OSH 2018, What do you think?

GRG55 said:
You spoiled little Cirrus SR-22 hitchhiker. :p
Next year you should be required to fly an ultralight all the way to Oshkosh. Just to bring some balance into your young life. ;):D

btw, did you guys camp in the North 40 or stay at the red carpet Oshkosh Hyatt Regency (where they charge for the water and internet access)?
Just askin':)
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I'm staying at the Hyatt until Sunday...Hey don't judge me :p

donjohnston said:
I've done both for years. I’m mostly interested in vendors and checking out other aircraft that I’m interested in. So no classes, speakers or aerial demonstrations for me. I can do SNF in a day and OSF in 2 (although this year I did it in one).

That said, the number of non-aviation vendors is getting real close to 50%. Some of the aisles in the main hangars looked like a flea market. Sunglasses, excersise equipment, wallets, flagpoles, etc.

The number of people in scooters is making it difficult to get around as well.
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It's really easy if you have been there already. Me with the misses, (Who is not really interested into flying BTW) is pretty tough to knock off OSH in a few days.

Tantalum said:
Two things surprised me
A.) that there was as many aviation related vendors as there were. We always here about how GA is shrinking, so it was refreshing to see that there is still a decently healthy market out there for people in the aviation business to make a buck or two
B.) that there was so many non aviation related vendors... I wonder if EAA has any rule that X% must be aviation related.. or if this will slowly evolve into more and more of a flea market. Ford had a massive tent there with burnouts. Will be curious to see where we in 10 years


I'm not going to lie. It was pretty cool. We got some incredible views. If I dig up any more share worthy photos of the event itself I'll post them in the other thread
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Dude,

I have never seen so many GA planes in my life and I loved every min of it. KFLD had a lot of people camping at the airport as well, you can see them from the highway. General Aviation is not dead at all.
 
FloridaPilot said:
I'm a regular visitor to Sun and Fun while attending someone told me to go check out OSH. I LOVE it here (IMO) People are much nicer here than SnF and they are willing to talk about airplanes for days. I met a lot of wonderful people here, weather is great. I will be back for sure!


What were your experiences like?
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Overall great aviation experience, except I had two major complaints. Food options sucked. There was nothing but greasy food. I was hoping that by now someone would have started a fruit smoothie stand at Oshkosh, but I am surprised that hasn't happened yet. That would be great for hot weather to keep hydrated, and be healthy. Second was Camp Scholler. Its way too overcrowded and amenities have been going downhill.
 
I disagree about Camp Scholler. The amenities have been getting better. It isn't the Ritz, but for camping with 5000 complete strangers, it is a far cry above what it was in the past.
 
I grabbed a nice fresh salad at Scholler the first night and Subway the next day for lunch. Not all greasy, just have to search (the grease lines were longest anyway, lol).

I was also seriously impressed at the cleanliness of the porta potties!
 
sarangan said:
Overall great aviation experience, except I had two major complaints. Food options sucked. There was nothing but greasy food. I was hoping that by now someone would have started a fruit smoothie stand at Oshkosh, but I am surprised that hasn't happened yet. That would be great for hot weather to keep hydrated, and be healthy. Second was Camp Scholler. Its way too overcrowded and amenities have been going downhill.
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Sounds like a good business plan. I would buy one!
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
I grabbed a nice fresh salad at Scholler the first night and Subway the next day for lunch. Not all greasy, just have to search (the grease lines were longest anyway, lol).

I was also seriously impressed at the cleanliness of the porta potties!
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I had that salad too, and the Subway as well, and for Airventure those were not too bad. But those were the extent of nongreasy food. Why not freshly squeezed oranges, or lemons? Smoothies? Hummus and chips? If I were entrepreneurial, I would have a food stand at Oshkosh with many of these options years ago, and I am certain they would be big hits. Cheese curds and french fries for an aging population concerned about their next 3rd class medical doesn't quite make sense to me.

On the other hand, the porta potties were clean mostly because the people like us are considerate and try not to make a mess inside. I don't think they were being cleaned every day.
 
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sarangan said:
I had that salad too, and the Subway as well, and for Airventure those were not too bad. But those were the extent of nongreasy food. Why not freshly squeezed oranges, or lemons? Smoothies? Hummus and chips? If I were entrepreneurial, I would have a food stand at Oshkosh with many of these options years ago, and I am certain they would be big hits. Cheese curds and french fries for an aging population concerned about their next 3rd class medical doesn't quite make sense to me.

On the other hand, the porta potties were clean mostly because the people like us are considerate and try not to make a mess inside. I don't think they were being cleaned every day.
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So you’re saying I hit all the healthy options at Osh in one visit? Hard to believe, but I believe ya...
 
Boy you people whine too much.:D

Food selection may not be great but it sure is a LOT better than the old days when Zaug's had a monopoly to run all the concessions in the whole place. Food selection was almost like being trapped in an SNL skit with John Belushi repeating "Cheeseburger". We bought our own breakfast and lunch fixin's and hiked off the field every night to find something edible.
 
sarangan said:
I had that salad too, and the Subway as well, and for Airventure those were not too bad. But those were the extent of nongreasy food. Why not freshly squeezed oranges, or lemons? Smoothies? Hummus and chips? If I were entrepreneurial, I would have a food stand at Oshkosh with many of these options years ago, and I am certain they would be big hits. Cheese curds and french fries for an aging population concerned about their next 3rd class medical doesn't quite make sense to me.

On the other hand, the porta potties were clean mostly because the people like us are considerate and try not to make a mess inside. I don't think they were being cleaned every day.
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I had all of the greasy food and it was good, I mean living in Florida not many places have cheese turds...I mean kurds ;)

455 Bravo Uniform said:
Brats and fried cheese curds have their place!
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Indeed!
 
GRG55 said:
Boy you people whine too much.:D
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Agreed!


I think the food options are descent for that kind of gathering. Pretty darn typical food and several different options, including Asian food and salads. Humus and fresh squeezed citrus for half a million folks at an airport in Wisconsin? You gotta be realistic.

I had some extremely good fried fish, some pretty good Asian dish (not fried), a decent burger and root beer float, a fine brat or two, and tasty curds. I can't imagine griping about that.

We happened to be tied down in the far NW corner over by Friar Tuck's, so we ate our dinners outside the fence.
 
I've been feeding myself at Oshkosh for years, always try and get a campsite nearer the entrance just so I can get back quicker.

Turns out they feed us at my little Oshkosh gig. Cheese sandwiches, but good enough for little old me. Bit of a game changer. I agree the food options there leave much to be desired, unless you really, really like Subway.
 
OkieFlyer said:
Humus and fresh squeezed citrus for half a million folks at an airport in Wisconsin? You gotta be realistic.
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I don't see how that would be any different than Subway making sandwiches one by one for half a million people, or any other perishable food.

After returning from Airventure, I often feel bloated and heavy, and feel like I need to go on a juice diet. This is despite the 10+ miles of walking every day
 
sarangan said:
I don't see how that would be any different than Subway making sandwiches one by one for half a million people, or any other perishable food.

After returning from Airventure, I often feel bloated and heavy, and feel like I need to go on a juice diet. This is despite the 10+ miles of walking every day
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Perhaps. I dunno, just seems like squeezing thousands and thousands of oranges is a lot of trouble compared to concentrate or bottled. Humus just seems like a oddball niche thing, and probably not a great choice to feed the masses. Although, I guess it wouldn't hurt for someone to have a hummus tent. I suppose in a group of half a million, there are probably enough people who eat it for a vendor to make some money there. Granted, I come from a place that is heavy on fried food though, so I'm used to it that kind of thing, however, I'm more used to homemade and farm fresh food so I feel you on the heavy gut feeling.
 
It is better than it was 20 years ago, when local vendors purveyed horribly overpriced nasty food. I recall being able to eat nothing more than french fries and ice cream. The culinary opportunities do still leave some to be desired though.
 
I think the food selection is pretty good and fairly priced considering it's an entertainment event. I really have no complaints at all with the event other than the arrival being a cluster.
 
How many here flew in? I ask because the air traffic congestion problems seem to be dominating a lot of forums.
 
sarangan said:
Overall great aviation experience, except I had two major complaints. Food options sucked. There was nothing but greasy food. I was hoping that by now someone would have started a fruit smoothie stand at Oshkosh, but I am surprised that hasn't happened yet. That would be great for hot weather to keep hydrated, and be healthy. Second was Camp Scholler. Its way too overcrowded and amenities have been going downhill.
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I imagine you never got the chance to camp in Scholler when the showers didn't have individual dividers, had no hot water, and were dirty as hell. Or before Theater in the Woods...

I've been camping there for over 20 years now and to me the amenities are getting (slowly) better and better.
 
I attempted to fly in Friday. Got 10 miles from KARR and had to return due to clouds.
So I turned a 1 hour flight into 6 hours by driving and hitting construction traffic.
 
bnt83 said:
How many here flew in? I ask because the air traffic congestion problems seem to be dominating a lot of forums.
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@Tantalum and I were planning to fly in to KOSH and were coming up on Ripon when they shut down the Fisk arrivals for a mass arrival and said they would likely not reopen that day as it was nearing 8PM cutoff. So we diverted to 79C (a tiny little airport that gets much less overflow than Appleton or Fon Du Lac). It was perfectly fine although I would have preferred to be at OSH (like I usually am) since I had paid for a hard surface parking reservation at Basler (the FBO) and was staying on the airport property Hilton.
 
@RudyP if only we'd pressed on and skipped Madison! haha

There was that one guy who called up just before us with the crazy long VFR request who hadn't read the NOTAM.. I think that may have put the controller over the edge. I think it was the same guy who called Appleton on 1 mile final asking if he was cleared to land

Brennand was a cool spot either way, fun to check out these smaller airports off the beaten path
(still from video, pardon the quality)
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FloridaPilot said:
anyone find it strange that the coffee cups from Subway had the same color combination as the recycle bins at OSH?
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haha, I noticed that too and assumed it was some kind of subliminal trick to try and get more people to recycle
 
I went to OSH several times while living up north. Went to SnF for the first time this year. Will most likely do SnF in the future. I liked it better.
 
The 13 YO daughter and I arrived Thur morning and left Sat morning. We had a relatively easy arrival other than having to avoid a bonanza over Rippon. My first OSH experience was 40 years ago. Since then I have attended OSH at least a dozen times with my father, twice flying in a Super Cub from Idaho and camping in the Antique/Classics campground. The remaining trips were camping at Scholler. This year marked a few firsts: First time staying in the N40 and first time flying myself. Also it was my shortest experience and the first time not attending a single forum :-(

I thought the amenities at the N40 were a big improvement to what I was used to. While the food prices were a bit high, I thought the quality and choices were adequate. I do miss Zaug's broasted chicken...

It's easy to sling arrows and the EAA but they pull off an amazing event.

In our day and a half we managed to glance at just about everything except the museum (I couldn't convince her to go). While my daughter isn't into aviation, she did enjoy the experience so it was a successful trip!

Not sure when I'll make my next trip, but someday I hope to fly in something I built, like a Zenith 750. Sadly that will probably have to wait until after retirement...

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sarangan said:
Overall great aviation experience, except I had two major complaints. Food options sucked. There was nothing but greasy food...
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There were two Subway stands this year and my wife and I enjoy the change in cuisine. I think they might have a vegetarian sandwich too.
 
My first time going to Oshkosh. Overall: Impressed

Flew in on Thursday morning after spending the night in a hotel after landing at Waukesha County airport, arrival for us was pretty easy, first thing I noticed was a guy making all sorts of radio calls approaching rippon and fisk (something something read the notam?) Anyways arrival to 27 on the orange dot, because of the rain the previous night and just because of traffic the GAC was closed initially so we went to GAP and headed into the show. Eventually got moved over to GAC North 40 on Thursday afternoon and set up camp.

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Camping was fun, the North 40 bathroom/showers were very clean, went at off peak times and never had to wait for anything, and like I said was always super clean. So much to see and do, hit all the major vendors/displays and the exhibition hangars and ran the 5k on Saturday morning. Didn't get down to the ultralight stuff, stol competition and didn't get to spend too much time in the vintage section, stuff I would like to see next year. I also plan on taking advantage of some of the classes/talks/forums that go on and feel that there's some good stuff out there that I didn't look into or know about (by my own fault) until it was over. Felt that 3 full days is decent, but a 4th could be doo-able to slow down the pace a bit each day, only thing I think I would definitely do differently is to break the flying portion into two days, 9 hours out and 8 hours back in the Cheetah is a bit much and was pretty wiped after both flights.
 
Going to both the last four years, I feel like SNF is a more personal experience. You can spend time actually talking to the vendors and socializing, instead of running from one thing to the next, afraid you might miss something. More like Spring Break for pilots, IMHO.

Oshkosh however, is “The Big Show” with anything and everything.
I was getting a little bored with it, having gone several years in a row now, but I had the privilege of going back up again on Friday, aboard a company trip (They deplaned us as VIP’s at Center Show early Friday morning. Bucket list item checked off). I walked around with a couple of younger pilots (28 and 36) that I work with, first time in Oshkosh, and it was like watching 12 year olds seeing it all for the first time. They were utterly amazed...

It gave me a new appreciation for it, and the realization of just how lucky we all are to have a yearly gathering like this. Paul, you did a damned good job...
 
Turningfinal said:
I imagine you never got the chance to camp in Scholler when the showers didn't have individual dividers, had no hot water, and were dirty as hell. Or before Theater in the Woods...

I've been camping there for over 20 years now and to me the amenities are getting (slowly) better and better.
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My first Osh was in 2000, so 18 years ago. They had hot showers, and all the same stuff in Camp Scholler back then too. Admittedly the food vendors are much better now.
 
Katamarino said:
Another CAP auction shopper? I got my first airplane from CAP :D
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Not exactly, I bought it from a guy who bought it from an A&P who maintained the aircraft while it was in the CAP and bought it from CAP. There were about three of us ex-CAP aircraft within a stones throw parked in the N40. One group inquiring if my aircraft was still in CAP wondered if there were any actual CAP aircraft at OSH... ;-)

DId your CAP aircraft have the AirPlains conversion? If so, how do you like it compared to your C182?
 
idahoflier said:
Not exactly, I bought it from a guy who bought it from an A&P who maintained the aircraft while it was in the CAP and bought it from CAP. There were about three of us ex-CAP aircraft within a stones throw parked in the N40. One group inquiring if my aircraft was still in CAP wondered if there were any actual CAP aircraft at OSH... ;-)

DId your CAP aircraft have the AirPlains conversion? If so, how do you like it compared to your C182?
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Yes, mine was a 1985 model with the 180hp AirPlains. I loved it! It was a fantastic aircraft and took me all over the USA.

The reasons I moved to the 182 were;
- Range. I only had 40 gallon tanks in the 172. I have 110 gallons in the 182. For flights into the arctic and, ultimately, around the world, I needed the extra range.
- Speed. It's not a big increase, but it's really nice to have when there's headwinds.
- Space. The 182 is definitely bigger inside and for long camping trips like Alaska/Canada (6 weeks camping out of the airplane with up to 3 people) the extra space has been essential.
- Avionics. The 182 has a 2 axis autopilot and 430W. Gives me much more capability.
 
FloridaPilot said:
Why do you say that?
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Able to spend more quality time talking to people including manufacturers, vendors, EAA, AOPA, etc. That was the most significant difference for me.

Easier to get on and off the grounds.

Better food.

Yes it is smaller which means fewer examples of various aircraft types but there is enough of most types that it’s more than ok.
 
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