oshkosh 2021

For the folks that were able to go this year....

How does this years crowd compare to years past

Did many vendors show up in the buildings?

Looked like as many vendors as ever and more people to me. Lot more airplanes as well.

I left before the big (not so big) storm. Had a good time though….even though they stuck me and my experimental Cub in a sea of RV’s in Homebuilt camping lol.

I haven’t seen “official” numbers, but they announced late week that they’d set a record for numbers of airplanes here, and I don’t doubt that at all.

Vendors, on the other hand, are waaaay down in numbers. There’s huge open spaces in the big barns. A big chunk of one of the barns has been taken over by federal programs, that used to be in a separate pavilion. Lots of non aviation related vendors in every building too. Used to be half again as many vendors or more in those buildings, and all were required to be aviation connected.

There seems to be as many or maybe a few more vendors set up outside, but still not like in past.

One vendor I spoke with paid over $90 K for one of the fairly large outdoor exhibit spaces….I talked to one of the food vendors, they said EAA takes 25% of their gross.

Was planning on leaving this morning, got all packed up, and field went IMC in smoke and low ceiling.

MTV

I forgot about the Fed agencies in the big buildings. We had a great time and enjoyed your's and my Dad's conversations about submarines. Those conversations are my favorite part of Oshkosh.

I went through all the vendors and enjoyed most of the conversations that I had…I was struck by one thing….at a major backcountry aircraft manufacturers display I talked to a nice gentleman who built a beautiful Cub in the owner assist program offered by this vendor….stunning aircraft…,but I asked him so e questions he couldn’t answer….one question was what fabric process did you use??? He didn’t know,…. Tell me about your engine….he said I picked the biggest one they offered….I asked about the build assist process…he said they just tell me what tasks to do and I do them…,I leave the thinking up to them. Now I’m not against the process, but this seemed strange. He was a very very nice fellow, but knew little about the beautiful aircraft he just built. Is this an anomaly ? Or is the build assist program really just a way to get the paperwork you want for your aircraft? Again, not against any of this…, just an observation and a question. I could tell you about every nut and bolt and where all of my mistakes were made etc….anyway, I enjoyed Oshkosh as always…I just really didn’t fit in over in Homebuilt surrounded by lancairs and RVs I felt like the odd man…. They’d stroll up and ask why is this PA 11 here? You should be in vintage … I’d tell them I built it…..oh cool. Lol. On the other hand, they have a nice pavilion and great bathrooms and showers. Maybe they should try parking planes more by type though….probably hard when it’s so busy…oh, one coool thing they did was give a hat and a plaque to builders who built their planes between 2019-2021 and flew them to Oshkosh….and they sang a song “We’re glad you built an airplane…we’re glad you flew it here….etc. it was like having someone sing happy birthday at Applebee’s

Steve Pierce said:

I forgot about the Fed agencies in the big buildings. We had a great time and enjoyed your's and my Dad's conversations about submarines. Those conversations are my favorite part of Oshkosh.

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It was fun meeting your Dad and swapping some sea stories. One of the highlights this year. I just heard over the PA that attendance was 649K and change to date.

MTV

Dan, I understand where you are coming from. Some builders know everything from how the raw materials are made and beyond while others just know the minimum. Everybody is different but I tend to gravitate towards the knowledgeable folks. Jim Richmond introduced me to Klaus Savier of Lightspeed Engineering and what a conversation. Learned a lot. Also I guy walked up who was in a Stinson parked behind us asking how the storm went the night before and after an hour or more I knew a lot more about Franklin engines that I knew before. Kid in a candy store.

Interesting week for me, the formation flight in with marginal weather was interesting, nice to have 3 rows of the North 40 reserved for us though. I never even went into any of the big buildings this year, reading comments above must be why my mind said to not bother.
Scrappy's arrival was a treat, Mike is wonderful to talk with, a real genuine person.
Early week did not seem to be heavily attended. The overnight storms got your attention, I even got to sleep in the museum one night.
We packed up early and did a 2 ship formation departure Friday at 0800. There had been new arrivals in the N40 late in the week but I would say they were only about 30% capacity by Thursday evening.
Picture is an owner of an MU2 making sure the incoming hail would not destroy it.



And our indoor camp for one night.

Down at show central and the vintage area I thought there were way more people than normally early week. I enjoy going around and visiting with the vendors I talk to on the phone year round

I met some cool people at New Holstein as well, one guy I knew from years ago…,he was an Faa guy… left there to start his own shop….he got hooked on Supercubs while we were doing fly outs and stuff….he is now looking to build himself a Javron Cub…he’s big into clipped Tcraft’s and does air shows . He said it was the most relaxed he felt in years at Nee Holstein.

mvivion said:

Vendors, on the other hand, are waaaay down in numbers. There’s huge open spaces in the big barns. A big chunk of one of the barns has been taken over by federal programs, that used to be in a separate pavilion. Lots of non aviation related vendors in every building too. Used to be half again as many vendors or more in those buildings, and all were required to be aviation connected.

MTV

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I haven’t walked through all of the buildings (have barely swung through Hangar C on the way to the restrooms), but do note that the original federal pavilion was demolished after the 2019 event and the space has been converted to outdoor aircraft exhibits. The area is sport flying focused, a mix of LSA types and other homebuilts. It doesn’t totally offset the number of vendor spaces removed by converting Hangar D into the new federal space but should be noted.

EAA’s space reservation system looks at a few factors, including years of attendance and aviation industry involvement. If a non-aviation vendor gets in, they are generally always going to get to keep their space as long as they keep up on their renewals and a larger vendor/partner doesn’t want the space (doesn’t happen often but on occasion it does).

I can’t comment on much else because I’ve barely been away from the work booth, but it’s been a great show in terms of qualified folks coming by with good questions and expected future purchases. It sure seemed busy but sometimes that might be because I know more people each year.

—Amy

We must have come by on the rare occasion that you were gone.

My next door neighbor at Mobridge, SD today.

Steve Pierce said:

We must have come by on the rare occasion that you were gone.

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During exhibit hours, I averaged about an hour away once a day for combined lunch and bathroom break starting around 1-130 pm. It is surprising how many people I missed during those short times!

—Amy

mvivion said:

My next door neighbor at Mobridge, SD today.

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Pretty sure that's my friend Bill's Yak 3.
If you get a chance to talk with him, do so- he's a super interesting guy.
But very low key & soft spoken, not one to toot his own flute.

Steve Pierce said:

We must have come by on the rare occasion that you were gone.

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During exhibit hours, I averaged about an hour away once a day for combined lunch and bathroom break starting around 1-130 pm. It is surprising how many people I missed during those short times!

—Amy

hotrod180 said:

Pretty sure that's my friend Bill's Yak 3.
If you get a chance to talk with him, do so- he's a super interesting guy.
But very low key & soft spoken, not one to toot his own flute.

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i had dinner with him that night and we met for breakfast. You’re right, he’s a joy to visit with….great sense of humor, and lots of history.

MTV

is there still the aeromart for used and surplus parts

C-YQK said:

is there still the aeromart for used and surplus parts

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It has shrunken down to a mere shadow of what it used to be. So I am not sure I could call it a yes or a no.

CharlieN said:

It has shrunken down to a mere shadow of what it used to be. So I am not sure I could call it a yes or a no.

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I found a few things in there. definatley not as much stuff as years gone by.

I thought the same thing but thought it was because I didn't get over there till midweek. Maybe more online sales these days. I only spent $15 there this year.

I reminisce back to the '80s when I bought a really nice backpack so I could haul all my catch back to the campsite as the week went on.
This past week I wore the same backpack but it was empty most all the time. Heck I was forbidden to collect more than a few pounds of stuff since even on the way to OSH we could only put 18 gal in the Mooney at each stop. No 7hr non stop trip this year.

I had a friend there with truck and trailer on the ready. Have hauled 2 engine mounts, complete set of Slick tools, a Sutton exhaust system and countless other parts and pieces across the field over the years. Too much fun.

It was good to get there this year to thank all that help me spend money in 2019 on my Super cub. Big Bob, Don, Jack. Steve and Gilbert who is the man. Thank you again for the help on the pre buy. Your families are top notch in my book. till 2022. chip D.

This was my 36th trip to the show.
Didn't have to work. Just a family trip.
We had an absolute blast and already planning next year.

Official EAA numbers:
(Believe it or Not)

608,000 People in Attendance
10,000+ Aircraft
5,000 Volunteers
1,055 Forums and Workshops
747 Vendors
18.95M Reached on Social Media

I was told that many of the indoor vendors were moved outdoors to keep the crowds down inside the buildings due to virus concerns. So yes, the buildings were skimpy and yes, seemed full of non-aviation jock-strap sales.
I have not been to the show in 4 years but man...it looked big to me. The Motorhome/camper overflow was packed full more so than I have ever seen it.