ATC at Oshkosh, Pt. 2

We continue our inside look at what it takes for ATC to manage traffic in and around Oshkosh during the annual AirVenture.

Elim Hawkins

Sunday, November 26, 2023 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

The main OSH tower oversees the entire operation.

Key Takeaways:

The Oshkosh Tower operates with multiple rotating teams in specialized visual control roles (e.g., North/South Local, communicators, spotters) to manage an extremely high volume of diverse air traffic on multiple runways.
Ground Control and Clearance (GC/CD) handles IFR clearances and ATIS, while unique Mobile Operations/Communications Workstations (MOOCOWs) with dedicated controllers manage departures directly from the runways using visual sequencing and wand signals.
The entire AirVenture ATC system emphasizes intense, non-radar visual coordination between tower and ground positions to maintain safety and efficiency amidst high traffic density, prioritizing procedures like go-arounds when necessary.

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Last month in Part 1, we talked about the ATC planning for Oshkosh, selection, pre-OSH activities, Fond du Lac, and Fisk. In this Part 2, we’ll talk about ATC roles in the “World’s Busiest Control Tower,” those oddly named MOOCOWS, and a couple other things. We’ll start with the Tower.

OSH Tower

Oshkosh Tower is the well-known landmark for anyone who has been to AirVenture. Starting around 0545 every morning and finishing around 2030, six teams of controllers along with several supervisors and managers are in and out of the tower. We don’t just handle a lot of traffic. There are enough people working that Operation Managers (OM) are required to manage the staff. There are three teams in the morning and three in the afternoon with several other pink shirts passing through.