Attending the EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh

Imagine 700,000 people attending one event over a week. Some arrived by flying in with their personal aircraft from all over the country while others drive to camp in tents and RV's of every shape and size. This is what some aviators refer to as a "holy pilgrimage" to the "Mecca" in the aviation world. Airplane enthusiast or novice, young or old, there is something for everyone. Daily air shows with world-class performers, two night air shows that dazzle the sky, thousands of forums and workshops, special guest appearances and keynote speakers, and so much more are included with your admission.

For one week a year in July, Oshkosh becomes home to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh — the World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration. Visitors from around the world descend on Wittman Regional Airport and Camp Scholler to experience The Spirit of Aviation.

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (formerly the EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In), or just Oshkosh, is an annual air show and gathering of aviation enthusiasts held each summer at the Wittman Regional Airport and adjacent Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. The southern part of the show grounds, as well as "Camp Scholler", are located in the town of Nekimi and a base for seaplanes is located on Lake Winnebago in the town of Black Wolf.

The airshow is arranged by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), an international general aviation organization based in Oshkosh, and is the largest of its kind in the world. The show lasts a week, usually beginning on the Monday of the last full week in July. During the gathering, the airport's control tower, frequency 118.5, is the busiest in the world.

Karen and I were attending as volunteers during the week. I was helping as a Public Affairs auxiliarist manning our US Coast Guard Auxiliary information booth in Hanger A promoting the different volunteer missions we provide including aviation. Karen was helping in the Mission Aviation Support Association (MASA) service tent in Camp Scholler with the serving of meals to the many aviation missionaries and volunteers helping from around the world.

Every meal in the MASA tent was provided by a local Christian fellowship in the area. Attendees signed a "thank you message" to the churches before proceeding through the food line.

Honestly, AirVenture 2026 was beyond description for us. The best example that comes to mind for scale might be the gathering in Quartzsite. According to Wikipedia, "the Quartzsite gathering in Arizona draws hundreds of thousands to over a million visitors, widely billed as the largest gathering of RVers in the world. During the peak winter show season every January, the small desert town's permanent population of about 2,400 swells with an estimated 150,000 to over 500,000 campers, vendors, and rock hounds spread across public Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands.

This year over 50 different countries were represented at EAA and the event broke a new attendance record of 730, 0000 attendees! I worked either a morning or afternoon shift in the booth so I could explore some of the displays and vendors. The grounds are too large to walk everywhere so I took advantage of the trams and buses to get around. Karen worked the lunch and dinner shift in the MASA tent so I would join her there for lunch or dinner.

The largest aircraft on site was the Military Airlift Command's C5M which we examined in the static display area.

Every day at 2 PM they had an airshow that lasted three hours. The variety and quantity of aircraft was amazing. Warbirds of every type and branch of the military, aerobatics in military and civilian aircraft, modern military aircraft like the B-1 bomber, F18, F-22 and F-35 did exhibition sorties. They even had a night airshow on Wednesday and Saturday with fireworks, drone exhibits and aircraft flying at the same time all lit up.

We took a day off on Wednesday, July 22nd and stayed in Waupun, where we were camping during the week. I was so happy we couldn't get into the campground at the event. The noise, traffic and the fact that there were no hook ups at the Oshkosh site, made the drive into Oshkosh a no brainer. We had 50A electric service, bathrooms with showers and a large quiet site for $29 a night. At Camp Scholler you got a patch of grass for $45 a night.

I scheduled to only work the morning on Friday and Saturday until 1 PM. Karen scheduled to work the same days until 2 PM, so we could spend time together exploring. We took the bus out to the seaplane base on Friday and toured the bay where they parked.

Of course we couldn't see everything. We didn't see the EAA Museum and I would have like to see more of the Warbirds that were on static display. But the time spent with our co-workers and the things we did see and experience made the week very fulfilling. The highlight for Karen was serving in the MASA tent and meeting so many Kingdom workers in mission aviation. She was blessed to hear their stories and experience so many agencies working together to fulfull God's mission. In addition, it was heart-warming to see so many locals opening their homes to host these missionaries and so many helping in big and small ways to provide hospitality all week long Everywhere we travel, we meet the family of God; it's such a privilege! We would love to come back maybe next year and do it again. Now that we've been here once we know how to schedule our work so we can see more next time.