We departed Fort Dodge, Iowa at 7:22 AM and headed for Oshkosh.  Most of the flight we were flying into the sun and there was smoke and mist so it was very difficult to see anything.  Had to use my side view and instruments to try to keep straight. Notice my wobbly line on the flight tracker image.  Around 9:10 we arrived at the “Fisk Arrival” area of Oshkosh.  It is an orderly approach to the Oshkosh airport where airplanes must get in a “conga line” with only 1/2 mile spacing from the airplane in front of you.  No over-unders, no side-by-side flying.  Everyone must be in an orderly line going 90 knots at 1800 feet and must follow strict orders from the ground controllers.  And unlike any other flying experience I’ve had, you aren’t really supposed to acknowledge their orders.  They simply ask you to “rock your wings” to show you are hearing them.  They they marshal you to a runway along with other airplanes landing AT THE SAME TIME!!! There are giant dots painted every thousand feet on the runway, and they say something like “Land on or after the green dot”.  This was very intimidating for me since it was my first time, but my friend John had been there before so I learned a lot of tips from him.  What I really found scary was how a twin engine airplane flew right over the top of me and they redirected me to another runway at the last minute and this is all normal.  This is how the largest fly-in airshow can get thousands of airplanes on the ground in such a short time, and it is not something you see anywhere else.  So it was a real treat to be a part of it as a pilot.

We got our camping sites set up and went to lunch.  While we were at lunch a storm cell moved in and pummeled our gear with 30 mile an hour winds and torrential rainfall.  Just another day at Oshkosh.  After we set out our wet things to dry we sat down and watched other planes land and and dozed off now and again.  Long flights are really tiring – but this was the perfect setting to set up camp and relax.

I attached some photos from the day.  Looking forward to watching more planes arrive tomorrow on the busiest arrival day of the airshow.