I have been checking the Oshkosh webcams every day all this week. Lots of cars and golfcart activity, but not a single airplane movement was seen in hours of looking.
Why do they need a tower?
Sure, a temporary tower is needed one week of the year (like at Arlington), but why have a tower 51 weeks of the year?
Must be boring sitting in the Tower. The operations are way below most airports that don't have towers.
I feel the $31 million spent on the tower could have built a dozen new airports.
Bill,
KOSH is not dead by any means the rest of the year, it is nice and quiet though.
So why is a tower needed? Towers intimidate many pilots that only fly for fun.Originally Posted by Aaron Novak
Consider that private aviation is entering a slow death. And EAA created the Sport Pilot program to stimulate entry.
But Basic Sport Pilots can't fly into towered airports. Does keeping a tower at Osh help stimulate Sport activity at Oshkosh? No, it prevents these operations.
51 weeks of the year, ultralights are not allowed at Oshkosh. (Maybe with special clearance)
But during Airventure, ultralights and Sport Pilots do get a special FAA waiver to enter without radios and can enter only on the busiest week of the year!
Isn't it odd that the headquarters of EAA does not have a year round Sport and ultralight landing strip on site?
If they can't eliminate the tower, at least they could provide for year-round non-radio Sport operations in a designated area like they do for the week of Airventure.
Bill,
There are other strips nearby for that. The headquarters of the eaa is the museum building, not the airport. Honestly I cannot understand why this bothers you? Is KOSH your home field? Whats the issue with a radio, I know a few guys that carry a handheld and nothing more.
Last edited by Aaron Novak; 07-24-2014 at 11:40 AM.
I can think of a handful of airports in the region that have a tower with light traffic. Then there are some 'uncontrolled' fields that seem to have more traffic. I do think that certain types of operators(121/135 flights) would rather operate to a controlled field.
We had the sequester last year that almost closed a few towers. I didn't lose any sleep over it.
Reminds me of a conversation I had with a forestry official when they changed the regulations to ban ATVs from many Federal 'Forest Service' roads. Mind you these roads may see one vehicle ever 30 minutes(or less) during the off season. The main reason listed was safety from collision. His response was that I could send a letter to headquarters in Wash D.C..
Look at the runway config at KOSH. You have 4 runways, the longest of which is nearly invisible from the others. Plus you have Pioneer Field just over the trees. I am not particularly a fan of towered fields, but I would say that the runway configuration argues for a Tower. The last place we need a mid-air or crash due to runway incursion is at the EAA HQ's home airport.
OTOH, I really have a hard time understanding why there is a control tower at airports that have only a single runway, no matter how much traffic.
As a tenant at kosh, I will tell you summer months its a bit slow. However, when the tech school is in session they fly a ton. I also totally agree with Ted. In addition to the runway layout there is a ton of places that there would be conflicts between aircraft with ground (taxi) ops. The layout is somewhat complicated, especially to pilots who haven't been here before and don't have the diagram on hand. I hear people needing progressive taxi instructions all the time. So it isn't all about the amount of traffic rather the airport layout that I like the tower here.
As for pilots being afraid of towered airports, that's just an excuse. Oshkosh tower is not like o'hare or even Milwaukee. It is pretty laid back and easy going. There is nothing be afraid of.
Also, I may be wrong but I though sport pilots could get a tower endorsement to fly into towered fields.
Btw, last evening there was a ton of local traffic flying around tying to get in a last flight or two before the notam goes into effect
My home airport is Jefferson County International (0S9). No radio is required here. So we have a lot of vintage, antique, sport and ultralight traffic. The museum here doesn't use radios in any of their older aircraft, including trainers.
I honestly can't understand why you feel it is no problem that these vintage, antique, sport and ultralight aircraft don't have access to the airport at Oshkosh, year round.
If they can allow no radio access during busy Airventure, why not a similar procedure for year round?
Sure, a bit of common sense is needed, such as keeping the sport planes separated (much as they mandate in the NOTAM). Just keep the same procedure all year.
Arlington has multiple intersecting runways with extra parallel grass strips for airplanes and another strip just for gliders.
Pilots seem to manage without a tower.
Sir,
All of those aircarft have access to KOSH year round. Why do you think otherwise?
It is true that many pilots prefer to seek out other, turf fields in the area for their flight ops... but they are very welcome at KOSH.
Last edited by Jonathan Harger; 07-24-2014 at 03:47 PM.
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