page_title: EAA AirVenture Oshkosh
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: EAA AirVenture Oshkosh / History
caption_attribution_description: Heritage
context_page_description: EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is an annual air show and gathering of aviation enthusiasts held each summer at Wittman Regional Airport and adjacent Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. The southern part of the show grounds, as well as Camp Scholler, are located in the town of Nekimi and a base on for seaplanes arrivals on Lake Winnebago is in Black Wolf. The airshow is arranged by the Experimental Aircraft Association, an international general aviation organization based in Oshkosh, and is the largest of its kind in the world. The show lasts a week, usually beginning on the Monday of the last full week in July. During the gathering, the airport's control tower, frequency 118.5, is the busiest in the world.
context_section_description: 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, commercial and military aviation, as well as aeronautics and astronautics. 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, in addition to their many vendors which bring a variety of aircraft supplies, general merchandise, and name brand sponsors such as Ford, Honda, Bose, John Deere, and more located in the Fly Mart.
  On May 1, 2020, the EAA announced that the 2020 AirVenture convention and air show would be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
caption: F-86 Sabre (top), A-10 Thunderbolt II (mid), and P-51D Mustang (bottom) performing at Oshkosh in 2009
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