Significant Planes at Oshkosh

Oshkosh is at heart a fly-in, and even though the world’s biggest and greatest airshow attracts nonpilots from around the world, every year there are around 10,000 airplanes (counting them is so complicated that EAA doesn’t even try to get an exact count anymore) that fly into the area for the festivities. For those of […]

Big is cool, and through the years, Oshkosh has hosted some of the biggest planes in the world: the C-5 Galaxy, Boeing 747, the Antonov An-124 and the Airbus Super Guppy, to name a few. But the biggest of the big, at least according to many metrics, is the Airbus A380, and its arrival at […]

The name of the host of the world’s greatest airshow has the word “Experimental” right in it, but it’s so much more than a homebuilt organization or a homebuilt show. EAA for decades has been all about private aviation of all kinds, from ultralights to World War II-era bombers. Warbirds are a core interest of […]

Those pilots who aren’t old enough to remember the early days of ultralights might not know about one of the most remarkable chapters in aviation history—the ultralight revolution. Everyone knows the Cessna 172 Skyhawk is the most-produced plane in history; high on the list is the Quicksilver Ultralight, with more than 15,000 made over the past […]

Again, we could have picked any number of cutting-edge designs for this spot in our lineup of important planes at AirVenture because the point is, EAA’s annual summer showcase is all about embracing and celebrating innovation in aviation. That mission alone is worth standing on the rooftops and celebrating. And the BlackFly is about as […]

  To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the event that I believe was the most significant in aviation history, the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by Charles Lindbergh in 1927, EAA constructed a replica of the plane Lucky Lindy flew across the pond in, the Spirit of St. Louis. That 1977 replica was popular and […]

The loudest plane ever at OSH? This one is a no-brainer. It’s the BAE Harrier jump jet, a fighter jet that could take off and land vertically while also speeding along at a supersonic clip. It’s fair (though perhaps not nice) to say that the Harrier got more attention from more showgoers for a longer […]

One of the most important planes to EAA’s ongoing commitment to amateur-built aircraft is the Van’s RV. There are numerous models, some with side-by-side seating, some with two seats, one with four, some with a nose gear, some with a tailwheel. And when I mentioned, in the snippet above, that the Rutan Vari-Eze arrived en […]

At first glance, you might not know about this plane, and you might be surprised at its inclusion in this lineup of the fast and mighty planes of OSH, but believe me when I say that the Baby Ace is no less to EAA than the Wright Flyer means to aviation as a whole. The […]

It’s hard to explain the impact of the appearance of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor at AirVenture more than a decade ago. It is one of the few planes to fly into OSH that was so eagerly awaited that everyone on the field stopped mid-stride or mid-conversation to stare up and gawk at the world’s […]