If you have never been to Oshkosh then you don’t know what you are missing. It is the largest annual gathering of aviation enthusiasts. AirVenture is July 20 – July 26. You can purchase your tickets online by June 14 and save $2!
Last year, we had one of the Alabama 99s attend and wrote a great article for us:
Oshkosh Experience by Chelsie Sloan
Talk about a kid in a candy store experience – EAA Airventure in Oshkosh! We all know about the epic event, and all aviators and aviatrix want to attend. There, airplanes are all around, no matter where you are on the airfield. As a student pilot and first timer of the event, I had no idea where to start. I could never have imagined how much I would learn and how many fabulous people I would meet.
My trip started with a drive to Huntsville International Airport, where I had the amazing opportunity to fly in an Eclipse 500 from Huntsville, Alabama to Appleton, Wisconsin. The flight alone had me giggly with excitement. My normal 3,500 foot sky view changed to a 35,000 foot sky view. During the flight, I played with the FlightPro application. FlightPro is an app that includes navigation and flight planning software. FlightPro is why I had the privilege to go to Oshkosh in the first place. As a FlightPro user, they invited me to help at their booth where I worked with a team of incredible people who all share my love of aviation. After a two hour flight, we landed in Appleton, Wisconsin. We made the short drive to Oshkosh and were greeted with cheese and hospitality.
Each day, we had to be at the FlightPro booth by 8:00 AM. Every day started with getting up early, getting ready, and driving to Starbucks for a little pick-me-up before the event. The first day we arrived at Airventure, I had no idea where to start. I took off walking, and first ended up in the Honda tent, which was in front of the FlightPro booth. The new and unreleased Honda Jet was on display. No words can describe such a beauty! After leaving the Honda tent, I spent the next several hours walking around to get a feel for what else was waiting for me.
I arrived at Boeing Square. There they had military aircraft, cargo carriers, airliners, and all the other big-boys of aviation. The engineering of such aircraft is truly remarkable and it reestablishes the amazement of
how far the aviation community has come. That day. I spent the remainder of my free time shopping for new aviation gear. How could I resist? After working my shift at the FlightPro booth, we all packed up. It had been a long day. When we arrived back at the house around 6PM,I slept the whole night!
Rejuvenated from hours of sleep Monday night, I decided to stay at the FlightPro booth on Tuesday to watch and learn from fellow team members. I also attended some forums on navigation software. Contrary to what you might think, there was nothing boring about that day. The whole time, I was being entertained by an airshow that goes on throughout the entire event. I had never seen aerobatic maneuvers in person. The show was absolutely remarkable!
Wednesday marked the middle of my trip to Oshkosh. With this in mind, I decided I wanted to see as much as I could before leaving. I started by visiting the light sport/rotorcraft section of the airfield. There I saw flying contraptions I had never seen before;
there were tiny helicopters, huge fans with a seat on the front, and airplanes in which only a small animal could fit! The next area I investigated was the vintage aircraft section. This was one of my favorites. Seeing some of the first aircraft gives me such a huge appreciation of what we modern aviators have, and it forces me to consider just how far we have come. Even knowing that aircraft we produce today is much more advanced, we are still using principles, techniques, and technologies that engineers and pilots have been using for decades. I also had my Womenventure picture taken with all the other female pilots at the event. In a field where women are a minority, it was nice to get to talk to fellow aviatrix about their roles in aviation. Shortly after the photo, I ran into a fellow Ninety-Nine named Harriet. This was exciting!
After the fun, I went back to the FlightPro booth to work my shift. Though it wasn’t like “work” at all. We had an L-39 at the booth. Many people were stopping by to ask about it. This started many interesting conversations. I had the opportunity to talk to airline pilots, war veterans, and many other pilots about their lives in aviation.
With a busy Wednesday behind me, I decided I would spend time at the museum on Thursday – this worked out great, considering it rained that day. I had only been to one other flight museum in my life, so this was an extraordinary experience. Like the vintage area, the appreciation of flying really touches the heart when one see what has been accomplished in such a short amount of time.
All that said, Friday was a day I will never forget. I bumped into Amelia Rose Earhart, who recently completed her trip around the world. I was on my way to the Pilatus booth when we collided, and she could not have been any more polite and friendly. We talked about her aviation foundations a little, and she was immediately swarmed when we got to the booth. Even being so busy, she was able to take a few pictures with me and listen to my story. This experience was pretty cool.
Sadly, Saturday was leaving day. I worked my shift in the morning then headed to the museum for one last look. Vintage aircraft are easily my favorite. After my visit there, we packed up and drove to Appleton, from which we would fly back. We were sent home with even more cheese and a bunch of fun memories. I could not have imagined how large and developed an air event could be, or even how one could fit so many aircraft in an airfield. Somehow, they did it, and they continue to do it every year. I can‘t wait until I have the opportunity to return to that experimental capital of aviation: Oshkosh. There I made new friends, new memories, new dreams, and new expectations of what my generation can do for the aviation community, all due to the EAA AirVenture Fly-In.