Flying Into EAA AirVenture At Wittman Regional Airport Can Be A Fun Adventure If You Prepare For It By Understanding The Procedures

This is the first of a 6-part series by Earl Downs that we hope will help pilots who have never flown into EAA AirVenture Oshkosh and landed at Wittman Regional Airport. The remaining parts of our “how to” series will be published every Friday through July 1.

For a recreational flyer, flying into Wittman Regional Airport during EAA AirVenture is part of the adventure. You’ll probably hear some wild stories about the arrival and departure procedures but if you are prepared it’s a lot of fun. Here’s a few hints to help make things smoother for your trip to AirVenture 2016.

The NOTAM for this event is so extensive that it is not issued by FAA flight service over the phone. The NOTAM can be downloaded from the EAA or FAA website and you must have the current one. At first, the sheer size of the NOTAM seems daunting but that’s only because it applies to everything from ultralights arrivals, to warbirds, to instrument approaches.

Section out the pages that don’t apply to you and assemble a binder of the pages that do apply. Highlighting the key parts of the diagrams helps. Each diagram contains radio frequency information. Consider transposing this to a quick reference card that fits in your shirt pocket. Get organized. Review the other sections of the NOTAM to see how other patterns interface with yours.

A radio is not required but it’s a good idea to have one. The controllers know this is a challenge for some pilots and they do everything possible to help. For the most part, you listen 99% of the time and do not reply unless requested to do so. Identification and replies are commonly performed by rocking your wings (a snappy 30 degree bank in each direction is your answer to most radio calls, so practice this). If you are flying a retractable gear plane, they may ask you to drop the gear for identification.

The approach patterns are flown by referencing ground checkpoints and you should highlight them on your chart ahead of time. GPS locations are also provided to help you find key points, but it’s important that you look out the window and find the landmarks; don’t make this a ‘heads down’ GPS procedure. You will jump on the arrival track at the town of Ripon and the next important place to identify is Fisk. Fisk is where the radio controllers will pick you up and start issuing instruction.

Don’t show up with low fuel because you may have to hold or go to an alternate.

The arrival procedure brings aircraft in at two different altitudes based on indicated airspeed (not GPS groundspeed). There is a 90 knot altitude and a 135 knot altitude. Slower aircraft should use the 90 knot altitude and try to fly as close to 90 knots as possible.

Get the information, practice your piloting skills, and join with us in the fun at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2016. You’ll learn, you’ll have fun, and you’ll build memories that will last a lifetime.

In upcoming AeroSports Updates we’ll discuss how you can practice and improve your flying skills and how to apply crew resource management to make you an AirVenture pro.

FMI: AirVenture NOTAM