“The numbers are looking very, very good” for this year’s EAA AirVenture, with 3,000 aircraft arrivals recorded on Sunday, 2,000 on Monday morning, and registered camping already up 4 percent over last year’s record-breaking numbers, according to EAA chairman Jack Pelton. This year’s gathering in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, he said, is notable for commemorating the 100th anniversary of Britain’s Royal Air Force and WWI Aviation, the 80th anniversary of the North American T-6, and the 70th anniversary of the USAF Reserves, including the important role those forces play in the operation of the nation’s fleet of aerial tankers.
Pelton said the USAF’s first KC-46A is a tentative arrival for later this week in Oshkosh and about 80 T-6s are expected on the grounds, including a flight of 40 that landed on Sunday. He teased that the Saturday night airshow would include an “audience participation” feature and be “very Hollywood.” Both Wednesday and Saturday night airshows will feature up to 60 drones.
Meanwhile, he said the three-year-old EAA Innovation Center—the epicenter for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) and other innovative designs—continues to be a popular destination on the show grounds. “I have no idea where these projects will end up, but the technology and innovation that is coming out of these projects is something that all of general aviation can profit [from] and find another applicable path,” Pelton noted. “It reminds me of the story of two brothers named Alan and Dale Klapmeier—the founders of Cirrus Aircraft—who showed up at AirVenture in 1989 with a tent and a concept, and look at where they are today.”
Due to member and organizational outreach, EAA was able to convince Congress to block the FAA from imposing air traffic control fees this year for AirVenture. These fees in past years had amounted to more than $400,000 annually. “We are fee-free this year,” he said, noting that it will be a continuing challenge to convince the FAA that it is “the will of Congress” to keep it that way.
He said letters from 28,000 EAA members helped kill federal legislation to privatize air traffic control and convert it to a fee-based system and that legislation to provide the FAA with a stable, multi-year funding platform is nearing final passage. Pelton reported that EAA, along with other general aviation organizations, has made good progress with the FAA working to modernize and streamline the weight limits on light sport aircraft (LSA) and promulgate new parts manufacturing rules to ease the certification of higher safety, lower cost features into certified aircraft. He said getting the weight restrictions changed on LSA’s is a four-year process and “we’re about two years into it.”
According to Pelton, EAA membership has grown to 215,000, boosted by programs that included the chapter-level “Flying Start” mentorship program for adults who wanted to get their pilot’s licenses and chapter flying clubs that use homebuilt, donated, or vintage aircraft to keep the cost of flying affordable.
