Based in Chester CT (KSNC). About 900 miles to OSH. Recently acquired an iPad and ForeFlight, and planning away... what a great technology. Worlds different than the kitchen table planning I did as a kid.
Let me be the first to say... Welcome to Oshkosh (and Wisconsin)!! I know you'll have an excellent adventure. Just be prepared for the absolute fact that it will not be exactly the adventure that you had planned on, and you'll be just fine.
Bought a Flight Design which is a comfortable and economical airplane to fly cross country. Dynon A/P is easy to manage and the “Traffic” info is an A+ safety item. Downloaded the OSH Notam and watched a zillion approach videos and viewed lots of OSH posts.. thanks to the people who took the time to post.
Sounds like you are well prepared, as you should be.
Weather permitting, my plan is to fly the majority of the journey in a single leg, and make it into OSH in a short flight super early in the AM.
There aren't any awards for "longest leg on the way to the show". Take a break. It'll greatly improve your piloting skills toward the end of the day. In fact, if it's going to be more than 8 hours, take two breaks.
A flying pal strongly recommends I arrive on Wednesday to avoid the throng. I wanted to get there early to watch the incoming planes, given my experience level I should probably arrive in light traffic.
Then arrive as early as possible. Wednesday during the show is actually one of the busiest days. In fact, in terms of total operations (landings and takeoffs) it is THE busiest day, according to numbers I've seen.
If you can get here Friday before the show, that should still be relatively light traffic. Even Saturday. Sunday will be pretty busy, more so if the weather was bad on Saturday (like last year). If the weather is bad in Oshkosh from when you get to Wisconsin all the way until Sunday - Maybe just leave the plane somewhere else for a few days. That said, this is the 50th year in Oshkosh and it has never been as bad as it was last year on Sunday (thanks to several days of IMC beforehand) so just think, "it could be worse!"
I’d do the Chicago lakefront for a shortcut.
That's what I do when I have to go East or come home from the East and it's VFR. You'll probably be talking with South Bend Approach if you're on flight following, and they'll probably drop you somewhere between Valparaiso and Gary. At that point, you should be able to get Chicago Approach (Midway) on 128.2... But if Midway's ATIS is advertising the RNAV(GPS) Z to runway 22L as the approach in use, think about going around Chicago the long way, as there'll be airliners crossing the lakeshore descending from 3000 to 2400 and their
wake turbulence can really cause you to have a bad day. Otherwise, have at it, and have 120.55 in the standby, they'll hand you off somewhere between downtown and the Bahai Temple (marked on the chart up to the north).
Another clarification, I plan on flying 8-9 hours on leg 1, target arrival is "KETB", near OSH, resting up, fueling up, and then flying the short leg in the early AM). I don't know why the foreflight is showing first a Majenta line, then a blue one... never seen that before, I'm sure I toggled something I didn't mean to...
Again, make that at least two legs, if not three. There are no awards for long legs, and flying that long does take a toll on the brain as well as the butt.
As far as the colors - The magenta line is the currently active leg of the flight plan. After you cross the fix at the end of the magenta line, the next leg will turn magenta and the previous will turn orange. So, blue = future, magenta = present, orange = past.
Good point about the beer... didn’t think that one through... food too... it’s vacation so I plan to eat a lot and often.. how easy is it to buy a pack of beer and ice while staying at the campground ?
This is Wisconsin. There are times you might accidentally drink a beer just because you inhaled. Beer and liquor are readily available. Store sales of beer end at midnight, wine and liquor ends at 9 PM in stores. Bars are open until 2 AM. You can't leave a restaurant with an open container, or have an open container in your car. But, we have no dry counties or any of that crap, and we make and consume insane amounts of beer. And you should buy some Spotted Cow while you're here. It's one of our most popular beers, so much so that we consume the entire production within our state lines. They tried to start exporting it to Illinois a few years ago but simply couldn't produce enough. And don't forget to "donate" the beer you bring from home to the
beer coffin in exchange for beers from other places as well.
@SixPapaCharlie has been there and can probably tell you where it is.
And Goodwill, so you can buy a bike for transportation during the week, then donate it back to Goodwill.
This is one of those Oshkosh traditions that's been going on forever.
Love it!
One note on planning: my first OSH was planned like yours. Super specific and well thought out. When it came to the flight, weather caused me to toss the entire plan out the storm window
Don't fall in love with your plan.
Absolutely. This is definitely a time to roll with the punches, right up until the prop stops turning. Enroute weather, avoiding the few crazy antiauthority pilots, last-second ATC instructions, being marshalled to godknowswhere... It's all part of the experience. Whatever happens, it'll be fun, as long as you let it.
You tend to meet the best people when you have to change plans. I left on a Wednesday afternoon hoping to make it all the way home but building thunder storms changed my mind. Ended up sharing an uber with two guys from AL that were about my age. We had a great night of dinning and beverages and have stayed in touch sense.
Everyone is your friend in Oshkosh, or on the way there or home: Old friends, new friends, and friends you haven't met yet. The people are really what makes the experience.
This will be my first time flying to OSH, and my first time flying beyond 340 miles, so big trip. The Weather thing is my big concern.
Don't worry about it too much - Just go around the bad weather. Even in a 100-knot plane, it's not that big of a difference. On any long leg, if you go 10% of the leg distance off route in the middle of the leg, you only add about 1% of the linear distance. IE, deviating 100 miles off course in the middle of a 1000-mile leg adds only 10 miles of distance flown to the trip. On long legs, this can help you get around big weather in the middle without significantly affecting trip time.
And, if the weather sucks at a planned stop - Well, then go with plan B or plan C instead. All that really matters is that you don't get into weather you can't handle and that you always have plenty of fuel. Keep her pointed in the right general direction when things look good and you'll be fine.
2-What is the thought from ones who have been numerous times on departing Thursday morning vs afternoon. Seems like Thursday morning there is a huge push to get out?
I would say there's a push every morning. Yes, even Monday. If you wait until maybe 11 or noon it'll die down somewhat, and the field doesn't close until 2 for the airshow. The later you get in the week, the more departures there'll be after the airshow.
That said, the departure isn't a super huge deal. I generally depart Sunday after the airshow, when they pretty much clean out the entire field in about 2.5 hours, using both sides of both runways (left and right of the centerline), with an aircraft departing every 1500 feet. But, each runway has its direction(s) where everyone fans out away from the field and then people turn on course clearing the D and it pretty much is a non-event. Follow the NOTAM.
