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Nancy Hattaway Miller |
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| About the Author ... |
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AVweb contributor Nancy Hattaway Miller is a perpetual
student pilot whose main hobby is training CFIs for a "better" job in aviation.
Nancy was the fourth employee at PC World
Online and was instrumental in developing their web site and newsletter
products. When the bleeding-edge online environment began to seriously
interfere with her flying time, Nancy moved to the print side of PC World
magazine, where the pace is merely frenetic.
In a work history variously
described as "Renaissance" or "checkered," Nancy has earned her keep as a
photographer, writer, chemist, programmer, soda jerk, college instructor,
typesetter and veterinarian. She and her husband Patrick enjoy the
temperate climate and blue skies of Northern California, and are always
happy to give California weather reports to their friends in thunderstorm
or windchill country.
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For hundreds of EAA Fly-In devotees, their
annual pilgrimage is more than a week of air shows, vendor booths, and sunburns. It's a
week-long visit to their second home at one of several commercial campsites within driving
distance of Oshkosh. Individuals and families that camp off-site return year after year to
not only the same campground, but the same campsite, setting up their fifth-wheels and
tents next to the same folks they've had as neighbors for years.
During most of the year, Circle R Campground, 3 miles south of Steve Wittman Field, is
home to vacationing fishermen visiting nearby Lake Winnebago. But for one week of the
year, the "Fish Cleaning Hut" is silent and the talk around the porch of the Rec
Hall is all of Ercoupes, warbirds, and ultralights.
A Little City to the South
Randy Streblow, one of the family owners of Circle R, said that
camp capacity more than doubles during the week of the Oshkosh air shows. "We have
about 500 spaces in the campground this week," Streblow said. "During the rest
of the year we have 200, tops." Connie Streblow, Randy's wife, added that with
turn-around, they have over 700 reservations during the week of the show. "It's like
living in a city all by itself," she said. "The Fly-In is a big city in itself
and we're a little city just to the south."
Circle R fills up for spaces with electric power sometime in April. "Last year
when the airshow closed we already had 120 reservations for this year's show," Connie
said. Randy added, "People like to come back to their same spots year after year. One
year we expanded the campground and re-numbered the sites, and that resulted in a lot of
people getting upset. We'd say, 'You're in site 102' and they'd argue, 'NO! I'm always in
site 74!' Well, site 102 used to be called site 74 so it was the same place, but it sure
made registrations interesting that year." The Streblows try to make overflow spaces
available so they never have to turn away tent campers who do not need water or
electricity on site. "You can always squeeze in another tent," laughed Connie.
Advance Registrations
The availability of advance registrations is a big difference from on-site camping at
Camp Scholler or under-the-wing camping with your airplane. "I've been coming here
for maybe 10 years," said one camper. "I have the perfect spot and know most of
the people that stay on either side of us. The fellow who told me about this place has had
his same spot since 1984." His son agreed about the home-like atmosphere. "I
like coming here. I know all the kids because we come here every year."
The "perfect spot" may mean more than proximity to restrooms, showers, or
friends. Under most wind conditions, the campers have a front row seat every evening for
the departures from the airshow. The ultralight field is close by, so those aircraft can
be spotted to the north. Even the seaplanes often pass right overhead. Campers sit out in
their temporary front yards and watch the parade of airplanes go by, easily close enough
for identification. During the day, the campground owners cater to their aviation-minded
visitors by providing a bus that runs between Circle R and the airfield.
Off-site campgrounds are especially attractive to families with
members not interested in airplanes (hard to believe, we know, but it happens). Circle R
has a Recreation Hall with a television, pool table, video games and microwave, mostly
used by teenagers who feel separated from their normal "totally wired" existence
by the campground experience. There is a playground for younger kids as well as a history
museum and an assortment of animals. "Some folks never go up to the airshow,"
said Connie Streblow. "They just stay in camp visiting with their friends and
relaxing, or go see some of the other attractions in this area, or go shopping."
But most of the campers at Circle R during the week of the Oshkosh Fly-In are pilots
and die-hard aviation enthusiasts. The availability of advance reservations, the proximity
to the airfield, the presence of regulars who come back year after year, and the common
aviation interests of most campers helps to create an environment that seems like a home
away from home.
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