There Will Be No More AirVentures for Me

Final fly-in to Oshkosh wasn't exactly a pleasant experience.

Martha Lunken

Friday, October 03, 2025 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

The author shares an aerial photo from arrival to a previous AirVenture at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. [Courtesy: Martha Lunken]

Key Takeaways:

The author recounts a decades-long relationship with the Oshkosh airshow, starting with awe and wonder in 1968, and evolving through roles as an FAA inspector and a *FLYING* magazine contributor.
Throughout these experiences, the author witnessed the event's evolution, enduring challenges like complex airspace changes and uncomfortable working conditions, while also enjoying VIP perks in later years.
Ultimately, frustrations mounted over complex and unsafe arrival procedures, disorganized ground control, high costs, and unhelpful staff, leading the author to decide never to return to Oshkosh after a particularly frustrating visit in the early 2000s.

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It’s been a volatile love affair beginning in 1968 when “Oshkosh” still happened at Rockford, Illinois.

Ebby let us use one of his Midwest Airways DC-3s with friend and Proctor & Gamble pilot Will Adams up front. Early in the morning, with a full load of local pilots fortified with a bunch of sweet rolls and coffee, we arrived about 10 a.m. I was overawed with everything, especially watching for the first time Bob Hoover fly that piston Aero Commander, disappearing into low clouds at the top of his vertical maneuvers.