Hi all, I'm coming to the US for a holiday in July ,we'll be doing a few touristy things and then heading for Oshkosh , I'm looking at renting a plane from the Detroit area and flying across ,at this point I'm looking at tracking via the Chicago airspace ,but mostly I'm interested in any advice for the trip, some things stand out to me ,we don't have the number of airfields so close together in Australia,. Looking at the charts there is very little G airspace on my planned track, so I'm thinking we'll be getting handed off to the next controller most of the way ,not something I've done a lot of !
So any advice is welcome ,thanks,
Matty

Metalman,
It's very easy to fly to Oshkosh and never have to talk to ATC except at OSH. I've got some great pictures of hugging the shores of Chicago and waving at Mayor Daley with a few fingers missing, totally free of ATC. (he shut down an airfield there) We're very fortunate here, I've flown numerous times coast to coast in a sport plane and can count on 3 fingers the amount of time I've talked to a controller, including New York City and up the Hudson, and that was by my choice. With a little planning and GPS, you can do the same across the States if you'd like. You meet the best people and have the most memorable experiences at the smaller airports.

Stay in touch, a group of us will be flying into OSH from California and then heading for the Chesapeake Bay if you're interested.

Are you planning on flying across lake Michigan? I would guess not. As Zenithguy mentioned, a cruise along the shore around Chicago would be something worth doing, since you will probably going around the lake anyway. It is an interesting view and easy enough to do.

Steve

I'm planning on going around Chicago, across the lake would be quicker ,but,,,,,,,,
Going around the lake would be very scenic ,lots to see!
Looks like I've got an aircraft sorted, haven't confirmed it yet but an M4 Maule is looking good ,
Matty

Be sure to get the 2014 NOTAM, which will be out in May on the Airventure.org website. Print it, memorize it, and have it in the airplane with you. It's pretty much the bible for getting in and out of OSH.

Cary

Just watched the EAA videos on flying in ,very good, and yep to the NOTAM , gunna be fun I'm thinkin!

Metalman wrote:Just watched the EAA videos on flying in ,very good, and yep to the NOTAM , gunna be fun I'm thinkin!

Yup, it's a good time. I suggest the opposite of the others and encourage you to *not* avoid ATC on your flight into the area. Might as well get comfortable on the radio before you get into a pretty rapid fire area.

I'll have to do a bit of study to be sure there's no procedural difference to here but I'm in and out of control zones here all the time so it's not an issue , looking at what charts I can access here you could be in CTA for the whole trip if needed,at lower levels, also never seen so many airfield so close ,do you guys do a transiting call for every field enroute( the certified ones at least)
Matty

I have flown that route. You could avoid all B,C & D airspace by deviating slightly. But there are only a couple you would talk to if you didn't deviate. Mitchell Class C and Waukegan Class D. It is easy assuming they aren't too stressed with other OSH bound flights. Definitely worth flying the shore. Meig's Field is the airport the communist mayor trenched. It is a park with almost no one in it. It begs to be landed.

mike b wrote:I have flown that route. You could avoid all B,C & D airspace by deviating slightly. But there are only a couple you would talk to if you didn't deviate. Mitchell Class C and Waukegan Class D. It is easy assuming they aren't too stressed with other OSH bound flights. Definitely worth flying the shore. Meig's Field is the airport the communist mayor trenched. It is a park with almost no one in it. It begs to be landed.

Just had a look on google earth,,,mmmmm!
Still looks like an airport ,damn shame !

I second the recommendation to stay in touch with ATC. Flight following can be useful when flying through those busy skies. Sometimes the government is there to help you. Even when I'm not using flight following, I often monitor ATC frequencies to get an idea of what else is out there. I'm particularly concerned about the really fast aircraft I'm sharing the skies with and they are on frequency more often than not. Other slowpokes like me are relatively easy to see and avoid.

Definitely take the lakeshore trip past Chicago, its very scenic if the weather is good. Even if you are in contact with ATC around Chicago, you will probably get dumped once you get to Wisconsin. It gets very busy that week and they will usually not provide flight following for VFR flights. You will be on your own into Ripon. Some people give position reports on 122.75 but not everyone so don't count on it. Think about a stop in southern Wisconsin for gas and a little regrouping before heading into Ripon. It sometimes gets pretty intense there so be ready for it.

JS170B gives good advise, fill up with fuel in southern Wisconsin before getting anywhere near the show. You can get staged in the holding pattern at Ripon for an hour or more at times and then still may not be able to get into the show. Have a plan B destination in mind. It is hectic enough getting in there the first time, fuel is the last thing you want to worry about.

Steve

[picasaslideshow=WalterSnyder]Chicago#5987454744859774994[/picasaslideshow]

Picasa Slideshow is too much of a pain in the ass to make BBcode for. I'm abandoning it.

I couldn't the picasa thing going either,,,,

FWIW, my practice has been to refuel roughly an hour out of OSH. Last year I did it at LaCrosse, WI, and before it's been at Dubuque, IA. That gives me 3 1/2 hours of fuel after I arrive near RIPON. So far, I've only been held once, but that was for most of an hour, going round and round Green Lake. It was nice not to have any concerns at all about fuel.

On contacting ATC, they much prefer that you do rather than don't. I try to get flight following from my fuel stop until I can't any longer. Madison Approach is really pretty good about FF, but once they've concluded it just outside their area, Chicago Center can be iffy, although on more than one occasion, I've had Center FF almost to RIPON. On the way back out, I've been able to get Center FF as early as 20 miles west of OSH, which frankly surprised me--and it was really good, because I had to dodge some thunder-bumpers. I wasn't IFR current legally on that occasion, so I stayed VFR and got some terrific help from Center, all the way to just outside Dubuque. I suppose it depends a lot on the time of day and the traffic at that time.

As for contacting over-flown fields, that's only necessary for C & D towered airports, although calling fields on their CTAF is always wise, if you're actually within an area of potential conflict. With B airports, you must have a clearance to enter, and the magic words are, "xxxxx is cleared into the Class Bravo." If not cleared into it, the usual phrase is "do not enter Class Bravo", although sometimes it isn't said--you're just given a squawk and directions, so that the assumption must be that you're not cleared. With both C & D, as long as your call is returned with your tail number, you are in compliance.

Mostly, it's just a whole lot of fun!

Cary

Cary

Thanks Carey, ops is mostly the same as here although we don't have class bravo airspace,,but the procedures are similar to our "c class" , another thing is our airspace goes much higher, up to "E class" in most cases so over flying isn't possible with out clearance, I like the advice to refuel early incase of holding,,,,coming into Ripon do you sort out separation yourselves or does ATC give clearance to join the track into Fisk?
Matty

Metalman wrote:Thanks Carey, ops is mostly the same as here although we don't have class bravo airspace,,but the procedures are similar to our "c class" , another thing is our airspace goes much higher, up to "E class" in most cases so over flying isn't possible with out clearance, I like the advice to refuel early incase of holding,,,,coming into Ripon do you sort out separation yourselves or does ATC give clearance to join the track into Fisk?
Matty

You sort yourself out. The exact phrasing from last years notam was "Find an aircraft of similar speed and altitude to follow"

I loved having multiple sets of eyes during this part of the flight. It can be pretty busy at times!

The changes in the notam each year are usually pretty modest and the 2013 is still available online if you want to start getting a grip on things.

In the last 8 years, I've gone in 4 times with buddies aboard and 4 solo. I do like having more eyes, but it helps if they're pilots who recognize that an airplane 500' above is not exactly a concern. My friend who is not a pilot (although he took glider lessons, but stopped short of a checkride) was not very helpful. The others were pilots and very helpful.

As I've said, the anticipation is worse than the flight in. Once in the conga line, many pilots are put off a bit by how close to one another half a mile is. There will be always the knot heads who can't hold altitude or airspeed, but that's not difficult to handle.

The one thing that can get iffy is the occasional Wisconsin rainstorm on the way in. If it's just a little one, frankly flying through it isn't that big a deal. Of course, if it's a bigger one, and Wisconsin can get some whoppers, stay away--another good reason to carry extra fuel.

Wisconsin is a lovely state to fly over at 1000' AGL--all green farmlands and farm buildings, and little towns spotted here and there. Good fun.

Cary