Number Of Showplanes, Homebuilts, Warbirds All Rose This Year

The number-crunchers at EAA have released the final accounting for AirVenture 2016, and the numbers of attendees, warbirds, showplanes, homebuilts and exhibitors all increased.

“It was a magical week at Oshkosh this year. You could sense the enthusiasm throughout the grounds no matter where you were," said EAA chairman Jack Pelton. "From the aviation anniversaries we celebrated, to the magnificent performances by the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, to the airplanes and aviators who were here, there was an energy that reinvigorated everyone involved in aviation.

"We premiered our annual Founders Innovation prize and celebrated the flight of our 2 millionth Young Eagle with thousands of EAA-member pilots who made that remarkable achievement possible. Our industry partners conducted more than 70 news conferences in Oshkosh, launching countless new products and technologies that benefit the aviation community.”
 
According to EAA, approximately 563,000 people came through the gates, an increase of nearly one percent over 2015. “Our attendance was particularly outstanding, since we had some weather challenges mid-week compared to seven perfect days in 2015. Our grounds crew and our volunteers, who number more than 5,000, did a superb job keeping the site ready for visitors and campers who arrived by ground or by air.”

On the hardware side, more than 10,000 aircraft arrived at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh and other airports in east-central Wisconsin. The number of showplanes was up seven percent over 2015 with 2,855 on the grounds.

Other categories included:

• 1,124 homebuilt aircraft (up 11 percent)
• 1,032 vintage airplanes (up 7 percent)
• 371 warbirds (up 6 percent)
• 135 ultralights and light-sport aircraft
• 101 seaplanes
• 31 rotorcraft
• 41 aerobatic aircraft
• 20 non-categorized aircraft

EAA says the final total of exhibitors was 891, a 10 percent increase over EAA AirVenture 2015.

Other statistics:

• Forums and Workshops: A total of 1,050 sessions attended by more than 75,000 people.
• Social Media, Internet and Mobile: More than 35 million people were reached by EAA’s social media channels during AirVenture; EAA AirVenture app had 1.6 million screen views; EAA video clips during the event were viewed 957,000 times; and EAA’s 1,100 photo uploads were viewed more than 7.4 million times.
• Guests registered at International Visitors Tent: A record 2,369 visitors registered from a record-tying 80 nations. Top countries represented: Canada (578 visitors), Australia (340), and Argentina (167). [NOTE: Actual international attendance by country is undoubtedly higher, since these are self-reported figures only.]
• Media: 750 media representatives on-site, from six continents.

With the books barely closed on AirVenture 2016, Pelton is already looking ahead to July 24-30 next year.

“The planning for EAA’s 65th annual fly-in convention begins now. There are people already coming forward with ideas that we’ll consider in the coming weeks. Next year, for instance, is the 80th anniversary of the iconic Piper Cub airplane and the 70th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force. We also want to continue to be the place where new aviation technology and innovations are unveiled to the world.

"Our evening lineups continue to provide attendees with additional reasons to stay throughout the night, and 2017 will be no different as we’ll kick off the week on Monday, July 24, with an evening concert by the Grammy-nominated alt-rock band Barenaked Ladies, presented by Ford Motor Company. Although the lineup of features, attractions and anniversaries is still developing, it will be a collection of aircraft and people unmatched anywhere in the world.”

(Source: EAA news release)

FMI: www.eaa.org