AirVenture 2024! – IF you missed it, it was AWESOME!!
It’s wrap! AirVenture ended on July 28th, and it’s a week later already. But it stays with you!! I’m STILL jazzed up about it!! And this past week has been excellent, as well! I’m on a roll!! Wahoo!! So many aviation activities!!
On Wednesday, I had signed up with the Aero Club of Southern California to take a tour of the Mojave Air and Space Port, at Mojave Airport, in Mojave, CA, about 100 miles north of LAX, up in the Mojave Desert. This includes Scaled Composites and the National Test Pilot School. Cool stuff like the Stratolaunch, shown here; a one-of-a kind 6 engined behemoth, designed by iconic aircraft designer Burt Rutan, used to carry manned air-to-launch rockets that you simply don’t see anywhere else!
Then on Thursday, from 12 – 2pm, an FBO (Fixed Base Operator), ACI, at John Wayne Airport hosted an outdoor ‘Summer Mixer’, with free food, drinks and live music in one of the ‘hangar alleys’ (a row of hangars) on the airport. I saw several friends there, of course. Then Friday night was a ‘TGIF’ dinner with a group of my pilot friends who meet weekly for dinner at various restaurants in Orange County, and we naturally talk airplane stuff, and then on Saturday, the yearly Del Amo Flyers hangar party, at Torrance Airport. What a blast!! This is one of many aviation organizations that I belong to. It’s all fun! One of the members opens his hangar for this. A whole lot of fun! What a week!!
So, back to Oshkosh; there is just so much to see and not enough time!! And it’s the people as well! I have friends and colleagues that I only see once a year in Oshkosh! I keep saying that, BUT it’s TRUE!! It’s Disneyland to the MAX for aviators and aviation enthusiasts!! I go all day every day for 6 days, and I’m NOT worn out at the end. I still have plenty of energy. AirVenture energizes me!!
The final numbers from EAA are in, for the week. Total attendance, 686,000!! From around the world! 1,600 seminars and workshops!! The graphic at left was posted on Facebook by a friend.
It’s simply amazing, and in spite of the large numbers, the crowd is well mannered and respectful, and you don’t see any litter on the grounds. It’s NOT like a rock concert, with crazy out of control fans. Nothing like that.
When asked, what was my favorite thing? I DON’T have an answer. There are so many things. The daily airshow? The aircraft on static display? The USAF F-35 Raptor doing a fly-by with afterburners on and the ear shattering sound of the burners?? Or the Wednesday night airshow? The world-class museum? Some of the speakers? Vendors with cool new gadgets? Or the new tech stuff on display in the Garmin Exhibit, just to name a few things. It’s hard for me to choose.
I also did a lot of networking, of course, and that went well also. I had signed up to attend several dinners, Monday thru Thursday. I am trying to ‘stir up trouble’ in a good way, hoping that I can find new opportunities for work! This is THE place to meet people, in person, instead of online. I think that went well. Time will tell.
So, a crazy busy fun 2 weeks now!!
Finally, I am available IF you are in need of any flight or ground training for anything, please let me know.
Fly safely!
John
