I also noticed that the cruising around the camp was way down this year, a pleasant change.
I also noticed that the cruising around the camp was way down this year, a pleasant change.
Well, here I go! I went every day, just as I do every year, so I have a lot to say!
GOOD: 1. The requirement that anyone in Camp Scholler driving a motorized vehicle have a driver's license. Yay for no more young kids flying around not knowing what they're doing! 2. The improved tram routes...and just having the trams in the first place! In the 43 years I've been attending, IMHO the trams are the BEST improvement. 3. The air-conditioned, flush toilet trailers. The second-best improvement. Could more of them be provided?
4. The jumbotrons along the flightline. Hope the budget allows for more next year, especially for performers like Jetman, who can't really be appreciated as well from the ground. Until he starts doing low passes along the runway!5. The removal of most of the tents along the flightline, and the gigantic speakers from last year. Glad they are gone. 6. The new food options were a great improvement.
7. The Aviator's Bookshelf tent. My first stop every year. Bought 18 books from them last week. 8. The Honor Flight return. While having them return early so they can experience the airshow crowd shortens their time in D.C., the welcome the vets get is so moving...great idea, whoever thought of it! 9. Seeing all of the WWII planes is one of my highlights every year. So glad FiFi has become a regular visitor again. And on the days when there are so many warbirds in the air all at once...well, wow. Incredible. Goosebumps and eyes welling up.
10. Bringing back the vintage EAA logo on more merchandise. I love my two Tervis tumblers! Eisenhower jackets next, please! 11. The CAP kids I talked with were very polite and respectful, and it was great to see them lined up for the Honor Flight welcome. Great job! 12. I love watching the ultralights buzzing around every evening.
13. The overall "attitude". It seems like under Jack Pelton, EAA is listening more to its members and getting back to its roots after several years of getting kind of "over-corporated". Well done. 14. I love that the National Park Service is there every year with a special airshow stamp. Missed seeing the K9 demos in the federal building though. Will they be back next year?
And the biggie: the quality of the airshows. I was especially impressed by Sunday's show; it was GREAT. BUT I hope whatever the issues were with Kyle Franklin can be worked out so he can perform next year.
NEEDS IMPROVEMENT IMHO: 1. Fountain sodas with ice instead of/in addition to plastic bottles, please! The bottled sodas often were warm because they were selling so fast they weren't spending enough time in the coolers. 2. More portable sinks for proper hand-washing. Were there any outside the Hangar Cafe? If so I didn't see them. 3. More places to buy ice cream. The one main ice cream stand always had a huge line and the soft-serve needs to be brought back.
4. I'm from the generation that knows that not everything needs a freaking music soundtrack. Don't need to be blaring music over the speakers unless it's part of the airshow. 5. The movie choices IMO were not great...James Bond and superhero movies are not really aviation movies. There are plenty of modern and classic movies out there that are truly aviation movies. THOSE should be shown at Oshkosh. And of course "Airplane!" should be shown every year! 6. On night airshow nights, please consider having the trams run longer.
7. Can anything be done to provide shade at Warbirds in Review? I just about had sunstroke waiting for Bob Hoover, and while I really enjoyed listening to him, his golf cart was parked so he was facing away from most of the crowd. 8. During the Warbirds in Review presentation on the salvaged aircraft from Lake Michigan, the warbirds security volunteer was quite rude moving people off the concrete pad. He had no one to help him, and too few traffic cones to mark out the prohibited zone, and the trailer was parked so you couldn't read the information sheets without "trespassing" on his turf. He conveniently had his nametag flipped so you couldn't read it. He had a tough job, BUT he was over-zealous and rude in shooing people away. 9. Fewer vehicles on the grounds if possible. I understand some of them are necessary, but every year it seems like there are more of them and the people in many of them don't appear to be EAA officials, security, exhibitors, etc. I even talked to a dad who was chauffeuring his entire family around in a golf cart his uncle, an exhibitor, had access to.
10. No more unattended stuff along the flightline. It's a hazard and leaving items there is rude. Post signs along the flightline if necessary, and as much of a pain as it would be, have the flightline volunteers remove the stuff. What if something blows onto the runway or taxiway and hits a plane?
And the biggie for me: NO MORE SMOKING ON THE GROUNDS!!! Cigarettes have no place around airplanes, and I found multiple butts on the flightline itself. I'll pick up trash as I see it to help maintain EAA's excellent record of grounds cleanliness, but I will not pick up cigarette butts. Please, PLEASE ban smoking on the grounds.
One gripe I do have was the mixing of the showcase with the airshow. Once you kick into high paced aerobatic acts, shifting gears down to flypasts didn't work for me. The funny thing is, I really liked the showcase in the past, but it bored me a bit when mixed with the airshow acts.
Love the new café in the North 40, and the new bath house. WIFI did not work at all for me, despite moving within 100 feet of the hotspot. Could use more places to charge phones and computers. Trams were puzzling - sometimes a long wait, other times four in a row arrived at once.
The drinking fountain near Forums was missing, with only a pipe stub sticking out. I walked to the flight line and found that fountain was also missing. At first I assumed EAA had decided to eliminate all fountains but later found most of the others were in place.
More trams was nice, but flags are still confusing. Wifi worked in the morning and evening for me.
Overall very good, I had a good feeling that things are improved with Jack's volunteer leadership.
Originally Posted by mazdaP5
Has that not been a "requirement" for a number of yrs?
Glad to hear folks are reading and following the guidelines.
Good luck with the no smoking ban. Maybe one day.
Last edited by martymayes; 08-07-2013 at 05:37 AM.
Either do the airshow routine to music OR provide commentary, but not both. The combination was just noise.
The change in the food vendors was really positive--perhaps competition made the difference, but the food everywhere was very good, with still reasonable prices.
There are still too many hot-rodding drivers of golf carts and John Deere 4x4s. I suggest a large sign on each one showing the unit number and a phone number to call might reduce that problem.
Another negative: "music" (really?) which didn't match the airshow performances and drowned out the announcers. If music should be played, follow Julie Clark's lead, and make it match the performance. Otherwise, why the noise at all?
I'd like to see the trams run later, especially on night airshow nights. Otherwise, the trams are great.
Kudos to Kobussen, for having some of the nicest, most pleasant, and most accommodating bus drivers in the business, with amazing skill at putting those things through narrow places.
And special thanks to whomever at EAA was in charge of the weather this year--it was great!
Cary
Last edited by Cary; 08-07-2013 at 10:16 AM.
"I have slipped the surly bonds of earth...,
put out my hand and touched the face of God." J.G. Magee
This was my fifth Oshkosh trip and the best yet. The weather sure was great.
In no particular order, my observations:
- Too many golf carts. Its seems like every where you walk, you are seconds from getting flattened by one. Where are all these carts going? Most passengers were of the waist-size that suggests some walking would do them good.
- Food was great. I remember our first trip when all that you could get for lunch was a brat or a burger. All of the lunch food we ate was really good, with a nice variety.
- Chairs along the flightline: no bueno. Either you are there or you are not.
All in all a great week. My kids are already making plans for next year.
First off, hats off to EAA for making many much-needed improvements to AirVenture. Well done! Also, we love Jack Pelton, I hope he remains on. Thank you Zack and Hal (and the other moderators) for relaying the criticisms to EAA HQ.
My only negative experience happened when we went over to the Seaplane Base to have [what has always been] the best lunch at Airventure. We were SO very disappointed with Haase's service. They were very rude, woefully unprepared (i.e., out of most of what we wanted...and yes, I know they were only given 3 weeks notice about participating), served warm soda & water, and the supervisor/manager whateverthehellsheis was such an unbelievable wench that I will never give Haase any of my money again (as a vendor or the real Haase restaurant). The story goes that I had a piece of food stuck in my esophagus and couldn't "eject" it up or down. Usually when that happens I can chug some water and it will force the errant piece down; however, as I was being seen by the onsite Medic I sent my buddy over to PURCHASE a bottle of water. As he quickly approached the Haase counter and held out his money and said, "I need a bottle of water quick, my friend has a piece of food stuck in his throat." The wench [who was counting the money in the tip jar] slammed her tip money down and tersely said, "Can't you see I'm busy?!? The First Aid tent has free water." My buddy responded, "This is kind of an emergency, I'm not looking for FREE water, I want to purchase a bottle, right NOW!" She then proceeded to tell my buddy, "You're probably the one here yesterday that had my sister in tears!" [UNBELIEVABLE] He told her that we hadn't been to the SPB until today. She finally handed him a bottle and took the money.
Where was the famous SPB corn? Where was the famous SPB Friday night fish fry? I actually sought out the SPB Chairman, Paul Seehafer, to discuss the issues we had with the rudeness of the employees at Haase. He patiently listened, but we'll never know what happens for next year.
Overall, I think the food selection at AirVenture was pretty good. My wife and friend had hard times trying to find "healthy" (gluten-free and/or something not wrapped in a bun) choices other than a salad at Aces. It was always like an Easter-egg hunt to know which vendors "might" have something on the menu that she could eat.
We are already booked in our hotel for next year, see you then.
Sam Swift
EAA 626907
VAA 31122
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