Things I learned at my first Airventure

[genna]

• It's a lot of fun. I have to do it again!
• It's impossible to do everything. We had 3 days there and I have to do it again
• Weather can certainly play havoc on things in very unexpected ways. We ended up spending a night at FLD because there was no place to park at OSH due to flooding from rains 4 days earlier.
• FLD, while very accommodating, kind off sucks as a substitute. Camping is not so great and it’s far(and expensive) from OSH
• Controllers(both OSH and FLD) are awesome. They are great at what they do and are very professional. They also clearly enjoy their work. Handheld and a lawn chair make for a fun "radio show"
• There are a lot of airplanes everywhere. You really need to be on your toes and follow procedures. Some people don't. Controllers still deal with that with class and skill.
• I was at right seat this time helping with navigation and comms. Now that I have seen how it is done, i want to fly it myself. I have to do it again!
• Got to sit in a few planes I may potentially be interested in the future: Mooney is too cramped and i'm a 5-6, 140lb wet (mostly the panel is too close, but shoulder room is also pretty tight). I really wanted to like it, but I'm afraid it's not going to work, especially with one door. I like Velocity a lot. Somehow I managed to not sit in an RV10. But I looked at some nicely built ones and I liked what I saw.
• It's amazing how much you can fit in a 172. Somehow we packed it with 3 adults and all the camping gear for 4 nights. 650nm. 2 stops there, 1 stop back. But it's a long flight. Next time need to use something faster.
• Good luck getting flight following flying Chicago approach departing OSH at the end of the show....

 

[AGLyme]

I stayed at FDL for two nights... admittedly not my first choice... BUT, people were nice, the showers were meh, the bus ride to OSH was uneventful and comfortable, and, as an exit airport to home, it is unbeatable. I took off at 5:40 AM on Friday, first to depart without anyone near the runway... FDL was a better than expected experience and the private airshow of all types of aircraft flying in and out was very cool and close.

 

[Checkout_my_Six]

We drove in this year....first time. My other visits to OSh were all by air. Driving wasn't all bad. It was nice having wheels.

 

[Grum.Man]

I'm legit having withdrawals now right now... Was sad to wake up in a bed instead of a tent to the sound of airplane noises. I was there Saturday through mid day Thursday. While I feel like I had seen all that I wanted to I could have stayed longer. Took the opportunity to visit some friends in other cities around the country.

 

[Matthew]

Stayed at FLD also. Tuesday arrival and Thursday departure. I thought it was a great option, but would have preferred the OSH experience just to check it off the list. Camping was just OK there, too close to the highway with a lot of road noise all night. They could use some more bathrooms and showers. Getting fuel was sort of a pain - you can leave a fuel tag on the prop while you spend the day in OSH, but there's no guarantee the truck will come by. We tagged our plane Wed morning. We got back late that night and noticed we didn't get fueled. Thursday morning we weren't in any real hurry to leave, but still... We had two choices: taxi to the pumps and fight traffic on the ramp, or wait for the truck. I kept getting, "we'll be there in about 10 minutes". Took about 2 hrs. But we got to sit and relax while we waited.

Arrivals on Tuesday were steady, but not overwhelming, my home Class D airport has busier moments. Departure was very easy, but was busier than I'm used to. I rarely get a line up and wait instruction, but I did at FLD.

OSH itself was great. Take advantage of the trams whenever possible, and don't miss out on the seaplane base for a chance to get away from the crowds for a little while. There were some things that I didn't get to see, but for a first time and a chance to survey it, I have a better idea of what to do and see the next time.

Also, next time I'll get one of those small, portable camp chairs. Not the sling-over-your-shoulder type, but the little stuff-in-a-backpack type. There were plenty of times I would have liked to be able to sit and watch some of the action, but there wasn't a convenient bench nearby.

 

[genna]

We drove in this year....first time. My other visits to OSh were all by air. Driving wasn't all bad. It was nice having wheels.

How long did it take you? I've driven to Chicago from MD before. Didn't really even cross my mind to make that a car trip. Some of our friends did drive, but they have really nice RVs

 

[Checkout_my_Six]

How long did it take you? I've driven to Chicago from MD before. Didn't really even cross my mind to make that a car trip. Some of our friends did drive, but they have really nice RVs

We started out flying from DMW....had a hot cylinder and turned around over Altoona. Got in the truck at 10am and made Chicago around 10pm.....OSH was another couple hours (arrived Sat morning). Coming home we left OSH around 7:30am and arrived in FDK at 10pm. The roads are nice and the drivers are much friendlier than I-95 drivers....which I suspect are loaded with NE'ers (Mass, NJ, & NY A-holes).

The driving thing turned into a divine plan....which couldn't have been planned better. Due to the deluge...the area was closed to campers and flyers. Since we drove all was good and we got an extra day of OSH....vs. we'd been stuck out a day or so if we flew.

 

[genna]

Stayed at FLD also. Tuesday arrival and Thursday departure. I thought it was a great option, but would have preferred the OSH experience just to check it off the list. Camping was just OK there, too close to the highway with a lot of road noise all night. They could use some more bathrooms and showers. Getting fuel was sort of a pain - you can leave a fuel tag on the prop while you spend the day in OSH, but there's no guarantee the truck will come by. We tagged our plane Wed morning. We got back late that night and noticed we didn't get fueled. Thursday morning we weren't in any real hurry to leave, but still... We had two choices: taxi to the pumps and fight traffic on the ramp, or wait for the truck. I kept getting, "we'll be there in about 10 minutes". Took about 2 hrs. But we got to sit and relax while we waited.

Arrivals on Tuesday were steady, but not overwhelming, my home Class D airport has busier moments. Departure was very easy, but was busier than I'm used to. I rarely get a line up and wait instruction, but I did at FLD.

OSH itself was great. Take advantage of the trams whenever possible, and don't miss out on the seaplane base for a chance to get away from the crowds for a little while. There were some things that I didn't get to see, but for a first time and a chance to survey it, I have a better idea of what to do and see the next time.

Also, next time I'll get one of those small, portable camp chairs. Not the sling-over-your-shoulder type, but the little stuff-in-a-backpack type. There were plenty of times I would have liked to be able to sit and watch some of the action, but there wasn't a convenient bench nearby.

Luckily we didn't need fuel at FLD. My guess, FLD gets busy only when people are trying to either go to OSH or can't get to OSH. This was our situation. Arriving and to some extend departing(this was early before tower opened). Arriving was entertaining... Lots of action, go-arounds, planes entering pattern from every-which direction. Controller doesn't really want to talk to you until you enter the downwind. I called 10m out(per notam), she just said call me when you enter L downwind. After we landed I watched some of this from the ground and i swear i have never seen so many airplanes in the same area of a pattern(downwind) at the same time. All trying to join from different directions at obviously different speeds. Some are going in some random direction it seems. Some people are not listening or not understanding that directions are given to them(no call signs). I saw couple go-arounds because base traffic went too tight and was in the way of traffic on final.

 

[genna]

We started out flying from DMW....had a hot cylinder and turned around over Altoona. Got in the truck at 10am and made Chicago around 10pm.....OSH was another couple hours (arrived Sat morning). Coming home we left OSH around 7:30am and arrived in FDK at 10pm. The roads are nice and the drivers are much friendlier than I-95 drivers....which I suspect are loaded with NE'ers (Mass, NJ, & NY A-holes).

The driving thing turned into a divine plan....which couldn't have been planned better. Due to the deluge...the area was closed to campers and flyers. Since we drove all was good and we got an extra day of OSH....vs. we'd been stuck out a day or so if we flew.

12h to Chicago is about right. 14h to OSH then. Took us longer in the plane (we stopped in Marion, OH for the night). Leaving Osh at 8am(local), I was back home for dinner at 5:30pm Roads are nice, but boring. Straight, straight, and straight through most of Indiana and Ohio.

 

[Matthew]

Luckily we didn't need fuel at FLD. My guess, FLD gets busy only when people are trying to either go to OSH or can't get to OSH. This was our situation. Arriving and to some extend departing(this was early before tower opened). Arriving was entertaining... Lots of action, go-arounds, planes entering pattern from every-which direction. Controller doesn't really want to talk to you until you enter the downwind. I called 10m out(per notam), she just said call me when you enter L downwind. After we landed I watched some of this from the ground and i swear i have never seen so many airplanes in the same area of a pattern(downwind) at the same time. All trying to join from different directions at obviously different speeds. Some are going in some random direction it seems. Some people are not listening or not understanding that directions are given to them(no call signs). I saw couple go-arounds because base traffic went too tight and was in the way of traffic on final.

Landing at FLD was easy. We pretty much knew we wouldn't be able to get into OSH, so we didn't even try, we went direct FLD the whole way. Lights on early and reported 10NM from the S/W and was told to report 2 mile final for 36. I did S turns for a Bonanza (I think) coming in from the east, but that was no big deal. There was a guy that called in, "FLD tower, bugsmasher XYX 42.2 miles southwest". Tower paused and ask, "How far out?" "Bugsmasher XYZ 42.0 miles". FLD told the guy to report a 2 mile final.

 

[genna]

Landing at FLD was easy. We pretty much knew we wouldn't be able to get into OSH, so we didn't even try, we went direct FLD the whole way. Lights on early and reported 10NM from the S/W and was told to report 2 mile final for 36. I did S turns for a Bonanza (I think) coming in from the east, but that was no big deal. There was a guy that called in, "FLD tower, bugsmasher XYX 42.2 miles southwest". Tower paused and ask, "How far out?" "Bugsmasher XYZ 42.0 miles". FLD told the guy to report a 2 mile final.

We didn't know. But we suspected that that may happen. We were heading to Ripon and then ATIS and FISK controllers were both saying that all parking(except home-built) was closed. The odd thing was that they were still directing Cessnas and everything else for landing at OSH. Seemed rather counter intuitive. This kinda confused the hell out of us for a little while. But in the end we thought it was best to turn to FLD. We probably were about 5m away from Ripon at that point.

 

[steingar]

• Good luck getting flight following flying Chicago approach departing OSH at the end of the show....

I dipped below the controlled airspace around Chicago, gave my passenger (an older CFI) a nice view. As I was descending he asked me why I didn't just call them and get clearance to go through the Bravo. I took me a couple minutes to stop laughing.

 

[genna]

I dipped below the controlled airspace around Chicago, gave my passenger (an older CFI) a nice view. As I was descending he asked me why I didn't just call them and get clearance to go through the Bravo. I took me a couple minutes to stop laughing.

We did the same. Still wanted FF for traffic, but after calling them 3 times, getting completely ignored, and listening to them complaining about too many VFR calls for FF we gave up. View is pretty awesome.

 

[steingar]

We did the same. Still wanted FF for traffic, but after calling them 3 times, getting completely ignored, and listening to them complaining about too many VFR calls for FF we gave up. View is pretty awesome.

I've got the whole ADSB in thing. I stopped using Flight following sometime ago. I can see everything they can except their primary radar, assuming they have it. Lots don't.

Of course, that has it's disadvantages. The approach to Osh was just one long line of airplanes. Looked really intimidating.

 

[Trobaugh]

My first time at Osh too, WOW. No way to see everything in one trip, gonna have to go back. We managed to arrive on Saturday just ahead of the weather very exciting.

 

[sourdough44]

I parked at KOSH Wednesday and had a great time. The FISKE arrival was fairly mild Wednesday morning.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

It's impossible to do everything. We had 3 days there and I have to do it again

To do everything I want to do at OSH would take 6-8 weeks. Unfortunately, you only get one.

FLD, while very accommodating, kind off sucks as a substitute. Camping is not so great and it’s far(and expensive) from OSH

Expensive? Isn't the shuttle free?

There are a lot of airplanes everywhere. You really need to be on your toes and follow procedures. Some people don't. Controllers still deal with that with class and skill.

Amen. There's always a few chuckleheads who think they don't need to read the NOTAM, and plenty more who don't follow it, and ATC deals with them all with far more patience and skill than I'd ever be able to.

Got to sit in a few planes I may potentially be interested in the future: Mooney is too cramped and i'm a 5-6, 140lb wet (mostly the panel is too close, but shoulder room is also pretty tight). I really wanted to like it, but I'm afraid it's not going to work, especially with one door.

What?!? Jeez, I'm 6'4" and 300+ and I love mine. Al Mooney was 6'5".

I can understand the "panel too close" thing at your height, but it's a godsend for me. I used to get backaches all the time during instrument lessons because the panel on the Archer was too far away and I kept having to lean forward to reach it.

It's amazing how much you can fit in a 172.

Yes! I used to be able to fill my car up in both the trunk and rear seats and somehow all that fit into the baggage compartment of a 182. It's like there's a separate dimension in there...

We drove in this year....first time. My other visits to OSh were all by air. Driving wasn't all bad. It was nice having wheels.

It has its advantages for sure. I've done both airplane and non-airplane camping, and now we do the best-of-both-worlds approach: Take the car up to camp in Scholler, and then go home and get the airplane and bring it up too.

I'm legit having withdrawals now right now... Was sad to wake up in a bed instead of a tent to the sound of airplane noises. I was there Saturday through mid day Thursday. While I feel like I had seen all that I wanted to I could have stayed longer.

The closing day of the show is pretty much the saddest day of the year for me. Camping (or Glamping) on the field and living and breathing aviation 24x7 with all of your best friends is a high like no other. But, reality always has to come crashing down on Sunday. The planes leave, the friends leave, and as I am about to leave camp I look at the spots where the grass has lost its color because it was covered with tents, RVs, or just worn down with foot traffic, and I can't believe it's over.

 

[Greg Bockelman]

The closing day of the show is pretty much the saddest day of the year for me. Camping (or Glamping) on the field and living and breathing aviation 24x7 with all of your best friends is a high like no other. But, reality always has to come crashing down on Sunday. The planes leave, the friends leave, and as I am about to leave camp I look at the spots where the grass has lost its color because it was covered with tents, RVs, or just worn down with foot traffic, and I can't believe it's over.

I don’t think I have ever been there for closing day but I get that same feeling leaving Gaston’s on Sunday afternoon. For some reason we always seem to be the last or nearly last ones out.

 

[Matthew]

Expensive? Isn't the shuttle free?

Nope - shuttle bus from FLD runs on the top of the hour to OSH and the bottom of the hour back to FLD. $27 round trip. Camping was a flat $50 regardless of how many days you stayed.

I think the shuttle from Appleton was $30 r/t.

 

[GRG55]

To do everything I want to do at OSH would take 6-8 weeks. Unfortunately, you only get one...each year.

FTFY.

...What?!? Jeez, I'm 6'4" and 300+ and I love mine. Al Mooney was 6'5".

I can understand the "panel too close" thing at your height, but it's a godsend for me. I used to get backaches all the time during instrument lessons because the panel on the Archer was too far away and I kept having to lean forward to reach it...

Hmmm. The picture is starting to emerge. The Mooney was designed for the proportions of a T-Rex?

 

[genna]

To do everything I want to do at OSH would take 6-8 weeks. Unfortunately, you only get one.



Expensive? Isn't the shuttle free?



Amen. There's always a few chuckleheads who think they don't need to read the NOTAM, and plenty more who don't follow it, and ATC deals with them all with far more patience and skill than I'd ever be able to.



What?!? Jeez, I'm 6'4" and 300+ and I love mine. Al Mooney was 6'5".

I can understand the "panel too close" thing at your height, but it's a godsend for me. I used to get backaches all the time during instrument lessons because the panel on the Archer was too far away and I kept having to lean forward to reach it.



Yes! I used to be able to fill my car up in both the trunk and rear seats and somehow all that fit into the baggage compartment of a 182. It's like there's a separate dimension in there...



It has its advantages for sure. I've done both airplane and non-airplane camping, and now we do the best-of-both-worlds approach: Take the car up to camp in Scholler, and then go home and get the airplane and bring it up too.



The closing day of the show is pretty much the saddest day of the year for me. Camping (or Glamping) on the field and living and breathing aviation 24x7 with all of your best friends is a high like no other. But, reality always has to come crashing down on Sunday. The planes leave, the friends leave, and as I am about to leave camp I look at the spots where the grass has lost its color because it was covered with tents, RVs, or just worn down with foot traffic, and I can't believe it's over.

I don’t know what to tell you about Mooney. I sat in the new 2- door mock-up. It’s nice inside, but it’s not designed for someone like me. I understand that one can get the pedal extenders and that may fix the issue, but as is, my legs are too short to be comfortable in the plane and be able to use the rudder at the same time. I suspect that the shoulder issue is also related to me sitting too close. 172 feels more spacious and a Velocity(similar sitting position to Mooney, is also a lot more comfortable.


Shuttle is 15$ each way or 27 round trip. We took Lyft, it was a little cheaper for 3 of us.

 

[genna]

I want to add that I’m quite disappointed by my Mooney discovery. I wanted to like it since it fits my mission pretty well for a certified plane.

 

[UngaWunga]

12h to Chicago is about right. 14h to OSH then. Took us longer in the plane (we stopped in Marion, OH for the night). Leaving Osh at 8am(local), I was back home for dinner at 5:30pm Roads are nice, but boring. Straight, straight, and straight through most of Indiana and Ohio.

Are you the 3 guys I crashed with in the fbo at KMNN? lol... small world.

 

[Salty]

I put the pedal extensions in my mooney last year. I’m 5’4”. Made a huge difference in comfort. A whole new plane.

 

[steingar]

Damn, you guys need pedal extenders? I thought I was the shortest guy in creation, indeed I bought a Mooney because it is still the only airplane that I can see over the nose. I suppose I should thank you for existing so I don't look so short.

 

[Mtns2Skies]

Are you the 3 guys I crashed with in the fbo at KMNN? lol... small world.

Well, he may be one of them. Probably unlikely that he's all 3

 

[genna]

Are you the 3 guys I crashed with in the fbo at KMNN? lol... small world.

Yep!! Mr New Hampshire with your fancy avionics ... Are you stalking us?

How was your flight back?

 

[Salty]

Damn, you guys need pedal extenders? I thought I was the shortest guy in creation, indeed I bought a Mooney because it is still the only airplane that I can see over the nose. I suppose I should thank you for existing so I don't look so short.

The extenders are so you can move the seat back more and have more space. Reaching the pedals isn’t the problem, it’s how close it puts you to the panel. It’s just so much more pleasant when you can move around a bit and there’s room for a kneeboard or iPad on you lap.

 

[steingar]

The extenders are so you can move the seat back more and have more space. Reaching the pedals isn’t the problem, it’s how close it puts you to the panel. It’s just so much more pleasant when you can move around a bit and there’s room for a kneeboard or iPad on you lap.

Already got room for a kneeboard. That said, maybe I should look into it. Might be nice to have a bit more legroom.

 

[Salty]

Already got room for a kneeboard. That said, maybe I should look into it. Might be nice to have a bit more legroom.

Get in and move your seat back 2 holes from where you have it now and see if it does anything for you.

 

[UngaWunga]

Yep!! Mr New Hampshire with your fancy avionics ... Are you stalking us?

How was your flight back?

Excellent. I need to look through my scrap paper from my kneeboard to see where I actually landed in flatlandia on the way to VA. Had a decent restaurant, but all the patrons were morbidly obese, and spent their time complaining about everything under the sun while I was in there. Good burger, felt bad for the staff, left a good tip.

Headed from KOSH to W78 to visit family. Next day, headed up the coast to 44N after a cruise up the Hudson, then home to NH.
Had a great tail wind the whole way. Was seeing 120knts over the ground. Makes me want a faster plane!

 

[genna]

Excellent. I need to look through my scrap paper from my kneeboard to see where I actually landed in flatlandia on the way to VA. Had a decent restaurant, but all the patrons were morbidly obese, and spent their time complaining about everything under the sun while I was in there. Good burger, felt bad for the staff, left a good tip.

Headed from KOSH to W78 to visit family. Next day, headed up the coast to 44N after a cruise up the Hudson, then home to NH.
Had a great tail wind the whole way. Was seeing 120knts over the ground. Makes me want a faster plane!

We stopped at some place in OH. And we weren't alone. About 4-5 other planes had the same idea at the same time. All stopped for fuel. Line dude was just arranging us in the circle around the pump. Unfortunately there was no food anywhere around. Just some cold hot-dogs at the airport and a convenience store across the road. Well.... hot pockets it was then. So, again, you win

 

[Pugs]

Unfortunately there was no food anywhere around. Just some cold hot-dogs at the airport and a convenience store across the road. Well.... hot pockets it was then. So, again, you win

One of the first rules they taught us in cross-countries in the Navy. Never stop any place you don't want to spend a couple days.

 

[genna]

One of the first rules they taught us in cross-countries in the Navy. Never stop any place you don't want to spend a couple days.

Not my plane: rental car and go

 

[Lowflynjack]

Well, I finally have time to write a little about this trip to Oshkosh!

We arrived in Watertown, WI on Saturday just as a big storms were about to hit. The winds were light, radar showed the storms were far enough away, but as we turned final the winds switched and increased dramatically. We went around and diverted South. A Luscombe behind us decided he could handle it and ground-looped. Interesting start! We waited it out at a skydive field where the dropped the jumpers against our advice and one of them didn't make it back to the field, the other one seemed to hover above us for a very long time!

We got back into Watertown between storms. Watertown was barely hit, but Oshkosh took the hit with 4-5" of rain. As you all know, most of the camping areas were shut down, including Vintage, which is where we were headed. Although it seemed like days, we were stuck in Watertown all day Sunday and made it in early on Monday.

We were told to hold at Green Lake and we did. It was scary seeing how many planes were in the hold with us and that was just what I could see on ADS-B. We followed the hold directions, but notice a few planes didn't and were sneaking out of the hold and heading to Ripon. We had to circle the lake twice and then we went straight in after that. It wasn't bad for my first hold!

We had to camp in the North 40. I now know I don't like the North 40! Sorry to those of you who love it, just not my style. I like being next to runway 36 where I can see the show and quickly jump on a tram. Waiting on a bus in the North 40 sucks. Maybe I was meant to stay there so I can complain! Oh, and the showers suck! I heard the ones further East weren't bad, but the ones we had have walls that go down to your knees so the guy next to you is splashing you and the shower is a sink sprayer you have to hold down. Luckily I had a golf cart and found some of the trailer showers I've come to love.

Thanks to everyone for the patience with the EAA Staff and Volunteers. It was rough the first few days, but everyone worked hard to make it fun and safe for everyone.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I now know I don't like the North 40! ... Oh, and the showers suck! I heard the ones further East weren't bad, but the ones we had have walls that go down to your knees so the guy next to you is splashing you and the shower is a sink sprayer you have to hold down. Luckily I had a golf cart and found some of the trailer showers I've come to love.

Oddly enough, someone was just bitching about how bad the showers were in Vintage and how EAA needed to "upgrade" them to the North 40 variety!

IMO, the trailers and the new shower buildings (the white ones - I think there's just one in North 40 and one in Scholler so far) are both good, the older shower buildings (the red ones) aren't so good for the reasons you mention.

 

[Lowflynjack]

Oddly enough, someone was just bitching about how bad the showers were in Vintage and how EAA needed to "upgrade" them to the North 40 variety!

IMO, the trailers and the new shower buildings (the white ones - I think there's just one in North 40 and one in Scholler so far) are both good, the older shower buildings (the red ones) aren't so good for the reasons you mention.

That explains it. I was by the red ones!

 

[kyleb]

We waited it out at a skydive field where the dropped the jumpers against our advice and one of them didn't make it back to the field, the other one seemed to hover above us for a very long time!

Fort Atkinson? We were refugees there Sunday afternoon. The skydive folks were nice to us, but we couldn't buy, beg, or borrow transportation, so we walked 2 miles to town for a tasty dinner at Mickey D's. While there, EAA texted that the field was open, so we hauled it back to the field, just in time to get a text stating that the arrival was saturated. We timed that right and got into the show once it unsaturated and right before they closed the field. We didn't see a single airplane between Ripon and Osh...

Once we landed, we had to wait for a gazillion Cessnas from the mass arrival to unblock all of the taxiways so we could make it to HBC. Hello, McFly! Don't block the crossing taxiways, especially when there are 50 airplanes in front of you that aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

After that, we tied down the airplane, pitched the tent, and headed to SOS for a well earned beer and brat.

 

[mcdewey]

A friend told me that a rubber band solves the hand sprayer issue.

 

[Lowflynjack]

Fort Atkinson? We were refugees there Sunday afternoon. The skydive folks were nice to us, but we couldn't buy, beg, or borrow transportation, so we walked 2 miles to town for a tasty dinner at Mickey D's. While there, EAA texted that the field was open, so we hauled it back to the field, just in time to get a text stating that the arrival was saturated. We timed that right and got into the show once it unsaturated and right before they closed the field. We didn't see a single airplane between Ripon and Osh...

Once we landed, we had to wait for a gazillion Cessnas from the mass arrival to unblock all of the taxiways so we could make it to HBC. Hello, McFly! Don't block the crossing taxiways, especially when there are 50 airplanes in front of you that aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

After that, we tied down the airplane, pitched the tent, and headed to SOS for a well earned beer and brat.

Yep, that's the place. They may have been nice, but they weren't the brightest bulbs!