4 August 2021
The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) which runs the AirVenture fly-in and show at Oshkosh has issued key facts and figures about this year’s event, which ended a week ago.
Attendance: Approximately 608,000 – only the third time attendance has surpassed 600,000 and within 5 percent of 2019’s record total.
Total aircraft: More than 10,000 aircraft arrived at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh and other airports in east-central Wisconsin. At Wittman alone, there were 16,807 aircraft operations in the 11-day period from July 19-29, which is an average of approximately 127 takeoffs/landings per hour.
Total showplanes: 2,758 included 1,057 homebuilt aircraft (including a record 592 homebuilt aircraft campsites), 939 vintage airplanes, 400 warbirds (6 percent increase), 188 ultralights and light-sport aircraft, 105 seaplanes (40 percent increase), 62 aerobatic aircraft, and 7 in other categories.
Camping: More than 12,300 sites in aircraft and drive-in camping accounted for an estimated 40,000 visitors.
Volunteers: More than 5,500 contributing in excess of 250,000 hours.
Commercial exhibitors: 863.
Forums, Workshops, and Presentations: A total of 1,500 sessions attended by more than 75,000 people.
EAA aircraft flights: 3,051 people flew aboard EAA‚’s Ford Tri-Motors, while 3,173 people flew aboard EAA’s Bell 47 helicopters and 669 flew aboard EAA’s B-17 Aluminum Overcast.
Social Media, Internet and Mobile: More than 17.6 million people were reached by EAA’s social media channels during AirVenture; EAA’s website had more than 2.1 million page views; EAA video clips during the event were viewed 4.5 million times; and EAA’s 2,740 photo uploads were viewed more than 13.3 million times.
Additionally, EAA web streams were accessed more than 1.6 million times by viewers in more than 200 countries, who watched more than 315,000 hours of activities from the AirVenture grounds.
The AirVenture app was downloaded and used by nearly 47,000 attendees. EAA Radio reached more than 104,000 listeners in 158 countries with 6,735 hours of audio, and more than 47,000 viewers of 405,000 minutes of streaming video.
Guests registered at International Visitors Tent: A record 2,772 visitors registered from 93 nations, also a record total. (Actual counts are higher since international visitor registration is voluntary.) Top countries represented by registered visitors: Canada (561 visitors), Australia (386), and South Africa (177).
The Gathering shines: The EAA Aviation Foundation’s annual event to support its aviation education programs attracted some 1,400 people and raised more than $2.8 million dollars that will be focused on EAA’s mission of growing participation in aviation.
Media: 851 media representatives on-site, from six continents.
Jack Pelton, former boss of Cessna and now chairman and CEO of the EAA said, “We went into this year not knowing what AirVenture would look like and how big of an event was possible. The aviation community spoke loudly, though – it was ready to come to Oshkosh and we were happy that we could welcome them.
“Our theme was ‘The Wait is Over’ and indeed it was. And the wait was worth it. There was joy and excitement throughout the grounds and it set the stage for the return of AirVenture, making us very excited for the future.”
