The excitement around EAA AirVenture Oshkosh starts weeks before the annual summer extravaganza and persists throughout the week-long show, which this year took place from July 20 to 26. Although I have been to probably 20 or more Oshkoshes (sorry, but no one calls it AirVenture), for the first time I stayed for the entire event, and it was well worth it.
My trip to Oshkosh was somewhat complicated because I was helping out at AIN’s Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit (CALS) in Alexandria, Virginia, a few days before the show. I had to leave CALS on the second day to travel to New Jersey, where I was meeting my friend Craig Barnett (the Scheme Designers guy) and flying with him in his Cirrus SR22 to Oshkosh on the Friday before Oshkosh opened. All went smoothly, with a pleasant ride on Amtrak’s Acela train to Newark, an overnight at Craig’s house, and an early departure on Friday morning.
Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.
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