Heavy Rains Have Brought Flooding To Some Areas Of The Airport

Update 1615 CDT

EAA says on Facebook that they will not be able to get any new camping into Camp Scholler today (Sunday) due to the ground still being very wet. If you were told water and services were being brought to your area, our facilities are working on that as best they can. "We greatly apologize for these inconveniences and want to get you in here as soon as it’s safe," the post says.

Original Report

It's not as bad as it was a few years ago when the "No Wake" photo was taken ... but it's been wet in Oshkosh, WI as the aviation industry sets up for AirVenture. Due to the weather, EAA is under a temporary alternate camping and aircraft parking plan after the thunderstorms of July 19-20 brought five inches of rain within 24 hours and left many areas of the AirVenture grounds saturated. EAA is continually assessing conditions and will continue to provide the best possible and safest solutions as the situation improves.

Camp Scholler remains closed to new camping units because of numerous flooded areas. We greatly apologize for the inconvenience this is causing. Our staff and volunteers are doing everything possible to prepare the grounds to welcome campers as soon as possible.

In the interim, motorhomes have been placed along roads immediately surrounding the campground, as well as at alternate sites within Oshkosh. Those will be temporary locations until the campground is dry enough to safely welcome these units.

Tent campers will be located on the best possible locations in the campground or in alternate sites that are not saturated. These are hoped to be temporary areas until we can allow campers to move into Camp Scholler.

AirVenture staff is evaluating the camping situation this afternoon.

Aircraft parking on grass at Oshkosh is temporarily closed due to soft turf conditions. Pre-reserved paved surface parking remains available. Aircraft with tundra/bush wheel tires are also be allowed into certain areas of aircraft parking. Volunteer crews are continuously assessing ground conditions so that aircraft parking can be resumed as soon as possible. Please monitor Oshkosh ATIS information and OSHARRIVAL text messages for further updates. Sign up by sending OSHARRIVAL to 64600.

Note that the General Aviation areas have had some location changes, including an expanded section of General Aviation Camping in the south portion of the airport and new areas for General Aviation Parking.  Volunteers will direct you to areas currently in use when the field opens to all arrivals.

Showplane areas accommodate experimentals (homebuilts), warbirds, production aircraft manufactured prior to 1971, ultralights, and amphibians. These areas are expected to remain open for the duration of AirVenture 2019, butare currently unavailable due to ground conditions.

EAA’s volunteers and staff are working to bring people into AirVenture as quickly as possible. We will keep everyone updated as often as possible through EAA’s website and social media channels. In addition, you can receive text alerts by texting OSHALERT (weather and other notifications), OSHARRIVAL (aircraft parking/camping status), or OSHFUN (event highlights) to 64600.

(Source: EAA news release. Staff images)

FMI: www.eaa.org