And So Are A LOT Of Others At OSH
by ANN Correspondent John Dorcey
Three camping areas provide plenty of options for AirVenture
campers. Sleeping with your airplane in either the North Forty or
the display aircraft camping area means roughing it. Dry camping is
the term campers use to describe this style of outdoor living. Dry
that is, until summer rains visit Oshkosh. Camp Scholler is a
campground with an AirVenture population that surpasses most cities
in Wisconsin. Camping here varies from a tent to motor homes that
cost more than many aircraft.
Campsites in the eastern portion of Camp Scholler were becoming
as rare as a $3000 Piper Cub by Sunday morning. Camper
registrations continued steady throughout the night as they have
for the last few. Campers utilize all the standard camping unit
types: tents, truck campers, pop-ups, travel trailers, fifth wheel
trailers, and the various sizes of motor homes.
Walking the campground's many streets you'll see every
manufacturer represented from Eureka to Winnebago, from Coleman to
Jayco and more. We should expect ingenuity, craftsmanship, and
experimentation at AirVenture. We're not just talking about
aircraft here.
Armel and Carol LeCunff from Ontario Canada are a great example.
They own a 1968 Cessna 150 Commuter and a 1974 Trillium (read very
small camper). Last made in 1980, Armel says, "The camper is so
small that you need to go outside to change your mind." He has been
attending AirVenture intermittently since 1976. He and Carol have
made every convention for the last 10 years. They completed a
ground up restoration of the camper in 2004. They camp four times a
year, three of those trips to aviation events. Carol said, "It's
like a tent off the ground."
Sam and Shari Taber of East Troy Wisconsin win the unique camper
at AirVenture award. Their unit is a 1943 GMC deuce-and-a-half
truck. Sam restores and maintains WWII aircraft and so is naturally
drawn to that era vehicles. Originally looking for a jeep, Shari
said, "It has to be practical."
Sam found the truck and explained that they could camp in it and
that was all it took. After some time in the restoration shop, the
truck debuted last year. Shari said, "Last year we were the only
ones that stayed dry." Sam and Shari also own a 1943 Stinson L-5.
Sam says, "All my girls are 43."
Weather experience is also evident as you stroll around the
campground. There are tents pitched inside tents, awnings over
popup campers, and everyone has at least one sweatshirt packed.
Strangers have camped next to each other one year just to look for
one another the next. Camping adds a whole other element into
attending AirVenture. The community, the after-hours living, and
the closeness all add up to what only be called AirVenture.