To many AirVenture regulars, Jim Busha and Hal Bryan’s names might not immediately ring a bell. But their new book, EAA Oshkosh: The Best AirVenture Photography, called the “next best thing to being at AirVenture,” may bring back a few memories of past aviation shindigs.
Although a book like EAA Oshkosh was a dream for many years, Busha and Bryan told Flying their project really took off once EAA chairman and CEO Jack Pelton gave them a green light. Busha and Bryan wanted to create a visual walking tour of AirVentures past, an effort that demanded a deep dive into the EAA’s massive photo archive. With tens of thousands of photos from which to choose, however, the duo chose just 240 finalists taken during the past 10 years of the annual airplane geekfest. The work to create EAA Oshkosh began in earnest in 2015, with a deal solidifying publisher Quarto and dividing up the 240 photos into areas of specialization such as the North 40, Warbirds, Vintage, Seaplanes, Ultralights and, of course, Life at Oshkosh. Any of the final 240 shots would be suitable for framing … if a reader could get their hands on them of course.
Busha said, “There are just so many cool shots of airplanes and EAA members here that it would literally take a person a lifetime to see most of them — but not all.”
Bryan added, “Writing even simple descriptions to accompany world-class photography like the images we included was daunting, and even more, humbling.”
During the day, Busha serves as EAA’s director of publications, and Bryan’s EAA’s senior editor. Some may also recall Bryan from his former life as a community evangelist for Microsoft’s Flight Simulator.
