EAA Institutes A New Payment Plan To Reserve A Campsite

By Tom Woodward

I understand enough about the law of aerodynamics to stay aloft, very little about the law of thermodynamics and as a capitalist consumer quite a bit about the law of supply and demand. If you have a boatload of widgets and few buyers, widgets are cheap. If there are a lot of buyer and few widgets, then those widgets can get pretty expensive so I understand the cost of Camp Scholler, a campground which is used extensively once a year.

During my 38 years of attending Oshkosh I’ve worked my way up the ladder of camping experiences. First it was the dorms, camping with my airplane in a tent, then private homes and finally camping in a RV at the campgrounds. I’ve yet to stay at the Airport Hilton but I don’t see that happen at the jacked up rates they charge. It’s just not in the budget.

This year EAA has provided more “Improved Sites”, or camping sites for people who desire water and electric for their RV’s. No, not the type Van’s sell but the kind where you “turtle” your house around the country thus negating ever having to stay in a hotel ever again. Kudos for that improvement however in years past it was “first come, first served”, and showing up a few days before the event insured you a decent spot far away from highway 41. In past years this camping at Scholler wouldn’t have been a concern of mine but this year we decided to join the crowd and we purchased a third-hand fifth wheel and truck combo for the price of a decent Cherokee 140.

This year EAA instituted an online feature where you could select a spot of your choice in advance, beginning in late June. Most RV parks and National or State Parks have the same feature. You pick an arrival date and a departure date and if they have room available you’re in. You pay a small deposit and pay the remainder when you arrive at the camp. EAA however, in their quest to extract the maximum dollar requires you to pay from the date you select your site, all the way through the end of the show, whether you’ll be there on that date or plan to arrive halfway through the airshow week. If you selected a site when they first became available, you had to pony up almost  $1000! In essence you get a plot of dirt about the size of a grave but at least a grave you own for eternity.

Seven days before the airshow even started I checked the chart and two of the four areas were already sold out. Six days before, I check again mainly because I can see our entire vacation going up in smoke if we can’t park within a bike ride of the event and three of the four areas are now sold out with the last area showing 54 spots available. Even while I write this, the number has diminished to 38 spots remaining as others I assume are wondering what will happen to their plans if they don’t pay the ransom. Of course I’m forced to jump into this game of “Campground Roulette” even though we won’t be there until Wednesday.

So I waste two nights protecting a plot of dirt, with money I would rather spend on something for my airplane. Is this really the best way to do this or will this turn into the North 40 Parking fiasco of a couple of years ago when friends were separated because little thought was put into that decision? What about those who plan on coming mid-week? How will they know that a site is available? The chart shows them all sold out. Will the chart be update as people leave? I expect to arrive and see the majority of the campground empty. I assume that those who stack Benjamins for a living and take the week off for Oshkosh will start out on the Saturday before, maybe even request a long weekend and get there Friday. My plan was to get there on Thursday and beat the crowd to get a nice spot but this reservation system destroyed that plan and because I doubt that most will arrive as early as they were forced to pay, many of the sites will appear to be empty. I hope the rains haven’t flooded certain areas and people are turned away from all the open and apparently empty sites.

To me it smacks of catering to the Honda Jet, B24 crowd. Hey those are great guys but in a different caste system then us bottom feeders. Wasn’t EAA started by the little guy for the little guy? I guess selecting a premium spot on the first day they became available for nearly $1000 is a drop in the bucket for some but for us bottom feeders of aviation that is some significant coinage!

Why not let people select a date range when they will be there, take a small deposit and collect the rest when they arrive. Then those who plan on arriving mid-week will know exactly what’s available and those who arrive early can pay for what they use?

I’m willing however to give it a shot to see how it works this year but since I’m not willing to pay for something I’m not using (other than the Right to use it) if this becomes a feature, I’ll have to play the Campground Roulette again next year.

(Staff images)

FMI: Camp Scholler