Busiest days and times to arrive

[GBSoren]

I'm planning on making my first trip to Oshkosh this year. Because of work we cannot arrive until Thursday, which I hear a lot of people will be leaving by then.

So, my question is what are the busy/not so busy days and times to arrive? With a lot of potential departing traffic on Thursday, when would be the best time of day to be coming in?

Right now I plan on coming in fairly early on Thursday and leave Sunday morning.

Thanks!

 

[simtech]

I'm in the same boat as you, same days except I wont leave MS until Thursday morning and hope to get there before the afternoon airshow. If I miss that window then Ill shoot for 7pm.

 

[CJones]

In general, there will be a mass exodus as soon as the field opens in the AM for people that have a full day of flying to get home, or just really enjoy the atmosphere of sleeping under their wing for one more night. Luckily, the NOTAM procedure handles separation of in/out traffic pretty well. The next busiest time is probably right before and right after the airshow.

As with all things, though, "it depends" comes into play. If there is a hunk of wx hanging south of the field all day that clears out in the evening, there will inevitably be a gaggle of folks trying to get in before the field closes at night.

Every time I have flown to OSH (5-6 times), I always aimed to be getting to RIPON as the field opened in the morning and have never (knock on wood) had an issue getting in. Usually worked out that I got directed closer to the front row in a spot that was recently vacated by some of the 'mass arrival' folks at the beginning of the show.

 

[steingar]

The only time I really ever had an issue getting into Oshkosh was last year. Actually, I take it back, I never made it in the year of the rains. If you show up after the airshow it will be nuts, as everyone is trying to get in and out in an hour or two.

 

[sourdough44]

The best time is to cross RIPON at 0715. Yes there are a few other early birds, but hardly any departures.