First the pandemic. Now the swarm—of aluminum. As of Monday, it looked like EAA AirVenture this year would benefit from a week-long forecast of mostly ideal weather and record attendance of people—and airplanes. In the three days leading up to the show,  an astonishing 7,928 aircraft had flown into Oshkosh for the organization’s 68th fly-in, more than double the 3,500 during the same period in 2019—the last year AirVenture was held due to the worldwide pandemic—and more than 50 percent greater than the record for the three-day period of nearly 5,000 aircraft, Jack Pelton, EAA chairman and CEO, reported. Pelton also said that both airplane and automobile campers were similarly up by dramatic numbers and that exhibitors were at their pre-pandemic level, with more than 800 in attendance. He also said that EAA membership had returned to its pre-pandemic roster of more than 240,000 members. 

“It’s pent-up demand,” Pelton joked, before theorizing that EAA members and AirVenture attendees had used the Covid pandemic to complete kit aircraft or modify existing aircraft, and were eager to show them off at the world’s largest gathering of aircraft and aircraft enthusiasts. Automobile traffic backed up far earlier than usual for the show’s Monday morning opening, a function of the increased attendance and a new traffic and parking layout that Pelton admitted still had a few “kinks” that were being worked out. He said the new parking scheme as well as electronic prepayment and attendee registration were designed to move attendees through the ground’s admission gates faster. Similarly, a new Notam for arriving air traffic was designed with more waypoints to spread out arrivals and lessen the probability of aircraft being put in VFR holds. While all the moves were inspired by the pandemic, in an effort to ameliorate congestion, Pelton said they would become permanent features of the gathering going forward.