For those who will be attending AirVenture for the first time and those who have always stayed off site, you should be aware that events run from around 9:00 am and run continuously until around 9:00 pm every evening during the convention. It is difficult if not impossible to see all the aircraft you want to see, attend all the forums, talk with all the suppliers, and buy all the things you can afford (and possibly some that you can't afford). If you are staying off site, the short bus ride to and from the EAA grounds may extend from the "normal" 30 minutes to well more than an hour first thing in the morning and after the airshow. Once the daily air show ends, between 5:30 and 6:00 pm the evening, entertainment starts around 7:00 at the Theater in the Woods and somewhat later at the outdoor movie theater. There are also usually either planned or impromptu parties almost every night if you want to search them out. Among the "don't miss" areas that probably take about half a day each to visit are the museum, the hangars at Pioneer Airport, the Sea Plane Basin, the War Birds area, the Homebuilt area, the Vintage Aircraft area, and perhaps the Ultralight`area. All these have to be squeezed in between the 9:00 am opening and the start of the air show around 4:00 pm. All that's available, along with forums about everything from aviation safety to flying aerobatics to building and/or maintaining aircraft. All presented by experienced people who know their stuff. I don't know why people spend the time and the expense of attending AirVenture to spend a lot of time standing in line to catch a bus or to travel to the EAA grounds and wait in line for a parking space unless they are Oshkosh regulars who are very familiar with the event and very focused on very specific activities and events. If you are going to be a first timer, spend some time with the EAA web site and get a good look at the events to find the ones you don't want to miss before you get to Oshkosh. Then once you are there, pick up the free daily convention newspaper and check to see that you haven't overlooked some one you want to hear or something you want to see. As many times as I have attended the convention, there are always things that I wish I had another day to see. In my opinion, the camping facilities are excellent. Port-a-potties are throughout the grounds and are serviced several times a day. The grounds are well maintained and the "Oshkosh Ethic" is to keep them clean by properly depositing trash in the highly accessible containers. Last year was my first year at camping by my plane on the flightline. I'm an early riser and I usually hit the showers between 5:30 and 6:30 when there was no line. By 7:30 I was finished with breakfast and back by my plane. Usually there were several visitors there already who were interested in finding out about Ercoupes. Anytime I was free during the day, I usually spent sitting by the plane -- and there was a constant flow of people coming by to look, ask questions, and make comments. I'm going to suggest to Syd that we have a sales table for Ercoupe tee shirts on the flightline this year. IMHO staying on the grounds, as close to your own aircraft as you can, (among the 100,000 visitors each day and the thousands of aircraft on display) is part of what Oshkosh is all about.
John Roach N 2427H
