Ice water at Airventure 2013?

[Bill Berson]

The heat this year has me concerned about next year and whether I would survive Airventure 2013 (did not attend 2012, but usually go every other year). I live on the west coast and it rarely gets above 65 degrees in the summer and I am NOT as acclimated to the heat as any midwesterner would be.

My first question is this: would access to continuous ice water (to drink) help for the heat?
Second, could crushed ice be provided at the EAA water fountains for adding to my water cup? This would make the water taste better and add much to the Airventure experience for those that stay several days.

I can get a free cup of self serve ice water here at McDonalds or any fast food place like Taco Bell. Is this possible at the Airventure food service buildings?



p.s. I did see that someone mentioned ice water was available at the Aeronca center. But need some more options, I think.

[AeroPilot]

Vintage had a big container of ice water at their door this year that you could dunk in your hand and pull out an ice cold bottle of water. One of them I got from near the bottom was half frozen and perfect for the hot airshow. $1 and it goes to the vintage group.

[Bill Greenwood]

Bill Berson, first of all, I don't think it was anything out of the ordinary hot at EAA this year, EXCEPT for the 102 degree record on the first Monday. It cooled off as the week went on and I know Fri and Sat were only about low 80s and there were some showers to keep things ok.

As for all the free water at McDonalds, I was just in there the other day and asked them the price of their cold bottled water, and found it is $2.06 vs the $2.92 at EAA. I can't believe this is that major a point to some visitors to EAA.

Let's say you stay at EAA for 3 days and buy and drink two bottles of cold water a day. So you spend $17 on water for your stay. And by the way there are some free cold water fountains on the east side of the commercial hangars as well as other places.

When it was so hot that Monday we found a couple of forums to attend in the shade and pretty much stayed out of the sun. I also see people out in the sun with no hats and sometimes worse with small kids, even infants with no hats or sun protection.

[Bill Berson]

Mr. Greenwood,
I am not talking about cold bottled water.
My question was: is it possible to get a glass of water with ice? A large glass of ice water will stay cold for an hour or more while your cold bottle of water has gone warm in a few minutes.
If your point is: I should just shut up and buy a bottle of water and endure the heat... well then, I heard you. But I would still like comments from others about getting a small amount of ice.

My decision about attending Airventure does include the problem of heat. When I attend, I prefer to wander all day, rather than stay indoors in a chalet or whatever. Just looking for ideas to do that with comfort.
Surely providing ice is cheaper than an air conditioned chalets.

[Bill Greenwood]

Mr. Bill Berson,

I am not suggesting at all that you "just shut up and buy bottled water". You are certainly free to complain as much as you want as some other have done. And if you come for a week, you can probably find a day that is too hot. And it is not my bottle of water, I don't sell water or anything else there.

About the only theme I try to "sell" is to come to EAA and have a good time. But hey, if someone wishes you, "Have a nice day" , you can always respond, "Not if I can help it."

You will likely be in the minority, but if you try you can probably find many things wrong at EAA, and maybe your best plan is not to come at all. I know there is one EAA gathering at Arlington in your part of the country and it may be cooler and wetter there.

I don't know if you can get a free glass of ice at EAA,but I think it is likely that if you were willing to pay soft drink prices or lemonade prices at the vendors you could buy a cup of ice with or without water.

[Bill Berson]

I am not complaining about EAA and the price of bottle water (that was some other thread). This was a suggestion to improve the experience for everyone. (at small cost, I think, compared with fans in the forums) I just wanted something better than bottled water and offered the idea here for comments.
Yes, I thought about standing in line and buying a large Coke with ice and ask for water instead. Is that the procedure to get ice? I just need to know.

I do attend Arlington and yes it is cooler.

edit: Nor did I request free ice, I only mentioned that ice is normally free.

[JimRice85]

My brother and I both flew our Cubs up this year and spent a fair amount of time sitting under the wings in our lawn chairs. I recall a golf cart coming by selling large bags of I e for $3 or so.

Fortunately, we also had a ground contingent drive up. We stayed in the Marian University dorms in Fond du Lac where we had a freezer. We would freeze several water bottles each night and use them in lieu of crushed ice for out cooler of Gator Aid. As they melted, we had ice water to drink. I'd typically carry a frozen one with me as I mover around the site. We staged at the planes and just left the cooler under the wing and no one touched it.

[Bill Berson]

Frozen water bottle.... another neat idea, except I would not have access to a freezer.
But that gave me an idea. Maybe buy frozen orange juice at walmart and put that in a thermos of water. Might last all day.

[Larry Lyons]

If you are camping on the flight line you will see the ice cart people several times a day. A bag was $3. If you are camping elsewhere the camp ground just outside the gate at the ultralight barn had ice for $2.25 and there was another place by the ultralight tie down area that had it for $2.50. I would suspect there is ice available at other camp sites farther north, we just always camp down around row 90. Best seats in the house, see everything and a lot less noise. The price of water varied around the grounds. L

[Bill Berson]

I am guessing that the $3 bag of ice is the usual 10 pounds. Can't use 10 lbs.

That's why I started this thread. One pound for 50 cents ( or even a dollar) would be nice.
A vending machine would be even better that dispenses ice into my container. Just an idea.