Oshkosh Bound Posters, Approach Procedures, and Such

Morgans wrote:
No argument from me, but an observation. The controllers are good at
getting the spacing, and it is usually at altitudes under 200 feet, when
things get messed up, by someone not exiting the runway when they are
supposed to, or someone not landing on the correct portion of the runway.

Yes, the controllers at OSH are excellent at what they do.

I've seen all kinds of things done, including s turns (if nobody is close
behind you, for you to mess up) and even 360's. Anything is fair game, if
the controllers tell you to do it, and if you feel capable. The go-arround
and saying unable if always a good way out.

Now that I think about it, I do remember hearing a controller tell
someone on final to do a few S-turns for spacing.


--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane
Arrow N2104T

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

In article ,
"Morgans" wrote:

Have your buddy at the last moment, tell you to fly it down to the middle of
the runway before touching down, or towards the end, or at the last minute,
tell you to change from putting it down at midfield, to on the numbers, and
try to shake you up.

"What is that idiot ahead of us doing? He's slowing down!"
"He was told to land at the far dot, he's landing on the near dot!"
"POWER! POWER! POWER!"
"GO AROUND! GO AROUND!"
(Based on a true experience!)

"What is that idiot ahead of us doing? He's slowing down!"
"He was told to land at the far dot, he's landing on the near dot!"
"POWER! POWER! POWER!"
"GO AROUND! GO AROUND!"
(Based on a true experience!)

Yep, all kinds of fun things happen at OSH -- but they usually work out
just fine.

What Jack says is absolutely true -- you've got to be on your game.
Here are a few things I've learned over the years:

1. Do NOT arrive at RIPON at the end of a 4 hour leg. Stop short, and
arrive fresh.

2. Try to arrive mid- to late-morning. Don't be the first, don't be
the last -- and it's usually too danged hot to arrive in early
afternoon. (And don't forget the airspace is closed every afternoon
for the daily airshows!)

3. Eat a good breakfast. You will be in a high-stress, very busy
situation, and you do NOT want a blood sugar crash in the middle of it.


4. Try to hit Ripon coming in from the Southwest (for example, the
course from Iowa City is perfect), so that you don't have to make
radical turns to get in line over the railroad tracks. This will make
your life MUCH easier.

5. Be prepared to hold. They've added a new holding pattern this year,
to the usual "Rush Lake" pattern, and I suspect they'll use it.
(Although last year was actually the first time we were ever sent
around the lake. We have, however, been told many times to "hold in
place" by circling over a spot on the ground, prior to reaching Ripon.)

6. This means HAVE ENOUGH FUEL. You do NOT want to find yourself out
of fuel and ideas while holding in the busiest airspace in the world.

7. Practice holding an airspeed -- please! It's 90 KNOTS, folks, and
every year we seem to get behind someone who misinterprets the NOTAM,
and flies way too slow. And it's not just Cessa 140s and Cubs
puttering along -- last year we were stuck behind a Bonana going about
80 mph, which really backed things up.

8. Practice landing short -- and long. You might be asked to float it
down the runway -- and you might be told (not asked) to plant it on the
numbers. The runway is big, but you MUST be able to do what the
controller tells you to do, or you risk yourself and others.

9. KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT. Do NOT talk on the radio -- only listen.
Idiots talking on the radio instantly announce their ignorance to a
*very* educated audience, and risk blocking essential ATC instructions.


None of this stuff is hard -- IF you are current and proficient. If
you have any doubts about your ability to fly the plane as described in
the NOTAM, go practice!

But DON'T land somewhere else, cuz you're intimidated by all this.
Landing at OSH is the thrill of a lifetime, and, quite frankly, coming
to OSH by landing at Fond du Lac or Appleton and riding the bus up is
like kissing your sister. It's ALMOST right, but not quite...

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

the NOTAM, go practice!

But DON'T land somewhere else, cuz you're intimidated by all this.
Landing at OSH is the thrill of a lifetime, and, quite frankly, coming
to OSH by landing at Fond du Lac or Appleton and riding the bus up is
like kissing your sister. It's ALMOST right, but not quite...

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I dunno kissing your sister might not be too bad, what does she look like
and how does she kiss? ;-)
(running and ducking)
John

Jay Honeck wrote:

But DON'T land somewhere else, cuz you're intimidated by all this.
Landing at OSH is the thrill of a lifetime, and, quite frankly, coming
to OSH by landing at Fond du Lac or Appleton and riding the bus up is
like kissing your sister. It's ALMOST right, but not quite...

The one time I missed the airport closing for the air show by just a couple of
minutes and had to divert to Appleton, it was a horrorshow. The NFCT at Appleton
was incompetent, the bus schedule allowed for a lot of waiting around, you have
to schlep your luggage around from bus to bus. I was staying in the dorm, so bus
from Appleton to OSH, then bus from OSH bus terminal to airport terminal
building, then bus from terminal building to the dorms.

If that ever happens again, I'll just stage myself at a nearby airport and wait
for OSH to reopen. I'll get there before the person who diverts to Appleton and
takes the bus(es).

Oh, for corn sakes, folks. RST started the "Oshkosh Bound" posters in 1974,
long before EAA had a glimmer that they'd need some way of finding out where
you want to park, while "plastic" was still a dirty word to Burt Rutan, Paul
was Pope, and I had brown hair. Sheesh. And the personal computer was a
workbench full of little bits and pieces you soldered together yourself.

We PRINTED them until the pc became so pervasive and the internet so easy to
use that we posted them as files for YOU to print starting about ten years
ago. One year we mailed (MAILED, mind you) over 3000 of them out. I still
have an aversion to post office glue (WAY before self-adhesive stamps) in my
brain over that one.

We picked light blue and goldenrod because those were the two EAA colors.
We just stuck with them over the years. If you don't like the way we do
parking signs, by all means do your own. You want white? Fine, print
white. You want the traditional colors? Fine, have it your way -- color is
YOUR choice, isn't it. The color choice was OUR way of doing things 20
years prior to EAA even thinking about it.

However, now that the EAA has sort of settled down on its choice of abbrvtns
(why the hell is a word meaning "make shorter" so long?) for parking --
which have changed almost every year since they instituted THEIR way of
doing things -- so that the "Oshkosh Bound" will be duplicated on one side
of the printed sheet, then you turn the sheet over in the printer and we
will use the standard EAA abbrvtns on the obverse in very large typeface.

Talk about mountains out of molehills. Sheesh.

Oh, and by the way, black print on goldenrod is by far more visible than
black on white ... that's one of the things you learn at politician school.
Red on white is best followed by black on goldenrod ... just fyi.

Jim







"john smith" wrote in message
...
In article om,
"Eric Bartsch" wrote:

I've looked on the airventure site again and I still find no mention of
using colors for the signs. Can anyone who thinks colors should be
used, send a reference to where those instructions come from? I recall
seeing people using colored signs in the past but couldn't find
anything relevant to this year...

Is it in the NOTAM?