Gripes

[FlyingRon]

Actually last year I was asking about a battery holder for a Vertex Standard at their booth and they just handed me one.

[Larry Lyons]

Love the show as always, no major gripes but some deficiencies, in my opinion. 1. We always camp on the flight line, about row 92 to get away from the loud speakers so the blue line is our home route. This year I rode it less then once a day as there were only 2 trams and they traveled in tandem. Yes there were buses but not nearly often enough. The bus drivers were very nice, polite! It was far quicker to walk to the hanger café where the rest of the tram service was very good all week! 2. No place to get a sit down evening meal. Think steak here. As we fly in and have no wish to try and find our way off the grounds in the evening we missed that meal at least twice a week. Other wise the food was good but ice cream was hard to come by because of the lines and it was not hot! 3. I saw more then one person smoking while wandering down the flight line. I can't remember that ever happing before. 4. No chair police so what I saw were a lot of chairs just waiting for an arriving aircraft to launch them in to flight. I have been hearing a lot of grumbling from some of your long time venders on your pricing the last few years, just saying. I know of several smaller venders as a matter of fact who just pass on this show as it is way expensive. L

[Jim Hann]

The orange Volunteer shirts where not used again after they cause "issues" in the aircraft parking area's. All Volunteer crews working in Flight Line Operations be it Vintage, Home Built, Warbirds, N40 etc wear Orange vests. The mass of Orange Volunteer T's was confusing to pilots taxing. I do not believe there were any accidents, just a few near misses. They only used Orange once that I am aware of .That was in 2008 They used Yellow for 09 Blue 2010 and 12 Green?? 2011 Red 2013..

Steve,
2007 & 2008 were orange, one of them is a dead ringer for our chairman shirts :-) . 2009 is yellow, 2010 is blue, 2012 is blue, 2013 is red. 2011 is the cloak of invisibility!

Jim

[Jim Hann]

I think that's the kind of vendor that belongs at Airventure--not the sellers of Egyptian sheets, pots & pans, folding ladders, and such. If I want to go to a generic flea market, then that's my call, but when I go to Airventure, I admit to some disappointment and annoyance when I'm bugged by hawkers of non-aviation stuff.

Cary

Cary, I will politely disagree because some of these things are needed for aviation. Folding ladder? Yep, I have a high wing airplane with no steps and my friend has a biplane that he religiously cleans the leading edges on. Cleaning materials? Always looking for something to make cleaning easier. I wasn't bugged by a single "hawker" the entire week at OSH including walking through the Fly Market where I expect the "junk" sellers.

If you ever want to see how bad hawkers can be try walking down Nathan Road in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Or walk into the Fenxiang (sp?) Costume Market on Nanjing Road in Shanghai, it is even worse! I layover in both cities for work, which is flying.

[Cary]

Yep, I have a high wing airplane with no steps and my friend has a biplane that he religiously cleans the leading edges on.

Not to start an argument, but I'll bet neither of you needs a 24 in 1 ladder that can be an A-frame ladder, extension ladder, staircase ladder, 90 degree ladder, which can be part of a scaffolding system, which weighs from 24 lbs. to 39 lbs., all for only $199.95 to $259.95, depending on your choice of sizes, just to check your fuel level or clean off the bugs from the leading edges. My highwing airplane has no steps, either, but my old 2-step Aero ladder (the one with wooden steps) works well.

I don't deny that some of the non-aviation stuff might be useful for aviation, just that there's so much stuff that would be more at home at an ordinary flea market--or perhaps in Shanghai or Hong Kong. If I want to go there, I'd expect it; if I go to Airventure, I expect distinctly aviation-oriented merchandise, fuddy-duddy that I am.

Cary

[Jinkers]

Here is a little input from a 1st timer. I stayed in Camp Scholler near 13th and Lindbergh in my old Airstream. I had a great time and really have nothing I'd call a complaint, but maybe a few suggestions

First, I was incredibly impressed by the logistics. I have gone to concerts and festivals with only a fraction of a % of the attendees of Airventure that couldn't come close to AV's level of proficiency when it came to providing the basic needs. I gather from reading some of the posts here that this hasn't always been the case. I was particularly impressed that I never had to stand in line to take a shower or use a restroom or portable toilet. Never had to stand in line for more then a few minutes for food or water.

Suggestions:
1) I'll add to the request for better WiFi coverage.
2) It would be nice if the venders stayed open for a while after the afternoon airshow.
3) I was surprised that there was no interactive geo-referenced map app available. The Sporty's app was great but the map was static. I made my own using the Custom Maps app for Android but since the event map was not geo-referenced, position was only "in the vicinity". An interactive map that showed you where you where with the ability to select a destination such as a forum location and have it also appear on the map would be very useful, especially for 1st timers.
4) The trams were great but as previously mentioned there was a lot of confusion about which direction the trams were heading at certain stops.

[rawheels]

I think that's the kind of vendor that belongs at Airventure--not the sellers of Egyptian sheets, pots & pans, folding ladders, and such. If I want to go to a generic flea market, then that's my call, but when I go to Airventure, I admit to some disappointment and annoyance when I'm bugged by hawkers of non-aviation stuff.

Maybe there could be some effort to encourage all non-aviation related vendors to rent space in a single exhibit hangar? On the other hand, some of those vendors (like the ladder people) have been attending for a lot longer than me, and it is tradition that they are in the same place every year. I actually bought a CD from Jerry's One Man Band this year because each year seems like it is his last one coming, and it will feel weird when he is no longer on his corner.

Ultimately, those sellers won't return unless they are making money. So, somebody likes them and evidently there aren't more aviation related companies beating down the door to rent those spaces for the same price or the exhibit hangers wouldn't have empty spots.

[FlyingRon]

The exhibitors don't bother me. Unless we get back to the way it was prior to the construction of the new buildings where these NON-avation things DISPLACED real aviation vendors from the prime exhibit space (used to be quite a arcane way of allocating space that really disadvantaged some of the new guys). The fact that a lot of the big exhibitors (Garmin, Bose, etc...) have moved into their own Chalets in the square has opened up even more.

[Jim Hann]

I actually bought a CD from Jerry's One Man Band this year because each year seems like it is his last one coming, and it will feel weird when he is no longer on his corner.

This is definitely an anti-Gripe:

I was walking by and Jerry was on a break. I stopped and talked to him for a few minutes (I had bought a CD the day before). He told me he was overwhelmed by the number of folks coming up and telling him how much they enjoyed him being there! I added my thanks and a personal story about how his music almost brings tears to my eyes at times.

He is in his early 80s (83?) and is slowing down. He told me that last winter was the first one in years that he didn't travel down south (AZ/NM area) during the winter as the drive towing his trailer was getting too nerve-wracking. Of course with over half a million miles on the 1976 Dodge Van, I can only imagine the stories he could tell just about his drives.

He is a wonderful gentleman, not unlike Mr. Poberezny. I wished him well and didn't say good-bye but "until next time."

[Warbirdnerd]

Surprised no one has mentioned charging $18/day for passes for EAA Member's kids 6 and up. My Dad started taking me in the early 80s and I have only missed one AirVenture since then. There were years my brother and I each brought 2 friends and my Dad paid for everyone's addmission, but I doubt he would have at 18 bucks a pop. Take a look at other major airshows and nobody charges that much for kids.
Reno comes close $17/day for the Races on Saturday and Sunday, but only $5 for the days earlier in the week.
Wings over Houston $4,
CAF AirSho $5
Planes Of Fame Airshow $5
Dayton Airshow $15 at the gate $12 in advance.
For an Organization that prides itself on getting kids into aviation to charge that to get kids into AirVenture seems a bit outragous...
It will not keep me from bringing my kids and their friends, but it may limit how many days we all go to the show and how much we spend on food and other items on the field.
Bryan Darnell
EAA # 80374