AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021 - 22

WAYPOINTS
The air camper
experience
Arriving for the big show on six wheels
instead of three
DRIVING NORTH ON POBEREZNY ROAD in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, I
saw at first a few camping trailers in a field, and then a few more,
and soon, acres of vehicles-trailers and motorhomes as far as I
could see as I approached the entrance to Camp Scholler. And
this was on Saturday, two days before the start of EAA AirVenture
2021. Over the next few days, the field would fill with thousands
more vehicles. On the other side of the fence, thousands of tents
cropped up under wings. A city of 40,000 campers sprung up like
Brigadoon for this one-week event, and then they were gone.
By every measure, the world's largest aviation event was a huge
success. Even if attendance hadn't topped 600,000-near the 2019
record-the show would have been a success after a year of lockdowns
because of the pandemic. People were overjoyed with the
opportunity to meet with friends they hadn't seen in two years.
It was like a giant family reunion with none of the drama of Aunt
Tilly drinking too much and spilling the family secrets.
Flying solo in the Winnebago for 15 hours over two
days, I was more than ready for a break when I
found my spot on 22nd Street.
I wheeled my motorhome into the " express " lane at the campground
and was soon backing into my camping spot on 22nd Street
just south of Lindbergh Avenue. The street is simply a grass pathway
with campsites on either side. In this case, the campsites
included water and electric hookups. In 32 trips to the big show,
this was my first time camping and first time not arriving by air.
My first trip to Oshkosh was on the Concorde in 1988. A group
of Brits out of London had chartered the British Airways SST that
was to be on display for the week. Some fool got off in New York,
leaving a seat open. Richard Collins, our editor at the time, heard
about the empty seat and asked me, then just four months into the
job, if I wanted to take it. Of course, I did, and we arrived in style,
making a couple of full afterburning passes up Runway 36 before
taxiing to what is now Boeing Plaza and disembarking before a
crowd of hundreds of thousands. Since then, I've only missed two
shows. In 1993, we were closing on a new house and moving on
August 1, which was in the middle of the show that year. A sideways
glance by my wife told me that marital bliss was in peril if
22
AOPA PILOT / October 2021
BY THOMAS B. HAINES / Editor in Chief
I were to go to the show, so I stayed home and carted boxes. My
grandmother died the week before the show in 1996. Her funeral
was Tuesday of Oshkosh. I was on an airliner early the next morning
to Milwaukee, still making the second half of the event; my only
other time arriving in an airliner.
The first few years I landed at Oshkosh, but most years I would
take the easy way out and go to Appleton instead. It's fun to fly the
Fisk arrival-and every pilot should do it once-but weather delays
and air traffic congestion can make it stressful. Appleton and Fond
du Lac are good alternatives.
I'd always been curious about the camping experience at
AirVenture, but never brave enough to camp under a wing. So after
having sold my Beechcraft Bonanza A36 in May and not yet in possession
of the newer one I am buying with two partners (a subject
of an upcoming column), it seemed a good year to give camping
a go, especially since I had purchased a used motorhome at the
end of 2019. Flying solo in the Winnebago for 15 hours over two
days, I was more than ready for a break when I found my spot on
22nd Street. I was quickly greeted by another AOPA staffer who
was parked nearby. Several other AOPA staff had rented campers
for the week and placed them in the same neighborhood. Turns
out, there are RV companies that will not only rent you a unit for
the week, they will bring it in and set it up for you-a nice turnkey
solution for those new to the whole camping thing.
My curiosity about Oshkosh camping was rewarded by a very
pleasant experience. When the events at the show wind down in
the late afternoon, things wind up at the campground. Fire pits,
grills, and camping chairs appear as friends old and new gather to
talk even more aviation. Adult beverages cause the stories to get
more interesting with each telling, but no one seems to get out of
control and most nights by 10 p.m. the place is quiet and peaceful.
Everyone needs to get rested up because the yodeling starts at
7 a.m. (yes, yodeling over the loudspeaker system is a thing-perhaps
one thing we could do without).
So even three decades in, there is much more for me to
discover at this remarkable
annual pilgrimage
for pilots. Hope to see you
there next year.
thomas.haines@aopa.org
Editor in Chief TOM HAINES
has been covering general
aviation events for more than
35 years.
AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021

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