Story and photos by Scott Jankowski
AirVenture 2023 is in the record books after celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. This year’s 6-day celebration was held from July 24th to July 30th, 2023, for those who have never attended before AirVenture truly does offer Aviation Enthusiasts a little bit of everything. This record setting 6-day fly-in and convention draws hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world, and thousands of aircraft of all sizes and types. EAA AirVenture has something to offer whatever type of Aviation Enthusiast you are, modern military, warbirds, general aviation, commercial airliners, bizjets, helicopters, vintage aircraft, seaplanes, aerobatic aircraft, homebuilts, and new types of flying technologies.
AirVenture 2023 included a vast array of different types of modern military air aircraft and included fighters, bombers, transports, tankers, trainers, and helicopters. This year featured several different Northrop T-38 Talons, the Sikorsky MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter, the Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker, the Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy, the F/A-18 F Super Hornet, and the Boeing B-52H Stratofortress.
A record number of warbirds were on hand this year and included trainers, transports, liaison aircraft, bombers, and fighters. This year featured another fine selection of jet, propeller, and rotary winged aircraft. Several examples of the Chance Vought F-4U Corsair, North American B-25 Mitchell, North American T-6 Texan, Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatross, and Douglas C-47 Skytrains were on display and featured in the afternoon air shows.
Commercial airliners included both passenger and cargo aircraft this year. Delta Airlines had an Airbus A350-900 on display. American Airlines once again provided the aircraft for the Honor Flight on Friday with their specially painted Airbus A321-232. Atlas airlines had one of their specially modified 747-400LCF (Large Cargo Freighter) on display. Several other business jets and props were also to be seen.
Of course, general aviation aircraft are the most prevalent as are Vintage Aircraft, Homebuilt/Kit Planes, and Seaplanes. A wide variety of Beechcraft, Cessna, Grumman, Lockheed, Pilatus, and Piper types were seen among many others. Aerobatic aircraft and helicopters were also part of this year’s convention as they are every year.
Rounding out all the different categories of aircraft there were also a number of new flying technology types and unique aircraft to be found. New flying technology types included the electric powered Whisk and the first jetpack powered suit. One of the more unique aircraft was the NASA Aerospace Lines Super Guppy.
This is just a small selection of what one can see on a typical day at the world’s largest airshow. No other airshow in the world can bring together so many different aircraft types in one place at one time. Over the next several articles we will take a closer look at several of these different categories and aircraft types, as we continue our coverage of AirVenture 2023, until next time “Blue Skies To All!”.
