The Good and Bad and Other of Oshkosh 2014

[mazdaP5]

I really liked the Heritage logo patches, pins, t-shirts, and hats, stylish.

[Fastcapy]

I was disappointed with no Duggy. My kids LOVE Duggy and were he wasn't there. As for the flying tent, I asked them on Facebook and they said They decided to not have a resale tent at AirVenture this year, but I was welcome to buy from their website... myself and others in my group mentioned how many of the vendors were rude and some couldn't seem to get off their phones to talk to customers...

[Floatsflyer]

myself and others in my group mentioned how many of the vendors were rude and some couldn't seem to get off their phones to talk to customers...

There are some exhibitors who are rude and arrogant and treat their potential customers with disdain, dismissiveness and as if they have some contagious disease. My advice is to tell as many as possible about those negative experiences so that others will not do business with them.

I have had 2 bad experiences with major exhibitors at Oshkosh, Icon and Cubcrafters and have been quite vocal(emails to the respective CEO's) setting out my grievances.

These are exceptions though, as overall I find exhibitors to be courteous, attentive, cooperative and conduct themselves in a professional business-like manner. This year we made some major purchases for our plane and hangar including an electric tug. Dealing with the 2 vendors was such a pleasure that they deserve high praise and mention here: Priceless Aviation Products and Aircraft Spruce.

[Jim Rosenow]

There are some exhibitors who are rude and arrogant and treat their potential customers with disdain, dismissiveness and as if they have some contagious disease.

I have to wonder if the vendor's 'attitude' could be linked to the increasing percentage of non-aviation folks wandering thru the exhibit halls.....Back in the day (Lordy, here I go again!), if you were at OSH, by definition (and membership) you were a potential 'real' customer.

Listing specific vendors for us who stood out (positively) during the week.....

Dennis at the Whelen tent.....had a very educational conversation with him regarding the company/family ownership background. Got invited to their party on Saturday night (probably helped that we have 3 of their LED landing lights). Was happy to learn that each and every bit of Whelen aviation stuff (including components) is made in the U.S.

Paraphrenalia (Softie parachutes).....Spent 45 minutes to an hour with the two guys and ordered a chute. Julie Clark (a customer) stopped by and chatted while we were there.

Gulf Coast Avionics.....had the best prices we could find on the field for 3 ANR headsets, and in stock at the show.

Overal we found the aviation vendors (don't even look at the other stuff) positive, except for some grumbling about the booth pricing structure.

Jim

[Fastcapy]

I know not all vendors were being jerks. MGL was very helpful, as was AeroLEDs. Of course Spruce was good as usual. Along with a bunch of others I talked with.

However, it seemed that there were a lot more jerks than years past. The Aveo guy was not friendly, same for the windsock guy. The Tecnam Aircraft guy couldn't even stop texting long enough to listen to my questions. The best was the one guy from a parts supplier, I already forgot the name, was not only rude but obnoxious and insulting as well. I outright told him he was a jerk.

[jjhoneck]

This was our 32nd OSH. It was wonderful, as always, and we are already making planes for OSH 15.

That said, there are always areas of improvement:

1. Rutted N40. Ever since Sloshkosh ripped up the field, everything is rutted on the taxiways and parts of the N40. The area needed to be rolled multiple times after a heavy rain before the show. We had to taxi our RV-8A at walking speed, for fear of a prop strike.

2. WiFi. It was pathetic, as always. We ended up setting up a hot spot with my 4G phone most days, which worked just fine. Either do Wifi right, or save the money and skip it entirely.

3. Electric scooters. I'm sure we all remember when scooters were for handicapped people. Now, it seems, the majority of them are used by obese people who can't be bothered with walking. After one of these jerks almost ran over my wife's foot in one of the exhibition hangars, I came close to decking him. There was no apology, or even an "excuse me" from most of these folks.

We even saw an entire family on them, as if they were go karts. The use of these things MUST be limited to those who qualify for a handicapped parking sticker, before someone gets hurt.

4. Golf carts. The ban on golf carts at airshow center was widely ignored. By the end of the week, bone weary after walking 35+ miles, we simply refused to let them pass. If they wanted to proceed, they had to go to the effort of steering around us, because we were tired of light-footing it out of their oh-so-important way all week. I would estimate we had a golf cart incursion every 1/10th to 1/4 mile of walking, so using 35 miles, we had between 120 and 350 encounters with the damned things, over the course of a week.

We've been saying this for over a decade now: This is EAA's top priority to fix on the grounds. I'm astounded that no one has been hurt or killed by these things.

(I live on an island where golf cart travel is the norm. Every year, tourists are seriously hurt, and every other year someone dies on them. They are fun, but not toys, and mixing them with 10,000 pedestrians is a recipe for disaster.)

5. Still no arrival photos. If EAA contracted with four photographers to take pics of every arrival, and put them up on the EAA website (in low res, of course) for purchase, they would make a freaking fortune. Every pilot I've mentioned this idea to has said they would buy a copy in a heartbeat, because flying into Oshkosh during the convention is such a badge of honor amongst pilots.

I can't believe EAA continues to miss this trick, year in and year out.

All this said, 2014 was a great show, probably the best ever! We are counting the days till EAA Oshkosh 2015!

[Mayhemxpc]

I try to be very upbeat about EAA and AirVenture. EAA is a great organization, I respect the job Jack Pelton has done, and my family and I think that AirVenture tops the list of vacation spots. (Well, my oldest son prefers Disneyworld, but that is because he is not paying for it.)

There are, however, some things that are becoming a serious distraction. The top of that list is the explosion of vehicles on the grounds. I and at least one other person mentioned elsewhere that it was not just golf carts on Boeing Plaza. On Friday and Saturday there was a full size Chrysler doing a very good impression of a very bad Florida driver stereotype. The golf carts are everywhere. I believe that most of the drivers are courteous and trying to drive responsibly. It only takes a percentage of the other kind and the more carts you have (increased exposure) the greater number of irresponsible actors and potential for harm. For the sake of safety and the reputation of EAA and the air show, something must be done.

The trams run well, frequently, and are about as handicap accessible as a gold cart. I admit that there is some need for AirVenture staff to be able to quickly move from spot to spot, but I don’t think as great a need as the number of staff vehicles indicate. Vendor carts appear to be a perk that is inappropriate. If vendors need to move materials around, they should do so after hours. Private use should be dictated by ADA requirements that cannot be met through other transportation. Note that I am not talking about powered chairs for the disabled (although those can be a real safety hazard, too.)

Now for the hammer. We know that EAA leadership reads these posts. There have been many posts about the danger of the proliferation of carts from people who are generally supportive of EAA management. Therefore, EAA leadership and AirVenture management has been made aware of a potential liability. When…not if, but when something happens, they cannot plead ignorance of the hazard.

On a different topic, I didn’t have the time to interact with many vendors. Those I did speak to were uniformly courteous and helpful. I make specific mention of the staff at ICOM, Aircraft Spruce, Gibson-Barnes, Redbird, and Bendix-King.

Oh, I would DEFINITELY pay (a reasonable amount) for a picture of my plane landing at AirVenture.

Chris Mayer
N424AF

[JimRice85]

The bad was I had to cancel my plans to attend this year. Flew my Cub up in 2012 and had a blast. I used an electric scooter which made my attendance possible. I'm a disabled vet having suffered a badly broken back and left ankle. I can walk for normal activities, but could never make it through OSH walking. Looking at me, I'm sure most folks wondered why I was riding rather walking. Sometime things aren't as the appear.

[jjhoneck]

The bad was I had to cancel my plans to attend this year. Flew my Cub up in 2012 and had a blast. I used an electric scooter which made my attendance possible. I'm a disabled vet having suffered a badly broken back and left ankle. I can walk for normal activities, but could never make it through OSH walking. Looking at me, I'm sure most folks wondered why I was riding rather walking. Sometime things aren't as the appear.

As we all understand, not all disabilities are obvious. If you have a handicapped parking sticker issued by the State, no one will begrudge your right to a scooter.

Frankly, if you can fold yourself in and out of a freaking Cub, you're doing better than me -- and my back is fine!

That all said, if you run over my wife's foot in Building C, there could be trouble...

[scuba72]

I have a 99% approval of Airventure this year. Transportation was great even though they did bunch up at times. I'm never in a hurry, so I just waited till an empty bus or tram showed up. Was offered a ride in a golf cart at least twice a day. As far as the air shows, I could care less. I don't watch them unless some thing interests me and that isn't too often. Thunderbird drew a whole lot of revenue for the EAA. If they want them again, go for it. Vendors that I saw interest in were very helpful. My kudos to Hartwig Fuel Cells and Hi-Fold door.

Now for the 1% bad. Non aviation vendors. Not the ones in the fly market, but the ones in the hangers. They should be on the midway at a fair, not Airventure. When I walked through the hangers it seemed like every turn some one jumped out and tried to have me try their pain relief device or wanted to clean my glasses. I got so fed up after a couple of days that I told one of them to put the device on himself because he was the only pain I was feeling. He seemed kind of confused. A couple days later I told one of them if I could drop my drawers and have him stick it on my derriere that he should vanish from my eyes. Again I don't think he understood my meaning.

EAA, I know you are in the business of making money, but keep them type of exhibitors out of the main hangers and move them to the fly market where they belong.

Dave in Missouri