebuilt, warbirds all play by different rules, of course.

- Martin
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I came in Wednesday or Thursday and got a really good spot right next to the bath house in the north 40. Vintage is my favorite spot, but I’m way off from that in my airplane.
 
Mrs. Steingar has said she'd like to go one year, but I have figure out a non-camping way to do it. Haven't quite come up with that yet. And I stay all week, and for her I suspect the show would get old after abut day 2. We'll see.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
I've done Oshkosh many times, and found that each spot has its pluses and minuses. The area north of 9/27 near the Hilton is actually one of my favorites. Easy access to get off the field, convenience store within walking distance, and some of the best showers on the field.

It's all about scoping out the place you end up in and finding those positives.
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The last time I camped in the North 40 (~2004 or so maybe?) we were about 3 planes away from the fence at the Hilton and they had a party going just like the song says --- ALL NIGHT LONG. Made it hard to get to sleep when it seemed like all the 'loud' drunks congregated on the patio. Have they knocked those hours down at all?

Now we just do HBC and don't have to worry about it. :D
 
flyingcheesehead said:
I've done Oshkosh many times, and found that each spot has its pluses and minuses. The area north of 9/27 near the Hilton is actually one of my favorites. Easy access to get off the field, convenience store within walking distance, and some of the best showers on the field.
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I can see that. I was looking at it more from the perspective of an easy, walkable commute from the campsite to the main show area.

- Martin
 
steingar said:
Mrs. Steingar has said she'd like to go one year, but I have figure out a non-camping way to do it. Haven't quite come up with that yet. And I stay all week, and for her I suspect the show would get old after abut day 2. We'll see.
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Dorms. Or Hotels in Green Bay.
 
Martin Pauly said:
I can see that. I was looking at it more from the perspective of an easy, walkable commute from the campsite to the main show area.
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The buses are frequent enough that I never even made it past the end of the runway when I was camped up there. The most I've ever walked when camped in the North 40 was when I was by the old shower building, because by the time a bus showed up I'd be most of the way there anyway and wouldn't want to stop a busload of people to save myself a couple hundred yards of walking.

There is definitely a lot of walking to be had in Oshkosh no matter how you slice it!

murphey said:
Dorms. Or Hotels in Green Bay.
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Or an RV in Camp Scholler. To me, that's the way to do it. Oshkosh is a completely different experience when you're on the grounds 24/7 IMO.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
The buses are frequent enough that I never even made it past the end of the runway when I was camped up there. The most I've ever walked when camped in the North 40 was when I was by the old shower building, because by the time a bus showed up I'd be most of the way there anyway and wouldn't want to stop a busload of people to save myself a couple hundred yards of walking.

There is definitely a lot of walking to be had in Oshkosh no matter how you slice it!



Or an RV in Camp Scholler. To me, that's the way to do it. Oshkosh is a completely different experience when you're on the grounds 24/7 IMO.
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I suggest the dorms or Green Bay or even the somewhat overpriced hotels in Appleton, because there are other activities for Mrs Steingar that have nothing to do with aviation. Appleton has shopping, the Harry Houdini museum, the Hearthstone museum, for example.
 
Well this year we're doing the first few nights (Sat - Mon) in a hotel in Appleton, then moving to an RV in Scholler for the remainder.
That's presuming that there is an OSH20, given Coronavirus! Yes, I'm seriously worried that they might cancel it. They cancelled SXSW!
As of now, though, we're still planning for our normal Jambalaya party Tuesday night. The starting time is in flux; perhaps a little earlier this year.
 
Warm weather retards other coronavirus, there’s no reason to assume this one is different. There’s a reason we have a flu season. It is unlikely to be an issue in July/August.

next October, it will start coming back because we still won’t have a vaccine for it.
 
gprellwitz said:
That's presuming that there is an OSH20, given Coronavirus! Yes, I'm seriously worried that they might cancel it. They cancelled SXSW!
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They're talking about it, according to people I know who are well-connected with organization insiders. Hopefully cooler heads prevail, it seems like it'll die down over the summer according to the experts.
 
Cykoguy said:
The new parking situation has a lot of people upset. Basically the blue lot is permit and handicap only. All other public parking is out by the highway.

https://eaa.org/airventure/plan-your-eaa-airventure-trip/AirVenture-Site-Changes
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They say the changes to permit parking are because: "permit lots inside the grounds have been eliminated to reduce conflicts with pedestrians on-site."

We did notice last year that it seemed like there were way, way too many vehicles on the grounds. I'm not surprised if there were a lot of complaints.

I don't think this solution is going to play well with attendees. I predict the blue lot will be back in 2021.
 
Cluemeister said:
We did notice last year that it seemed like there were way, way too many vehicles on the grounds. I'm not surprised if there were a lot of complaints.
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That's been a problem for a long time. It is a gate/grounds pass problem, not a parking problem.
 
kyleb said:
It is a gate/grounds pass problem, not a parking problem.
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Where were the permit lot locations inside the grounds they are referencing, and how did those conflict with pedestrians? I guess the question is, what problem are they attempting to solve?
 
I think a lot of people are right...they are creating a whole new bigger problem by making it nearly impossible for people with kids (strollers, wagons etc.) not to mention those toting camera gear. That was a big lot that they just took out of service.

One BIG improvement is the new shuttle stop from the campground behind the exhibit buildings and away from the bike/motorcycle/everything else corral.
 
Cluemeister said:
Where were the permit lot locations inside the grounds they are referencing, and how did those conflict with pedestrians? I guess the question is, what problem are they attempting to solve?
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The FAA lot, the media office, and some other big car lots over by the seminars. When sitting at the A&W by the tower, there were many, many cars going through that intersection. If they can reduce cars inside the gates, that's a good thing.

But, eliminating Blue lot and moving the parking essentially off-site is going to cause all sorts of grief. Maybe they could just take the north half of the Blue lot.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
I've done Oshkosh many times, and found that each spot has its pluses and minuses. The area north of 9/27 near the Hilton is actually one of my favorites. Easy access to get off the field, convenience store within walking distance, and some of the best showers on the field. It's all about scoping out the place you end up in and finding those positives.
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Are there showers north of 09/27? I camped south of 09/27 near the departure end by the shower house and it was great. It looked like folks on the north side were walking across the runway (before flight ops began) to use the shower house near us.

I'm thinking about camping in vintage this year. I've looking at every map and satellite picture--are there showers in the Vintage camping?
 
Surely they won't cancel for the first disease to be spread through social media.

But that parking situation looks pretty bad. Best to camp on site, I suppose.
 
mcdewey said:
The FAA lot, the media office, and some other big car lots over by the seminars. When sitting at the A&W by the tower, there were many, many cars going through that intersection. If they can reduce cars inside the gates, that's a good thing.

But, eliminating Blue lot and moving the parking essentially off-site is going to cause all sorts of grief. Maybe they could just take the north half of the Blue lot.
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When I drove in a couple of years ago, the D lot (formerly known as blue lot, I guess) only had a couple of rows of handicap parking and I don't think those were even full. Were they putting handicap parking inside the gates and they're talking of moving it outside to D-lot? Seems like they're taking a lot of space if they're going to dedicate all of D-lot to handicap now.

I parked in the Grey lot coming from the south and it was pretty easy to get in/out and the hike wasn't too bad - faster than waiting on the shuttle bus in the heat.
 
belbert said:
Are there showers north of 09/27? I camped south of 09/27 near the departure end by the shower house and it was great. It looked like folks on the north side were walking across the runway (before flight ops began) to use the shower house near us.
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Yes - They're in a trailer that's parked along the north fence just east of the Hilton. Not well advertised/marked... But they're also not the "dish" variety, so they're quite nice.

I'm thinking about camping in vintage this year. I've looking at every map and satellite picture--are there showers in the Vintage camping?
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Yes - Also in a trailer, which is why you won't see them on satellite photos taken outside of the show week.
 
Thanks cheesehead--much appreciated.

If you could choose between VAC and GAC, which would you camp in?
 
belbert said:
Thanks cheesehead--much appreciated.

If you could choose between VAC and GAC, which would you camp in?
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Vintage is one of the places I haven't been, but I've heard great things about it. If nothing else, you're "in" the show so it eliminates the walk/bus ride around the north 40 to the gate, as well as putting you closer to food and everything else. I'd give that a shot if I qualified!
 
catmandu said:
Covid-19 will cancel Airventure. :stirpot:
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U N A B L E

We should cancel a lot of things now. Unless the zombie apocalypse breaks out in the near future due to Covid--OSH will be good to go...
 
I've done two years in the North 40 and 25 in Vintage. Come on down. Vintage is great!
 
I did one year in vintage and really liked it. I stay in the North 40 because I usually have to go off site for dinner on at least a couple nights, and the N 40is a whole lot closer.
 
The South 40 is really the only place I wouldn’t want to be. The N40 is like it’s own town. VAC and HBC are the prime locations though. If they really want to cut down on traffic in the grounds they need to target the “VIP” golf carts and vehicles that parade around the main show line hauling their precious cargo.
 
Grum.Man said:
The South 40 is really the only place I wouldn’t want to be. The N40 is like it’s own town. VAC and HBC are the prime locations though. If they really want to cut down on traffic in the grounds they need to target the “VIP” golf carts and vehicles that parade around the main show line hauling their precious cargo.
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<grumpyoldman>Typically teenage boys working at the food service places hauling around teenage girls.</grumpyoldman>
 
mcdewey said:
<grumpyoldman>Typically teenage boys working at the food service places hauling around teenage girls.</grumpyoldman>
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I personally know a few guys who are guilty of the golf cart parade. They are friends with a WWII Ace so they ride all over the place on the golf cart that is permitted for his use.
 
I often wonder why there is so much vehicular traffic on the grounds. IMHO, it’s due to vendors/VIP’s abusing available permits and driving everywhere regardless of its necessity. Why walk between exhibit hangars when you can just jump in a cart, even tho you’re not hauling anything?

Granted, it’s a big place, but, c’mon, man!
 
painless said:
I often wonder why there is so much vehicular traffic on the grounds. IMHO, it’s due to vendors/VIP’s abusing available permits and driving everywhere regardless of its necessity. Why walk between exhibit hangars when you can just jump in a cart, even tho you’re not hauling anything?

Granted, it’s a big place, but, c’mon, man!
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Exactly! You'll see them drive over to get food, or just cruise down the flight line looking at airplanes. Last year especially ****ed me off when you have people trying to navigate around massive water puddles trying not to get their shoes wet only to have one of these trucks or golf carts barge through sending a wave of muddy water into your shoes.
 
flyingron said:
I've done two years in the North 40 and 25 in Vintage. Come on down. Vintage is great!
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I’ve heard somewhere that even when GAC fills up early in the week, VAC generally has room and doesn’t turn people away. Does that sound accurate?
 
I've been in Scholler, HBC, and North40. Preference is HBC, despite the longer trip to grocery.
 
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