I’m on the ground at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2025, and it’s already the best edition of AirVenture I’ve ever been to. I have so much to see over the week, and I’m so excited to take it all in. I took a tour of Pratt & Whitney’s Boeing 747SP engine testbed plane yesterday. I also got to tour Samaritan’s Purse, the only Douglas DC-8 that’s still flying in America. I also get to fly in a Goodyear blimp on Friday, which I’m so stoked about.
But first, let’s talk camping! While aircraft is the main focus of AirVenture, camping is a huge element. Camping is such an iconic part of AirVenture that the custom posters and T-shirts made for AirVenture each year often feature Airstreams and other cool campers. The campground is where you’ll meet up with your local EAA chapter, make some new friends, gaze at cool RVs, and have a generally fantastic time. It’s also just great for families. Not only do you get the experience of a road trip, but you get to have the kind of fun that you won’t get in a hotel.
Camp Scholler, which connects directly to the AirVenture event, turns into a whole city for a week out of the year. Seriously, Camp Scholler has grocery stores, signed streets, a laundromat, an outdoor theater, showers, toilets, a transit system, security detail, and so much more. I live in a place that’s officially classified as a city, and yet, for one week, Camp Scholler has more than 13,000 more people and better public transit.
Broken RVs
Sadly, your Camp Scholler experience could be hampered, not by the excellent campground, but by what you sleep in. A camper may be the second biggest purchase you ever make, and sometimes they’re epic piles of crap. That’s the case with my family’s two rigs, one that was purchased used for around $27,000 and one that was purchased new for $62,800. Both of them are broken this summer, and it’s thrown a wrench into our family trips.
If you’re wondering why I’m writing about a camper during an airplane event, the explanation is simple: Internet, or a lack of it. EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2025 is expected to pull around 700,000 visitors this year, and over 40,000 of those people will sleep in the epic Camp Scholler campground that’s next to Wittman Regional Airport. Camp Scholler has Wi-Fi, but only in a few areas. I’ve been going to Oshkosh for four years now, and have been lucky enough to get Wi-Fi coverage only once.
Otherwise, you’re left running what you’ve brung…ing, and the cellular networks in the local area get absolutely crushed under the load. This means that there’s no way for me to research an aircraft. There is coverage in the event itself, but that means lugging my heavy laptop around for at least a couple of miles of walking. Don’t worry, the plane–but not plain–content is coming! I just need a bit better resources than I can get out in this field.
If you read my Oshkosh 2025 introductory post, you noticed that, this year, I did not bring my family’s 2007 Adirondack 31BH, as is customary for my AirVenture excursions. Instead, I yanked in the family’s 2022 Heartland Mallard. I didn’t want to haul in this trailer because it’s bigger and heavier than the Adirondack with several mildly infuriating design decisions, which I’ve written about recently.
The Adirondack Is Beaten
Unfortunately, the Adirondack, which my family purchased for about $27,000 in 2016, was so broken this year that it has been undergoing repairs for a good portion of the summer.
You may remember a story that I wrote a few years ago detailing the Adirondack’s epic water damage. The roof seals failed, as did the seals in the bathroom. This rotted out the trailer’s laminated wall structure, leading to the wood failing, splitting, and partially collapsing, causing the trailer’s outer skin to break. The water damage also rotted out the entire rear floor of the trailer. My parents ended up paying $7,500 to have the wall rebuilt, the floor repaired, and the seals fixed.
My parents likely bought the trailer in this condition in 2016. When I first saw the trailer back then, I spotted the trailer’s exterior fiberglass bubbling and waving. This skin was a part of the sandwich of bonded layers that make up the trailer’s walls. Bubbling is an indication that this sandwich is failing, often because of moisture intrusion.
This trailer has been through a lot in my family’s ownership. One of the left tires blew during an excursion down a dirt road, which took out the trailer’s fender. Then the other left tire failed later, which took out the replaced fender and a portion of the camper’s exterior wall.
Last year, I wrote about an impending disaster that was the condition of the Adirondack. My wife Sheryl and I had found that all three of the trailer’s awnings were failing. The main awning was tearing from its mounts while the awnings over the slides had begun failing to retract. This meant that when you closed the slides, the awnings got caught up between the slide and its seals, which meant that whenever it rained, water got into the trailer. Sheryl and I found what looked to be mildew or mold in the trailer that year, and the source was water getting in from the broken slide awning.
But things got even worse. I found brown-ish red stains next to the rear slide, warped interior trim, and even water actively dripping from the slide. I believed the issue to be the broken slide awning. Unfortunately, when I looked under the trailer, I found that the rear slide’s structure was disintegrating from the water damage. Further, I found soft spots in the trailer’s floor in various places. Even the primary bedroom had signs of water damage with mildew or mold stains, a headboard that detached from the wall, and warped cabinetry.
My parents finally took the Adirondack to an RV repair shop, and the diagnosis was shocking. I was correct about the failures of the self-retracting slide awnings, but there was so much more damage. The shop noted that the rear slide’s seals had completely failed, so even if the awning worked, it still would have gotten damaged. The failed awning was merely a damage multiplier.
A leak was discovered at the front of the trailer, which explains the water damage in the primary bedroom. The soft spots in the floor were determined to have come from all of the new and fun ways water has found its way into the trailer. Thus, the repair process here is going to be pretty comprehensive. The rear floor of the trailer will be replaced for a second time, and the slide’s structure will be rebuilt. All three of the trailer’s awnings will be replaced, and every single seal will be checked and replaced as needed as well.
One additional problem that I experienced on this trip was the rear slide’s power switch failing with a spark and smoke show. Thankfully, no damage was found to the slide’s power system, so the failure was limited to just the switch.
Unfortunately, the trailer’s luck wore even thinner. The shop’s inspection had revealed that the two right tires were from 2007, making them original to the trailer, while the two left tires were from 2009. Supposedly, the blown tires were replaced with “new” tires, but maybe these were new old tires. This also suggests that the Adirondack’s original owner didn’t use the trailer that much.
The inspection had also found that the trailer’s suspension had immense sag from wear and that the axles were also past their prime. My parents declined to replace the suspension. All of these repairs mean that the Adirondack has been sidelined. We have an estimate for the structural repairs. I want readers to try their hand at guessing the total!
The Mallard Is Frustrating
This meant that I’d have to bring out my family’s 2022 Heartland Mallard M33 for this year’s Oshkosh trip, and I wasn’t looking forward to it. The Mallard is taller, a few feet longer, and 1,400 pounds heavier than the Adirondack. I do not need nor want a camper that huge for AirVenture. I was also concerned that my press vehicle, a 2025 Chevrolet Silverado EV Trail Boss, would have poor range trying to pull the 7,746-pound Mallard.
I’ve written about the various hilarious and aggravating ways that the Mallard has broken, and you can read those stories by clicking here. This time, only three issues have cropped up, and like all of the previous issues I’ve talked about, all three are ridiculous.
The first problem is that the exterior of the trailer is beginning to come apart. Check this out:
The side skirt under this mess also flops in the wind, so I’ll have to secure it during the trip home.
We had an issue with the water pump on the first night. It worked just fine throughout the day and then stopped pumping water at night. It vibrated and made noise, but no water exited the faucets. My parents called up the local Oshkosh Camping World affiliate, which kindly sent out its shop techs to investigate broken campers in Camp Scholler. The issue with the water pump seemingly fixed itself, with the techs concluding that a massive air bubble must have gotten into the lines.
My dad planned for this trip by buying a Winegard router to install into the ceiling. The wiring and the antenna were installed at the Heartland RV factory when the trailer was built, so my dad just needed to install the device. Well, this turned out to be impossible. Three wires are required for the install, yet only two are accessible.
The Camping World techs checked this out, too. They found the third wire, but it was buried in the antenna. Apparently, the factory was supposed to drop the wire down so it could be accessed by the trailer’s owner, but this never happened. Unfortunately, Camping World says that the fix is that they have to remove the entire antenna dome from the roof and redo the wiring. At least Heartland RV has agreed to cover the cost of the fix since it was a factory error.
Thankfully, that’s all that has broken on this trip. Three issues seem like nothing compared to what I’ve written about in the past. Remember, this trailer had a rusty frame fresh out of the factory, one of the safety chains failed, it has shifting walls plus failing trim, and it generally has the build quality of a Malaise Era car from Detroit. In a way, these issues are only a continuation of that.
Still A Great Time!
But for now, I’m just happy that nothing serious is currently broken. My AirVenture trip won’t be foiled by stupid camper issues! Even with these issues and over three years of articles, I still prefer RVing over sleeping in a tent. Sure, my tent has never failed me, but at least to me, it’s hard to beat hard walls and a nice bed. I also like being able to use my own shower, use my own toilet, and to blast myself with an air-conditioner when I need to. It’s going to be over 90 degrees this week, so the luxury of an air-conditioner will be appreciated!
As always, I recommend having a trailer inspected before you buy it. Do it yourself if you know what you’re doing or hire an expert if you don’t know what to look for. There are great RVs out there, and there are real stinkers out there. Likewise, you can also save a ton of money by not buying new. Sure, a used camper will mean that someone has used the toilet before, and there might be imperfections, but it’ll be much cheaper than going brand new.
With that, it’s time to get back to some hot plane action. Stay tuned, because this year’s AirVenture is my favorite yet!
What I’ve learned from all of these thoroughly entertaining and informative articles, as well as testimonials from friends, is this:
1. If I really badly want to go RVing, I’ll rent.
2. If I were ever going to own something beyond a pop-up trailer, it would have to be based on a highway coach, because those have a real body structure and are designed for a million miles and years of abuse going down the highway.
3. Flying somewhere then staying in a luxury hotel is in most cases cheaper than RV accommodation when you factor in all of the costs involved, so that would be my first choice.
Buying any RV is purely an emotional decision, which is the fastest way to lose a lot of money. Using life cycle costing would be absolutely frightening with any RV. Every trip is costing you thousands and creates or exposes more expensive repairs. How can that possibly be worth it to park bumper to bumper in a farmer’s field?
I say it every time, these articles are downright shocking. They make me think my dad’s boats were not actually that bad of a deal…
Yes if you buy used you can probably save enough money to do the first two years of repairs but then either way you are screwed. You should out these terrible dealers
Mercedes, thank you for sharing these stories and congratulations on keeping your cool!
That said … I am going to be on Team Mallard for a bit. This thing has A LOT OF STUFF for $62k. It’s perhaps a case of “too good to be true” but it seems crazy to me a camper can offer so much for $62k. I mean this thing has 2 (two) kitchens! Of course shortcuts had to be taken in places but … $62k! And with all its faults it probably still has a decent resale value.
Also I don’t know if anyone could put a price on these stories. I think a lot of us here love reading them. I was totally looking forward to a summer update on the camper.
Seems like a Mallard dealer. The saying is if it looks like a duck quacks like a duck it’s a POS Mallard duck.
I’ve known exactly 3 people who bought/owned Mallards, and none of them would ever, ever make that purchase again. The build quality is just frankly horrendous.
It seems like they basically leave the factory in EoL phase, where it’s just a constant state of needing repairs, usually large ones. I could never feel comfortable just staying in something so shabbily constructed.
Only 2 wires on the Winegard antenna when there are supposed to be 3? Those were the bane of my existence as T-Mobile tech support. Wish I’d known that then, it would have been helpful!
Regarding repairing the RV walls, honestly if I had my own RV, I’d be prepared to do that myself like this guy did to make it better-than-new:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n7SS1aBiuA
I have little faith in an RV dealer to do a quality repair.
If you want to see why these fall apart, check out this 4 minute video showing the Jayco factory. It’s amazing that they would even release this footage. It’s several years old, but so worth watching. https://youtu.be/aLHux4SuXbY
I’ve worked on client projects for their trade show program, and the worst trade show exhibit is better built than any mainstream RV or travel trailer. Trailer manufacturers are basically trolling at this point. They are just attempting to discover if there is any level of quality so low that people who want RVs won’t accept.
Better to ask your mechanic to build you one
And Jayco used to be one of the better ones lol!
How much to buy RV Carports for both trailers?
Rhetorical Answer: A lot less than these water intrusion repair costs.
There’s a strange recluse living near some relatives of mine. His old cabin is almost falling down, and there were huge holes in the roof. He then built a large free-standing roof, about 2 ft over the top of the entire cabin.
Using an RV carport to make up for leaks sounds like a similar approach.
I can understand one to protect from UV, but fabric covers can do that too.
I stand by my rhetoric and my simplistic logic. That being, it’s better to leak for two weeks of the year than to leak for fifty-two weeks of it.
Fabric covers trap moisture. The air gap of a carport would also help a lot. Constant water infiltration is the worst.
Oh, I understand and agree with you. I’m sure, given how terrible RVs are, that a carport is a logical, cost-effective answer.
I just found an amusing similarity in building a second, better, roof in order to hide a root problem.
I must concede that a big part of the root problem is that people are expected to inspect and apply additional caulk every year to all the seams of these huge cardboard boxes which get seriously flexed and bounced around with every use. Shit, I have a pop-up and I can’t believe how many yards of seams I’m expected to inspect and repair annually. I cannot imagine doing it on a forty foot long, ten feet tall travel trailer, especially as a senior. IMHO the entire paradigm is a guaranteed fail. The entire composite panel TT construction premise is rotten to the core (pun intended).
I bet the repair estimate is 21500
It will be interesting to hear about how the Silverado EV was for towing and as a power supply.
Get rid of these terrible things!! I know you’ll take a loss, but dealing with this nonsense and dumping money into these year after year is just madness!
I agree but a camp in some cheap rural area and vacation there.
The more I read about campers, the more I want to buy an old Airstream and re-do the interior myself and save the aggravation.
Preach!
There are plenty of abandoned projects out there that are stripped out from people who have tried. If you do it, I’d recommend not buying one that is stripped out already. You need the millwork for templates.
I will say, we have had a 2007 Airstream for 4 years now, and it’s had 1 issue (the voltage converter started getting noisy so I replaced it myself for about $300.). Everything else has been things I wanted to do, like upgrading faucets, changing the TV, and other upgrades. I’ve taken it out over 20 times, towed it over 7,000 miles and had it as far as about 500 miles away. It’s been a great trailer. No leaks, no smells, and everything works except the tank level monitoring system (which is nice, but not truly necessary).
Airstream seems to be the only brand worth buying in terms of used campers. I personally enjoy the charm of the 70’s-80’s models, so I’d take those and just upgrade the plumbing, shower, bed, kitchen appliances and maybe the flooring. Keep the retro aesthetic and have more modern convivences.
And experience the same? If I were rich enough I would find some cheap quality built dated house where I would like to vacation and buy a house for $40k and vacation there
Buying a house for 40k? Unless it’s a trailer home I think you’re a bit dated in terms of home values in 2025.
I wouldn’t have the same experiences as Mercedes as I’d actually be building my camper to a level of quality that is acceptable. I’m not mass producing campers, I’m one shmuck with some power tools and enough sealant to keep King Tut locked up for another 100 years.
We debated this when we got our Airstream. The wife’s comment was that she didn’t want to always go to the same place. The vacation home probably would have been the better choice from an investment standpoint, especially if you Airbnb it when you aren’t using it, but we are enjoying our Airstream a lot and we are meeting new friends in the Airstream Camping Club.
I got a step van (think bread/ups truck) cheap at auction and have built it out. Fun project, I know how everything’s done, and it’s easy to work on. All aluminium body, built like a plane. I definitely suggest a similar route.
All that Adirondack needs is a gallon of gas and a match at this point.
I just got back from a weekend trip in my Bullet and two things cropped up. The shower is leaking from underneath and the black water tank flush doesn’t seem to be working. I was able to tighten the fittings on the drain, they were a bit loose so hopefully that’s all that needs. The black water flush I’m not so sure about though. It seems to be sorta working but not really. Luckily most of the plumbing is accessable.
KISS goes double for campers. The fewer bells and whistles the less can go wrong.
Mine this year had a brand new tire fail to stay inflated. The techs forgot to tighten the valve core.
Yes RVs are where PEPBOYS are your friends. You don’t want built in crap but easier access crap
I don’t understand why they are “fixing” the Adirondack again. It’s a 2007, almost 20 years old. It is well past its expected useful life as a modern, disposable RV and will never be worth more than like four or five grand at this point, even if they pay someone to fix all the issues. Spending $7,500 on repairs a couple of years ago was foolish and throwing at least that much if not more (I’m assuming) at it again is just doubling down. It’s not like the hacks at the RV repair place will actually give them a quality or lasting fix, it’ll just be another expensive band aid, and the camper will be in the exact same spot another two years from now. Well past time to sell the old one for scrap value IMO.
While you’re correct, at that price level there’s something to be said for sticking with the devil you know, which might be part of the reason.
Unfortunately, there’s no scrap value in plywood and vinyl wrap.
Otherwise, I fully agree.
Unfortunately, your family’s 2016 Adirondack sounds like a perfect example of the sunk cost fallacy.
If you’re lucky, insurance will cover it and total the trailer. If not, probably best to just wash your hands of it and scrap it.
That’s what I kept thinking. It sounds like an insurance write off.
I’m so mad on your parents’ behalf. This is insanity.
Thanks for sharing, I’m never buying a camper.
We picked up a new 2025 17B for Mother’s day for my wife, we’ve taken it out a few times and she just spent 10 days with it going to Texas and back.
No issues so far, crossing my fingers. I’m definitely going to learn how to fix this myself as that seems to be the most cost effective way.
We love it so far and I can’t wait to go somewhere that has some hiking trails.
Hopefully the issues on your Mallard are easily fixable.
As for the damages on the Adirondack, I’m going to guess $15,000.
Funny, when growing up, my parents bought a 21ft camper trailer. Never did they have any problems other than the black tank valve. They had it for like 20 years too.
Now you can’t even get a decent camper that’s built good
welcome to the Disposable World. everything starting from clothes ending with cars is meant to be used probably twice and then go to junk
Yeah, I’ve been wearing Levis 505s most of my life. Dang, their quality is just shite now.
Devoted to 501s here, and while I don’t really have any complaints about the quality, I noticed they went from 7 belt loops to just 5 a few years ago.
From what I can tell, they have something like 2-3 quality levels and which one you get depends mostly on which retailer you go to. Kohl’s and Amazon etc get the cheapest ones, but the ones I got at the flagship store were good and so far the “premium” ones I got directly from Levi’s have been pretty decent.
I’ve always wanted a travel trailer, but reading your stories about them has turned me away forever. Thank you for this service, seriously. I don’t want a headache like that in my life, especially as someone who lives somewhere wet.
Same here. If I wanted to deal with a bunch of frustration, stress, and time consuming repairs when I should actually be having fun, I would have a race car.
Incidentally, I just retired from being team captain of an amateur race team due to frustration, stress, and time consuming repairs when I should actually be having fun.
I bet a replacement crapper is a heck of a lot less than the depreciation/repairs/etc that you’d save buying used.
The repairs on a new one are “free” under warranty, but a huge hassle. Usually the best bet for reliability is one that’s a year or two old so all the factory errors have been sorted out.
A camper may be the second biggest purchase you ever make, and
sometimesthey’re always epic piles of crap.Renting an RV or trailer for $3k a week is a better deal than buying one, even if you do so for a month a year. No worries about taking care of it, and you can fit the RV/trailer to your trip’s conditions. You also don’t need to store it. But that also makes it obvious that if your destination has a decent hotel/Airbnb option, the rental RV looks expensive and annoying by comparison.
One of my colleagues rents one every year for his family camping trip and loves doing it this way. They even drop it off and pick it up at the end. He debated buying one, found a rental place a few years ago and hasn’t looked back.
As someone who married into cottage ownership I 100% get the appeal of renting. Having a worse house with way worse access isn’t my dream at all.
I think the same of boats (mostly) and vacation homes, too. The other thing with ownership is that you feel obligated (or I would) to use them as often as possible to justify the expense that comes from owning even if you don’t use it, which kind of ties down your leisure time to doing the same thing every time and that’s assuming you’re not spending that time fixing it or using it with diminished capacity.
I live in an area where cabin and boat ownership are a huge cultural touchpoint, and I would agree that neither is worth the bother. Especially boats. At least property can increase in value.
The old saying for both is that the best cabin/boat is your friend’s cabin/boat. The better one for boats is that a boat is just a hole in the water where you throw money.
Same with swimming pools, ask me how I know!!
Swimming pools are another one! Our first house had an above ground already there and I spent so much time and money keeping it clean and balanced that I was glad when it started leaking and we ripped it out, gaining a useful yard (after about 18 yards of dirt to fill and level) that it had divided into nearly useless sections by its dead center location. I don’t think I ever even went in it—I was so annoyed by seemingly losing $100 every time I looked at it, that I had no interest in using it. IMO, unless you’re into nude pool parties, get a membership to the Y or something if you want to swim or maybe one of those less permanent small pools if you want to just float around in a chair. I remember reading about the B2 bomber and how its a hanger queen that requires some mind-bogglingly high ratio of maintenance hours for every flight hour and it made me think of pools, boats, etc.
I think small, simple boats can be reasonable, especially if you live where they can be easily pulled out of the water and used often (in fresh water), but that’s not most of them or most situations. Probably not buying new, either way, though—it’s nuts what they want for anything much bigger than a kayak now. I designed a small boat for relatively low maintenance that I wanted to build, but I’ve cooled on it just thinking how much it would cost me in time and money for something with essentially no value when its done and I just don’t think the fun:cost ratio works, so maybe some day, but probably not.
My dad built three wind and paddle powered woden boats when I was a kid, and they were great to have. He was an avid woodworker, so building them was the main point more than the use of the boat after the fact. I have two of them in my garage now. One is a canvas-covered canoe, and the other is a cedar strip kayak. I take out the kayak on the river one or twice a month since it is easy to handle.
For motorboats of any kind, you are completely right about needing to have a place to keep them where they can be put on a lift out of the water and then just dropped in when they need to be used. A decent pontoon boat on a lake is a fine bit of fun for a couple of hours a month in good weather. But for the privilege, you still need to drag the boat and dock out of the lake after the season and maintain the cabin/house that is attached to the dock. A friend’s boat is always the answer.
I have a couple of wood kayaks. Everyone loves them and, while I can’t say their difficult to keep, they’re certainly more care and maintenance than a plastic kayak that requires nothing, but I mostly enjoy it and it gives me an opportunity to change things up a little. I tell people who ask that they’re great, but you have to not mind a little more work and care in use (though, mine are working boats, so I have painted hulls and tolerate scuffs and scratches as long as they’re superficial. Both have made it about 10 years with almost no work, but they’re both overdue).
The canvas-covered canoe is one my dad completely rebuilt when I was a young kid 40 years ago. We were on a family vacation when he hit the brakes to pull into an old farm where he had spotted something partially covered behind the barn. It was an old wooden canoe that had about half its ribs broken and a ripped canvas cover. He spent a couple of winters in the basement pulling it apart and rebuilding it. Our best guess is that it is a turn-of-the-century Old Town.
It isn’t light, and it needs work every year, but it is the quietest thing on the water. You can sneak up on loons and ducks. My primary canoe is a single-person Wenonah Prism. I splurged for the lightweight model because I try to do a week in the Boundary Waters every year, and portaging alone is a pain with a heavy canoe.
My Chesapeake 17 is like that—it’s a damn tank and the asymmetric keyhole cockpit makes it awkward to try to carry. I made a cart that breaks down to fit inside one of the compartments for it, but it’s still a pain, so I end up using the Cape Charles 17 the most because it only weighs about 40 lbs, even though it’s not as good a boat (looks better, though—it’s got a varnished deck while the other is clear coat and there’s a big difference in appearance). I go back and forth on converting it to EV because the plastic one I converted is a lot of fun and the Charles would be better in every way, but then I’d never use the plastic boat, which is the reason I decided to experiment with converting it in the first place.
I so love this conversation!
+15 years ago I came across this website for rib and fabric canoes (and other small boats) that were extremely light weight
https://gaboats.com/collections/canoes
The model called ‘sweet pea’ is supposed to be able to carry 250 lbs in calm.water and it weighs 8 lbs.!
I met a guy at a boat show a few years back who taught classes on skin-on-frame kayaks. I thought of building one because it’s really cool, super light, and the way they were made originally (except the skins are, of course, non-organic modern material), but I have enough kayaks. he taught different designs, too, like I probably would have gone with an Aleut style because it’s a bit more interesting and I have an Aleut paddle I almost never use since I made a couple 2-piece Greenlands that are lighter (I used purpleheart for the tips on the Aleut because I got carried away) and much easier to deal with.
I know the manufacturers might not like your transparent coverage of issues with Travel Trailer / RV build quality, but its incredibly valuable as a consumer to see what the real challenges of ownership look like.
Hopefully there are no more issues with the trailer this week. Enjoy the air show!