The camping ramp at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is a self-organizing aviation community where thousands of pilots sleep beside their aircraft for a week every July.
At fly-ins across the country, volunteer A&P mechanics and experienced pilots give their tools, time, and knowledge to help strangers' aircraft get airworthy again - for free.
The campground at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh - particularly the fly-in North Forty - is where aviation's deepest culture lives, long after the air show ends.
The ScaleWings SW-51 Mustang is a professionally manufactured Austrian composite that delivers the iconic P-51 silhouette to pilots who can't access the real thing.
The homebuilder campground at EAA AirVenture is where pilots who built their own aircraft camp next to their planes all week - and it's unlike anything else in aviation.
Over 10,000 aircraft arrive at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh every July, and every single one is hand-guided to its spot by unpaid volunteers in orange vests.
Doc, one of only two flyable B-29 Superfortresses in the world, flew again in 2016 after sitting in the Mojave Desert for decades - restored by volunteers in Wichita over nearly 30 years.
A polished P-51 Mustang at EAA AirVenture 2026 reveals the volunteer network keeping rare warbirds flying - and the corrosion lesson every pilot can use.
Steve Wittman, the near-blind Oshkosh airport manager and racing legend, invented the landing gear under thousands of aircraft and gave EAA its home field.