Mon, Jul 26, 2010
Soggy Ground Delays Arriving Oshkoshers
By Chris Batcheller
It's officially day one, and driving in you notice something out
of place. The mass of airplanes and tents that normally
occupy the North 40 camping area is desolate. Massive rains have
made the camping grounds too soggy for tents, much less
airplanes.
Monday morning at the EAA Media Briefing, Dick Knapinski EAA's
head of Media and Public Relations commented on how the EAA is
handling arriving aircraft to the first day of AirVenture. The
EAA's plan is to open the airport to show plane arrivals Monday
morning around 1000 after a final evaluation. Knapinski defined a
show plane as one that would be judged, and normally parked along
the 18-36 flight line. These include homebuilts, vintage airplanes
and warbirds.
Airplanes trying to get to the air show have been displaced at
several area airports. Airplanes have been parked and folks have
been camping at Fond Du Lac on runway 9-27. Airplanes have also
flown in to and parked at Appleton, WI, although no one can camp
there because it has commercial airline service. Manitowoc,WI has
turned into "the place to be" with several hundred airplanes parked
and people camping. Aero-News has heard reports that folks at
Mattatuck have been using Facebook and Twitter to form new friends
and stay in touch.
Airplanes and tents aren't the only thing that have had trouble
getting into the show. Motorhomes have been displaced to "any place
with a large hard surface parking," notes Knapinski. He said that
the volunteers are checking the grounds often and that these folks
will be brought in as the grounds dry out on a first come first
serve basis. He also mentioned that the Oshkosh Community was being
very accommodating working with the EAA to allowing motorhomes to
park offsite.
Tent campers and pop-up campers are being accepted at this time.
Knapinski also mentioned that camping registration will be shut
down when it's too dark to see where the standing water is. So you
if you need to register for camping, get there in the daylight.
Knapinksi mentioned the volunteers are doing an outstanding job
at this year's AirVenture. He said that the volunteers have been
very dedicated and sometimes putting in 20 hour days helping
everyone get situated as they arrive at AirVenture.
Fortunately, the weather both Sunday and Monday are going a long
way towards drying out the grounds.
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