Huge Numbers For EAA AirVenture Oshkosh Could Have Been Way Bigger

First, the numbers. EAA in its release yesterday said that the event was the second largest in its history to the 2019 edition, with 608,000 attending the show. There were more than 10,000 planes at Wittman Regional and reliever airports, including Fond du Lac, Appleton and Green Bay. That number included, EAA said, "a record 1,420 vintage aircraft registered, plus 1,089 homebuilts, [an impressive] 354 warbirds, 148 aerobatic aircraft, 112 seaplanes, 33 ultralights, and 27 rotorcraft."

But the numbers could have and almost certainly would have surpassed 2019's numbers if three things had been different.

The biggest unknown is the growth in cases and hospitalizations from COVID-19, with the more infectious and serious Delta variant of the coronavirus running rampant. It's not clear how many folks, if any, chose to stay home.

We do know a couple of things---that there were far fewer international attendees this year, again because of the coronavirus pandemic and the travel restrictions imposed by many countries, including the United States.

Finally, the big storm that rolled through on Wednesday night drove off an unknown number of planes from KOSH, though it was probably more than a thousand of them. It's believed that very few returned after the storm had cleared, so EAA lost a head count for every day of the show that the thousands of refugees missed after departing on Wednesday, either four or five days depending on if you count Wednesday or not.

The success of the show reflects the huge enthusiasm pilots and other aviation enthusiasts have for the kind of flying done at AirVenture, but also for the opportunity to see friends, the first such opportunity that many have had since Oshkosh 2019.