EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2026 marked my 17th time attending the world’s greatest aviation celebration. This was also the end of my first full year as an EAA Lifetime Member which I officially signed up for at the end of AirVenture last year.
This year I flew down to Raleigh, North Carolina to meet up with my Dad to then drive out to Oshkosh from there. My Dad has now attended AirVenture somewhere in the mid to upper 20s. He first took me in 1997 and then not again until 2006…what’s up with that, right!? 😊
We got there on the Saturday before kickoff, returned to our same home as last year – a home that comes with the cutest little kitty ever, by the way! I love having an Oshkosh kitty to come home to at the end of each day. We got our picture at the brown arch as always, which by the way, was featured in Tuesday’s AirVenture Today newspaper!
The entire week flew by just as fast as always. Not only due to the days being packed with activities, meetings, and, of course, an airshow. Our evenings were also heavily scheduled with gatherings that have turned into yearly traditions, such as Props & Hops by Hartzell Propeller. We also enjoyed evenings with Piper, Daher, ForeFlight, and Red Bird. Don’t worry though, we still found a moment to get back to the SOS Bros. for corn on the cob!
Along with spending a lot of time at the media tent, we also spent a lot of time relaxing at the EAA Lifetime Member Oasis. It was my first year getting to use this perk and it’s nice to have this area to grab a seat under an umbrella, drink a cold refreshment, and watch the airshow. We actually ended up using this a lot more than we anticipated, which was very nice. Someone just needs to take the microphone away from the food truck that was set up right behind the area lol.
The planes and air show was just as amazing as always. It was awesome seeing the Red Bull Air Force fly in their DC-6 and P-38 from Austria. The P-38 will always be one of my all-time favorite aircraft. It’s definitely time to play another round in the 194x series! Of course, having the F-22 go up often is always a favorite! I still remember and often think about the first time it made its appearance at AirVenture 2006! We also had a number of airliners fly in this year which was fun to see, including Gridiron Air with the Arizona Cardinals plane! Also, it was nice having the Red Arrows make their Oshkosh debut! I was actually lucky enough to see them in San Diego in 2019, so this was my second time watching them perform! There’s just so much fun to experience each and every year!
One of my other favorite arrivals for this year was once again the Goodyear blimp. It’s always fun seeing it fly around the airport during the day and especially in the evening. While the entire week was amazing, we certainly ended the week in the best way possible. My Dad and I had the opportunity to fly in the Goodyear blimp, and we’re so thankful to Goodyear for giving us the opportunity! I mentioned early on that this was my 17th year at AirVenture and my Dad’s mid-20s something year. However, neither one of us had ever flown in or even had the opportunity to fly while there. So, this was our first time flying above Oshkosh during AirVenture! It was such an amazing experience and one that I’m so glad we got to do together! Thank you again, Goodyear!
It was really interesting listening to the team prepare us for the boarding process. It’s not as straightforward as offboarding one group and boarding the next. When it’s time to board the next group (6 passengers), they actually have 2 get on from the new group and then take off 2 from the old group. They continue this process by 2s until it’s just the 6 new folks on board with the two pilots. This is to keep the blimp more stable while sitting on the ground due to the weight change. It would be easy for it to start lifting off if too much weight offboarded at once. I’m pretty sure I was giggling the whole time during the process.
It was obviously a fun and exciting time as I don’t think I put my phone away until our final lap around the grounds. I’m in this mode now where I need to do something different. I don’t want to take the same photo or video as everyone else, so I honestly don’t do a ton of that anymore. However, the moment I stepped onboard, I took so many photos and videos! It was amazing seeing the grounds around Wittman from above like that. However, it was even more amazing that the airshow had just started kicking off as we got in the air. Not only did we see parachuters jump in, we also got to see two performers and the NASA F-18 and F-15 takeoff! YES! I got video!
The flight in the blimp was so much fun to experience. Each seat is a window seat and provides such incredible views. There are a couple of open windows too, but with it being a hot day, they didn’t help much as it was quite the sauna in there! However, best sauna ever!!! The flight was so smooth too, liftoff was quick and then we entered our path. We did adjust a couple of times where the blimp tilted a bit to adjust altitude. But it was all just so much fun!
So, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2026 ended with something pretty darn special! It was already another year to remember, but this just really put the icing on the cake! I wonder what we’ll fly in next year?? We still need to have the flying in to Oshkosh experience!
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Of course, I have to end this article with a photo of Oshkosh kitty! Hi, Gojo!!
