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Appleton (KATW) vs Oshkosh (KOSH)

Chkaharyer99

Well Known Member
Friend
Four RV?s flying to Airventure 2018 from NorCal. Expect to depart NorCal Wednesday or Thursday prior and arrive KOSH or KATW Friday or Saturday prior. Two of us have landed at KOSH in the past, two others never have.

Considering landing at Appleton vs Oshkosh. If you?ve done this or put significant thought into it, please share your perspectives and possibly the positive vs negative aspects of either decision.

Thank You,
 
This sounds like a fear based topic. Nervous pilots? There will be other airplanes within sight. Even at ATW. Solve that at home in many ways.

Mission objective is KOSH with your "showplane". Why not go there?

I understand you're probably looking for comfort food for the newbies. "Man up and be an excellently prepared pilot.", might be where I would start. If that doesn't produce results, then Appleton it is, without question.
 
Landed and parked durning The Show at Appleton many times mainly because I was staying at B&B in Appleton. Easy in with plenty of places to park. Several years were not very easy out due to T-storms in the area. You can not go out to the airplane on your own as the parking is in between the runways. You need a shuttle to take you out. Was very difficult to time a shuttle ride out (about 10 min drive from FBO) between storms, get loaded up, and get out. I found not being able to get to the plane on my own a major pain in the *** when trying to get out. Of coarse there is no long line once you are started up.

Also after any storm, and there will be a storm somewhere near OSH vicinity during the week, it is a pain to go see if plane is still doing OK. You need to spend about 4 hours getting to and back from Appleton, waiting for a shuttle to take you out to your plane just to verify the tie downs are still tight and the canopy cover is still on.

Best thing is to fly into the Show. It is not that hard if you just read and understand the NOTAM (and watch out for those that don’t). having my airplane on the field at OSH is very cool and a major accomplishment as part of building/owning/flying an RV. Being at OSH with plane parked at Appleton kind of feels incomplete. Kind of like kissing your sister, for lack of any original description. Your RV should be part of the OSH experience and deserves to be there with you.
 
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Consider arriving at OSH early in the morning like before 8:00. I?ve arrived at RIPON three times at 7:00 AM +/- 15 mins. This means you?ll need to overnite within 1.5 hrs of OSH. Dawn patrol begins at apx 5:45 AM CDT there in late July. Know the procedure and it?ll be easy-peasy.
 
OSH for sure! Consider flying in Sunday afternoon once the field re-opens after a thunderstorm. There will be hundreds of planes coming from every direction, holding at both lakes, guys garbaging up the radio asking unnecessary questions that can be answered in the NOTAM booklet, some guy in a Pietenpol flying opposite direction southwest along the railroad track, and surface wind will be 050/15G25. A warbird will cut you off on base, and then somewhere on TWY P just south of P1 you will taxi through water so deep that you'll get rusty wheel bearings, and your HBC sign will blow out when you open your canopy.

But...

You will have the unique satisfaction of landing on a colorful dot and taxiing off into the grass, and a man in a pink shirt will compliment you on your amazing flying skill--even if you don't deserve it. You will be be marshalled by well-trained volunteers, welcomed with a bottle of water and a high-five by the coolest guy you ever met on a moped, and your new neighbor will offer you anything in her cooler. You'll stand in thick Wisconsin grass, be immediately enveloped in the largest aviation community in the world, and then look up to see a MASH helicopter beating the air overhead. You will smile, start to relax, and then settle in for a few days knowing that you are within short walking distance of the greatest air show on earth.

You can do this! It's one of life's greatest aviation accomplishments. Go for it!
 
OSH for sure! Consider flying in Sunday afternoon once the field re-opens after a thunderstorm. There will be hundreds of planes coming from every direction, holding at both lakes, guys garbaging up the radio asking unnecessary questions that can be answered in the NOTAM booklet, some guy in a Pietenpol flying opposite direction southwest along the railroad track, and surface wind will be 050/15G25. A warbird will cut you off on base, and then somewhere on TWY P just south of P1 you will taxi through water so deep that you'll get rusty wheel bearings, and your HBC sign will blow out when you open your canopy.

But...

You will have the unique satisfaction of landing on a colorful dot and taxiing off into the grass, and a man in a pink shirt will compliment you on your amazing flying skill--even if you don't deserve it. You will be be marshalled by well-trained volunteers, welcomed with a bottle of water and a high-five by the coolest guy you ever met on a moped, and your new neighbor will offer you anything in her cooler. You'll stand in thick Wisconsin grass, be immediately enveloped in the largest aviation community in the world, and then look up to see a MASH helicopter beating the air overhead. You will smile, start to relax, and then settle in for a few days knowing that you are within short walking distance of the greatest air show on earth.

You can do this! It's one of life's greatest aviation accomplishments. Go for it!

Wow. Nice write up. After reading that, I can guarantee when I complete my RV I WILL be doing the OSH trip to OSH. Sounds like more fun than a barrel full of monkeys.
 
Fly in to Oshkosh. It's not bad at all, and fun!

That being said, don't do it at 7pm after flying 2 solid 9 hour days of summer thermal filled, heat stroking cross countries. This is no time to be a stud. Land an hour or so away, get a cool shower, a decent meal, and a good nights rest. Tackle it early the next morning when you are relaxed and refreshed.

DEM
 
Definitely do Oshkosh

I’ve done both, Appleton is a pain in the butt if you want to use your airplane as “home base” during the convention since you can’t go back and forth to it during the day easily.

And, my brother is a pretty low time, timid Cessna 150 driver and he’s done it a bunch of times with no issues at all if that gives your buddies who haven’t done it any confidence!

Have your friends practice non-standard patterns, as well as landing on the numbers and flying it down the runway if you wish, but it’s definitely manageable for even new pilots with some proper planning and good awareness in the airport area.
 
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Definitely fly into OSH. I've not been able to fly there yet but have flown into
Sun n Fun the last 4 years. Both SnF and OSH approaches are really easy, (even though I've not flown to OSH, I know the approach like the back of my hand). Follow the procedure and keep your eyes out of the cockpit and things will go well. Another tip is to watch several videos on you tube for the approach..... "fisk arrival" and your less experienced friends will get the feel for it. Another helpful thing I did was to "fly" the approach looking at each checkpoint/railroad/gravel pit on something like google earth and maps.
 
If you're flying in to KOSH on the Friday or Saturday prior to show start, there'll be hardly anyone in the air. Last year I arrived just before Noon on the Saturday before, didn't see a single other airplane in the sky and got my choice of runways (and YES I was following the NOTAM ;))
 
Thanks for all the great responses.

I should have included that some of our wives are flying commercial into Appleton where they will pick up rental cars that must be returned to Appleton.

Our accommodations are closer to Appleton than OshKosh.

Based on the comments of those who have actually landed at Appleton during their AirVenture visit, it sounds like a less optimal choice. The idea of being shuttled to your aircraft doesn?t sound too appealing.

Many thanks.
 
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