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Departing OSHKOSH Question

J

jeffsvan

Well Known Member
We plan for a one day visit to Oshkosh this year. No overnight.

Is there a timeslot you must be in to depart after dinner, or can you leave anytime in the evening?

May as well ask this as well - What is a suggested time to arrive in the morning? or is it just chaos anytime you try to get in?
We plan to fly in VFR tues, weds, or thurs depending on the weather.
 
Departing OSH

I live in central MO and have done that several times.
If you get there when the airport opens sometimes they let the departures leave to open up space for the arrivals. That means you circle the lake for a half hour. I shoot for an 8:30 to 9 AM arrival.
Then the airshow shuts down the airport so you can't leave til after that finishes. (Plus you probably don't want to, the airshow is great.)
Most of the exhibits are closed by then, so I just get dinner and leave about 6 or so. That gets me home just before dark. Probably want to get gas earlier, can be a real rush late in the day and cause a significant delay in your plans. Seems everybody wants gas at the same time.
Of course, as always, read the NOTAM closely and watch the weather. Last year it was IFR to past Madison, and a perfect blue sky, cool day at the show, nice VFR all the way home.
Fun to camp a night if you can, SOS and all that, plus they have more nighttime stuff going on now.

John Koonce
N78MU/RV10
 
I did download and read.

It appears the airport is closed to Departing traffic starting at 8PM.
I see that there is a TFR for daily airshows that runs until 6:30PM

So I will rephrase my question " Is the window for evening departures 6:30-8:00PM" ?

Arriving traffic can fly in starting at 7:00 AM
Can someone suggest from experience a time to arrive or is it chaos anytime. i.e. "try to be arrive at 7:01 AM" or "it slows down after 9AM, try to get in then" etc.

Sorry I'm a newbie and I was just trying to ping others with experience of flying in there. The NOTAM is 30 pages & intimidating.
 
jeffsvan said:
The NOTAM is 30 pages & intimidating.
Click to expand...

EAA has a helpful video on OSH procedures. And this is useful too:
https://pilotworkshop.us17.list-man...990d253add0ccf45ba&id=2aa7b20d5c&e=1a56b1c21b

This can be a little daunting for a newbie. If you can't get comfortable with the procedures and still find the NOTAM intimidating after further preparation, maybe your best bet would be to fly into Fond Du Lac or Appleton. They are a little easier and still offer shuttle transportation to OSH.
 
jeffsvan said:
I did download and read.

It appears the airport is closed to Departing traffic starting at 8PM.
I see that there is a TFR for daily airshows that runs until 6:30PM

So I will rephrase my question " Is the window for evening departures 6:30-8:00PM" ?

Arriving traffic can fly in starting at 7:00 AM
Can someone suggest from experience a time to arrive or is it chaos anytime. i.e. "try to be arrive at 7:01 AM" or "it slows down after 9AM, try to get in then" etc.

Sorry I'm a newbie and I was just trying to ping others with experience of flying in there. The NOTAM is 30 pages & intimidating.
Click to expand...

Most of the answers to your questions can be found with a few minutes of using Google.

Yes, the airport closes at 8pm. The airshow has been known to run long, so there is no hard time it will end. They will restrict aircraft movement during the show. The conga line can get rather long for departures after the airshow (as well as other times). You have to be prepared for any unforeseen variable. If there is an incident, it could stop movement for hours.

The traffic volume has a different pattern everyday. You didn't mention the day you were looking to fly.
 
jeffsvan said:
I did download and read.

It appears the airport is closed to Departing traffic starting at 8PM.
I see that there is a TFR for daily airshows that runs until 6:30PM

So I will rephrase my question " Is the window for evening departures 6:30-8:00PM" ?

Arriving traffic can fly in starting at 7:00 AM
Can someone suggest from experience a time to arrive or is it chaos anytime. i.e. "try to be arrive at 7:01 AM" or "it slows down after 9AM, try to get in then" etc.

Sorry I'm a newbie and I was just trying to ping others with experience of flying in there. The NOTAM is 30 pages & intimidating.
Click to expand...

Yes, the window is after the airshow (usually around 6:30, note you can't even start/taxi until the show is over) and you have to be off the ground by 8.

As for arriving, the best time is less clear, and depends on other factor such as weather or field closures for jet displays etc. 2 years ago I arrived Friday morning just after 8 and there were maybe 3 planes on the fisk approach, the controller let me pick my runway and asked a couple questions about my plane. last year it was a zoo about the same time because the field closed at 9 for an hour for the blue angels arrival or practice so everyone was rushing to beat that.

If you're only coming for the day I would shoot for as early as you can make it, there is a lot to see and you'll likely get the bonus of a quieter approach.

As for prep read the NOTAM until it is no longer intimidating, it's not overly complicated when you get down to it. There's another thread on here with good suggestions for practice flights. http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=151529 watching youtube videos also can help with picturing what the notam is telling you, here is an RV8 from fisk to 27 but there are many more if you search. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HApCiuiIA0
 
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I was able to get to Oshkosh on Wednesday. We chose to land at Fond Du Lac KFLD due to KOSH over-saturation, and took the shuttle to the show. Had a great time, got a full day in, and had dinner mid route on the return trip home. No issues, no questionable actions on my part. Pretty straight forward.

Thanks for those who helped answer my questions. And to those who said just read the NOTAM or look up on Google: I did but wanted to ask a fellow Vans pilot who has been there before. Sorry but I thought that is why we use this board.- posting and answering questions.

I didn't wish to be a part of the problems and traffic jam that persisted the opening weekend. I wanted to make sure I was following the rules and not be an accidental menace to anyone else.

Next year I will try to return the favor and help another pilot(s) who has not been there before.
 
OSHKOSH INFO REQUEST

Hello Jeff

I congratulate you for been humble to seek information about something you were unsure of..

You did exactly the right thing...You had a question and were looking for an answer..You were trying to be part of the solution rather than been the problem

Also excuse the ones that were a little bit short fused as they are probably still recovering from last week end furball..:rolleyes:

Glad you enjoyed Oshkosh

Cheers

Bruno
 
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