Check field conditions before heading to OSH

TMetzinger

TMetzinger

Final Approach
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Tim
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My sources in OSH tell me that there's a pretty good sized lake near Friar Tuck's at the moment, and that more rain is in the forecast.

So be sure to check the field conditions and have an alternate plan ready if the soggy ground limits capacity.
 
Uggh... our Cherokees 2 OSH formation practice day was completely washed out today in Waupaca. It rained all day with IFR ceilings and poor visibility. :( Headed out to the group BBQ in a few minutes (we're having bratwurst)... this is the only planned event that will get off the ground today. Hoping for better things tomorrow and for Airventure! :fcross:
 
TMetzinger said:
My sources in OSH tell me that there's a pretty good sized lake near Friar Tuck's at the moment, and that more rain is in the forecast.

So be sure to check the field conditions and have an alternate plan ready if the soggy ground limits capacity.
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I've camped in the N40 when it was soggy, and it isn't much fun.

It would really suck to move heaven and earth (and hire 8 new employees!) just to attend OSH, and then get diverted due to "saturation" -- both figuratively and literally...

Let's do this: :fcross:
 
The webcam I saw today doesn't look promising, and the weather service is now worried about tornadoes in the area over the next few hours. Somebody said more rain is forecast during the next couple of days.

With no place to put all the mass arrivals scheduled for the weekend, the EAA must be in a major twit. I had planned to send my room deposit to the homeowner today, but might wait a while to make that call.

Jay Honeck said:
I've camped in the N40 when it was soggy, and it isn't much fun.

It would really suck to move heaven and earth (and hire 8 new employees!) just to attend OSH, and then get diverted due to "saturation" -- both figuratively and literally...

Let's do this: :fcross:
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wabower said:
With no place to put all the mass arrivals scheduled for the weekend, the EAA must be in a major twit. I had planned to send my room deposit to the homeowner today, but might wait a while to make that call.
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I wouldn't wait! The event is going to happen despite a little rain, and it would really suck to not have somewhere to stay!
 
Fortunately, we're stopping in Appleton first, then on to Oshkosh. So if the field is questionable, we'll park at ATW and drive down to OSH (I reserved the car months ago....just in case)
 
Finding a place to park a King Air presents some extra issues. I've been there when we've had "a little rain" and the novelty wore off pretty quick.

gprellwitz said:
I wouldn't wait! The event is going to happen despite a little rain, and it would really suck to not have somewhere to stay!
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bbchien said:
Lynn, Say "HI" to the pilot of 6886J, David, for me.
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Will do! David F. is in my flight group... he is Delta 2 and I am Delta 5. :) Was just checking weather for tomorrow... spare a good thought or two for us if you can. We didn't get the extra day of practice flights in that we had planned due to sloppy weather today and we certainly could have used it! :fcross: Time to put on the T-shirt tomorrow and be amazing... we're going to Airventure! :)
 
This picture is from another forum. They are reporting the grass areas closed and hard surface parking full.

Joe

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Yea it looks like they are goining to need some sun, good drainage and wind to dry things out Fx looks like more rain tonight and tomrrow AM then sunny for a few days and Iso TS Wed & Thur which normally isn't an issue unless the ground is saturated. Heres keeping my:fcross: that it dries out for everyone. This photo is from the local paper in Osh.

 
Yeah rain was bad last night here in Southern WI. As of this morning the MKE airport was still closed to flooding, and parts of Milwaukee supposedly received 8+ inches of rain last night.

Maybe we should rename it to Mudventure this year :D
 
Major, major rain here in the Fox Valley area lately. Oshkosh was on the local news last night due to lots of street flooding. Cars stalling out and all. Standing water is everywhere!!! I haven't been on the EAA grounds nor have I been able to fly over due to crummy weather yesterday and this morning, but I would imagine it is very, very soggy. Wish I could give a firsthand report.

This thread says to check field conditions, but the official parking status page (at least right now) gives you no idea how wet it is. Just says the grass is "green and healthy," ha!

EAA's official parking status page is here:
http://airventure.org/aircraft/parking_status.asp

More rain is heading up here today, and I don't think the ground can hold any more! At Brennand Airport 10 miles north of OSH we have large areas of standing water. At least so far we've been spared the major disaster Milwaukee encountered yesterday.
 
yipes. between the water and the lousy weather bringing it i have a feeling its going to be a small show this year.
 
tonycondon said:
yipes. between the water and the lousy weather bringing it i have a feeling its going to be a small show this year.
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It will just be us hardcore types I guess. :D

...yes, one can be "hardcore" while wearing water-wings. Heh!
 
Trapper John said:
Forget the Cherokee and Cessna mass arrivals, they should have a Icon A-5 mass arrival...
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Funny, on the airventure site they had a blurb about the ICON flying in and doing demos. It's going to the seaplane base, but my first thought was they could fly out of the North 40.
 
Getting some on-location reports and recommendations to delay arriving until at least Saturday afternoon.

One RV (motorhome) owner mentioned getting stuck to the frame requiring airbags to raise it enough for the tow truck to pull it out in Camp Schoeller.

Holes are being dug for sump pumps to get rid of the water around the facility. The rain is making for a good test of the design of theinfrastructure improvements made to the venue over the years.

Except for Wednesday it could be a very sunny week this year once the event officially opens.
 
Unfortunately, the Cherokee mass arrival has been cancelled due to no place to park us as a result of having to move the DC3's into our spot. We may do some formation work today on a local flight out of Waupaca (KPCZ) and back into Waupaca but the flight into Oshkosh is officially a no-go.

Oshkosh is now giving scuba diving lessons on site.
 
skyflyer8 said:
Major, major rain here in the Fox Valley area lately. Oshkosh was on the local news last night due to lots of street flooding. Cars stalling out and all. Standing water is everywhere!!! I haven't been on the EAA grounds nor have I been able to fly over due to crummy weather yesterday and this morning, but I would imagine it is very, very soggy. Wish I could give a firsthand report.

This thread says to check field conditions, but the official parking status page (at least right now) gives you no idea how wet it is. Just says the grass is "green and healthy," ha!

EAA's official parking status page is here:
http://airventure.org/aircraft/parking_status.asp

More rain is heading up here today, and I don't think the ground can hold any more! At Brennand Airport 10 miles north of OSH we have large areas of standing water. At least so far we've been spared the major disaster Milwaukee encountered yesterday.
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I was in the Fox Valley yesterday and drove back home to the Milwaukee area. I'm due west of Milwaukee and got home at 1900 with no real problems; a colleague in Wauwatosa (abutting the west border of Milwaukee) didn't get home until 2100 due to numerous closed roads, etc.

Driving by KOSH I didn't see much standing water in the camping areas close to US41, but it sounds like there are a few new lakes on the grounds.
 
Tomorrow could be interesting.

EAA posted an update on their parking status site. No longer are they telling everyone how nice and green the grass is... Instead they're talking about "challenging conditions" and how parking is limited to hard surfaces right now. There's supposed to be another update at 9 p.m. tonight. "Challenging" is an understatement.

There must be a lot of hard work going on at the grounds right now. And it's quite warm with sweltering humidity at the moment. :(
 
Note to self: bring DEET to AirVenture!

I'm guessing the mosquitos will be pretty tough with all this rain.
 
I spoke with the MaxAir FBO at Appleton about 2 pm this afternoon (Friday). Of course the desk person I spoke with was fairly clueless about my request for field conditions. But this person promised to let TPTB know that they should post field conditions on the website on a continuing basis.
 
The gal we rent from said OSH is a swamp with more rain forecast tonight. Or did I post that already. This Merlot is pretty good.
 
*** Sloshkosh Update ***

Sloshkosh 2010 is a go, not closed. May be modified as needed, but the crews will open areas for parking as the dry out. They are not letting planes taxi on the grass at this time. Light aircraft like RV's will be fine in a day or so. JMHO. If you come now they might park you on hard surface until conditions improve. The crews running the show are prepared, smart, and very helpful. It might be a good idea to bring 6-12" square pieces of plywood (or something similar) to park your wheels on. RV's have very little ground clearance for the wheel pants so watch them and make sure you are not sitting on them.

We had rain last night as predicted, skys are clearing, and conditions are improving, but not much drying predicted today. The forcast is for drying conditions for the next 3 days. Just come prepared and be patient. Bring bug spray! No need for a hammer for your tent stakes!
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They postponed some mass arrivals of aircraft until conditions improve. Bonazas are stranded in Rockford, IL. Ask me how I know.
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I'm glad I'm here! I made it! Good people, good times, excellent aircraft. It's OSH!
 
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Geico266 said:
They postponed some mass arrivals of aircraft until conditions improve. Bonazas are stranded in Rockford, IL. Ask me how I know.
wink.gif


I'm glad I'm here! I made it! Good people, good times, excellent aircraft. It's OSH!
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+1 for stuck in RFD.

Still hoping for a Sunday departure...
 
Rusty and I re-positioned 89T and 34Q to KSTE after the hangar banquet in Waupaca last night. Blah... no mass arrival for us. :( Maybe next year. It was fun flying the formation flight training and getting some really great photos, but we're taking the bus to the show from here (bag over my head for pilot anonymity). I'll have to post some of my photos later after getting home. We're having fun so far (even Nikki!) and Christopher appreciates the air conditioning and whirlpool tub at this hotel instead of having to camp out in a muddy, swampy, buggy North 40, but I really wish we had the chance to fly the group arrival as we had planned. :sad: The parking status report indicates that KOSH is a mess right now. The Vette seaplane base looks like it has another location this year. :rolleyes2:
 
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AirBaker said:
+1 for stuck in RFD.

Still hoping for a Sunday departure...
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AFAIK... the C2OSH group that is still hanging out at Waupaca is hoping for a Sunday departure also, but I haven't heard for sure what they will be doing. There were also a few Cessna drivers who joined us for dinner last night, who I'm sure are looking to fly into the show also. I'm hoping to hear what finally takes place... :fcross:
 
Hear hear! We're not going to let a little rain stop us! Certainly not after what we've gone through to make it this far.

Mary and I made from Texas to Iowa City yesterday in 6.0 hours, chock to chock. That's a new record for us, and we *almost* could've made it non-stop! We had a wonderful tail-wind all the way, and it turned out to be an uneventful VFR flight all the way. We arrived in Iowa City between storms, proving that luck trumps skill from time to time... :wink2:

Today, it's the pool party at the Alexis Park Inn & Suites. Tomorrow, we depart for OSH, come "hell or high water"!
 
Good news. The Cessnas 2 Oshkosh are planning a fly-over around 4:15 today. Watch for about 20-30 Cessnas making a low pass (1000 - 1500 ft) around that time. FAA has approved the fly-over.

We are at Juneau, WI (UNU) and getting to know each other much better than we had expected. The FBO is great, handling an unexpected onslaught of lay-overs and allowing us to camp out in the lobby and classrooms. Air mattresses everywhere.

The real arrival is expected to be Monday afternoon.
 
LOL, Peggy... Well. I hope that no one snores! :crazy: What a way to start Airventure. :goofy:One for the scrapbooks, for sure! Christopher and I have a nice hotel room and a POS (Piper Owner Society) BBQ to attend tonight here in Steven's Point. Tomorrow we were going to fly out to 68C for the traditional POS Sunday brunch at Iola/Central County airport, but it's a grass strip, so I have my doubts about THAT now. We should be getting a status report about it at dinner tonight. :incazzato: You know, I know it's Oshkosh and I should be happy that I am here to enjoy it and all, but the wet weather has put some serious kinks into my fun so far this year and I feel like what it says on one of Steve S.'s t-shirts... ****ing and moaning about the things I have missed out on due to the crummy weather! :rolleyes2:
 
They are off!!!

26 Cessnas in the air on their way to Oshkosh for a flyover.
 
Just talked to a friend who has set up his tent in Scholler around 13th. Ground soggy, but drying out. Ditch totally full of water. RVs parked on every sealed surface and along the road, with people setting up camp right there. The old Piggly Wiggly lot full of RVs packed bumper to bumper. Hasn't seen anyone stuck yet, but there's a tractor driving around in case. Hasn't seen any mosquitoes but it isn't sunset yet. The UCAP guys at 11 last night were saying they were being eaten. My friend also said that the fields aren't as bad as he's seen them in past years.
 
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Listening to liveatc.net OSH north tower...

At this moment, arrivals are closed to Wittman Regional (OSH) and Fond Du Lac, as they are out of parking space on the hard surface areas. They're now diverting folks to Appleton.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Listening to liveatc.net OSH north tower...

At this moment, arrivals are closed to Wittman Regional (OSH) and Fond Du Lac, as they are out of parking space on the hard surface areas. They're now diverting folks to Appleton.
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Yeah I was just hearing that when they turned the Yak flight away and 4 T-34's(?).

I wonder what they are going to do tomorrow....

Guess it was a good move not to depart today for me. If I had left when I thought about, I'd be arriving just north of madison right about now....
 
gprellwitz said:
Just talked to a friend who has set up his tent in Scholler around 13th. Ground soggy, but drying out. Ditch totally full of water. RVs parked on every sealed surface and along the road, with people setting up camp right there. The old Piggly Wiggly lot full of RVs packed bumper to bumper. Hasn't seen anyone stuck yet, but there's a tractor driving around in case. Hasn't seen any mosquitoes but it isn't sunset yet. The UCAP guys at 11 last night were saying they were being eaten. My friend also said that the fields aren't as bad as he's seen them in past years.
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The high ground is still damp in places and there's still some standing water in the low spots. The mosquitoes haven't been real bad, some came out late last night but were gone by morning.
 
Hi Jay,
I thought that you were not coming to Oshkosh this year.
We will extend our stay in Michigan for another day and depart for Oshkosh on Tuesday. I hope that camp Scholler ground will dry out by then. It's no fun tenting on soggy ground.
We sold our Cardinal last month and have been in the process of checking out several experimental and LSA planes. We hope to see the new Flight Design all metal MC plane to compare it with the Paradise P1.
I have no ideas how far is camp Scholler to North 40 but will ride our folding bikes around. Maybe we will run into each other at Oshkosh.

Regards,
Hai Longworth
 
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