EAA Air Venture Oshkosh 2021

Discussion relating to 2021 airshows/fly-ins/exercises/other events. Post news before the event and post your photos afterwards! Please create only one thread per event.
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Airplanefreak2000
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Post by Airplanefreak2000 » Mon Aug 02, 2021 4:25 am

five from yesterday:
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IDF783
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Post by IDF783 » Tue Aug 03, 2021 12:42 am

Loved the CV-22 USAF Osprey. I was there on Sunday as well and it was maybe a 1/3 of the crowd it was on Saturday. Got real close to the flight line and saw 6 Super Hornets depart including the 2 for the Growler demo team. Was hoping the two F-15E would have, but I think they departed today along with the Viper demo team.
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RyanS
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Post by RyanS » Wed Aug 04, 2021 3:18 am

Airshow wise, I felt like it was a pretty weak year for AirVenture. Normally we have one or two WOW moments that we just can't wait to post but looking back I really can't find anything like that this year. Especially early in the week, we groaned when the schedule came out and struggled to decide on a 'video of the day'. The AFSOC stuff was cool at times but fell short of the impossible levels of hype that EAA builds by being all stupidly secretive about it.

The Friday warbirds segment was really great, and I was glad to see the liaisons get their own day again, but overall the warbird showings felt very lacking. Listening to the airboss cut the jet warbirds' only showcase down after AFSOC wasted everyone's time was infuriating - an annual tradition. I continue to hear complaints from warbirds that people are tired of bringing their aircraft just to get scrubbed from the show or cut down to a couple passes.

We can't expect a blockbuster every year; the weather didn't help and most importantly of all it was really nice to get a huge gang together again. Hopefully things get back on track next year.

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kalamazookid
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Post by kalamazookid » Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:54 pm

Before I get to photos, I wanted to share some thoughts on the experience. As usual, I was only able to attend Monday - Wednesday.

Highlights

It was great to be at Oshkosh again!

The U-2 fly-by's were great. I was surprised they brought it down that low.

This was my first look at Venom. I had mixed feelings on the scheme until I saw it in person. It's awesome. The Wednesday mini-demo prior to the Heritage Flight was one of the best parts of my three days there.

I loved the four-ship Heritage Flight on Wednesday. I can only recall seeing a P-38 in a Heritage Flight once before and it has been a long time since I've seen one fly period, so that was particularly special to me.

Tuesday's warbird show was the best I've seen early in the week for a while. "The Year of the Fighter" warbird shows were a total flop in my three days there in 2019 so I especially appreciated the variety of fighters that flew in the show early in the week during this year's Airventure. The OV-10 was a cool participant (a first for me at an airshow) even if it didn't necessarily fit with the rest of the aircraft and the four-ship C-47 passes were outstanding.

I liked that the warbird arrival show on Monday included the P-51 and Corsair flying around at low level. More of that, please. Keep something in front of the crowd while it takes the big formations five minutes to turn around.

The Goodyear Blimp was way cooler than I thought it would be.

Oshkosh for me is as much about looking as it is about the flying, and there were a lot of awesome new restorations to look at this year - particularly in Vintage. This was probably the most memorable Vintage turnout of the six years I have attended Oshkosh.

The shuttle system for parking also went way more smoothly than I thought it would. Arriving was incredibly easy. I would have had a long wait for a shuttle when leaving Wednesday so I just walked back to my vehicle that day. I don't normally leave right when the show is over so I don't anticipate a long wait being a problem again.

Lowlights

The Monday and Tuesday airshow lineups were mostly very boring. I don't think I've ever watched less of an airshow at Oshkosh than I did on Tuesday.

I wish more of the arrivals had been incorporated into the airshow like the previous few years, or we could at least have been given a ballpark time for the arrivals of some of the military aircraft. I missed a few aircraft that I would have been on the flight line for had I known when they were coming.

The shortened airshow on Wednesday. I totally understand that they had to cut it short due to weather and give people an opportunity to leave, but it always stinks when a show gets cut short.

One of these years, I hope I'll get to stay longer than three days. I'm anticipating that the 75th Anniversary of the US Air Force will be prominently celebrated next year and I really hope I'll be able to stay long enough to get to see some of the best airshow attractions.

Here are some photos of the F-15 departure Wednesday morning for now. More to come.

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kalamazookid
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Post by kalamazookid » Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:56 pm

And a few of the U-2.

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Matt

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Post by OwenORourke » Wed Aug 04, 2021 7:54 pm

I agree on all fronts - lots of highlights and still a bit of room for improvement. Considering the curve-ball the weather threw with threatening hail and high wind and the whole COVID thing hanging over everything, I think things went pretty smoothly and there was a great turnout overall. As always, you can't see it all as there is stuff going on all over the place, but a few of highlights for me:
MH-47 low departure
F-18 vaporfest
Multitude of F-16 high speed passes
Varied heritage/legacy flights throughout the week
Large turnout of antiques
Desert Storm 30th anniversary panel at the Theater in the Woods
WWII Navy ace Donald M. McPherson at Warbirds in Review
I don't collect patches and shirts but there was quite a selection available from all of the SOCOM folks in Boeing Plaza
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RyanS
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Post by RyanS » Wed Aug 04, 2021 8:55 pm

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Ryan Sundheimer
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kalamazookid
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Post by kalamazookid » Wed Aug 04, 2021 11:35 pm

Venom and the Heritage Flight on Wednesday.

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Post by kalamazookid » Wed Aug 04, 2021 11:39 pm

Got some faint prop vortices on Swamp Fox and the Howard 500 on Wednesday as well.

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Matt

IDF783
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Post by IDF783 » Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:06 am

kalamazookid wrote: Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:54 pm
Here are some photos of the F-15 departure Wednesday morning for now. More to come.
Was the F-15C a static or did it fly the early part of the week? There was a static F-15E along with another at the staging area. Was hoping to see one of them fly a bit Sat or Sun - especially given it was the 30th anniversary of Dessert Storm and the F-15E was prominent during that war.

Why can't the premier airshow event in the US land the BA or T-Birds annually? They had the Blues back in 2017.

Otherwise, great to be back!
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