EAA Air Venture 2024 : Oshkosh : 22-28 July
Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, WI, USA
I cannot express how spectacular and mind blowing the Oshkosh airshow is – you literally HAVE to experience it!
The EAA fly-in convention was first held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1953. In 1959, the event moved to Rockford, Illinois, where it was held annually through 1969 before coming to Oshkosh. EAA moved its permanent headquarters from the Milwaukee area to Oshkosh in 1983.
The 2023 EAA Oshkosh Airventure show was outstanding! This year’s attendance was approximately 677,000, up from the previous record of 650,000 last year. But attendance numbers weren’t the only record. More than 10,000 aircraft arrived at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh and other airports in east-central Wisconsin. At Wittman alone, there were 21,883 aircraft operations in the 11-day period from July 20-30, which is an average of approximately 148 takeoffs/landings per hour when the airport is open.
Total showplanes: 3,365 including a record 1,497 registered in vintage aircraft parking, plus 1,067 homebuilt aircraft, 380 warbirds, 194 ultralights, 134 seaplanes and amphibians, 52 aerobatic aircraft, and 41 rotorcraft.
This week-long extravaganza of static, aerial displays, mock battles, night displays and fireworks is something that you’ve never experienced before. From every aspect of aviation: WW1, WW2, post war, homebuilds, general aviation, the latest in current military as well as commercial aircraft.
Like a city, EAA AirVenture is made up of many neighborhoods, each with its own distinct personality and with a unique assortment of aircraft that you’ll only find at Oshkosh.
Boeing Plaza is AirVenture’s marquee display area that is home to many of the featured attractions, ranging from historic warbirds to the latest innovations in flight.
- Homebuilts: marvel at craftsmanship and dedication as you walk among the thousands of homebuilt aircraft flown to Oshkosh.
- Warbird Alley: see historic World War II, Korea and Vietnam-era military aircraft at one of the most popular attractions.
- Vintage: take a trip way back in time to the early years of aviation where authentic and replica aircraft will bring you back to its roots.
- Ultralights: take in the laid-back style the lighter side of Oshkosh offers.
- Aerobatics: the world’s best aerobatic performers and their aircraft converge each year at Oshkosh.
- Seaplane Base: take a shuttle down to the Seaplane Base, nestled deep in the trees in a picturesque cove along Lake Winnebago.
- EAA Museum: make sure you visit this incredible museum with its hundreds of rare and unique airplanes. Access is included with your admission wristband.
There’s outdoor garden bars, places to eat, exhibits, kids activities centre, expos, workshops, training seminars, presentations from famous aviators, International Visitors tent, concerts, fireworks displays and more!
If you really want to treat yourself, don’t miss out on seeing the World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration® from above. There are plenty of opportunities to take flights at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh and gain a unique perspective of the massive convention grounds from a Ford Tri-Motor, Bell 47 Souix, a B-25 Mitchell bomber and more. My last trip I was in the nose cone of a B-17 Flying Fortress flying over the field looking below at P-51 Mustangs that were buzzing the field!
This years week long show was mind blowing with so many aircraft on static and flying display along with the Wednesday and Saturday night displays and fireworks.
Dakota Territory Air Museum’s P-47D Thunderbolt “Bonnie”, (recently restored), is the first Thunderbolt to attend AirVenture in a number of years. Bonnie is believed to be the only flying Republic-built razorback P-47 in the world and she put on some great low level high speed passes right in front of the crowd line.
Another recently restored aircraft was the (Jackie Cochran) P-51C “Thunderbird”, which is one of the more recognizable post-war Mustangs, having won the 1949 Bendix Trophy race set a piston-powered speed record of 470 mph.
Additionally, 10-12 Corsairs attended as part of the AirVenture 2023 Corsair gathering- A tribute was paid also to the Korean War Movie “Devotion” with a number of F4 Corsairs and modern day F-18 counter parts showing off formation flying and low level high speed passes and aerobatics.
A number of Vietnam (theme) War-era aircraft also attended, representing aircraft types such as the; A-1 Skyraider, AC-47 Gunship, C-123 “Thunderpig”, O-2 “Bird Dog”, L-19, Cobra, Chinook, Huey, and Loach.
What you wont see anywhere else in the world was the Red Star MIG gathering and displays! A MiG-17 (“Fresco”), MiG-21 (“Fishbed”), MiG-23 (“Flogger”), MiG-29 (“Fulcrum”). These jets put on spectacular displays and mock battles over the airfield with pyrotechnics and afterburners it was something else!
Also on the field and in the air were the; NASA “Super Guppy”, The famous “Heritage Flights”, Flypasts from the B-52, F-15 Eagle, EA-18 Growler, P-3 Orion, C-5 Super Galaxy, C-17 Globemasters, KC-135 Strato Tanker, V-22 Osprey, Shooting stars, Sabre’s, T-29 Trojan’s and displays and mock battles from the A-10 Warthogs, The Lockheed Constellation “Connie”, F-35 Lightning the U2, Black Hawk’s sequence and displays, a HUGE array of WW2 aircraft including the B-29 Super Fortress, B-17 Flying Fortress’s, B-25 Mitchell’s, P-51 Mustangs, F4 Corsairs, Yak 52’s, Harvards/Texans, Grumman Bearcat, P-40 Kittyhawk, and so much more its impossible to know where to start!
The F-22 Raptor demo was simply outstanding and jaw dropping- the incredible amount of power this aircraft has to basically hover its nearly 22 tonnes weight has to be seen.
2024 – the theme has yet to be set, but so far they have confirmed the Canadian Snowbirds Aerobatic team and the F-16 Fighting Falcon demo team.
