By Robbie Culver
“RV with the wig-wags a half mile before Fisk, rock your wings!”
To a pilot, the words “rock your wings” are almost sacred. They mean we are approaching the small town of Fisk, Wisconsin, on the approach to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh and are about to complete an epic journey to get to the show. We have read the notice to air mission. We’ve flown past Ripon. We’ve followed the railroad tracks. And we are on altitude and airspeed, a half mile in trail. We rock our wings when asked, so the controllers know we heard them, and will follow their instructions.
Almost every pilot will immediately recognize the words, and many will have a tale to tell about their turn doing so. The phrase is synonymous with AirVenture arrivals, as well as the subject of many a hangar tale. Many of us (including this reporter!) have T-shirts with these hallowed words prominently displayed, to show our friends and family that we have, indeed, checked this box on our bucket list.
To air traffic controllers, Fisk approach is part of the “Super Bowl” of ATC, the little aviation event we call AirVenture. Controllers apply for and compete for the opportunity to be part of the “world’s busiest airport” during the event.
Pilots follow a notice to air mission (NOTAM, or “notice”) for the arrival. The notice comes out prior to AirVenture, and all pilots MUST read it prior to departing for the trip. It provides detailed, very specific instructions on how to fly the approach procedure, as well as additional information related to flying in to the world’s busiest airspace.
Fly 1,800 feet at 90 knots or 2,300 feet at 135 knots, and start wherever the Oshkosh automatic terminal information service (ATIS) directs you to do so. Entry points can be Endeavor Bridge (VPENV), Puckaway Lake (VPPLK), Green Lake (VPGRN), or the town of Ripon (RIPON). The words in parenthesis are VFR waypoints used for navigation by GPS. Look out the window and follow the railroad tracks. Watch for your friends in other aircraft, and stay a half mile behind the one ahead of you.
Like most things in aviation, it is not difficult to do the arrival procedure safely and correctly if you follow the instructions! And it is very safe when everyone does what they were told to.
The following is summarized from the notice (don’t use this for flight planning):
The procedure starts by using one of the ATC designated Transitions to Ripon, WI (15NM SW of OSH), requires visual navigation, and can be supplemented by VFR Waypoints. Pilots then follow a railroad track from Ripon to Fisk, WI. ATC at Fisk controls traffic flow and assigns OSH landing runways.
Ripon to Fisk: If holding is not in progress, proceed to the northeast corner of Ripon. Proceed single file, directly over the railroad tracks from Ripon northeast to Fisk (10 miles). Remain at least ½ mile in-trail behind any aircraft you are following.
All aircraft must visually navigate directly over the railroad tracks from Ripon to Fisk. If possible, lower your landing gear prior to reaching Fisk. The small town of Pickett is about 4 miles from Fisk (steam from the grain drying facility). After this point, listen very carefully for ATC instructions directed at your aircraft.
The Fisk approach facility itself may surprise you. Many of us picture controllers huddled over radar scopes in a dark, air-conditioned room. In fact, it is a trailer located alongside a rural road in small-town Wisconsin, on the rise of a small hill. Out front, a table with four controllers in shorts and high-visibility pink shirts sit at a table. Two have binoculars, one has a radio, the fourth stands there watching. They work together to coordinate the flow of traffic coming up the railroad tracks that run through Fisk at the bottom of the hill. If you follow the tracks as directed, you literally fly right at the controllers and make their job much easier.
Following Fisk, aircraft are assigned one of two paths, depending on whether they are sent to Runway 9/27 on the north side of the airport, or Runway 18/36 on the south side of the airport. Circumstances dictate what runways are in use and which routes are active. In the case of Runway 18/36, there are also two options, as there is a left and a right 18/36 during AirVenture only.
What may seem like chaos to the unaware is actually an incredibly choreographed and extremely well-planned set of special air traffic procedures, implemented by the world’s best. Oshkosh is truly one of a kind.
Elizabeth Wichmann, air traffic manager for AirVenture, said the crew consists of 16 teams of four controllers each, and all of those controllers rotate through all the different positions. They rotate through Fisk, the Fond du Lac temporary tower, the Mobile Operations and Communications Workstations (MOO-COWs — yes, really, MOO-COWs) that are at the ends of the runways, and two positions in the Oshkosh control tower, north and south.
Controllers typically spend a day or two at each spot, depending on their schedule. There are ATC training materials online months in advance, and there is also a training day prior to AirVenture.
“We think it’s fantastic, and we love that EAA has really gotten out and is working with the FAA very closely to try and perfect the procedures and get the information out to the pilots. We feel like it’s gotten smoother and smoother every year.”
Wichmann also made a point to reach out to prospective future controllers. “Young people should reach out, ask some questions, reach out to the FAA; on the website there is some fantastic information. Definitely get out there and work with local EAA chapters. Also, get into the aviation community because it’s a very small community, but it’s a fantastic community. We work very closely with our local EAA chapter as well. Come out and tour the towers, talk to the controllers — we do a lot of pilot/controller relations and work with them.”
More information may be found at the FAA Aviation Safety Center located in section J-11 of the AirVenture map, adjacent to the control tower. The FAA is actively recruiting for positions such as aviation safety inspector and air traffic controller, as well as many others.
For those concerned about the job being too stressful, Wichmann added, “I don’t think air traffic is a stressful job. I think it’s like putting together puzzle pieces, and I like to be a problem-solver. I would say raising my three children is a lot more stressful than air traffic.5
“I love Oshkosh because everybody that is here wants to be here, volunteers to be here, begs to be here, and it’s like the ‘Super Bowl’ of air traffic.”
Rock your wings!