Ideal day and time to arrive at KOSH

[bugsiegel]

Is Sunday the right day to arrive and does the arrival capacity ever max out on a Sunday?
We'd like to arrive Sunday but is it necessary to get there 8am?
I don't recall exactly but I think Monday last year they stopped taking in any more planes due to all the arrivals.
Thanks in advance

 

[sourdough44]

Do you plan to camp with plane, or just park? I usually pass RIPON at 0720 on a weekday morning. It usually works out, but last year ended up at Fond Du Lac Monday morning.

The weather can be a wild card too.

 

[steingar]

I've not seen the camping full on a Sunday afternoon, but you should nevertheless have a plan for landing out and camping. A number of local fields offer camping on their grounds.

 

[tmcquinn]

I think I've arrived every day from the Saturday before the official opening to Wednesday during. If there is a pattern I've yet to figure it out. It always seemed to me like the best chance of the N40 not being full is from Thursday on. There's just no telling how many people will come or when, at least I can't figure it out.

Last year was one of the craziest landings for me. I didn't realize that I was arriving just as a large group of people in a lake hold were being released. I honestly thought the ADS-B was malfunctioning until I got close enough to actually see the swarm.

 

[ytodd]

The later on Sunday you arrive the better the chance of being on the north side of 27/9 and thus farther from everything.

 

[ChemGuy]

We arrived last year about 1pm local on subday.
Camping was full/closed either late that day or first thing mon day am. We were about half way down 9/27 on the south side.
Sounds like getting in early sunday, before noon is best. Getting pretty full that first weekend.

 

[denverpilot]

We arrived last year about 1pm local on subday.
Camping was full/closed either late that day or first thing mon day am. We were about half way down 9/27 on the south side.
Sounds like getting in early sunday, before noon is best. Getting pretty full that first weekend.

I'd forgotten that. It did fill early last year and everyone was remarking on it. Trend has been that direction too.

Major weather patterns play a big role too. If weather "blocks" a bunch of folks along a line on the overall US map for a day, the floodgates open and mass quantities of airplanes show up as soon as the weather gets out of the way.

If you're there already, you can watch radar on a gadget and notice that arrivals are way down on a particular day, and then as soon as it dissipates, the place goes nuts.

 

[Ryan F.]

Wow, glad I read this thread. I've been planning to arrive Sunday afternoon... possibly late afternoon. Should I bump up my plans to arrive by noon? That's ass-crack-of-dawn early departure for me, but hey... it's OSH...

 

[GRG55]

Wow, glad I read this thread. I've been planning to arrive Sunday afternoon... possibly late afternoon. Should I bump up my plans to arrive by noon? That's ass-crack-of-dawn early departure for me, but hey... it's OSH...

You'll be coming in at the absolute busiest time - late morning and early afternoon, day before show opening.
Make sure you hit your dot.

 

[GRG55]

I'd forgotten that. It did fill early last year and everyone was remarking on it. Trend has been that direction too.

Major weather patterns play a big role too. If weather "blocks" a bunch of folks along a line on the overall US map for a day, the floodgates open and mass quantities of airplanes show up as soon as the weather gets out of the way.

If you're there already, you can watch radar on a gadget and notice that arrivals are way down on a particular day, and then as soon as it dissipates, the place goes nuts.

In the Nineties Wittman used to fill every year by mid to late afternoon on the day before show opening. Things fell off after the financial crisis, but it's been building back up year-by-year. I hate taking the shuttle around the runway so always get there early.

One of the highlights of Oshkosh is being on the ground, in a lawn chair, beer in hand with the portable tuned to one of the tower frequencies on Sunday. The only thing all week the EAA doesn't charge for.