Last week, Sheryl and I descended into the city of Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the yearly aviation celebration of colossal proportions. Every year, the entire world of aviation focuses on the Wisconsin city for the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture Oshkosh fly-in. Thousands of planes and hundreds of thousands of people party for a whole week and for the third year in a row the event shattered records. As Wittman Regional Airport cleans up, it’s time to reflect on the awesomeness we saw this year. Check out the coolest aircraft we saw this time around!
I have a rather large backlog of stories that I need to write and they will come in time. Heck, there are even aircraft I wanted to write about last year that returned this year, so I want to talk about those machines, too. It’s been an outrageously busy past week as I drove straight from AirVenture in Wisconsin to buy a $1,000 1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe in North Carolina. I’m finally home after well over a day of actual driving.
As I rest up, recharge my batteries, and reflect on the week, I want to show you the awesome pieces of history that I found on the grounds of AirVenture. One thing to remember is that most of the aircraft that arrive at AirVenture flew in. It’s one thing to see a historic aircraft in a museum, it’s another to see one that’s still flying.
The World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration
This year’s AirVenture was centered around a few themes. AirVenture celebrated the Royal Canadian Air Force centennial, the U.S. Air Force Materiel Command, and turning the tide in World War II. As such, a number of the highlight aircraft this year are from the world of military aviation. Yet, my jaw remained on the ground for the whole week.
This time, Sheryl and I arrived during the afternoon on Sunday, before AirVenture’s official kick off that Monday morning. Arriving on the weekend before allowed us to see some of the last-minute setup that’s required to get a massive event like AirVenture off of the ground. Some folks were still flying in and the grounds were a total madhouse as EAA’s staff and volunteers still set things up and vendors were preparing for a monster week ahead.
Arriving early also meant that this time, Sheryl and I were able to plant our camper’s stabilizers down in Camp Scholler and not in an overflow field. We were able to park in the 24-hour generator area, too, which was super relieving. Our particular section of Camp Scholler was particularly exciting.
Some of our neighbors included first time visitors to AirVenture and a guy who towed a ’90s travel trailer with a Tesla Cybertruck.
In fact, we saw quite a lot of Cybertrucks around Oshkosh during the event. I was delighted to see that all of them were doing some kind of work, too. They hauled fuel for generators, dirt bikes, campers, and other truck stuff. Good for them! The Cybertruck guy at camp even had a visitor with a Rivian R1T.
I expected turnout to be lower than last year, when 677,000 attended AirVenture. That year set an all-time attendance record, which was previously set at 650,000 people in 2022. Even 2022 seemed like it had more people than this year.
Well, it appears that I’m wrong as EAA is saying more than 670,000 people attended this year’s AirVenture. The final figure isn’t in yet, but the association is expecting turnout to be about on par with last year’s numbers. With that said, EAA says some records were already broken this year. People came from at least 98 countries this year and there was a record 861 exhibitors. Another interesting tidbit is the fact that a large number of the air show pilots, especially every pilot from the Snowbirds performance, hadn’t ever been to AirVenture prior to last week.
Wittman Regional Airport proudly displays “World’s Busiest Control Tower” on its tower every year and it deserves it. For the week AirVenture takes place, the airport is handling more air traffic than even the largest international airports in the world. So, hats off to the organizers that somehow make this event happen.
Update: EAA has released the final tally!
Attendance
Approximately 686,000 – Highest total on record! (Previous: 677,000 – 2023).
Total Aircraft
More than 10,000 aircraft arrived at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh and other airports in east-central Wisconsin. At Wittman alone, there were 16,780 aircraft operations in the 11-day period from July 18-28, which is an average of approximately 113 takeoffs/landings per hour when the airport is open.Total Showplanes
2,846 including: 1,200 vintage aircraft, 975 homebuilt aircraft, 337 warbirds, 154 ultralights and light planes, 82, aerobatic aircraft, 65 seaplanes and amphibians, 52 aerobatic aircraft, 23 rotorcraft, and 10 balloons.
I’m also happy to report that camping went largely smoothly this year. Yes, my family’s 2007 Thor Adirondack 31BH suffered from terrible water damage, but we had no problems with the trailer’s equipment this year. The propane reached its destinations, the battery never died, and the generator never faltered.
What did get a bit weird was the trailer’s holding tank situation. Sheryl and I were the last people to use the trailer and we pumped the tanks before leaving last year’s AirVenture. Well, this year the gray tank started backing up on Wednesday morning and we ran out of fresh water that same day. It was weird because last year the fresh tank lasted the whole week and we never overfilled the gray tank. We also conserved water just like last year. Maybe the gray tank still had water in it and somehow we didn’t fill the fresh tank all the way?
Either way, we flushed the tanks ourselves rather than trusting a pump truck. The last thing that we experienced at AirVenture this year was the trailer’s sewage hose slipping out of the inlet pipe at the dump station. I won’t describe what happened next, but watch the dump station scene in the movie RV and that’ll get you close enough.
Many More Epic Planes
The much-improved camper situation meant we were fresher for taking in all of the aviation action. The weather was nice, too. Temps were near 100 degrees during every day of AirVenture last year. This year? We loved the much gentler weather of high 70-degree to low 80-degree temps. We even got some rain to keep things properly cool. I thought I was going to die in last year’s heat.
Yet, this year was so comfortable we didn’t even need to run the camper’s air-conditioner often.
The fireworks show was also improved this year with the addition of hundreds of drones. I’m finding myself gravitating away from fireworks as I get older, but adding drones made it so much more fun!
Let’s start this off with an orange plane that caught my eye. This is the Bull Moose, an amateur-built aircraft from Canada’s Murphy Aircraft with an engine from LSaeroengines and modified by Moose Mods.
Yep, this bad boy has an LS3 in it! The topic of car engines in planes is an interesting one. Car engines and aircraft engines are different animals. An aircraft piston engine will make peak power lower in the RPM range and is designed to run near that peak power for thousands of hours. Conversely, a lot of car engines make their power high up in the RPM range and you aren’t really expected to be running your car’s engine near its limit for its entire life.
Some car engines are better at flying than others, and some people love cramming LS power into their homebuilts. Some people like using car engines for fuel economy, cost, or familiarity. You might know how to rebuild an LS, but do you know about a Lycoming?
Here’s what Murphy Aircraft says about the Moose:
The Murphy Moose is a four to six seat, high wing, aluminum kit aircraft. Gross weight of 3,500 lbs. and a useful load ranging from 1,550 to 1,850 lbs. Engine Options range from a Lycoming IO-540 to a M-14P radial engine giving a horsepower spread from 250HP to 550HP!
If you choose to mount the M-14P on your Moose, you will be the proud owner of an aircraft that not only looks like its distant cousin, the de Havilland Beaver, but also sound and perform like one too. Some Moose are equipped with PT6-20 turbine!
The folks of Moose Mods take the proven Murphy Moose airframe and turn it into a bit of a hot rod using LS3 power nabbed from Chevy Corvettes. The Bull Moose took Ray Watson and Moose Mods 6 years to build and it’s a sweet backcountry aircraft. The LS3 is pumping out 480 HP and the plane weighs just 3,200 pounds loaded. It takes just 500 feet to take off and climbs at 2,200 feet per minute!
Another plane that caught my eye was this two-thirds-scale plane inspired by the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. Homebuilt scale aircraft always get my attention for the genius it takes to take an old warbird design and make it smaller. EAA has a bit of information on this aircraft:
EAA’s AirVenture Oshkosh is a showcase for aircraft that are not found anywhere else. This year, an example of that is Jim and Mitzi O’Hara’s TTP38 Volar’s Lightning, N38PJ (TT stands for two-thirds scale). It’s the only one in the world, and you can see it at AirVenture in the Homebuilts area by the Brown Arch.
Jim’s nephew, William Presler, EAA 1049504, owner and operator of Volar Avionics, brought the aircraft to Oshkosh to show the world what his uncle Jim created from scratch. William said that after Jim’s passing, “He had left it in his will with the ‘option to buy’ from his estate. It was a more than reasonable price … and the money would go to Aunt Mitzi’s care,” William said. “In many ways, he had left the airplane in my care.”
Building an aircraft from a kit is a lifetime journey. Scratchbuilding an aircraft from plans is next-level craftsmanship. But designing, engineering, and building a two-thirds scale replica from nothing except one’s own mind and willpower is beyond inspiring. It took 25 years of design, engineering, stress test calculations, and fabricating one piece at a time.
The TTP38 is simply gorgeous. It’s not only a fantastic exercise in engineering, but flying art.
Sadly, there wasn’t a Boeing Dreamlifter or a NASA Super Guppy Turbine, but the U.S. Air Force Materiel Command brought a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress and the aircraft was just shocking in every regard. Here’s what the U.S. Air Force says about the B-52:
For more than 60 years, B-52s have been the backbone of the strategic bomber force for the United States. The B-52 is capable of dropping or launching the widest array of weapons in the U.S. inventory. This includes gravity bombs, cluster bombs, precision guided missiles and joint direct attack munitions. Updated with modern technology, the B-52 is capable of delivering the full complement of joint developed weapons and will continue into the 21st century as an important element of our nation’s defenses. The Air Force currently expects to operate B-52s through 2050.
The B-52A first flew in 1954, and the B model entered service in 1955. A total of 744 B-52s were built, with the last, a B-52H, delivered in October 1962. The first of 102 B-52H’s was delivered to Strategic Air Command in May 1961. The H model can carry up to 20 air-launched cruise missiles. In addition, it can carry conventional cruise missiles that were launched in several contingencies starting in the 1990s with Operation Desert Storm and culminating with Operation Inherent Resolve in 2016.
The aircraft’s flexibility was evident in Operation Desert Storm and again during Operation Allied Force. B-52s struck wide-area troop concentrations, fixed installations and bunkers, and decimated the morale of Iraq’s Republican Guard. On Sept. 2-3, 1996, two B-52Hs struck Baghdad power stations and communications facilities with 13 AGM-86C Conventional Air-Launched Cruise Missiles, or CALCMs, as part of Operation Desert Strike. At that time, this was the longest distance flown for a combat mission involving a 34-hour, 16,000-statute-mile round trip from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.
The stats of the B-52 are staggering. It’s powered by eight Pratt & Whitney engines TF33-P-3/103 turbofans producing up to 17,000 pounds of thrust each. The wings spread 159 feet, four inches, and the B-52 carries 312,197 pounds of fuel, 70,000 pounds of payload, and weighs nearly a half-million pounds at takeoff. These beasts soar 50,000 feet into the sky and in 2012, their per-unit cost was around $84 million.
As of 2019, the Air Force reported having 58 B-52s in its active inventory, too.
The B-52’s presence commands attention. The eight engines first get your eyes, then your gaze turns to the large flaps. Eventually, you’ll find your way into the bomb bay and realize that the B-52 can drop some large ordnance. Then you’ll start focusing on finer details like the adorable entry door into the bay or how bald the tire below is. Admittedly, I don’t have as much interest in most military aircraft, but it is hard not to be stunned by this large bird.
This year I finally took one of the pontoon boat tours of the Seaplane Base, where an EAA volunteer explained that the property actually isn’t a seaplane hangout for most of the year. Most of the year it’s just an alcove on a property that might see an occasional boat, but EAA pays a dollar to host seaplanes for just one week every year.
I also got to talk to the folks of Harbour Air, who informed me that I was right on the money about floatplane trucks. Harbour Air’s reps tell me that the airline’s engineering department takes 4×4 trucks, cuts them apart, locks them into four-wheel-drive, and turns them into what they call beaching gear. Harbour Air and other floatplane truck operators do this because the Frankentrucks are more stable and far more maneuverable than trailers. Think of the “beaching gear” as a giant pallet jack but for floatplanes!
At any rate, the Seaplane Base is a necessary retreat if you go to AirVenture. The flightline at Wittman Regional Airport is fast-paced, bustling, and hot. Meanwhile, the Seaplane Base is slow, cool, shady, and relaxing. Watching floatplanes and flying boats operate out of the Seaplane Base is almost therapeutic, as is taking a dip into Lake Winnebago.
Other fantastic aircraft appearances included this Spartan Executive. This aircraft is an interesting unit because back in its day in the 1930s it was essentially the plane equivalent of a Deusenberg. Spartan expected high-ranking businessmen to sink into this luxurious interior for speedy trips at 190 mph with a fuel range of around 950 miles.
Just 36 Executives were ever built and they were designed to be better and faster than an airliner of the era. Think of it as the equivalent of buying a Bombardier Global 8000 today. Your purchase price of $23,500 in 1930s money got you a nice 450 HP Pratt & Whitney Wasp Jr. engine, too. The Executive was a famous aircraft, too, attracting stars including the likes of Howard Hughes for its luxury and performance.
Unfortunately, The Executive was a hot aircraft right until the end of World War II. Suddenly, rich people just bought and converted surplus aircraft rather than giving Spartan their money. That’s when Spartan decided to take its aircraft engineering technology and used it to build rugged mobile homes.
Other neat aircraft this year included a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, a Boeing C-17 Globemaster, the Pivotal Helix, and oh so many Douglas C-47s. AirVenture had a ton of more rockstars from several Ercoupes to even a Beechcraft Starship.
I was also totally delighted to see a flying Bede BD-5J for the first time in my life. I have a whole article on these planes that you can read by clicking here.
The Mirocopter SCH-2A ultralight helicopter also made an appearance at AirVenture, and this thing is so much cooler in real life than it is in pictures:
Just like last year, many people cleared out of Oshkosh on Thursday morning after the Wednesday night drone and fireworks show. I spent much of Thursday just watching people leave the campground and the aircraft parking areas. Planes flew out in groups, eventually disappearing into the sky on their way back home. It seems that a lot of people come to AirVenture just for a few days as opposed to nearly the entire run like Sheryl and I have done.
It makes sense since much of the tail end of the show is a repeat of what you’ve already seen earlier in the week and often without the coolest planes that were there earlier in the week.
As always, Sheryl and I had the time of our lives. It’s always a grand time taking in over a century of history at one airport. It’s also heartwarming to meet all of the different people who come to Oshkosh because they’re interested in aviation. I’ve met everyone from ambitious kids to retirees just taking to the sky for the first time. One woman told me she didn’t get into a cockpit until she was 40 years old. Now, she has over 2,200 flying hours. I’m still working on my license. I may not meet my goal of flying to AirVenture in a year or so, but I will land there one day.
She has the right idea. If you’re even slightly interested in planes, it’s never too late to take that interest somewhere. Come down to AirVenture next year and you’ll have a blast.
Always get a mixed feeling when I see a Lancaster bomber. My grandfather had two brothers, and each served in a different branch of the armed forces. My grandad Billy was in the Navy, his older brother Jim the army, and his younger brother Norman the air force. My great uncle, for whom my father is named, was the belly gunner on a Lancaster. He was shot down (though the telegram apparently only ever said “went missing”) over Germany at only 19 years old. The other two Dunlop men survived. My grandmother would go on to say the good one died (yeah… she didn’t like her husband that much. Can’t blame her!).
A couple of years ago I caught the tail end of a documentary celebrating the RAF’s centenary, hosted by Ewan McGregor, whose brother, Colin, is an RAF pilot (the rumour his callsign was Obi-Two is “unproven”, according to Snopes), and they flew aboard a Lancaster for the show. I did get a kick when, during the closing credits, the names of the Lancaster’s flight crew came up and, lo and behold, it was another Dunlop. Very likely no relation, but it felt right to have one on the plane’s flight deck!
Thanks for all the photos! You can never have too many for this kind of event 🙂
Wow, I knew B-52s were big, but the scale is really captured by that photo with everyone walking around it. Talk about imposing. Genuinely would like to see it fly (though you know, for funsies, not for practical reasons).
love the coverage, someday I’d love to catch the show.
Grew up in the ‘shadow’ of a SAC base in upstate NY – closed in the 90s, but they left a static display of a Stratofortress. Odd thing which I never thought about – if a tornado swings thru town… Zoot!
In this image – credit to Jonathan Fossel – the high ground to the left of the nose gear is where it HAD sat until mid-July.
Somewhere I recall reading that their mission – big bombs, lot of them – gave them an ironically genteel take off dynamic. Oh their rumble though, along with the requisite KC-135 tankers that were often in the air at the same time.
:scott: (tried to stick the image here… alas)
… and because apparently the ‘machine’ is listening I just perused the Rome Sentinel to see how things are going and they have an article with photos from Woodstock 99, which shows the un-askew static display airplane. :scott:
What kind of modifications are done to the LS3 for it to perform at altitude? What RPMs do they spin at when cruising?
4,000 rpm cruise. It uses a prop reduction gearbox as well to reduce the prop rpm. Something would be needed anyhow to stop the thrust load from going to the crank. You’ll never get an automotive engine to be direct drive.
http://www.moosemods.com/moose-ls3-performance-mods.html
I’ve read your previous articles on this and this sounds so awesome that I’d like to make it there eventually…sounds like so much fun and glad you both had a great time!
The American hanger at Duxford is pretty much built around their B-52, but it’s so big, that they manage to cram in all their other US aircraft around it, (including a B-29, and B-25, and B-24, a F111, an SR-71 and more), and they all look tiny in comparison..
Honestly, those BUFF’s are so big, it’s like someone added a couple of (enormous) wings onto a row of terraced housing.
The seaplane pics were a special treat, but woah, a Bede? And it landed safely?
Love seeing your stories out of EAA. Such a great event. I wasn’t able to make it down this year but the B-29 flies right over our house constantly while it’s here. So cool to see (and hear)
I’m glad you had a good and comfortable time! You put a lot of miles on that Ford.
What’s the deal with the cord showing on one of the BUFF’s main gear tires? Did someone miss something during the pre-flight inspection? Do BUFF’s have anti-skid/antilock brakes?
Searching the internet brought up some results referring to a modernization program that was initiated in 2021, including upgrading to carbon brake rotors, but none of the ones I checked mentioned ABS.
The longevity of the B-52 is just amazing. 90 years of service is insane for any airframe, not to mention a military platform. Grandpa Buff has participated in every US conflict since Vietnam, which is just staggering.
This is quite a flight you’ve served up!
When I worked at Aerojet they had a need to dispose of excess solid rocket fuel. So, they invited employees, and the local fire department out to witness it all. Fire departments need to know the difference between various propellants visually and how they burn differently. They mention the propellant and what it takes to set them off. It was glorious.
Mather AFB was nearby (now decomissioned) and while we were watching the fuel ignite, a B52 came to watch from above. They circled low, angled, and slow enough for us to see the pilot’s faces. Hard to believe that such a large aircraft can fly so slowly. Amazing.
If this event isn’t ruined (good things seem to get popular and get ruined) by the time I am able to spend time RV’ing up to Wisconsin, then it’ll definitely be on the list. Nice write up. Seeing giant military aircraft up close is something. Hell, seeing a B-52 in the sky is pretty nuts.
Yeah, it sounds like so much fun that I want to go eventually…just wanted to state that it’s been going since 1953 so it should be a good time for all every year
That TTP38 is gorgeous. The Lightning is my all time favorite aircraft (built 37 models, including two flying versions). I thoroughly loved my Air Force years, but always wished I’d been around in the 40s for the last great aviation combat era (no offense meant to later generations – like mine). This 2/3 scale plane is not just beautiful, it represents a lifetime of meticulous craftsmanship. Thanks for including it in your review.
Now that you own a Plymouth with an L-head six, it’s time to bring up the Plymocoupe:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahlin_SF-2_Plymocoupe
We were up there on Friday, always a good time. Helping build a Lancair 360 in my high school aviation class was what got me into airplanes. I went to Oshkosh for the first time in the mid 90’s and have been trying to go for at least one day of the event ever since.
My Uncle has Cub J4 that, when functional, is on floats at the seaplane base so we always make that our home base when visiting.