Chipmunks to OshKOSH »» Scheduled Flying Intro

This EAA web page has a wealth of information for visiting Warbird air crew - including where to stay, camping, car rental, the NOTAM and requirements for flying in the scheduled air display. This 'Chippies to Oshkosh' page is intended to highlight these requirements.

Flying in the AirVenture display is a lot of fun but requires a professional approach to the process of briefings, planning and operation of the whole exercise, and a good deal of care in its execution - and all for fifteen minutes of fame!

What follows is intended to give you a good understanding of what is required, BUT events on the field and the decisions and direction of the Air Boss, at the time, will determine actual practices.

This web page has been prepared on the assumption that there will be NO FAST QUALIFIED pilots available, and therefore no Chipmunk formation displays will be taking place. This means that we will be performing a 'flat' display only.

Required documentation

In order to fly in any of the daily air shows the following documentation MUST be presented to EAA before a pilot and their aircraft will be permitted to participate in the schedule flying program. Life for everyone is made easier if this is submitted electronically prior to the start of AirVenture (see Registration, below), but if needs be, it can be presented on arrival at Warbirds Registration (see Arrivals).

* Current pilot certificate
* Current medical certificate
* Copy of insurance certificate, which states inclusion of fly-by coverage †
* Date of last BFR
* Certificate of Waiver or Authorization.

† Some insurers are unwilling, unable or can't be bothered to provide you with this simple statement. If you are unable to persuade them to do this an email from them asserting same will be accepted by EAA Warbirds, but you will still need to provide copy of the certificate as well.

In addition, you are recommended to bring copies of the last page of your own log book plus those for the aircraft/engine, and ensure all AROW docs are on-board, Should you be subject to an FAA check absence of any of these could stop you from participating.

Registration

All pilots arriving into the Warbirds area are required to register their aircraft at Warbirds Registration (see Arrivals). You can do this and provide the required documentation on arrival, but you can also pre-register on-line and upload the required documents - this is much easier than doing it at check-in, and EAA has even provided us with our own landing page - click below to register.

Required Briefings

If you are a first-timer you are required to attend the 'First-Timers' briefing. This will be held only once, on Tuesday 26^th. - if you have never flown at Oshkosh and want to this year DON'T MISS THIS BRIEFING. There is an open invitation to join the Liaison / Trainers group on Tuesday and we have a dedicated 'Chipmunk Showcase' (date tbd), open to all Chipmunk pilots (but note - required crew only, which in a Chipmunk I think means 'solo'). Once again - if this is your first time flying in the Oshkosh display please be sure to attend the 'First-Timers' briefing on the Tuesday. Even regulars will probably benefit from this briefing, as a refresher - you don't do this all the time, do you?

Next, there will be a general briefing on the day of the display, at which all performers must be present. Following that, there will then be a briefing for each separate group, so that will be all participating Chipmunk pilots, for both the Liaison / Trainers and the Showcase events. Finally, after each display we will de-brief as a group and see how well we thought we did. (So, after landing please be sure to secure your plane and then get to the de-brief promptly.)

The timetable for these briefings is usually only published at the start of the week, so there's little else to be done right now. First-timer and general briefings are held in the Warbirds buildings area (see map in Arrivals), and we'll hold our own Showcase briefing in the Aircrew 'Ready' Room, a.k.a. the tent sponsored by Polyfiber.

Just to set the expectation up-front and avoid disappointment and frustration on the day, if you do not present the required documentation and attend all the required briefings you simply will not be able to fly. This is serious fun.

Planning

It would be helpful to know in advance if you plan to participate in the flying program, just to give an idea of how many aircraft we may have to accommodate. We'll worry about that in the few weeks running-up to AirVenture.

Frequency Tab

This link will download a Word frequency tab with all the anticipated AirVenture frequencies, plus some 'scratch space' for your own use (feel free to modify the document as you wish). As prepared, once trimmed this will fit into the frequency tab holder on the left-hand side of Brit (and Portuguese?) Chippie cockpits, but you could also stick it on your panel.

Note that should you wish to make individual flights, including multi-ship flights, you are free to operate out of Oshkosh subject to the times, restrictions and practices published in the NOTAM.