Oshkosh taxiing

[rwarre]

First time to Osh with my RV7A. I am concerned about getting to a parking spot through the field, pot holes, whatever. For those of you who have done this before, how is the field surface and is there any thing I should know ahead of time after landing. Thanks

[David-aviator]

Originally Posted by rwarre

First time to Osh with my RV7A. I am concerned about getting to a parking spot through the field, pot holes, whatever. For those of you who have done this before, how is the field surface and is there any thing I should know ahead of time after landing. Thanks

Bring a tow bar. It is sometimes very useful in getting parked. The surface is generally in pretty good shape, especially for a RV.

One year they had a snow fence up on a taxi way to control traffic. I know a guy who damaged a wing tip hitting it.

Beware of snow fences at OSH in July.

[alcladrv]

The last time I flew into Airventure, I landed my -7A on Runway 27. Of course, they want you to turn into the grass as quickly as possible after landing. I was close enough to a regular taxiway, so I turned off 27 the to the north onto the taxiway. So far so good, but it was short-lived.

Not 50 feet off the runway, I was directed into the grass to taxi around the end of 27, past the North 40 camping area and finally, after taxiing over a mile on the rough, undulating grass, I got to a hard surface taxiway and, eventually, to Homebuilt camping. That long taxiing on the grass was agonizingly brutal for both me and the plane, with the stick full aft the entire time. I commiserated later with Ken Scott at the Vans tent, who had the same experience.

Fortunately, there was no damage to the plane. The ground was certainly firm enough. With full aft stick, the nosewheel was unloaded most of the time. Adding power at key times helped lighten the nosewheel.

The whole point of this is: 'Don't do what I did.' Figure out in advance where you're parking place will be and try to minimize taxi time on grass. It's also the luck of the draw. I had requested of the Fisk controllers to go to 36, but was told to proceed to 27.

Looking back, I think I could have made a left hand turn off of 27 into grass, which would have helped greatly (planning ahead).

Everybody finds there way to enjoy and deal with Airventure. I've been to Airventure in 30 of the past 35 years, either flying or driving. My goal was to build my RV-7A and fly it into OSH, which I've done twice and camped in Homebuilt camping each time.

I'll continue attending Airventure, but if I fly-in, I'll be parking my -7A at Appleton to remove extra risk that I don't need.

Mike

[sprucemoose]

Randy,

There is nothing like flying into Oshkosh for the first time in your homebuilt. I mean that in every sense of the word; while nothing beats the feeling of accomplishment, the procedures there are unlike anywhere else you've ever flown. You really need to familiarize yourself with how things work. Start with the reading list on this thread:

http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...ead.php?t=8960

That should keep you busy for an hour and answer most of your questions.

[plehrke]

Originally Posted by alcladrv

That long taxiing on the grass was agonizingly brutal for both me and the plane, with the stick full aft the entire time.
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I'll continue attending Airventure, but if I fly-in, I'll be parking my -7A at Appleton to remove extra risk that I don't need.

Same experiences. My first flight to OSH in my 6A required lots of "off-roading". My wife labeled the picture on our website "4-wheeling in a 3-wheeler". I am sure it felt worse then it was as the spring gear amplify the bumps.
Last year I decided to go into Appleton. Great experience, trouble free, simple, but not OSH.
This year I am flying back into OSH. Having the plane on the field parked with 200 other RVs and the challange of flying in and out are well worth the 4-wheeling.

[Walt]

This will be our 6th year with our 7A in HBC, all but one of those times I was able to use 18/36 which keeps you on the hard surface until the camp ground. As noted above if you get stuck with 27 exit left into the grass asap, the closer to the approch end the better.

Just taxi slow, don't get in a hurry and use nice gentle turns when in the grass. When we arrive we usually have about 10-15 gals of fuel remaining and the cargo is loaded so the aft CG helps to keep the load off the nose.

When leaving with full tanks (and more goodies in the back) once you get out of the HBC area it's all hard surface.

[scard]

Originally Posted by alcladrv

The last time I flew into Airventure, I landed my -7A on Runway 27. Of course, they want you to turn into the grass as quickly as possible after landing. I was close enough to a regular taxiway, so I turned off 27 the to the north onto the taxiway. So far so good, but it was short-lived.
....
Mike

We had exactly the same experience last year. Not fun at all. Although, I'm not sure it is wise to exit left if the controllers are telling everybody to exit right. Note, as you're exiting, you're in an FAA movement area where instructions are real clear. If the instruction is to exit left OR right, I now know which way I'm going. Once off the runway, we're in a non-movement area where there is a little more flexibility it would seem. I think my plan if the same thing were to happen again is something like: If told to exit Runway 9-27 to the north side, once clear, turn to taxi eastbound where there is more hard surface, as opposed to turning to taxi westbound around the north-west end of R27. Maybe there are other perils with that plan that hopefully someone will make clear before I attempt to execute it . This is one thing that would be really nice for us RV-A drivers to get figured out before arrival.

[Kevin Horton]

My concern is whether I am going to beat the heck out of the bottom of my wheel pants as I leave the runway and drop down onto the grass. I fitted my wheel pants lower than I should have - if I did it again I'd put them at least an inch higher than they are now.

[Gary Baker]

taxi around the east side of 9/27 to get to HBC parking/camping. You have to taxi around the runway on the west end of the field, as far as I know. In thirty years of going, I don't remember seeing anyone taxi around that area who wasn't departing. HTH

Originally Posted by scard

I think my plan if the same thing were to happen again is something like: If told to exit Runway 9-27 to the north side, once clear, turn to taxi eastbound where there is more hard surface, as opposed to turning to taxi westbound around the north-west end of R27.