AirVenture

AirVenture
View of the central pavilion of EAA Airventure 2014
Genre	Air show
Dates	Typically the last week of July
Frequency	Annually
Venue	Wittman Regional Airport
Location(s)	Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Established	1953
Attendance	500,000+ (2014)
Activity	Aerobatic Displays Static Displays
Organized by	Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)
Website
https://www.eaa.org/en/airventure

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (formerly the EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In) is an annual gathering of aviation enthusiasts held each summer at Wittman Regional Airport (43°59′04″N 088°33′25″W / 43.98444°N 88.55694°W / 43.98444; -88.55694) in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. The airshow is sponsored by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), an international organization based in Oshkosh, and is the largest of its kind in the world. The show lasts a week, usually beginning on the last Monday in July. During the gathering, the airport's control tower is the busiest in the world.

EAA was founded in Hales Corners, Wisconsin in 1953 by Paul Poberezny, who originally started the organization in the basement of his home for builders and restorers of recreational aircraft. Although homebuilding is still a large part of the organization's activities, it has grown to include almost every aspect of recreational aviation and aeronautics. The first EAA fly-in was held in September 1953 at what is now Timmerman Field as a small part of the Milwaukee Air Pageant, fewer than 150 people registered as visitors the first year and only a handful of airplanes attended the event. In 1959, the EAA fly-in grew too large for the Air Pageant and moved to Rockford, Illinois. In 1970, when it outgrew its facilities at the Rockford airport, it moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

For many years the official name of the event was The EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In. In 1998, the name was changed to AirVenture Oshkosh, but many regular attendees still call it as The Oshkosh Airshow or just Oshkosh. For many years, access to the flight line was restricted to EAA members. In 1997, the fee structure for the show was changed allowing all visitors access to the entire grounds. EAA AirVenture holds nearly 1,000 forums and workshops.