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The Oshkosh Airshow (officially EAA AirVenture Oshkosh) is an annual gathering of aviation enthusiasts held each summer at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The event is presented by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), a national/international organization based in Oshkosh. The Oshkosh Airshow is seven days long and typically begins on the last Monday in July.
History EAA was founded in 1953 as a support organization for people who were building their own recreational aircraft (homebuilders). Homebuilding is still a large part of EAA, but the organization has grown over the years to include almost every aspect of aviation and aeronautics. The first EAA fly-in was held in 1953 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1959 EAA fly-in moved to Rockford, Illinois. When it outgrew its Rockford facility, the EAA fly-in moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in 1970. For many years the official name of the event was The EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In. In 1998 the name was changed to AirVenture Oshkosh. But many regular attendees still refer to it as "EAA," The Oshkosh Airshow, or just Oshkosh. For many years, the access to the flight line (area directly adjacent to the runway) was restricted to EAA members only; this restriction was lifted in the late 1990s. Notable Appearances The British Concorde made regular appearances during its scheduled operations, beginning in 1985 and also appearing in 1988, 1990, 1994 and 1998. Among other unique airplanes that have recently appeared at Oshkosh was the Airbus "Beluga" in 2003, the F-22 Raptor in 2006, and NASA's Supper Guppy in 2000. In 2003 the Wright Flyer was a central figure, and a replica designed to fly on the 100th Anniversary of the first flight was granted its flying certification by the Federal Aviation Administration during the show. A recent version of Microsoft's Flight Simulator (version 2004) and Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 2 were unveiled there•, and a physical Wright Flyer mock-up combined with Microsoft's software on a display in front of the pilot (a member of the attending public) was a popular attraction. In 2005 SpaceShipOne made its only public appearance before flying off to the Smithsonian. Also flying at the show was GlobalFlyer that had made its record around the world flight in the same year. In 1987 Burt Rutan's Voyager, the first aircraft to fly around the world without refueling, made its final appearance before its record setting flight. In 1994, a unique gathering at the event featured 15 of the 25 then-surviving Apollo astronauts, including the complete crews of Apollo 11 (Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins) and Apollo 8 (Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders). In 1997(celebrating the 50th anniversary of an independent US Air Force) The SR-71 Blackbird made a fly-over. This was supposed to be supersonic but due to a fuel leak, the aircraft made an emergency landing in Milwaukee. The first pass featured a simulated in flight refueling with a KC-135T from 22nd Air Refueling Wing at McConnell AFB Also featured in 1997 was a Lockheed U-2 Innodyn's small turbine engines made their debeut and are regularly displayed at Oshkosh. Highlights
Attendance It is estimated that 10,000–15,000 aircraft visit Wittman Field each year during the fly-in. Attendance is estimated at over 600,000, which is computed by multiplying the number of tickets sold times the number of estimated daily visits by each ticket holder. This technique allows for one person who buys a weeklong pass to count as a separate person each day, which does properly account for each person's actual use of the grounds and facilities, but adds complexity to making a final attendance estimate. The EAA estimates and Oshkosh Northwestern reports the actual number of attendees is most likely between 200,000-300,000 separate people, which would still leave AirVenture as the biggest civilian airshow in the United States. * People arrive by both air and ground transport. The large number of aircraft arrivals and departures during the fly-in week officially makes the Wittman Field FAA Control Tower the "busiest in the world"... for that week anyway. To accommodate the huge flow of aircraft around the airport and the nearby airspace, a special NOTAM is published each year, choreographing the normal and emergency (if need be) procedures to follow. Hotels, dormitories, and many private guest rooms in the region are almost always filled to capacity during the fly-in. But the large majority of visitors camp, under the wing of their airplane, or in the conventional campground that is adjacent to the airport and convention grounds which are beautifully adorned with excellent landscaping. Trivia Future dates See also | ||||||||||
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