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Blog.Wired.Com -
It might not be the biggest air show in the world, but its definitely got charm. Today is the start of AirVenture, an annual show that brings over 560,000 visitors to the charming city of Oshkosh, Wisconsin (population 65,000) to see everything from classic warbirds to restored antiques to homebuilts and ultralights.
While the show isn't exactly Paris or Farnborough, big, no one would call it small. AirVenture's Dick Knapinski says that over the course of the week more than 8,000 aircraft will be flying in for the event. And we mean that literally. AirVenture is a fly-in show, the world's largest, and that means all of the aircraft on exhibit are touching down rather than being trucked in. "It would be interesting to get an aerial map of Oshkosh in the days leading up to the show," Knapinski says of the air traffic influx. We're betting the air traffic controllers sorting it all out are less enthusiastic. AirVenture, which is run by the Experimental Aircraft Association, began in 1953 with just a handful of handmade planes and a whopping 100 registered visitors. But word travels fast, and by the end of the decade the event had to be move from Milwaukee to a bigger space at the Rockford Illinois airport. Over the decades the show continued to grow, and by the 1990's had become one of the biggies on the air show circuit.
Knapinski says that while some of the biz jet makers close deals in Oshkosh, that's not really what AirVenture is about. "Paris is where the big deals are made, AirVenture is people come to celebrate flying," he gushes. He says many families bring three generations to the show, and get this: over 40,000 of them camp on the grounds. It's like a a big ol' aviation family reunion.
There will be 800 exhibitors at AirVenture, 1,000 forums and lectures, and what Knapinski describes as some of the most dazzling air shows in the nation. That's cool, but what about the planes? Visitors will see everything from the Boeing Dreamlifter to a V-22 Osprey, a Lockheed U-2 Spyplane to a Piedmont Airlines DC-3 and the Goodyear blimp. Each day, visitors can sign up for flights on a 1929 Ford tri-motor, a B-17 G Flying Fortress, or a Bell 47 Helicopter (they're the ones that you always see on M*A*S*H
There's plenty to see on the experimental aircraft front, too. A Velocity rear propeller composite plane; the ICON A5, an amphibious vehicle that can be folded up and tossed in your garage for easy storage; and a guy from New Zealand will be demonstrating his personal jet pack, which Knapinski says can stay in the air for nearly 30 minutes.
Oh yeah, Richard Branson is swinging by on Tuesday, to talk about Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo, which got unveiled in the Mojave desert earlier today.
Photo: AirVenture/EAA
Live From Oshkosh Wisconsin! The Greatest Aviation Show On Earth. | Autopia from Wired.com {...} It might not be the biggest air show in the world, but its definitely got charm. Today is the start of AirVenture, an annual show that brings over 560,000 visitors {...} Indexed: August 6, 2008, 10:23 pm - Page Size: 59KB |