Any other aviation geeks here?

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Henrietta
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Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Henrietta » 24 Jul 2010, 13:28

AirVenture, the world's largest fly-in airshow, starts Monday. This one week out of the year, itty-bitty Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin is the busiest airport in the world, roughly three times over -- and that's only airplane operations handled by the Tower; helicopters and ultralights have their own separate procedures and aren't included in that count.

There's a nice article about it here, with some audio recorded from inside the tower. To hear what it sounds like for the pilots, check out the live streaming audio feed at LiveATC.net (The site doesn't allow direct linking to feeds, but the link is right at the top of the page.) Planes have already started arriving, but things will REALLY get going Sunday, between 7AM and 8PM US Central time (UTC -5) with several mass arrivals scheduled in the afternoon. During the week, the airport closes to traffic for a few hours during the afternoon airshow, so you won't hear much if you listen then.

If you're not familiar with what "normal" busy air traffic control sounds like, type KORD, KJFK, or KLAX (O'Hare, Kennedy, or Los Angeles) into the search box at the top left of the LiveATC page and listen to that airport's tower feed for a while for comparison. Oshkosh is like nothing you will EVER hear at any other airport.
Last edited by Henrietta on 24 Jul 2010, 16:35, edited 1 time in total.
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Keab42
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Keab42 » 24 Jul 2010, 14:45

Sounds fun. I enjoy the challenge of photography at air shows:

http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a380/ ... 9/?start=0
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Evil Jim
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Evil Jim » 24 Jul 2010, 15:57

I assure you, it is no exaggeration to say it's the busiest airport in the world that week. In one day they get more traffic than Chicago O'hare, which is impressive on its own, but keep in mind that O'hare operates 24 hours a day & Wittman Regional closes for the night.
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Dutch guy » 24 Jul 2010, 16:32

If only I could just hop across the pond for a bit to visit Oshkosh. I know a few people who went there a couple of years back and they all came back telling it's a must to visit.

Yeah, I'm a wing-nut :-P (I have my Glider Pilot License, and wanted to be an Airline pilot)
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Metcarfre » 25 Jul 2010, 08:20

Did you guys see the CF-18 crash from Friday? Pretty crazy. Thank goodness, the pilot survived. God bless zero/zero ejection seats.
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Dempsas » 25 Jul 2010, 16:05

I Have my micro-light (ultralight) License with solo verification... Cant wait for summer to get my passenger rating. The Crash was intense.. So glad he got out on time!

I like this thread already ^^
What aircraft do you guys like/ have had the pleasure to fly??
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Dutch guy
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Dutch guy » 25 Jul 2010, 17:16

My list of aircraft flown so far isn't very long.

Powered aircraft:

Cessna 172/182

Gliders:

SZD-50-3 Puchacz
SZD-51-1 Junior
DG-300
Schleicher Ka-7
Led L-13 Blanik
Janus-C
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Agloriouscuppa » 25 Jul 2010, 17:19

I'm an aviation geek but mostly just for the planes from the war. I usually build models, been to a few air shows including the Battle of Britain Memorial flights. Presently working on an RAF Hurricane Mk II. My first hurricane ever, I've done a couple spitfires, a P36 an the Hawk 75 but not a hurricane.

I love flight though, when flying I tend to be going over the procedures in my head during take off landing etc. It keeps me calm whilst everyone else is panicy. One of my mates is the opposite though he knows as much as I do which means he's paranoid that one day he's going to recognise the symptoms of an impending crash. Does that count as aviation geekiery?
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Dempsas » 25 Jul 2010, 17:28

Aircraft I have flown:
MicroAviation Bantam B22S
Robbie R22
Cessna 182
Custom/Homebuilt Push Prop.

I would love to do more Heli-flying but its far more expensive for the training and aircraft rent..

Agloriouscuppa wrote:I'm an aviation geek but mostly just for the planes from the war. I usually build models, been to a few air shows including the Battle of Britain Memorial flights. Presently working on an RAF Hurricane Mk II. My first hurricane ever, I've done a couple spitfires, a P36 an the Hawk 75 but not a hurricane.

I love flight though, when flying I tend to be going over the procedures in my head during take off landing etc. It keeps me calm whilst everyone else is panicy. One of my mates is the opposite though he knows as much as I do which means he's paranoid that one day he's going to recognise the symptoms of an impending crash. Does that count as aviation geekiery?


I do the same ^^ So I'm going to say yes! knowing the symptoms of a crash can also be a comfort though because at all other times you know its 100% A okay.
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Master Gunner » 25 Jul 2010, 18:00

I've flown a Cessna and a glider before, but I don't know what models, it was years ago. I've mostly grown out of my aviation geekery phase for several years, but I still have a strong appreciation for flight, if more for the lighter-than-air kind these days.
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Henrietta
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Henrietta » 25 Jul 2010, 19:29

Dempsas wrote:Aircraft I have flown:
Robbie R22


\o/ That's my baby! I can't solo because I can't seem to completely shake the airsickness, but I do have enough training to fly one of those without help from an instructor. At least until the nausea hits and I have to hand off the controls and concentrate on not vomiting.
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Drinnik » 26 Jul 2010, 01:58

Fun Geeky Aviation fact I learnt yesterday: The crown on the Statue of Liberty was originally designed to be a airship port.
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Master Gunner » 26 Jul 2010, 05:02

Given the shape of the Statue of Liberty (namely the raised arm), the date of construction, and the date of construction of the first Zeppelins (which would be the only airships that would be likely to take advantage of such a port), I find that doubtful. The top of the Empire State Building, however, was designed to be used as a docking port for an airship, but only as a publicity stunt. It was never used as such (the closest it ever got was an Airship hovering near it during a photo op), and the severe updrafts caused by the city would have made a safe docking neigh impossible.
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby TomBrend » 26 Jul 2010, 06:14

I have flown a piper cub in some sort of get-people-interested-in-flying when I was 18 or so, but I never actually started to get flying lessons.
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Vohn_exel » 26 Jul 2010, 06:32

I used to want to be a pilot. I mean like since I was about four that was my goal in life. After I discovered that lots of math went into being a pilot, in college I decided to go for Music. Hey, guess what else is made of math? Music! Yay!

But seriously, I still want to fly. I've been able to fly a single engine piper before, and apparently I impressed the guy, but then again I was fourteen. I got to two fly it two different days as part of this thing that the government was sponsoring, called "Hi-tech." We basically learned how to get interviewed for a job, learned a bunch of plane stuff, and then got to fly at the end. It was awesome!
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Dempsas » 26 Jul 2010, 17:43

Seriously for people who still want to take up flying on the side I really recommend looking up your local aero club and getting into microlight/ultralighting, Its about on the same price level as being a car enthusiast. Some machines can be as little as a few thousand dollars and there's nothing like the open experience the microlight can give you :D
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Evil Jim » 26 Jul 2010, 18:44

Is there as much math involved if you just want to go hot-air ballooning? ;)
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Dempsas » 28 Jul 2010, 02:54

Evil Jim wrote:Is there as much math involved if you just want to go hot-air ballooning? ;)


If you just wanna go for a ride I'm guessing the pilot does that.

As for hot air balloon training, I have no idea nothing in my CAA(civil aviation authority) or RAANZ books about them other than flight rules around them.

I've always wanted to try it though :D
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Elomin Sha » 28 Jul 2010, 03:06

I really want to fly but have no means.
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Vohn_exel » 29 Jul 2010, 07:56

Dempsas wrote:Seriously for people who still want to take up flying on the side I really recommend looking up your local aero club and getting into microlight/ultralighting, Its about on the same price level as being a car enthusiast. Some machines can be as little as a few thousand dollars and there's nothing like the open experience the microlight can give you :D


Yeah my dad told me about Ultralights a while back. He had plans to make one and everything (he had plans to make everything, he never did it) and it sounded fun. One of these days if I ever have enough maybe I can actually get into it. It always looked like it'd be incredibly awesome, perhaps more so then actually flying a normal plane.
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Henrietta
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Henrietta » 31 Jul 2010, 13:34

Evil Jim, his father and I went to AirVenture Friday. I'm not a professional photographer by any means, but I did get a few semi-decent pictures. I missed several more; most flights aren't announced ahead of time, so the first warning that, say, two F-22s (F-18s/F-16s/MiGs) are making a quick pass around the grounds is the roar. I uploaded last year's photos at the same time; they're all mixed up together.

You can also play "Spot Evil Dad;" he shows up a couple of times.
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Dutch guy » 31 Jul 2010, 15:17

Henrietta, they are, but only if you happen to have an aviation scanner on hand and are listening to the show-controller freq. :p (Listening to the tower on a handheld scanner while there is a fun thing to do anyways I've been told.)
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Dempsas » 01 Aug 2010, 05:45

I would love to go to a big air show... Closest thing we have is warbirds over wanaka... Which I'm always studying while its on... and it's nothing compared to AirVenture.. Seriously have you people seen the RNZAF... its kinda a laughing stalk... A few Iroquois, a Hercules or two, 3 orions and some air trainers and yea that's our entire avionic might... So we call in the aussies to give us a show. But the classics are still there.. so thats a plus.
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Metcarfre » 01 Aug 2010, 12:17

I'd love to go to the Abbotsford Air Show (I went last year) but I don't think I can make it. My wife LOVES airplanes. Every time we go to pick someone up at the airport we have to go early so we can watch planes land and take off... which sucks when parking is $8 an hour.
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Henrietta
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Re: Any other aviation geeks here?

Postby Henrietta » 24 Jul 2011, 08:07

Necro'ed because it's that time again!

The Airventure ATC feeds went live yesterday and will be up sunrise to sunset through next Sunday; there are a few more this year than last. The basics, for anyone who's curious but not quite sure what to listen to:

EAA radio runs interviews, news and other show-related programming the entire week. ATIS is an automated broadcast of weather conditions, runway information and other last-minute stuff pilots need to know as they get close to the airport. Fisk approach is named for a little town a few miles from Oshkosh; approaching aircraft must follow a flight path over it, where a team of controllers sort them out and line them up before they continue on to the airport. North tower controls the east/west runway, south tower the north/south; both are active at the moment. There's a lot of information here, including diagrams; it's intended for pilots but written plainly enough it should be more or less understandable by anyone.

So far this morning I've heard arrivals from Michigan, South Dakota, Ohio, Texas, Florida, Nevada and Ontario, and there's a mass arrival of dozens of Commanches inbound right now. I'm planning to go to the show next Saturday, but that may change; I'll post pictures if I'm able.

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