Best 2 Days to go to AirVenture

[michaelulch]

Good afternoon,
I will be travelling from out of town to AirVenture 2019 and if I had ONLY 2 days (consecutively) to spend at AirVenture, which 2 days would that be? Mon & Tues? Wed & Thurs? Or the weekend? Any thoughts/advice?
Thanks!

[malexander]

My vote would be Wed/Thur. See the night airshow. Otherwise.....................all of them. :)

[CHICAGORANDY]

Especially if weather becomes a concern, many pilots start bugging out Friday and Saturday, Come Sunday things are definitely winding down.

Tuesday-Thursday is a prime time IMHO. Highest number of planes on the ground and the joint is hoppin' - lol

[rwanttaja]

Yesterday and the day before yesterday.

You know, when you tell people what fun you're having at Airventure, they always say, "Hey, you should have been here yesterday....." :-)

Ron "Ice cream yesterday, ice cream tomorrow, never ice cream today" Wanttaja

[GeorgeP]

I'd agree with previous recommendations that you attend on Tue/Wed or Wed/Thu.... and make plans to attend for the whole week for your following visit.

[Airmutt]

Tuesday/Wednesday. Things start to thin out after mid week. If there is a big draw like the Blue Angels on Friday or Saturday then the locals mob the place and traffic is awful. If you are in the buying mode the end of the week is your best bet as the vendors are more willing to wheel and deal because they don’t want to ship their stock back.
Two days is not enough to see everything. Have a plan as to what you want to see: Vintage, Warbirds, ULs, Experimental, Vendors, Museum, Seaplane Base, etc.

[martymayes]

my vote is "both of them!"

[Bill Berson]

The Sunday before opening is fun to watch arrivals. Get two days for the one day price, I think. (Sunday and Monday)
Best to check the schedule for events of interest, which is usually up in June.

[dougbush]

Monday and Tuesday. Otherwise, you won’t know what you missed at the beginning. But you will hear about what you missed later, which will be a lot.

[CHICAGORANDY]

To the OP, if this will be your first visit? A couple quick tips. The event space is MUCH-MUCH larger than you think - wear mighty comfy walking shoes, a good hat, sunscreen galore, carry a small water bottle and bring raingear. It usually does rain at least one day, though not every year.

I'm a tram conductor and they are a great way to get from one area of interest to the next, but if you only ride the trams you will miss 90% of what is available to see. The EAA website will have maps available to study and plan..... the best kept secret of the maps? North is left...… North usually is at the top of maps, but not here since this event is held along the land west of the north/south runway.

[DaleB]

Monday and Tuesday. Otherwise, you won’t know what you missed at the beginning. But you will hear about what you missed later, which will be a lot.

Of course if you go Monday and Tuesday, you'll be hearing later about all the stuff you missed Wednesday and Thursday. I think any two days would be good... but three would be a lot better.

[Bill Greenwood]

Get the schedule, I try to avoid the days that are mostly jet acts and jet teams due to the noise which is loud enough to damage hearing. I avoid those days or leave befrore they start. Some people want to see those acts.
You cant see half in 2 days but can have a good time. The seaplane base is nice,takes a half day.Try to walk once the length from warbirds on the north to antiques down south. There are a hundred fourms, some really good, some trying to sell you something. Id take a Tri Motor ride, $75 and only takes half hour. A lot of people watch the night airshow, which was Thur. Many of those are people who watch from outside the airport, thus no admission charge. The ultralights have their own runway at the south end and are fun to watch early mornings and a trip to Pioneer airport is a trip back in time. And one the benefits not obvious from outside is the people. EAA is like a large small town with a lot of people who may be different, even from different countries , but are there to have a good time and mostly get along in doing so. Talking to folks on the trams or sharing a table at lunch is interesting.

[keen9]

What are you interested in? The responses so far are all from EAA types (like me!) giving what they want to see. If you are more of the casually interested in airplanes type, you may be one of those who prefer to be there Saturday, and not move from airshow center. The airshow does tend to be a little bigger Saturday. The warbirds show might be a little bigger than the one they do earlier, etc. As has been said, Sunday is not a good day unless you are into airplane shadows (the non-trampled grass left where an airplane was).

If you are a pilot, interested in becoming one, interesting in homebuilding, or just generally spending time with airplane people, all of the suggestions above are good!

[CHICAGORANDY]

"
I try to avoid the days that are mostly jet acts and jet teams due to the noise which is loud enough to damage hearing."

Not kidding - I'm there for nine days and my Howard Leight banded earplugs are always at the ready.

[Bill Greenwood]

As for Sunday, most years Ive probably flown home on Sun morning, but this year the weather was good and looked good for Mon so I stayed Sunday and went down to Osh and I m glad I did. There was still a lot to see, I went both the museum and the seaplane base, what a nice place to relax away from the noise and have a quiet lunch, they were still in full operation. I took a flight in the Ford Tri Motor and went through a couple of vendor hangars. In all it was a less crowded and enjoyable day, and I may do it again this year. I probably wouldn't come just for Sunday, but it was good if you were already there.

[Mayhemxpc]

I think that all of the suggestions so far are great. Especially the ones that advise you to wait until the schedule is out. Some thoughts:
- Sun/Mon. Great idea of two days for the price of one. However, some of the best stuff doest arrive until later in the week. Also, for 2018, the vending areas an the central plaza were mostly closed to facilitate vendor set-up. I imagine it all be the same this year,
- Wed/Thursday: If you want to see the night show, it is best to not have to concern yourself with the traffic jam leaving the area after the night show. In years past, jet day has been Thursday. If you want to see the jets, great. If you want to preserve your hearing, leave at the start of the airshow. You would have seen the airshow on Wed. anyway.

As far as two days being enough, it is definitely NOT enough. BUT, my first visit was a day trip and I had a great time and lots of memories..especially flying in and out. My next visit, YEARS later, was 4 days. I thought it was long enough, but I just chose the wrong days. Third visit, with family, 4 days again. Decision: Stay the whole week. Every year since then...arrive on Saturday and stay until the next Saturday -- with Sunday as a rain day option.

[FlyingRon]

I'd do Wed/Thu or Sat/Sun so you could take in the night airshow.

[CHICAGORANDY]

There are a surprising number of folks on site the Saturday and Sunday pre-opening day.

I predict that again the vendor areas will be off-limits those two days. Our tram system was running last year but not at full strength and with a re-route on the yellow. Vendors were given highest priority for road access, IMHO rightfully so. there is an unbelievable amount of logistical effort to create that city in just a few days and it IS fun to watch.

There will be fully-staffed tram service starting Monday morning when the gates open.

[FlyingRon]

The attempt to keep people out of the "vendor" area preshow last year was a confused nightmare.

Still there's lots going on outside the vendor area before the show. There's a good number of people (at least down in Vintage) who arrive early, do Monday, and then leave Tuesday morning.

Of course then there are people like us who arrive a week before the show and stay through the bitter end.

[rwanttaja]

Of course then there are people like us who arrive a week before the show and stay through the bitter end.
The term may be more appropriate than you realize.

Most folks don't know the etymology of "the bitter end." Like many terms like this, it comes from the sailing ship days.

Back in the days of sail, all the ropes on a ship were made of natural fibers. These fibers would, of course, tend to rot and fray in the working maritime environment.

Prime victim, of course, were the anchor cables. They were immersed in sea water, submerged in mud, passing into and out of the ship through tight, sharply-angled fairleads that mechanically chafed the rope every time the anchor was dropped or raised. The ship side of the cable was wrapped and tied around a very solid structure in the bowels of the ship, called the "bitts."

Ships would carry quite a bit of anchor rope, but typically only used a portion of it. Typically, the amount of cable used depended on the depth of water, and the sea conditions when anchored. Too little rope, and the anchor would tend to be hauled upward as the ship moved with the sea. Too much, and changing currents would cause the ship to swivel in a wide arc.

There was really only one time when ALL the cable was used: Severe storms. They'd let it all out so the pull on the anchor was at the lowest possible angle. They'd let all the cable, out, leaving only that portion that was actually tied to the ship... the "bitter end."

Sailors actually *liked* the bitter end. The bitter end had been well-protected through most of its life. It had been dry, it hadn't been in the mud, and, especially, it hadn't been chafed going into and out of the ship. So while the storms threatened...the bitter end gave them the best chance at survival.

So I hate seeing the term used negatively. Here's to the "bitter end" volunteers at Oshkosh!
http://www.wanttaja.com/pilot_beer4.gif

Ron Wanttaja

[CHICAGORANDY]

My tram conductor microphone and I spend some of the best 9 days of the year at AirVenture - I can hardly wait.

[PJZajkowski]

I would say definitely NOT the ending weekend. Saturday may be okay, but Sunday would be a real disappointment. On Sunday everyone is ready to go home, a lot of the exhibitors are packing up, or out checking out what is left of the show, the Ultralight field is shutdown, seminars are shutdown or nearly so, Aeromart is gone (gone on Saturday).

If you are flying in, landing at OSH, and can't be there Sunday (day before opening day) you might want to avoid Monday and Tuesday because the airplane parking and camping will probably be full.

I'm there for the whole show!

[FlyingRon]

Usually (at least down in Vintage) we start to have departures on Tuesday (people come way early, socialize, hit one day of the exhibit buildings and leave). This opens up some spaces as we start to back fill.

[skyfixer8]

Ge Randy, hope you got some better jokes this time LOL

[CHICAGORANDY]

In the off months I always collect new material in preparation - some of my oldies and goodies will remain a part of my tour set, but I DO rotate in new stuff - not saying they are 'better', just new - lol

[Bill Greenwood]

Randy, do we get audience participation on your tram? That is if you asked over the mike, "Folks hold up you hands if you'd really like to hear some really corny jokes? Ok, we've got to keep you amused for that long shift. I have found most of the tram drivers to be nice folks like yourself, but there is one woman that is an exception, she just always seemed to be in a bad mood and has a really bossy manner of talking to people. I don't have a name, but is this by any chance the one who caused so much trouble when she worked up at north parking a few years back? After multiple complaints over at least 2 years, EAA removed her, but I don't know if she is still on the field. It was said she was related to someone in EAA hierarchy which was how she got in and the winter job was a prison guard, not making that up.

[troy_m]

Randy, do we get audience participation on your tram? That is if you asked over the mike, "Folks hold up you hands if you'd really like to hear some really corny jokes? Ok, we've got to keep you amused for that long shift. I have found most of the tram drivers to be nice folks like yourself, but there is one woman that is an exception, she just always seemed to be in a bad mood and has a really bossy manner of talking to people. I don't have a name, but is this by any chance the one who caused so much trouble when she worked up at north parking a few years back? After multiple complaints over at least 2 years, EAA removed her, but I don't know if she is still on the field. It was said she was related to someone in EAA hierarchy which was how she got in and the winter job was a prison guard, not making that up. Bill, I think I may have run into that bossy woman last year. I was waiting for a tram by the tower stop, and the one I was waiting for didn't park in the designated area. This lady came over and asked the tram driver "Why are you parked here?", and the tone in which she asked it was really rude! I think the response she got was that they were told to park there.

[CHICAGORANDY]

"
Randy, do we get audience participation on your tram? That is if you asked over the mike, "Folks hold up you hands if you'd really like to hear some really corny jokes?"

I have on MANY tram runs asked that very question over the mike, "Items of interest and crummy jokes, or just items of interest?" Sometimes I even go with the outcome of that vote - LOL. During my 'off-duty' time I can be found roaming the grounds to learn where things are and what airplanes and vendors are in the tram passenger's field of view, I take notes and then memorize the data for presentation during each run, in between the ALWAYS G-Rated mirth-making. Folks seem to appreciate it. I spend 6-10+ hours each of the nine days I'm at AirVenture as a tram conductor. I really enjoy interacting with people, and if I didn't have 'fancy patter' I'd just be some mope getting dragged around by a John Deere only announcing stops. Yuck.

And YES, I think I know exactly who the 'charming' lady you are referencing is. lol

[skyfixer8]

Randy, one thing i noticed when helping out with airplane greeters on north 40 at night is the cemetary across the street has LED lights on almost all the headstones there. At times when letting my conductor drive to give me a break I have told people about that and at night, I will see people wandering around in that area to check them out.

[CHICAGORANDY]

I tell passengers it's where they put the people who DON'T laugh at my jokes.