EAA Airventure 2022

JBtheExplorer

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On Saturday I went up to EAA Airventure for the first time in five years and the 7th time since 2003. Airventure is the largest fly-in and air convention in the world with over 10,000 planes flying in throughout the week and over 600,000 people (probably around 100,000 on Saturday, which I was 100% nervous being around). There are hundreds of static aircraft displays to check out, as well as a market area, gift shops, workshops, a theater, various presentations, and two airshows every day, with bigger night shows on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Airventure is a lot of things, but I tend to think of it as a massive temporary aviation museum. Airliners, past and present military, ultralights, helicopters, bush planes, vintage aircraft, modern aircraft, and anything else you can think of can usually be found there at some point throughout the week. It's quite the event, and always a highlight of my year any time I go. Even when the daily airshows aren't going, you can constantly see multiple planes in the sky at any given time. Ultralights flying in a pattern, Bell 47's giving rides, bombers and other vintage warbirds flying high over top, skywriters, and various other aircraft coming in and out.

One of the first things I saw when I got there were two F-15's that flew in to do a few fly-bys before leaving again.

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Shortly after that, I walked down to the ultralight runway. It's a small grass strip where you can get a closeup look at ultralights and STOL aircraft landing and taking off. I've never actually been to it before. Airventure is huge and its hard to see everything in one day, so I've never had the chance to go to the ultralight area before, but I'm definitely glad I was able to check it out this time.

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After that, I walked back up north to Boeing Plaza, which is a central area that usually showcases modern military and rare/notable aircraft. This year, they had an F-35 on display. It was the first time I've seen one up close, although I've seen them do demonstrations a couple times in the past (and two more times later that day).

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In front of the F-35 was an A-10 with a dark livery, and you can see a C-5 behind that.
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After the walk through Boeing Plaza, I continued further north to the warbirds area. A lot of the warbirds left before Saturday, but there was still more than 40 to check out. I found out after I got home that I somehow missed seeing a BF 109, which for those of you who know what it is (German WWII fighter), its obviously rare in the U.S. and would've been nice to see, but apparently I walked right past it because I was too distracted by other stuff across the road from it. :LOL:

Naval Aircraft Factory N3N-3, which bares a strong resemblance to a Stearman.
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T-6 Texan
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T-6 Texan
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F4F Wildcat
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After walking through the warbird area, it was getting close to airshow time so I walked back south and found a less crowded area to watch the show.


Jet Waco
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Stearman
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BlackFly
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L-39
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O-1 Bird Dogs
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Huey
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MiG-17
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MiG-29 - the same one I happened to see the day before when I was out hiking.
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MiG-29 and Alpha Jets
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The MiG-29 uses a parachute to slow down. I don't know a lot about Russian jets buts apparently they're known for having to land at higher speeds.
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Wrapping up the day show was the F-35 demo and Heritage flight with two P-51's.
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JBtheExplorer

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P-51's, F-35
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The F-35 landing
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After the airshow, I walked around some more and waited for the night show.

P-51
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C-5
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Scrappy, a plane that's famous on youtube. Custom made by a guy named Mike Patey and designed for search and rescue. It has two electric dirt bikes mounted under the wings that are charged by solar panels on the wings.

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Here's some shots from the always amazing night show. I didn't take as many photos of the night show since I didn't have a tripod with but it was thoroughly enjoyable just to sit back and watch.

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Obviously, this is just a small sample of everything I saw. I photographed a lot more, and there's even more that I didn't photograph. There's not enough time in one day to see it all or stop for it all. If you'd like to see all of the photos I did take, I made two slideshows.


 
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JBtheExplorer

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Cool! Are you a pilot? Did you fly in? Sounds like a nightmare for ATC!

No, I drove in. I give credit to everyone who flies in. I've seen how stressful it is for pilots on youtube videos, and how intense it is in the control tower. It's the world's busiest airport for that one week every year.
 
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No, I drove in. I give credit to everyone who flies in. I've seen how stressful it is for pilots on youtube videos, and how intense it is in the control tower. It's the world's busiest airport for that one week every year.
The EAA is an incredibly interesting show. If you're ever in Tucson AZ, check out the Pima Air Museum (I think that's the right name) which is also well worth the time. I went with people who weren't particularly interested in planes, but they enjoyed both activities.
 
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Some great shots, too bad no f22 raptor the roar from them is second to none, as impressive as the 35 is its so small next to the raptor. What focal length did you use
 

JBtheExplorer

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Some great shots, too bad no f22 raptor the roar from them is second to none, as impressive as the 35 is its so small next to the raptor. What focal length did you use

Focal length - no idea, it varies from photo to photo.

I saw an F-22 the weekend before at the Milwaukee Airshow. I prefer looks of the F-35 better, but I do enjoy the maneuverability of the F-22, especially the flat spin. The F-35 actually affects my ears more than the F-22. It's the only jet that I absolutely have to plug my ears for - which makes photographing it extremely difficult without ear plugs. Obviously, both are the loudest U.S. fighters.

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JBtheExplorer

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Awesome, awesome, awesome!

It is awesome! Always a highlight of my year any time I go. I've always wanted to camp there the entire week or at least a few days, but it's expensive as hell, and I don't think they provide electric sites, and if they do they'd be immediately taken, so it'd be a pretty long week with some of the weather we get in late July.
 

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