Welcome, Spring?

It wasn't quite as intimidating as a warbird roaring over the flightline, but the first bird of the season - the sure sign of spring, the North American Robin - made its return to the AirVenture grounds a few weeks ago.

This usually means you can count at least two more snowfalls. We had one shortly after that sighting, and we got blasted with the second one yesterday. Yes, Oshkosh got three inches of snow (thankfully, the brunt of the storm that featured 14 inches of snow stayed north). Hopefully, this is the last as well as we are eager to get back out on the grounds and prep for another memorable AirVenture!

When the ground dries up a bit, we'll pick up where we left off before winter by continuing work on drainage improvements (pictured below) in problem areas in Camp Scholler as well as the Vintage and Warbird aircraft parking areas.


As expected, a good number of the "ruts" leftover from vehicle and aircraft traffic on the soggy grounds smoothed themselves out during winter. Snow cover helps push these out to an extent. In the areas that didn't completely smooth over, we'll take a roller over them when the ground dries out to finish what winter started.

Once May rolls around and spring weather is completely here, we're going to be chip-sealing more roads throughout the grounds, including Stits Road and Lindbergh Avenue in Camp Scholler. We'll also be chip-sealing the south end of Wittman Road along the flightline, Foundation Road on the traffic loop, and the Blue Lot parking entrance.

The road chip-sealing done in parts of Camp Scholler and exhibit areas drew rave reviews in survey feedback we received following last year. We are happy to continue to make these upgrades, helping cut down on dust in these areas and provide a smoother, cleaner drive on these roads.


We are also finalizing plans to revamp the Camp Scholler entrance (above), which will now feature a new gate for those who bought Advance Purchase camping. New for this year, attendees may purchase camping for all dates in advance on the AirVenture website and utilize an "express" area to enter the campground faster. I'll have more details on the new entrance in my next blog update, which should be in late April or early May.

Hope everyone had a great winter season and are making plans to join us in Oshkosh this year!