A Rare Peek Into The OSH Control Tower

by ANN Correspondent Scott Wagner

I remember it well, even though it was probably 25 years ago. As a kid, I was fortunate enough to come to Oshkosh, (in those days, we didn't call it AirVenture) just about every year. On one of those visits, I had a chance to go up into the tower, and thought it was about the coolest thing I’d ever seen.

The last time I made it into any tower was pre-911, when Operation Raincheck was available and my instructor organized a visit for our ground school class to the tower at Pittsburgh International Airport.  So, when Pete Combs told me I was going to the AirVenture tower during the morning arrival rush, I literally jumped at the chance.

As we all know, for several days during AirVenture, Oshkosh becomes the busiest control tower in the world. But the number of operations doesn’t tell the whole story. Dig a little deeper and you'll realize that AirVenture controllers cram it all into less than 12 hours. The other big boys, Chicago O'Hare and Atlanta Hartsfield have a full 24.

Given this rare chance to see what it's REALLY like up there, I was obviously excited and just a little nervous. Being greeted by three FAA security officers at the base of the tower did little ease my nerves. I relaxed seconds later, though, as we chatted about the similarities of our careers, given that my day job is in personnel security for another agency of the federal government.

Wanda Adelman is Air Traffic Manager for AirVenture, and for the remainder of the year is ATC Manager and Hub Manager at General Mitchell Field in Milwaukee, which makes her responsible for all ATC in Wisconsin. “It does get crazy sometimes, but our procedures have been honed over the last 30 years. They’re really good procedures, and that takes a little bit of the chaos out of the operation. We do things here that you can’t do any other place, and we make it work”

As we climbed the stairs, the memories came back, and surprisingly little had changed in the years since I’d been there. As I reached the top of the stairs, I was amazed by how quiet it was. Everyone is extremely focused and calm. We've all listened in to our handhelds, but it's not the same. The controllers work together in teams of spotters and talkers. The spotters are equipped with binoculars. They call out aircraft color and type, and advise the talkers what needs to happen.

What you hear on the air is only about ¼ of what is actually going on in there. It's a delicate dance, one which managed to handle over 21,000 operations in 2005. That’s pretty amazing.

After my time in the cab, I headed out to the flightline. I wanted to speak with pilots who had flown in, to get their perspective on AirVenture arrival procedures. “We had a great flight. We came right across Ripon, they vectored us to Fisk, told us which runway to go to, gave us directions and we came straight in. No incidents whatsoever. It’s surprisingly well organized, being a large event, I expected to have more conflict, but it was a nice easy ride.” said Marvin McGraw of Knoxville, TN. 

Further praise for the controllers came from Greg Shaskan, who flew his VariEze from Chicago. “I came in on the Fisk arrival, and it was really east getting into Oshkosh. I was amazed at how well the controllers and pilots worked together.”

When you think about it... it really is amazing how the AirVenture ATC team is able to maintain such a great safety record, in light of the enormous volume of traffic they handle. Without them, AirVenture couldn’t happen.

If you see a controller during your time at AirVenture -- you’ll know them by their bright pink shirts -- make sure you say hello and thank them for what they do.

FMI: www.airventure.org