Warbird Information Exchange

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Fighters pilots are born to make movies , bomber pilots make HISTORY, cargo crews haul their material and fame.

Not at all exciting, bloody dangerous... Do they not have any form of air traffic control at Oshkosh? I ask because I have never been but after loosing a friend there this year and now seeing this I have no desire to go anywhere near the place...

Oshkosh has very complex ATC - you listen and do, don't talk unless specifically told to. The only problem is that there are too many pilots who don't read the briefings and understand what to do and/or just don't listen to the ATC guys guiding them in. If you're flying in IFR you get full IFR services and use a different runway than the VFR guys (if I remember correctly) and the VFR guys are supposed to keep well clear of the IFR corridor, but again, the ATC can only tell these idiots how to do it. If they can't comprehend that, then there's not much else that can be done except yank the guy's ticket when he lands for failure to maintain visual separation from other traffic. I know that it's happened in the past and wouldn't be surprised if it happened in that case.

Some of the best air traffic controllers in the U.S. volunteer their time to work here at Oshkosh during AirVenture. The arrival and departure procedures developed work well and are safe, but as CAPFlyer pointed out, they only work if the pilots that fly in here actually bother to read through the NOTAMs and follow the procedures. The youtube video posted is clearly a case of some knucklehead not following the procedures and ATC directions to the letter.

If you were to look at the number of takeoffs and landings through the week of AirVenture and look at the accident rate for the number of operations going on, you'll find that statistically AirVenture is very safe. If it wasn't, I can assure you EAA would not be able to have the fly-in part of the convention at all - we couldn't afford the liability. With the new FAA control tower being constructed here at Wittman Field as I write this, things will only get better. The new tower is twice the height of the old and with new state-of-the-art equipment will give ATC a much improved view of the field and traffic.

Don't let a single video and 2nd-hand talk ruin your perception of Oshkosh Yak 11 Fan, because you'll truly be missing out if you never come to AirVenture for that reason.

Zack

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Volunteer Coordinator/Curator - Military Aviation Museum - Virginia Beach, VA
"America's Flying Museum"
http://www.militaryaviationmuseum.org