Oshkosh 2020 sadly cancelled.

[airspace alpha]

So AirVenture 2020 (“Oshkosh”) has been cancelled. Inevitable really. I got well and truly hooked on this particular addiction in 2012 and have been back, and back, and back. Why?

I don’t go to OSH for the planes- but oooh my there are so many to drool over.
I don’t go for the actual airshow- but the sight and sound of 50 T6Texans, 25 plus T34 Mentors, a dozen T28’s, a flight of Mustangs, 6 C47’s and a B17 all over your head AT THE SAME TIME is stupendous.
I don’t go for the food. Last time I went I tried their “gourmet” Asian Singapore rice and I swear you could upend the container and nothing fell out.
I don’t go for the booze- on the grounds there isn’t any but Kellys Bar more than makes up for it in the evening. And their food? First time I had a pizza where the cardboard sleeve tasted nicer than the pizza!
I don’t go for the industry shops and stands- but there were 4, or was it 6?, hangars filled with them. And the flea market.Last time I went there was an ex Belgian airforce Pembroke fuselage apparently for sale- a bit big for my cabin baggage.
I don’t go for the exercise but you sure as hell walk when you go to OSH.
I don’t go for the accommodation but use the university - but first pick up a fan in Fond Du Lac- OSH can get hot as hell.
I don’t go to meet fellow Aussies- but the international tent and Kellys Bar do the trick- the latter looking like the bar of a certain australian aero club. And the Friday evening free beer on site.
I don’t go to meet the locals- but one year I did a homestay with a lovely family who, in their lives, had been to Chicago three times and Honolulu once. That’s it. Loved my time with them boating on the lake but their daughter probably still has nightmares about her first experience of Vegemite.

But I do go, and will continue to go, to meet the people. Turn around to anyone on the site you meet and ask them whats their interest in aviation. They all, repeat all, have a story. Homebuilder, C47 crew chief, Delta Captain ( and Auster owner), you name it they are all there. That’s what makes Oshkosh what it is, 200,000 plus people nuts about aviation.

[Hoosten]

Just think of OSH 2021, it will be epic. I'm planning the 2021 trip already.

[The Golden Rivet]

You missed:

-talking to people and getting their business card
-standing ten deep at the ultra lights laughing your head off at the stol comp
-free popcorn at the red barn
-cheap as chips rides on the trimotor
​​​​​​-breakfast at the Oshkosh bus stop
-meeting legends and seeing just how down to earth people can be

been going biannually since 2010 and now will go in 2021 as a home builder and not a tyre kicker can’t wait 😉

[Mail-man]

On a professional forum largely discussing the decimation of our industry and careers in ruins. You are complaining about a cancelled air show.

[IsDon01]

On a professional forum largely discussing the decimation of our industry and careers in ruins. You are complaining about a cancelled air show.

Really? I see a bunch of enthusiastic guys who can’t wait to get back to Oshkosh next year and reflecting on what a wonderful place it is. The only one complaining seems to be you.

[Checklist Charlie]

Mail-man, I don't see anyone complaining about a cancelled airshow, I see fellow aviators expressing their disappointment at the cancellation of a major aviation event. Yes there is an airshow at AirVenture but the real reason to go is education, entertainment and the sheer pleasure of the whole experience.

You ought to try it next year but be warned, 10 days in KOSH is not enough time to see and do everything.

Wear comfortable shoes.

CC

[The Golden Rivet]

On a professional forum largely discussing the decimation of our industry and careers in ruins. You are complaining about a cancelled air show.

since when has this forum been professional 😆😆😆😆😆😆

[j3pipercub]

Thought it was a nice diversion of multiple Virgin threads with users tearing shreds off eachother.

I enjoy watching the OSH arrival and departure videos on YouTube, especially the Fun Flight Field circuits. Can watch that all day.

[Dukeunlimited]

Thanks Airspace Alpha and Golden Rivet. I made it to Oshkosh ten years ago, and your descriptive posts brought back some great memories.

I'll add:

-Outdoor cinema.
-People inviting you over to their 'RV' for a beer.

👍

[Hoosten]

-People inviting you over to their 'RV' for a beer.

- Stumbling pissed, inadvertently into a campsite and being invited for the same.
- Being able to buy your supplies from the shop inside the camp without being raped on the price because you're captive.
- Plugging your phone and ipad into the communal charging points then grabbing a shower knowing they won't be stolen.

[Hoosten]

- The awesome craft beer scene in Wisconsin.
- Take a day off OSH, go to a fireworks shop, get a boot load and re-live your youth.
- Take a day off OSH, go to a gun shop/range and shoot any gun you could possibly think of.