Teens going to Oshkosh?

[skydvrboy]

Wondering if anyone else is taking their teenage kids to Oshkosh this year, especially if they've been before?  I'm taking my son (15) for his first trip to Oshkosh and he's not too thrilled about going.  It's not that he doesn't want to go, he's just not as excited about aviation as his dad.  I was thinking he might enjoy it more if he had someone his own age to hang out with who could show him around.  I assume it is OK to give him a time and place to meet and let him run around with other kids to explore on their own.  He's very responsible, so I'm more worried about him getting lost or not having fun than I am about him getting into any trouble.

We'll be traveling and camping with the Caravan, so that will give him an opportunity to meet any other Caravan teens and hang out with them a couple days before the real show starts.

Advice from veteran attendees who survived taking their teens to Oshkosh is also welcome!

[FlyChickie]

We will have our 14 year old daughter and two friends (14 & 15) that she recruited because she loves it so much. She can’t wait to get back after her first year in 2017. He’ll have a good time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MB65E]

It’s fun. I always had a good time growing up.

My parents met at OSH in the early 70’s. 

Just tell him there will be other girls there, and it’s summertime!! ;-)

-Matt

[autopatch]

We had Hailey’s cousin last year and he enjoyed himself after a few days of getting acclimated. It was also his first time as well. The big thing he wanted to do is ride bicycles, and the Goodwill store has some pretty cheap. Just can’t ride them inside the core zone, but you can all around the North 40.

[orionflt]

My daughter has been going since she was a teen, she has many friends she met there and they always get together at Osh. we can't make it out this year (first time in over a decade)and my daughter can't get there because of other commitments or she would be there with out us.

Brian

[Marcopolo]

@skydvrboy,

 

  I shared your concern last year with my then 14yr old daughter, I was worried that she'd want to leave half way through the week.  She likes aviation, but she doesn't "LIKE" aviation.  She made it 7 days until we left on Sunday and she actually shed a few tears as we took off.  She has been planning this year's return since that day and has a couple of friends from last year meeting her again this year, she is also communicating regularly with  KP's daughter who will be attending for the first time this year.  She was allowed to venture off on her own with strict times and places to meet after we had the lay of the land.  He'll do just fine, there will be enough distractions around to keep him entertained.

 

Ron

[skydvrboy]

1 hour ago, autopatch said:

the Goodwill store has some pretty cheap.

I heard about that and plan to send him to get one as soon as we land.  I hear the good ones go fast.

[gsxrpilot]

I'm bringing a couple of nephews... 15 y/o twin boys.

[N9201A]

My now-16 yo son has gone since 2006, and his now-19 yo sis since 2008.  They're far from the only kids who've "grown up" in the Caravan and at OSH.  My daughter did Women Soar, an amazing program for high school girls, and there is the museum, seaplane base, KidVenture, the drone, ultralight, and college recruiting areas...as long as they have a phone and a charger (gotta learn the places to recharge), I honestly cannot think of a safer place for teens to hang out in America today than AirVenture.  

And if they self-identify and leave their Caravan nameplates on, they'll have friends wherever they go.

[autopatch]

I heard about that and plan to send him to get one as soon as we land.  I hear the good ones go fast.

Yeah, but I can store it for you here over the winter if you want.

[Comet]

I’m bringing my 13 & 10 y.o. boys.  I took my 16 yo (now 18) 2 years ago. I found that what I wanted to do wasn’t the same as what he wanted to do.  Just roll with it; it’s harder and harder to get the teens to spend time with you, so any time they will spend with you is special.

[skydvrboy]

4 hours ago, autopatch said:

 

Yeah, but I can store it for you here over the winter if you want.

 

I didn’t even notice you’re from Oshkosh. I may take you up on that, we’ll see how he enjoys it and whether the bike is worthy of storing over the winter.

[bradp]

I'm bringing my 5 year old daughter and she's pumped about airplane camping.  We were reading our book last night and a page out of Rosie Revere Engineer had a sketch of Amelia Earhart's "Frienship" Fokker plane.  Her comment was "that plane made it all the way across the ocean to France... and it has one engine like your Mooney [yes she knows Mooney and how to identify them by the tails]... that's AMAZING!"

I think the bug might have been implanted.  I see no issue with her wanting to go when she's a teenager ;-)

[Sean S]

Bringing my 14 YO daughter. First time at OSH!

[gsxrpilot]

3 hours ago, Bayern Speed said:

Bringing my 14 YO daughter. First time at OSH!

Oh no... I"m bringing my identical twin nephews... age 15. 

[carusoam]

I brought a 14yr old boy for a few days about 6years ago...

He took a class on welding and some other things with the EAA group...  he had a blast...

Bring a spare battery (jump start type) plan on plugging phones in to recharge...

Set up the find my friends or Life360 app to be able to find them if they get lost...

There is so much cool teen stuff....  big radial engines, Jets, airshows, Mooneys.... a few famous people.... some cool cars.... real military planes...

Go ahead and plant the seed...  you never know what will grow out of the experience...

Best regards,

-a-

[LANCECASPER]

5 hours ago, Bayern Speed said:

Bringing my 14 YO daughter. First time at OSH!

 

1 hour ago, gsxrpilot said:

Oh no... I"m bringing my identical twin nephews... age 15. 

 

48 minutes ago, carusoam said:

Go ahead and plant the seed...  you never know what will grow out of the experience...

Anthony I think that's what Paul (gsxrpilot) is worried about. 

[Mcstealth]

On 7/13/2018 at 3:30 PM, gsxrpilot said:

I'm bringing a couple of nephews... 15 y/o twin boys.

Eeeeeek!,,,,,,,,

[FlyChickie]

LOL Yikes... we have two 14 year olds and one 15 year old. They're getting to know the grounds now...

[N9201A]

Eeeeeek!,,,,,,,,

I’ve not gotten final number, but from eyeballing it, there’s >20 youths in the Caravan this year...awesome!

[Sean S]

Daughter bailed on me so I am solo. Sounds like ga camping is full already! I couldn’t get in due to weather then when the airport opened up the mad dash saturated the arrivals and they turned us away. I might have to try Appleton. Any updates on the ground shoot me a text. I am @ Stevens Point. Nine oh 1-592-72 oh oh thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Becca]

On 7/13/2018 at 1:53 PM, skydvrboy said:

Wondering if anyone else is taking their teenage kids to Oshkosh this year, especially if they've been before?  I'm taking my son (15) for his first trip to Oshkosh and he's not too thrilled about going.  It's not that he doesn't want to go, he's just not as excited about aviation as his dad.  I was thinking he might enjoy it more if he had someone his own age to hang out with who could show him around.  I assume it is OK to give him a time and place to meet and let him run around with other kids to explore on their own.  He's very responsible, so I'm more worried about him getting lost or not having fun than I am about him getting into any trouble.

We'll be traveling and camping with the Caravan, so that will give him an opportunity to meet any other Caravan teens and hang out with them a couple days before the real show starts.

Advice from veteran attendees who survived taking their teens to Oshkosh is also welcome!

I dunno, I went to Oshkosh when I was 13 with my mom and Granddad.  But I was SUPER into aviation and annoyed we were staying in a resort hotel instead of camping..  I really liked walking around and looking at all the airplanes.  Certainly at 15 he could go his own way and set up meeting spots, if he can't find away to entertain himself at 15 at a convention full of planes, cars, people, seminars, and all sorts of adult toys, well, you've got other problems    Hand him the big daily program and pick what he wants to do.  You should alert to the hands on activities too, I think it would have been fun to take one of those welding classes when I was 15 even if I wasn't interested in planes...

Edited July 23, 2018 by Becca