Here are the updates as sent out to the list participants, as well as the original info.
The 50 for 50 Comanche mass arrival to OSH will be on Sunday July 27, 2008 arriving at OSH at 1130 local. We will be staging at Watertown, WI (KRYV), and a block of rooms have been reserved for those arriving early. The rooms have been reserved and are available for both the nights of the 25th and 26th. Contact our host FBO, Wisconsin Aviation, at 800-657-0761 for the latest price and availability.
For those not familiar, Watertown is about 46 miles due south of OSH. We will be departing KRYV at 1100 local for the arrival. This requires we brief at 0900 so make your arrival plans accordingly. We had a very successful arrival last year and most of the participants have signed up for it again this year. Welcome back! We learned many things from last year so it should work even better this year. We still have room for more participants so if you know anyone wishing to participate have them email me, Zach Grant, NC Tribe Chief at
comancheosh@yahoo.com or call me at 317.201.4293 (cell, Eastern Time). The arrival is just the tip of the iceberg. We are anticipating having more parking/camping spaces than the arrival will fill, so hopefully we will be able to accommodate any Comanchero who wants to attend OSH in the Comancheland area (as long as they arrive by Sunday). Stay tuned for the latest on that as we will not hear final numbers or a final location for our parking area for another month or so. New this year is the main display booth/tent that hopefully will be in the main display area near Aeroshell Square (where they park all the heavy iron). This will be our base of operations and will be the educational and social headquarters for ICS and CFF for the week. It will be the location of the Comanche Forums as well as the central gathering place for all things Comanche. As of right now we have secured preliminary commitments from Zach Grant, Matt Kurke, and Kristin Winter to hold forums on operations, maintenance, and legal and insurance issues respectively. There may be more surprises forthcoming and of course this is all dependent on many scheduling and unforseen things as the year goes on, but this is the plan. As for the social aspects, we are hoping to have an afterhour’s corn roast one night, as well as our impromptu “annual meeting of liars and scallywags”. We will have the annual Green Lake offsite dinner again on Thursday night. This has become a perennial hit and this year we will have a room for ourselves, at least that is also the plan. More info will follow as it becomes available as we get closer.As this is joint ICS CFF sponsored event, we will have the tent open to all interested in Comanche’s, and it will be manned by knowledgeable members and volunteers to help you become more Comanche savvy. Even brand “B” and “C” drivers have been spotted in our ranks! Many of the ICS BOD members as well as some of the ICS and CFF officers are planning to attend. It is a great way to get to know the volunteers who are running your society day to day. If you would like to volunteer some of your time to man the booth, contact ICS President Dave Fitzgerald at
aaviator@neo.rr.com and he can coordinate that with you.As you can tell, lots of planning has gone into this year’s Comanche fly in at OSH. It has become the largest ICS North Central Tribe event and every year we are trying to enhance the experience. I hope each and everyone who can, will join us. Get the old girl out of the hangar, knock the dust off, and point her nose towards OSH for the week of July 28- Aug. 3rd. Plan to come early and join up for the mass arrival, or just get there when you can, and stop in and see what’s new, what’s changed, what the latest issues are and how they are being addressed, or just share your experiences. Everybody is going to see something, learn something, or take something away from this event that they will remember for a lifetime. Arrive in a Comanche, but enjoy the show, because it IS aviation. Oshkosh, there is nothing else like it in the world. Hope to see you all there.
The next info sent out was this:
As we all wait anxiously to participate in the OSH festivities this year, here are a couple of things you may wish to consider. We have been invited to participate with the Piper Owners group at their Gateway to OSH fly in at Stevens Point. See the info below. This is on Saturday before the arrival, and might be fun to go to, and show off what the Comanche is compaired to those "other" airplanes... Zach
From Brandan DuChateau
Aircraft Owners Group
Marketing Director
Kick-off Gateway to Oshkosh (GTO) before EAA AirVenture!
2 p.m.-4 p.m.: Aircraft Owner’s Group (AOG) will have an aircraft "show and tell" for members of our two organizations, the Piper Owner Society (
www.piperowner.org) and the Cessna Owner Organization (
www.cessnaowner.org ).
4 p.m.: Join us for the GTO pig roast at KSTE’s Noel hangar.
Time: 4 p.m.
Date: 07/26/08
Only $20! Bring a guest for $15 more! Save $5 when you fly in!
Location: KSTE airport in Stevens Point, Wisconsin
Call (800) 331-0038, 118 for details or visit
http://gto.aircraftownersgroup.com.
Need a hotel for Saturday night? GTO hotel rates start at only $89 per night at the Stevens Point Holiday Inn & Convention Center.
Jones Publishing Inc.
P.O. Box 5000
Iola, WI 54945
(715) 445-5000, ext. 118
Next, we have the information that might save you a bit of money on your OSH entrance fees. From the EAA, act fast as this offer ends on the 15th of June (this has now been extended...Zach)
www.airventure.org/2008/planning/advance.html
Also for those considering a personal locator beacon, here is another great offer of which you may wish to take advantage...
www.airventure.org/2008/news/080529_spot.html
Now, one last thing! I need a count of all of those still planning to attend! If you are still coming for the Mass arrival, or just to OSH and will be arriving befor Sunday night, please reply here and add your N# to the email if you are attending. I have some, but not all of the N#, and I must turn these in soon. I still do not have final parking position, and they may be waiting until I give them a "final" count. I hope this finds most of you still planning to attend!
-Zach Grant
ICS NC Tribe Chief