Howdy from EAA AirVenture
I'm writing today's blog from the grounds of Camp Scholler — the EAA Campground adjacent to Whittman Regional Airport. This is the week of EAA AirVenture — when Whittman Regional Airport becomes the busiest airport in the world and hundreds of thousands of aviation enthusiasts make their annual pilgrimage to Oshkosh, WI.
It's difficult trying to work online while at the show. The sheer number of attendees (estimated at 601,000 last year) puts a strain on cell and WiFi service. However, I wanted to take some time to sit down and update my blog so that I can share something that happened this morning.
My nephew Noah is attending the show with me this year. This is his second EAA show. I invited him to join me last year, and he had such a fun time, he wanted to come back again.
Noah is a student pilot. His goal is to become an airline pilot. As we were walking around the show last year, we stopped by the Concorde Battery booth. Concorde is a sponsor of the Aeroshell Aerobatic Team. When they found out he was a student pilot and it was his first time attending EAA AirVenture, they wanted to get him on a ride with the team. Unfortunately, it just didn't work out last year, as all of the spots had been filled.
Fast forward to yesterday — the first day of the show. Noah and I are walking around the grounds and we stop by Concorde Battery's booth in Hangar B to say hi. As soon as we walked up, they surprised Noah and told him that they had a flight scheduled for him with the Aeroshell team!
So that's how we started our day this morning. We woke up early and made our way over to the flightline for a 7:30 a.m. flight. Noah stepped in to the number two T6 as pilot Bryan Regan helped him strap in and gave him his preflight briefing. Shortly after that, the Aeroshell team was taxxing in formation down the flightline for their departure. The planes took off in formation and flew out over lake Winnebago for the formation flight. About 15 minutes later, they landed and came back to the ramp.
It was fun seeing the smile from ear to ear on Noah's when he got back. He said it was one of the best experience of his life!
It's great seeing young people with a passion for aviation! I guess that's why I enjoy EAA so much. It always strengthens my passion for aviation. But more exciting for me is seeing all the children and young adults walking around the show. THEY are the future of aviation. It's good to see all of these future aviators, even if they don't know it yet, spending time with their families and friends experiencing everything that is EAA AirVenture — from vintage aircraft like Noah got to fly this morning, to experimental, military and GA aircraft.
If you have never attended EAA AirVenture, I highly encourage you to put it on your bucket list. It's hard to describe exactly how much fun it is. You just need to experience it for yourself!
Thanks for reading!
Joe Escobar