Mass Arrivals Mark Opening Days Of AirVenture 2004

By ANN Contributor Christopher Armstrong

Almost as interesting as the flight demonstrations and static displays as AirVenture 2004 begins is the mass arrival of aircraft here. Hundreds of Piper Comanches, Beech Bonanzas, Mooneys and Stinsons began arriving on Sunday.

Since 1990 when the American Bonanza Society members organized their first "Bonanzas to Oshkosh" mass arrival so they could park and camp together, several other aircraft type groups also arrive en masse. The Bonanzas "B2OSH " was the biggest of these groups again this year, arriving on Sunday with around 80 aircraft. That was down from 132 in 1995, but impressive nonetheless. Group arrivals have been limited to 100 planes since that record year.

The Bonanza flight departed from Rockford (IL), and the formation was fully formed up about halfway to Oshkosh.  The B2OSH aircraft arrived in consecutive flights of three aircraft with a leader and two wingmen.

The Mooney caravan also arrived Sunday with 42 planes.  This year the departure point was Madison-Dane County Regional Airport (WI), 62 nautical miles from Oshkosh. Organizers of the Mooney caravan intentionally limited the size of the event in 2003 to increase safety, after some pilots found themselves out of position in the much larger formation.

Flying these large, loose formations takes considerable planning and significant piloting skill.  The B2OSH group requires pilots who participate to have several hours of formation flight time before participating, and they fly a very specific formation.  The Mooney flight uses a much looser formation with greater aircraft spacing to ensure safety. But as the formation got bigger some pilots inadvertently overtook the lead aircraft. The reduced size and improved procedures adopted in 2003 resulted in a nearly flawless caravan. 

This was only the second year for the Piper Comanche mass arrival. Even so, 30 Comanches were expected.  The Stinson group arrived Monday (below) with between 25 and 30 planes. Other aircraft type clubs are organizing and timing their flights to arrive together for the show. 

In addition to the general aviation mass arrivals, the several formation flights of warbirds arrived Monday including around 30 T-6 Texan trainers, and a flight of 15 CJ6 Nanchangs (below).

With over 10,000 aircraft expected to fly into Oshkosh this year, the groups' efforts to organize prior to arrival so they all get to Oshkosh at roughly the same time means parking is a bit more orderly than in years past. This should be great not only for the pilots who get to camp with their groups, but for airshow attendees who can see and compare all of their favorite type of aircraft without searching all over the airport.

FMI: http://www.b2osh.org/Kite_article.htm