Airventure numbers in

[Dan K]

http://www.airventure.org/news/2011/110803_numbers.html

An increase of 142 showplanes over 2010 is really something to note. Most fly-ins would consider a total of 142 aircraft on display to be large.

Is it that owners are tightening belts by reducing their appearances at the smaller shows? Thoughts?

[kmiles]

Remember that 2010 saw lots of rain leading up to the event, and a lot of aircraft were diverted to other fields because there was limited parking for aircraft with so much of the grass parking being under water, or very wet.

[Dan K]

Remember that 2010 saw lots of rain leading up to the event, and a lot of aircraft were diverted to other fields because there was limited parking for aircraft with so much of the grass parking being under water, or very wet.

I believe EAA's numbers reflect all aircraft registered for the event, whether they wind up at Oshkosh, Fond du Lac, or Appleton. Be happy to be proven wrong.

[Mike]

Numbers in the Vintage area are claimed to be up, yet there were rows of empty space all week. Certainly the Antiques seemed to be well down on previous years.

[richkolasa]

I believe the EAA like I believe "we're in a robust recovery economically"...

Rich

[cwmc]

You just keep on believing that, Rich!
Chris...

[Dave Homewood]

Was the F-16 the only accident this year for the whole airshow? From all the reports i have read it seems crashes were down, and no fatals? That is great news if it's right.

[mustangdriver]

Early in the week like Monday there was a Cub that crashed into the lake killing two. I've not heard what happened but witnesses said it dove in. Sounds very in cub like. Sad that two were lost. I do think it was agood safety year

[Kyleb]

Was the F-16 the only accident this year for the whole airshow? From all the reports i have read it seems crashes were down, and no fatals? That is great news if it's right.

The F-16, a couple of groundloops, a Bonanza with a bad landing and prop strike, a Cavalier that went down on the way home, the FJ-4 overrun, the nearby Cub crash, and a Taylorcraft that apparently went down well south of the show over the weekend. Some of those accidents/incidents (the Cub and T-craft) may not have been Oshkosh related. There were two fatalities in the Cub.

[richkolasa]

And the 195 in the warbird area was pretty bent up from a ground loop. Gear twisted and fuselage buckled. Sad that there was a loss of life in at least one other accident.

Rich

[Dave Homewood]

That's sad. Has Oshkosh ever had a fatality-free year? Every year I have followed the posts on the internet, etc there seems to be crashes and deaths. It must be huge pressure on pilots flying into an airport with such high numbers of aircraft in the circuit and around the area I guess.

[RyanShort1]

It was pointed out on another board that given the GA accident rate, and the number of aircraft coming in to Oshkosh, it is not significantly different than the normal rate of accidents. We CAN and should do better.

Ryan

[Mike]

That's sad. Has Oshkosh ever had a fatality-free year? Every year I have followed the posts on the internet, etc there seems to be crashes and deaths. It must be huge pressure on pilots flying into an airport with such high numbers of aircraft in the circuit and around the area I guess.

I wonder how many get killed driving to OSH in a typical year? Or any other major event, Dave? Yes, there is often an accident, but with some 10,000 aircraft converging on a single point in the last week of July each year it's probably statistically no worse than the average GA accident rate in the US. It's hard to envisage the sheer scale of the event unless you've been there, it really is vast.

[Ian Quinn]

There seemed to be some empty places compared to other years but the thing I noticed was the dramatic lack of floatplanes at the 'base'...previous years it has been full but it looked like only around a third full this year.

Many people that we spoke to had sold or had their aircraft up for sale and it was generally hard to find any optimism except in the EAA press releases- which noticeably omitted to mention the dramatic EAA 'coup d'etat' that occurred mid week.

Some usual vendors seemed to be absent but there were more 'snake oil' ones [magnetic wristbands and 'scare tactic' stuff - 'drink/eat this wonder potion/food to avoid losing your medical' etc]

Still a great event and the attendance for the Saturaday show seemed immense with many families there and they were rewarded with a fantastic night display starting with the Wildcat at dusk.

Accidents are going to happen with so many aircraft and individuals flying them but there is a pragmatic attitude and the show must go on even with a sorry looking F-16 and a FJ-4 'parked' on the grass...

The 195 owner was quite upset - he had been told to vacate ASAP and one brake worked the other didn't - no actual 'ground loop' but the gear box and area around it badly damaged...A few guys who tried to rescue the Cub pilot and passenger will take a while to get over it as well...harnesses can be tricky things at times to release.

[stumac]

"it was generally hard to find any optimism except in the EAA press releases- which noticeably omitted to mention the dramatic EAA 'coup d'etat' that occurred mid week."

What happened?