JBtheExplorer
Native Gardener
Some of you may know, some of you may not know, EAA Airventure is the largest aircraft convention and fly-in in the world and it takes place in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Over 10,000 planes fly in over the week that it takes place. People come in from all over the world. Each day has a four hour airshow, among many other events going on, and two of the seven days also have a night air show. I've gone up for the day 6 times since 2003. I dream of someday being able to camp the full week up there.
Due to the way things worked out, I got a late start and didn't get up there as early as previous years, which led to the longest lines I've ever seen. The vehicle line was over an hour long, then another 10 minute wait at the parking lot for a bus to shuttle everyone to the entrance, where there was another 20 minute wait to pay to get in. While it's the largest event of its kind, this was the first time ever that the Navy Blue Angels were there to do a full performance. Limitations with the small aerobatic box led to jet teams not being able to do full aerobatic performance until a few years ago.
By the time I got into the event grounds, the airshow was underway and a bomber extravaganza was happening. I missed all the pyro, but was lucky enough to see all of the bombers in flight as well as everything else I hoped to see. I have far more photos that I can possibly share, so I'll try to limit it as much as possible.
Back in 2005, I saw a B-2 stealth bomber at the same show, but lost all the photos I took of it, so I was thrilled to be able to finally see it again and get photos of it! There are certain planes that you never know if you'll see again, and this is one of them.
One of my favorite bombers to see in person is the B-1. They also had one on display.
Another bomber was the absolutely massive B-52 Stratofortress.
They had quite a few prop-driven bombers too, but the big deal was they had the only two flying B-29s in existence! A few years back only one of them was in flying condition.
The brand new F-35A Lightning II was also there. It isn't doing full demonstrations yet, but it is included in USAF Heritage flights. This has to be the loudest fighter jet I've ever heard. I've been wanting to see it for years so I was thrilled they had it. Rumor is, it will begin demonstrations as soon as next year.
During the USAF Heritage flight, it flew with two A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and a P-51 Mustang.
The show closer, as you could imagine, was the Navy Blue Angels. Some of you might remember I just saw them a couple weeks ago at the Milwaukee Air Show, but this was a much better performance! Being at an airport rather than at the lakefront means you get to be considerably closer to the action. They also did the full show, which they did not do at Milwaukee. They also had all 6 jets up and running. Only 5 in Milwaukee.
The show also had two of my favorite aerobatic performers, Sean D. Tucker and Gene Soucy.
Because this is a convention and fly-in, there's considerably more to see and do around the grounds. I don't really get into much of the "do", but I try to "see" as much of it as I can while I'm there. Certainly not possible to see it all in one day. Of the 10,000+ planes that arrive at Airventure, at least 2,000 are on display. One of my favorites was this F-22 Raptor. I've seen them do multiple demonstrations over recent years but have never seen one up close.
Another that I enjoyed seeing was this F8F Bearcat with the Blue Angels paint scheme, which is exactly what the Blue Angels flew in the 1940s. I'd love to see more F8F owners paint their planes the same and put together a 1940s Blue Angel show. That'd be a lot of fun.
If you'd like to see the rest of my photos in slideshow form, as well as all the video I took, check it out here. None of it does justice to actually being there and experiencing it. Airventure needs to be experienced in person to truly understand why it's so great.
Due to the way things worked out, I got a late start and didn't get up there as early as previous years, which led to the longest lines I've ever seen. The vehicle line was over an hour long, then another 10 minute wait at the parking lot for a bus to shuttle everyone to the entrance, where there was another 20 minute wait to pay to get in. While it's the largest event of its kind, this was the first time ever that the Navy Blue Angels were there to do a full performance. Limitations with the small aerobatic box led to jet teams not being able to do full aerobatic performance until a few years ago.
By the time I got into the event grounds, the airshow was underway and a bomber extravaganza was happening. I missed all the pyro, but was lucky enough to see all of the bombers in flight as well as everything else I hoped to see. I have far more photos that I can possibly share, so I'll try to limit it as much as possible.
Back in 2005, I saw a B-2 stealth bomber at the same show, but lost all the photos I took of it, so I was thrilled to be able to finally see it again and get photos of it! There are certain planes that you never know if you'll see again, and this is one of them.
One of my favorite bombers to see in person is the B-1. They also had one on display.
Another bomber was the absolutely massive B-52 Stratofortress.
They had quite a few prop-driven bombers too, but the big deal was they had the only two flying B-29s in existence! A few years back only one of them was in flying condition.
The brand new F-35A Lightning II was also there. It isn't doing full demonstrations yet, but it is included in USAF Heritage flights. This has to be the loudest fighter jet I've ever heard. I've been wanting to see it for years so I was thrilled they had it. Rumor is, it will begin demonstrations as soon as next year.
During the USAF Heritage flight, it flew with two A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and a P-51 Mustang.
The show closer, as you could imagine, was the Navy Blue Angels. Some of you might remember I just saw them a couple weeks ago at the Milwaukee Air Show, but this was a much better performance! Being at an airport rather than at the lakefront means you get to be considerably closer to the action. They also did the full show, which they did not do at Milwaukee. They also had all 6 jets up and running. Only 5 in Milwaukee.
The show also had two of my favorite aerobatic performers, Sean D. Tucker and Gene Soucy.
Because this is a convention and fly-in, there's considerably more to see and do around the grounds. I don't really get into much of the "do", but I try to "see" as much of it as I can while I'm there. Certainly not possible to see it all in one day. Of the 10,000+ planes that arrive at Airventure, at least 2,000 are on display. One of my favorites was this F-22 Raptor. I've seen them do multiple demonstrations over recent years but have never seen one up close.
Another that I enjoyed seeing was this F8F Bearcat with the Blue Angels paint scheme, which is exactly what the Blue Angels flew in the 1940s. I'd love to see more F8F owners paint their planes the same and put together a 1940s Blue Angel show. That'd be a lot of fun.
If you'd like to see the rest of my photos in slideshow form, as well as all the video I took, check it out here. None of it does justice to actually being there and experiencing it. Airventure needs to be experienced in person to truly understand why it's so great.
