Only a handful of events can pull off the single name thing and get away with it. Indy. LeMans. Daytona. Their aviation equivalent is Oshkosh. Mention the word to pilots and aviation buffs, and they'll know you're not talking about the overalls you wore as a kid.
Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is the site of the annual AirVenture aviation show, the largest gathering of aircraft and aircraft fanatics in the world. It's where the past meets the present and everyone glimpses the future, as some 10,000 aircraft take to the air beginning Monday.
“If it has flown, is flying or will fly, it will show up at Oshkosh," Dick Knapinski, a spokesman for the Experimental Aircraft Association, told Wired.com. The EAA has been hosting the annual show since the first gathering in Milwaukee 56 years ago.
It's an exciting time for the aviation sector, a feeling that will be reflected in Oshkosh as more than half a million people look to the future. Electric airplanes, flying cars and even a jet pack or two will share the tarmac with a replica of the Wright Brothers flyer, World War II–era warplanes and the massive Airbus A380 jumbo jet.
For one week in July, the air traffic control tower at Wittman Regional Airport is the busiest in the world.
The show draws participants and spectators from 65 countries who come to to see the latest innovations in aviation. This year the buzz, to steal a pun from the automotive world, is about electric airplanes. As we reported earlier this week, electric aircraft are the focus of tremendous development effort around the world right now. Advocates of electric aircraft say the rechargeable planes address concerns over rising fuel costs, CO2 emissions and the noise complaints that often plague pilots.
"Years from now, if we want to have the freedom to fly, we’ll have to remove all social barriers," Tom Peghiny told Wired.com. "Whether that’s air pollution, noise pollution, bothering other people, we’re going to have to remove those barriers in order to keep our freedom to fly."
One of the big stars of last year's show was the single-seat ElectraFlyer C. Randall Fishman, the plane's designer and pilot, hopes to return this year with a two-seat version. We'll also see the e-Spyder electric ultralight among the battery-powered planes. With so many of the Oshkosh faithful being tinkerers themselves, the electric revolution is sure to attract a lot of attention.
The emerging space tourism industry will be another big attraction as White Knight Two makes an appearance. The unusual four-engine jet, christened Eve, is the latest creation of legendary designer Burt Rutan and the crew at Scaled Composites. Rutan is a regular at Oshkosh and has unveiled many aircraft in the 35 years since he showed off his first plane, VariViggen, back in 1972 .
This will be the first chance the public has had to get a close look at Eve, which eventually will carry Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo into space. Eve is expected to make several flights and will no doubt reignite some excitement during these space tourism doldrums.
Oshkosh always draws engineers and entrepreneurs with wild ideas, and this year is no different. The team behind the Terrafugia flying car, er, make that "driveable airplane," will be on hand again. Now that the funky little plane has made some successful test flights, many are hoping to see some fly-bys.
They'll be at least as popular as the guys from Martin Jet Pack, the New Zealanders who are expected to be back with their wild jet pack. Here's hoping we see flights more ambitious than the mild hovers performed last year.
The Airbus A380 super jumbo will make its first appearance at a North American air show next week, and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection guys are sending a Predator B drone. Both aircraft will be flown in by members of the Experimental Aircraft Association.
The big players like Boeing and Airbus tend to show off their really cool stuff at the giant shows in Paris and Farnborough, but just about everyone else in the industry heads to Oshkosh because it's the place to be seen.
“We can go there with the heart of our product line and talk to our customers,” John Doman, a Cessna vice president, said. “And it’s not just a domestic show, it has a global draw.”
And while guys like Doman spend the week working hard, they still get a thrill like everyone else.
“I never tire of just looking up in the sky and watching the airplanes fly by, from ultralights to B-17s,” he said.
Beyond the awesome hardware, Oshkosh features more than a thousand seminars covering everything from composite-materials construction to discussions with pilots like Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who safely landed U.S. Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River.
The show is more than a chance for manufacturers to show off their innovations and hawk their wares. It's something of a family reunion for half a million people. Jim Voss has been going every year since 1981. On one of the few occasions when he couldn't make it, the astronaut called in from the International Space Station.
“It wasn’t an easy thing at the time,” Voss said of the 2001 call. "It was a surprise for the audience gathered in Oshkosh, and I had some friends there that day and they couldn’t believe they were able to talk with me.”
He missed another show while training for one of his five space shuttle flights. But he'll be there this year.
"Anyone who loves flying, loves Oshkosh,” he said.
Wired.com will be there all week with daily reports live from the show. Stay tuned.
Top photo: EAA
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