BEST OSHKOSH EVER

Oshkosh AirVenture 2022 will go down as one of the best shows in the history of the event, and it’s a long, star-studded history, like a week-long, living aviation highlight reel. And this year, it broke some records, though that fact can’t come close to explaining how special a show it was.

Speaking of those records, there were a lot of planes, more than 10,000 of which flew into one of the airports that feed into

KOSH, including but not limited to Fond du Lac, Appleton and Green Bay. It’s the same number we see every year from EAA, and truth be told, the numbers are almost always surely greater than that because it’s a literal impossibility to keep track of that many objects moving in time and space through the skies of Central Wisconsin.

The big record is for the number of people who attend AirVenture, and EAA is very good at keeping track of wristbands, so the organization’s conclusion that 2022 was a record year with 650,000 attendees is credible. That is a lot of people, but we were there, and we believe it. There were people everywhere all week long.

In addition to all the cool planes, one factor that should be given a lot of credit was the weather, which you will see in these photographs by our remarkably talented duo of photographers, Jim Koepnick and

Art Eichmann, and which, in the words of

EAA CEO and Chairman Jack Pelton, was almost perfect. We’d go that extra mile and call it practically perfect in every way. And yes, we know that there were rain showers during Wednesday’s Night Airshow, which kind of made it better. The whole week’s weather was spectacular, and it was easy to see on people’s faces how much they were loving it.

The pandemic, which nobody, including me, wants to talk about, was a big factor... due to its absence. People know that the virus still exists, but with vaccinations widely adopted and treatments available to prevent and minimize the effects, people had a lot of confidence that things were going to be just fine. And some risks are just worth taking, says everyone who ever flew a plane and everybody who went to a spectacularly successful AirVenture, me included.

—Isabel Goyer PREVIOUS SPREAD, LEFT: Fireworks at the Wednesday evening Night Airshow highlight the site’s historic Brown Arch. Photo by Jim Koepnick PREVIOUS SPREAD, RIGHT: Family, friends and supporters greet the return of the annual Honor Flight carrying veterans to memorials in Washington, D.C., highlighting the important connection between these heroic vets and aviation history, past, present and future. Photo by Jim Koepnick ABOVE LEFT: The airshow crowd. Photo by Jim Koepnick ABOVE RIGHT: A gorgeous Curtiss P-40 Warhawk at first light. RIGHT: The amazing North American B-25 Panchito flying by during the afternoon airshow extravaganza. Photo by Jim Koepnick BELOW: Parking the Bonanzas in the North 40. Photo by Jim Koepnick

Looking east across the airshow in full swing, it’s easy to see that Oshkosh 2022 was a huge success, one of the biggest shows in EAA history. Photo by Jim Koepnick

ABOVE: Hot air balloons glow in advance of the night airshow. Photo by Jim Koepnick BELOW: Kyle Franklin scrapes a wingtip during his wild aerobatic performance. Photo by Jim Koepnick

ABOVE: You don’t need to ask twice. We’re in. Photo by Art Eichmann LEFT: A thoughtful touch by the owner of this drop-dead gorgeous Beechcraft Staggerwing. Photo by Art Eichmann BELOW: An unsuccessful though admittedly hilarious attempt at blending in. Photo by Art Eichmann

ABOVE: A MiG 17 Korean-era fighter lights it up as it flies by during the afternoon airshow. Photo by Jim Koepnick BELOW: A longtime showgoer proudly displays on their Bonanza stickers from Oshkosh AirVentures past. Photo by Jim Koepnick

Vicky Benzig wrings out her gorgeous 1940 Boeing Stearman, stock except for the smoke system and the more powerful, 9-cylinder 450-hp Pratt & Whitney Wasp Jr. radial. Photo by Jim Koepnick

EAA Honors Memory of Past President Tom Poberezny

ALL WEEK LONG AT AIRVENTURE, EAA

honored the life and legacy of longtime head of EAA Tom Poberezny, who died on Day One of this year’s show following a short illness.

The son of EAA founder Paul Poberezny and Audrey Poberezny, Tom became Oshkosh Fly-in Chairman in 1977 and took the reins of EAA in the early ’90s and served as president and chairman for two decades, leading the organization to a world-class profile and takingit fromagatheringofhomebuiltandsmall-planeenthusiasts to an organization that embraced every aspect of flight. He was also central to the birth of the Young Eagles, a program that gives first-flight experiences to millions of young people free of charge. He retired as president and chairman of EAA in 2010.

One of the most talented aviators of his day, Tom was world aerobatics champion as part of team USA in 1972 and was United States Unlimited aerobatics champion the next year. He went on to become part of the three-plane Red Devils aerobatic airshow act, later known as The Eagles, along with Gene Soucy and the late Charlie Hilliard.

EAA spokesperson Dick Knapinski noted the timing of Poberezny’s death, which happened at 2:00 a.m. the morning of the opening of the 2022 edition of the event he loved so well.

ABOVE: This one tugged at our heartstrings. The Volkswagen Beetle, Red 3, driven by former EAA head Tom Poberezny at OSH for decades. It was one of several tributes to the younger Poberezny EAA put together around the grounds after Poberezny’s death on the morning of the first day of this year’s event. Photo by Jim Koepnick BELOW: Tom Poberezny’s business card, clipped to the dash of Red 3. Photo by Jim Koepnick

ABOVE: A dad and his daughter walking at OSH. The show is all about and has always been all about family, nuclear, extended, chosen and more. Photo by Art Eichmann BELOW: There were a record number of Bonanzas at Oshkosh this year. Photo by Jim Koepnick