Fly in "Protest"

[Jeff Point]

Hey Fred, good to hear from you!

Interesting claim that KOSH is the third busiest in the state outside of the convention. I've done some searching and can't find any data to confirm or refute this claim. Do you have some data on this? Does it include operations at Pioneer airport?

Not trying to start a debate, but I'm genuinely curious about this. There are several other airports in WI that I'd bet money are busier (Waukesha, Janesville, Timmerman for starters.)

[Bill Berson]

Airnav has FAA operations numbers. An operation is a single landing or takeoff.
KOSH has 209 per day average. In comparison Arlington has 366 per day with no tower.
https://www.airnav.com/airport/KAWO

[Fred Stadler]

I've done some searching and can't find any data to confirm or refute this claim. Do you have some data on this? Does it include operations at Pioneer airport?

Hi Jeff,
An FAA website that allows searching of traffic counts records is https://aspm.faa.gov/opsnet/sys/Main.asp. The site is a little quirky, but allows traffic count selection by day, month, or year. Of course the data are only as good as what was recorded by the facilities and there are some apparent errors. For example, the AirVenture 2019 traffic counts were not included for OSH. And yes, because Pioneer Airport is within the OSH Class D airspace and Pioneer operations are in coordination with the OSH tower, those operations are included in the OSH counts. Activity is not tracked for the hours of tower closure.

Here, for example is what is shown for some Wisconsin airports in 2019:
Milwaukee Mitchell (MKE): 108,574
Madison (MSN): 85,193
Oshkosh (OSH): 59,714
Janesville (JVL): 57,032
Waukesha (UES): 46,683
Green Bay (GRB) 45,579
Appleton (ATW): 39,935
Timmerman (MWC): 37,471

[Bill Berson]

That appears to be total tower operations. Fond du lac is almost as busy (173 day).

[Jeff Point]

Interesting data. I'm glad I was able to contribute a couple dozen operations last week.

[Airmutt]

At 0945 the barricaded Bifrost to Aviation Asgard came down. OK an EAA employee walked over and removed the sandbagged barrier to the museum. Witnessed by myself and another guy. Then got a free temperature check before I was allowed to park my truck.
Have the “honor” of claiming to be the first non employee to enter since it’s closure. Meandered around the museum for an hour or so. The staff was friendly and had some nice chats with folks. When I left there were about 15-20 cars in the parking lot. Drove around to see what was up and noticed a few things. Construction on the bus park is underway in the Gray Lot. Didn’t notice any improvement to the UL/LSA strip as was suggested in different thread on this forum. Did notice a significant security presence on the grounds, even at remote location around Camp Scholler. Asked if I could walk from the Bus Park to the Main Gate to take a photo and was told no. Did notice a cluster of campers on the grounds near the volunteer kitchen/mess and the south side of the former Blue Lot. Where did they come from?? Are they EAAs’, volunteers’, employees’???
Kinda got my Oshkosh fix so all is right in the world

[Mayhemxpc]

I just got back from our camping trip to MI, IL, and then a stay in Dayton. Just like AV, I flew the route with one son and my wife and other son came by mini-van. The flyers got to make a refuel stop in OSH on JUL 30. By chance, I even got to fly the Warbirds Arrival. Descent through the clouds included turning southbound along the east side of Winnebago. Approach tells me to turn right and proceed direct to OSH. What is in front of me but Warbird Island. "OSH Tower, N424AF is a Black O-2 over Warbird Island." Intent was to have lunch at West End Pizza, but they were closed. So off to Ardy and Ed's!

Aluminum Overcast is taxiing in the background of the picture. When we left, we took off right behind her.

Before we left home, my wife asked why I was flying, other than riding with her.