I CAN’T WAIT!!!
something tells me there won’t be any big announcements at oshkosh.
My wife and I were just talking about the possibility of attending this year. We’ve only been once, in ‘05, and that was a good year. SpaceShip One was making it’s last appearance before heading to the Smithsonian.
Even without any “major” announcements it should be a rockin’ good time. We’re thinking about camping this time, last time we stayed in te dorms at U of W -Oshkosh. Pretty nice actually, not bad for $40/night.
Maybe I can convince my buddy to fly his Cessna 195 out there. That should make a nice sheild from the sun and inevitable thunderstorms.
Of course we can probably all just hang out at the Flightaware.com hospitality tent all week. Free food and beer for all registered members!!!
i think the best year was when the concorde came (i think it came 
)
I wasn’t there (drats!) but I do know that the Concorde went to Oshkosh at least once.
The Concorde has been to OSH several times. They did some short flights for a few hundred dollars, but couldn’t go above Mach 1 because they were just local flights.
sorry for the ignorance,but what is OSHKOSH?
Oshkosh is actually not the correct term for the event. It’s the Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EAA) annual gathering, which they call “Airventure”. It’s held at the EAA headquarters at Wittman Field in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It’s become much more than a gathering of experimental aircraft, however. Nearly every general aviation manufacturer is usually there. There are hundreds of retailers, display aircraft, and daily airshows of some of the world’s best aerobatic pilots. It’s also considered the “World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration”, but I like to call it the Mecca of general aviation. This year’s event is expected to see over 650,000 aviation enthusiasts. Many people airline nearby an drive, but to really experience Airventure, you have to fly in. You can park the airplane and get a hotel room, or to get the full experience you can choose to camp, right under the wing of your plane, surrounded by hundreds of other enthusiasts. (the place to party is usually the homebuilt area 
)
For one week every year, Oshkosh Wittman field becomes the world’s busiest airport. The best controllers from all over the country volunteer their time to work out the jumble of aircraft. With three paved runways in use (they use a taxiway as a runway) and the ultrlight grass strip, and numerous aircraft landing on the same runway at the same time (they use colored dots on the runway to instruct pilots exactly where to touch down), and sequencing everything from jet warbirds, to piper cubs and ultralights and everything in between, they do an amazing job.
ok so it is basically the place to be. Sounds fun i would love to fly out sometime but i dont have my PPL yet…and i am only 15… but once i am 18, i am gonna be there.
I saw concorde in 1994. It was awesome and I have home video of it.
Oshkosh is one on the more amazing flying experiences to pilot a plane into OSH that week. The controller, who is firing rapid fire instructions while standing on a nearby hilltop watch the planes through binoculars, says “no-one talks unless I ask them to and follow my instructions EXACTLY the first time because I don’t have time to repeat them.” You are in a line of planes flying nose to tail without much spacing and need to maintain altitude and airspeed precisely in order not to cause the dominoes to start falling. They vector you around to land on one of the runways, but there are two of you landing on the same runway at the same time and planes taking off so close in front of you that you are sure that you’ll hit them before they get off they ground. Despite that, they never had a fatality coming into OSH until a few years ago and that one was not caused by the approach and departure procedures.
Once you get on the ground, it even gets better if you are into aviation. Air shows, lectures, static displays, just about every airplane, avionics and other airplane related company in existence and a bunch of people who love flying having a great time. It’s the only place I’ve ever seen the military hardware like B1 bomber, stealth fighter, etc. almost ignored because there are so many other interesting things to see.
Check out pilotcast.com or pilotcast on iTunes. I don’t know if they still have it available but they had posted audio of both 1) how to arrive at Oshkosh and 2)how NOT to arrive at Oshkosh.
I visited 16 years ago and probably won’t go back until I can fly my plane back there.
what is the best reliever airport in terms of closeness to OSH and traffic (low of course). I hate flying right into oshkosh
With Oshkosh being the busiest airport in the world for a few days, it sounds like O’Hare my be a good reliever airport. 
The closest would be Appleton (KATW) or Fondulac (KFLD). If you really don’t mind driving a ways Green Bay (KGRB).
The last few times I went, albeit about 20 years ago, I just filed IFR and it seemed to simplify the whole thing. They only brought you in on the E/W runway which is kept open for commercial traffic during the event.
I have to admit, the tapes of the OSH controllers are amazing. No N-Numbers, report with color and type only.
The Post Office even sets up a portable P.O. and watching movies in the outdoor theater on wooden benches was kind of a treat! It’s a whole city on the field for a week!
I believe the IFR slots are now booked up in advance. Not sure that’s the answer unless there really is weather.
- FLD
- ATW
- SBM
- GRB
I have a big announcement right now:
After attending about ten Oshkosh’s** this is the year I fly in my Cardinal** instead of an airliner! WooHoo!
In my mind I’ve been approaching Ripon continously for a month now! I can hardly think of anything else.
Rock your wings!
Anyone else attending? I’m still a definite maybe!
I’m a definate maybe.
Word of caution: the “strobe light” that they use at fisk and ripon is nearly impossible to see, and there will be people who don’t have a clue where they are rocking their wings the whole way. There’s one in every bunch.