I see what you’re saying (and I did that math myself), but you've got the inputs wrong. You're not getting into the “good” part of the N40 on Saturday unless you come with the mass arrivals. Individuals need to arrive by late afternoon Friday or you’re on the wrong side of 27 or in the south 40.

So you either arrive a day early and go alone or spend Saturday socializing with other pilots and briefing and then flying together.

Either one seems like a good option to me.

Our group has been meeting on Friday and flying in together.

I do have a frustration that some B2OSH and other groups get the "good" spots in the North 40. Seems by Tuesday half the B2OSH group is gone, many seem to be in it for the flight, not for the show.

If I were North 40 king for a day I would move the groups that are sanctioned to fly in together like B2OSH to the north side of 9/27.

B2OSH could try to make an Element (approximately 35-40 planes) of non-campers and/or planned-early-departers and put those airplanes together (maybe elsewhere?) but I think it would cause a kerfuffle.

Rebecca, it takes a lot of feedback from a lot of people with big megaphones for change to happen in an organization as entrenched as EAA, but I'm glad you gave them feedback anyway.

Last year they made a concerted effort to backfill the N40 as people left as early as Tuesday, but I think they were hampered by manpower and weather. That effort supposedly picked up on Wed. and continued as traffic waned.

The extreme amount of traffic on Sat & Sun is the cost of early admission, and I think that if that cost continues to go up I think we'll see demand start to go down and more people aim for a midweek arrival.

I'm keeping my options open this year.

Ha, well I will keep pitching the idea and maybe some other people will repeat it to the EAA enough times to get heard. I am sure there’s other demand for group parking in addition to the mass arrivals. Plus the early fill up of the N40 puts a lot of stress on the volunteers and infrastructure. I did appreciate the attempts they made this year to start back filling sooner. The previous year was so absurd, half the north 40 was empty and they were still sending planes to the far corners of the s40. But you also don’t want to turn the s40 into a ghost town either so it strikes a balance. I think making the s40 a destination in its own right as the place where groups go makes a lot of sense… unfortunately between the husbands job and mine, we rarely have the schedule flexibility to take a wait and see approach to the best arrival day.

My idea was to put a marijuana dispensary, food trucks and a strip club in the South 40. That will draw crowds and generate revenue. (Could be green but currently isn’t)

The High Fliers 40 is a suggested name

Or The Peelers’ Cockpit.

I think (but am not positive) that they were understaffed a bit in 2021 because it was the first year back from the pandemic and were a bit disorganized. I think they weren't sure if it was going to happen until relatively late in the game. I try not to be too critical of volunteers doing tough work in these situations. I've been there, and often you're being asked to do conflicting things or just more than you have the manpower for. People use their vacation time to do this stuff so we can just show up and enjoy our trips. I'm not always good at it, but I try.

In '21 I met a woman with an RV-6 (7? something like that) on Saturday morning who had just been parked on the north side of 27. Everyone I talked to was amazed at how fast the N40 had filled in and some folks were a bit upset that they were so far away from the action and the amenities. I know I would have been. She was just happy to have been there and thought her spot next to the bar was great. She was just sitting in the grass and enjoying a cold drink on a hot day.

I've decided to try to have an attitude more like hers this year. We're bringing bikes and will make the best of whatever spot is available. If it's the S40, so be it.

Perhaps just clinging to N40 nostalgia, this change would keep me out of B2Osh. I've seen the S40 on the bus ride to the seaplane base, and it looks like a far away exile.

But I certainly understand the concern about how quickly the B2Osh camping area disintegrates, eventually being populated by all manner of lesser airplanes.

Perhaps just clinging to N40 nostalgia, this change would keep me out of B2Osh. I've seen the S40 on the bus ride to the seaplane base, and it looks like a far away exile.

But I certainly understand the concern about how quickly the B2Osh camping area disintegrates, eventually being populated by all manner of lesser airplanes.

Oh HECK NO!!!! I am vehemently opposed to calling anything built after I was born “vintage”!!!

I do wish they'd update the cutoff for Vintage. I want to park the club's '79 182RG closer to show center!

I think that all parking-only aircraft should be parked in far S40. There’s no reason for good show-center camping spots to be taken by airplanes flown in by people who get driven to off-site lodging and not seen again until the end of the week.

I was joking about the pot dispensary, but I think the solution is to make the S40 a place people WANT to be. This could be for the group arrivals or for regular campers.

One of the age old complaints in general has been about food choices, so I think one easy win solution would be to invite food trucks and more outside food and beverage vendors to setup in the S40. Good food, good bathroom/shower facilities, and good transportation to show center (that doesn't shut down early) could turn it into the preferred place to be for a lot of campers. That might also draw others to go down there to have a meal or beer with their camping friends.

Rebecca's idea of shifting the mass arrivals down there is not a bad one, but I think it would go over better if preceded by incentives so it doesn't look or feel like a punishment.