Oshkosh or near by airports?

[panther1400]

Not sure if its worth all the extra time and traffic to fly into Oskkosh or is there near by airports with less traffic and shuttles up to Oshkosh?  What do you guys recommend?

[jetdriven]

It s a lot of time and trafic evey day to drive up to see the show. IIRC the bus to Appleton was 20$ each way.  FWIW we hit RIPON and went straight in to OSH.  Do plan on arriving at a non-peak time.

 

Over half the fun was camping and telling stories.  I tell you the "80K panel" Garmin tent nor the "900$/yr" Jeppesen tent was where it was at.

[N33GG]

Green Bay, Residence Inn, and rent car.

[Immelman]

[mooneygirl]

We flew into Juneau and rented a car in 2009.  That was a long drive every day.  But we got to be a "part" of the Mooney Caravan by photographing the arrivals.  In 2010 we flew into Appleton commercially and rented a car, stayed with a lovely family very near AV.  In 2011 we flew commercially to Milwaukie and rented a car and stayed with friends who worked at EAA.  The Milwaukie rental car saved us $400.  We are not going this year.  Personally I do not like the direction EAA is headed [commercialism versus aviation] and the mass firings in January of folks who had worked there nearly 30 years left a bad taste in my mouth.  Perhaps next year. Maybe not, we will see.

[MooneyMitch]

We found renting the Milwaukee Enterprise car was far less expensive at off airport outlets as opposed to renting it at the airport by the tune of about $500.00.  

 

 

[Bennett]

Over the more than 25 years I have attended Oshkosh, I have tried many arrangements. I've flown in and rented a motel room (expensive and poor quality), flown in and stayed at the university dorms, (convenient with a shuttle bus, but not not much privacy), rented a camper and stayed on the grounds (poorly maintained rental camper was a bit of a problem, but comfortable), and in the recent past flew out commercially to Madison or Milwaukee and rented a car, (make arrangements well in advance), and rented either a whole house, or rooms in a house via the EAA housing site. This last method has proved best for me. I've always have had really comfortable housing at reasonable cost. All have had air conditioning, use of a good kitchen, sometimes a pool, and friendly renters. When I have just rented rooms, I've met all sorts of fascinating pilots from all over the world, many who remain friends to this day. Sure, driving in to the show everyday can be a bit of a pain, but I always leave early in the morning, and leave before the traffic builds up late in the day. I also walk the general aviation parking area, and I can usually find a few Mooney owners I know. My personal interest is wandering through the exhibitor's buildings and attending a few seminars. The airshows themselves are of lesser interest, but just seeing all the great antique aircraft, warbirds, and experimentals makes the trip worthwhile. By all means try flying in at least once, and camping out. As I get older I'm just less comfortable with flying in close quarters with people I don't know, and I am far less patient with "pilots" who cut you off while landing, and display unsafe and discourteous attitudes. They are certainly in the minority, but stay aware.

[Becca]

Well, there are two questions here: 1. Should you fly into Oshkosh 2. Should you stay at Oshkosh camping or go elsewhere.

I 100% think you should fly into Oshkosh.  Why wouldn't you?  Its part of the experience.  Its for the crowd to, airplanes need to be there. Maybe try to avoid peak arrival times.   I think its totally a safe arrival, I was all psyched out before I went last year, but I think it went really well.  There are lots of people thinking like you, Fond Du Lac and Appleton have to implement special procedures for the other traffic too.  You are going to encounter traffic, be on your toes.

As to where to stay, I am a big fan of the camping experience (before my plane, I'd car camp) to meet people.  Some people aren't into camping.  If I were one of those people, I would try to replicate the community experience by staying in a dorm or shared home/room rental where you are still socializing with other pilots, rather than going way off site to a resort hotel an hour away.  I was personnally opposed to paying $20 each way x 2 to take the bus from Fond Du Lac, so that killed that for me.  When I was a kid, though, we stayed in a lovely lake resort once and spend a few days vacationing away from the show too, and there's something to be said for that.

[MARZ]

If you can muster a side trip Door County (tip of the thumb) is some of the prettiest surroundings you will encounter.  And lest you forget the home of the Green Bay Packers and cheese curds (not the deep fried ones but the ones that squeak when you bite into them)

Ah if it weren't for the winter I'd return to the state of my birth

[Immelman]

+1 to what Mike said above about Door County!

In 2010, as sloshkosh was unfolding, after the Mooney caravan from Madison was cancelled my wife and I stared at the chart and picked Ephraim/Fish Creek as a place to stay. We camped on the airport there, and used the free airport bikes to explore the nearby towns where we encountered a real-life version of what you see in Norman Rockwell's art, idyllic forests to do a carefree bike ride through, and fine dining in Fish Creek. Highly recommend it!

[KSMooniac]

I'm in the fly-in and camp crowd.  I've been 3 times total (slacking!):  

1993--flew a 172 with 2 flying club friends all the way from TX and camped on the field.  This is back when it filled up to capacity before the show even opened!  We had a great time.  Woke up every morning to the dawn patrol warbird flights, and it was glorious!  Shower houses were just fine, and it was easy to walk off the airport for food/drink/supplies when needed.

1994--drove down from Duluth while working for Cirrus to help set up the display.  Cirrus had a rental house off-airport for 12-14 of us to share, with 3 cars IIRC.  That sucked!  Logistics were painful, and a LOT of time is wasted driving, parking, walking to the show vs. just exiting your tent and already being there.  Sharing cars sucked of course, and it was way to far to walk or hitch to get to the airport.

2010--Sloshkosh... flew up to join the Caravan in Madison with my dad who used to own a '65 C.  Obviously that plan fell apart, so we stayed 1 night in Madison (hotel), and 2 nights in Fon-du-lac (1 hotel, 1 camping), and then 3 nights camping at OSH.  My dad had never been, and my only condition for him to come with me was that we would camp and he agreed, much to my surprise!  He never took us camping (or did any outdoor activities) growing up, and I learned later he had only slept in a tent in Vietnam.  He ended up enjoying it, and was able to tolerate the adventure aspect to save the time and hassle of staying off-field.  We took the shuttle a couple times from Fon-du-lac and it is convenient, but wasted time and expense no matter how you look at it.  If he could have a good time camping, then I'm sure *anyone* would!  I did make it as comfy as possible with a cot and plush air mattress for him, plus a stand-up tent and even a battery powered ceiling fan for the tent.  :-)

IMO there is no better way to get the whole experience than to camp with your plane.

[N33GG]

I ALWAYS take one day off when I go to Oshkosh to decompress and go to Door County.  Micro brewery in Srurgeon Bay, pick cherries off the trees for a few bucks, fish boil on down the road, etc.  One of the benefits of staying in Green Bay, not to mention great food and college town atmosphere.  But I bet the winters are rough indeed.

[thinwing]

Although we arent going this year...we usually stay at the same guys house for the last 25 years or so.He is quite a character ,and provides shuttle service,home cooked breakfasts,rooms filled with green bay packers memorbilia.We are going to miss him this year...I am now a big fan of flying into appleton,getting picked up by this guy and heading straight in...we have never camped..only did that at west coast flyins like Watsonville or Merced,,,have a blast..kpc

[Guest]

You can also check out FLD easy in and easy out.

 Like many others you can camp with your plane and take a short inexpensive shuttle ride that runs all day to OSH. Nice airport good people. 

[Becca]

Quote: BluSky

You can also check out FLD easy in and easy out.

 Like many others you can camp with your plane and take a short inexpensive shuttle ride that runs all day to OSH. Nice airport good people. 

[KSMooniac]

Yeah, that shuttle did the job, but it was expensive enough to make me NOT want to do it again.  Not to mention time spent waiting on it, and hiking to and from the shuttle pickup area from the main attractions at the show.  We got enough walking just seeing the new shiny things and great airplanes....we certainly didn't need the extra distance to the parking lots and shuttle areas.  :-P

[Guest]

Becca, frankly I do not care what you or others consider cheap / inexpensive or the like. 

I was simply making a suggestion to a question asked. 

[231flyer]

I  have done most of the options: camping, hotel, motel, dorm, house, room for rent, Fond Du Lac, Appleton, Milwaukee, Madison, and even Chicago (airline to ORD). My preference in order;

1) Camping OSH

2) Hotel OSH (Hilton ran shuttles to the field)

3) House OSH

4) Motel OSH

5) FLD then hotel/motel/house/dorm in Oshkosh

6) Flying into Milwaukee, Madison, Appleton

7) Commercial flight into ORD

The trick is to arrive into OSH early before the show starts or mid-week after a few departures.  The Mooney caravan sounds great but I have never tried it.  Again an early arrival is key, spend the night at a nearby airport and flyin as soon as the field opens at 7AM (I think).  Unlike sun-n-fun, Oshkosh does turn away planes if parking is full. 

Hope the weather gods cooperate and y'all have a great time.  I am off to Alaska for 2 weeks starting the 15th

[AmigOne]

Like 231Flyer, except hotels, I have done most options but always in Oshkosh.  Going back and forth from FdL or App or somewhere else takes too much time and effort, and given some comments, is quite expensive as well. Camping not for me because, depending where your tent is, it may take you a good couple of hours for the morning shower.  For the last 10 years I have stayed at the university dorms, somebody commented that there is no privacy, I find meeting and talking with pilots from all over the country, and from other countries, really interesting.  Besides at the cafeteria you can have a great, and reasonably priced, breakfast and/or dinner buffet.  I'm fortunate to belong to a group that every year has a slot of a/c rooms, non a/c rooms are a lot cheaper but can be unbearable if there is a heat wave.  But they have built more a/c dorms which I believe are available this year or in 2013.  FYI a/c rooms this year are $100/day, an increase of $15 over last year.

I agree that the best time to arrive is either before the show or at mid-week.  This year I'm planning to arrive on Wednesday, after the show ends and leave on Sunday morning.   

[mooneygirl]

I do have contact information for the family that we stayed with two years in a row.  It is a private home about three miles from AV.  Very near the lake.  The family does this every year to put their grandkids in a christian school.  We got the master bedroom, king bed, private bath with shower for $100 per night. Included breakfast and any fixins for a take along lunch.  She will take you right to the gate at AV, and pick you up.  If anyone wants the contact information send me a PM. They have five rooms for rent. Ours was the most expensive.

[butchgilbert]

I would recommend flying into Fond Du Lac, and either renting a car, or taking the bus.  We stay at Marian University in FDL, drive everyday (early) and really like the atmosphere, plus the university puts on a free hot breakfast for all EAA vistors.  IMHO.

Butch Gilbert

[jetdriven]

Quote: BluSky

Becca, frankly I do not care what you or others consider cheap / inexpensive or the like. 

I was simply making a suggestion to a question asked. 

[fantom]

We can argue just about any point :-) Different strokes and changing tastes, mostly age, experiences and financial ability related I suppose.

I'm going to Appleton, staying in a comfortable Inn, driving to AirVenture, and will visit friends roughing it under their planes.

[jasonwojo]

Looking forward to another Mooney Caravan trip this year!  For me, the best and safest way to get the full experience (I have flown in the traditional way, too).  Give it a try...don't knock it till you try it!  Would love to meet more Mooney drivers as we camp by our planes and Mooney talk...

[panther1400]

The reason I ask is years ago when Grandpa went he stayed at a near by airport and then when Dad went about 15 years ago he did the same and stayed at a near by airport.  But looking at the comments it might be busy getting in to the airport but less hassle and cost after that. 

When is the best time to arrive, when is the caravan?

I live about a 2 hour flight away so I can get there at almost any time that is recommended.

I'm sure after a person goes once it will be alot more comfortable next time.