Oshkosh EAA Airventure 2017
The EAA Airventure 2017 was announced to be the bomber year! And it really became bombastic. 590.000 people attended the event in Oshkosh, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid and also saw for the first time in more than 60 years two B-29 Superfortresses flying in formation. Apart from that once again more than 10.000 aircraft flew to Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, making it at that time the busiest airport in the world with approximately 123 aircraft movements per hour. For the pilots it was once again the great fly-in, and the highlight for the airshow this year were the US Navy Blue Angels.
Where? Oshkosh WI, USA
When? 24-30/07/2017
EAA Airventure Oshkosh Bomberfest - vapor...tastic!!!
As part of the bomber theme on Wednesday several B-25s gathered in the Warbirds area for a re-enactment of the Doolittle Raid in honor of the event’s 75th anniversary. Seeing the B-25s launching from Oshkosh’s runway in a similar fashion as they did from the USS Hornet was quite a spectacle. And the following flying display during dusk did also feature a lot of pyrotechnics effects.
Modern Military
But the highlight that day were for sure several passes of the mighty Boeing B-1B “Lancer” bomber. Due the humidity in the air the “BONE” created loads of vapor clouds, and combind it in a great way with its four afterburners. “Vapor and burner” was the theme of that evening for sure! Further participation of modern military assets could also be witnessed throughout the week. The USAF Heritage Flight for example did present a 4-ship Formation of the F-35 Lightning II, A-10 Thunderbolt II and two P-51 Mustangs:
Warbirds at EAA Airventure 2017
Plenty of warbirds from all types were assembled there. Commemorating the Doolittle raid on one day around a dozen twin-engine B-25 Mitchell bombers were parked in the same, tightly nested way they crowded the deck of the USS Hornet aircraft carrier in April 1942 before launching the first strike over Japan.
For the warbirds fans there was of course a lot more to see around the “Fighter Town”, the warbird era in the North Eastern corner of the airport. The highlight was Rod Lewis’ Douglas A-20J Havoc, which gained without this year’s title of “Grand Champion: World War II”.
Fascinating was also the meeting of three rare P-63 Kingcobras and one P-39 Airacobra. It was the first such rather large meeting of three types of “Bell’s finest” for the first time after WW II. More photos of this come-together will be featured in the near future on another air-air photo feature on this site.
Amazing Oshkosh
What always amazes me it the great diversity of aircraft that can be seen at Oshkosh. The British Royal Air Force for example brought the Airbus A400M on its first civilian air show appearance for a day.
Two B-29s flying at EAA Oshkosh Airventure!
Due to a tight schedule your author unfortunately missed the airshow display during the week-end, which was supposedly stunning by all means. A close formation flight of the B-29s “FiFi” and “Doc” in combination with B-17s, B-25s and the three modern USAF bombers B-52, B-1 and B-2 in the flying display were the culmination of the “year of the bomber”.
World's greatest Aviation Celebration
Apart from the big highlights you cannot beat EAA Airventure for its ambiance and atmosphere. Airventure really is the world's biggest aviation celebration! You can spent days hanging around the airfield without getting bored. Even staying around the same places brings something new everyday. With only a few days spent at OSH this year this coverage is far from being complete (which is an impossible thing anyhow I think...), but I hope you got some nice impressions from EAA Airventure 2017 browsing this site.
Note: This text was compiled using press releases of EAA.
