Oshkosh questions

Hotels? That was a question for a few months ago, as others have said..
they are pretty much booked at this point.

Fly in camping has gotten ALMOST full (95% but never actually closed,
IIRC). The fly in parking for folks who dont camp on field does cap out
sometimes.

One person gave a recommendation of 5 days.. 1 in transit each way and 3
on field may not apply to you, depending on where you are. What I mean
is coming in they close the field during the airshow in the afternoon,
then they have "the exodus" to allow mass departures after the airshow.
Then they run inbounds until sundown. Once they close at sundown, its
CLOSED to inbounds. If you live a long ways away you might want to make
it a 2 day trip getting there, or leave VERY early in the morning.

I flew from Houston in an Arrow, and we left midmorning and we already
knew that we wouldn't get into OSH in time so we had planned a stay in
St Louis, then pushed the rest of the way in the next morning. We showed
up on a thursday, and folks had already started to leave, and we got to
park in the 3rd row of the North 40.

3 of us came in the plane. We mailed the heavy stuff (up to 75# per box
- 3 boxes - Stove, lantern, folding chairs, tents, etc) and took the
clothes, sleeping bags, pillows and tarps with us.. so even if our stuff
didn't make it, we could make due with what was in the plane. Save the
boxes.. mail it back. Get/bring some cheap "throwaway" luggage wheeler
to carry the stuff the mile or so you will need to.

If you dont own the plane, I would reserve it NOW. I would talk to the
FBO and get something in writing that if the plane is down for
maintenance you get first dibs on a replacement (fat chance, but it cant
hurt).

Read the following:
http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/182691-1.html
It's not directed at you, well.. I hope not.. but its required reading
in my mind. When it comes to the flying, be on your game: Altitude,
airspeed and being able to "spot land" where you should. Be practiced at
keeping your speed up until you HAVE to slow down.

Enough for now..
Dave



Jimmy B. wrote:
I'm thinking of making my first trip to Oshkosh this year.

How far in advance do I have to plan this? For example, how quickly do
the local hotels fill up? (Haven't made up my mind if I will camp or do
the hotel thing.)

Do I need a reservation to park the airplane? If so, how quickly do
they fill up?

Not being someone who needs to see everything, how many days should I
plan on to get the true experience?

I'm sure I'll have more questions to follow, so please bear with me and
thank you for your useful inputs.