Spirits Soar on Soggy Soil At AirVenture

OSHKOSH, Wisconsin — Recent rains have left much of Wisconsin sopping and soggy, but it hasn’t dampened the spirits of the thousands of aircraft aficionados descending on the world’s biggest airshow this week

We’ll be here all week for the annual pilgrimage to EAA AirVenture, where we’ll see a lot of leading edge tech alongside vintage aircraft like the DC-7 shown above. It’ll be another big year for electric airplanes, and Sikorsky brought an electric helicopter to town. NASA’s got some folks here talking about the Puffin, which is a bit like a V-22 Osprey for one person. And it wouldn’t be AirVenture without a flying car or two

Things are getting off to a bit of a slow start, though, after Mother Nature dumped 10 inches of rain on the area last week. Arrivals have been delayed because the soggy soil has limited parking. Normally we’d see 8,000 or so aircraft here by now — the tower at Wittman Regional Airport is the busiest in the world during the week AirVenture’s in town. We aren’t seeing that much traffic yet, but the grounds are drying and we expect to see a swarm of DC-3s come in this afternoon to celebrate the 75th birthday of the iconic airplane

Check back throughout the day and the rest of the week for more updates as we bring you the latest in aviation from the odd to the amazing. EAA Airventure always provides plenty to see. Want more information regarding jet hire?

Photo: Tommy’s Flickr Site / Flickr. The engine of a DC-7 parked at AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin,, which is slowly drying out after a week of rain