EAA AirVenture 2025 Impressions and Lessons

Story and photos by Del Laughery

The 2025 Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture was a monumentally exquisite event balancing modern military, warbirds, classic, home-built, and aerobatic aircraft into a skillfully choreographed event at Wittman Airfield, Oshkosh, WI. Though the AirVenture did not start at Wittman, 2025 marked the 71st annual EAA gathering. This year would have been the 72nd gathering, but the AirVenture did not occur in 2020 due to the onset of the COVID-19 epidemic.

As I write this article, there has already been excellent coverage of the event posted to the PhotoRecon site. It’s not my intention to overlap, by much, with what has already been reported. Instead, I will provide some impressions – some lessons learned, if you will – from my multi-day attendance.

First, and foremost, this show is very well organized and run. After attending hundreds of airshows, both domestically and abroad, I can say the AirVenture staff and leadership have got serious game. This show, in terms of its size, complexity, and duration, is on par with the annual Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, Great Britain. Everything from parking, to security, to food, to rest rooms were well thought out and well executed. A few of these characteristics deserve some additional details.

Ticket Options
There are various general admission opportunities for gaining access to the show grounds. First, if you anticipate attending most, or all, of the seven-day event, do yourself a favor and join EAA. The price to join is just $49, and membership unlocks the weekly ticket option priced at $158. Total cost for this approach is $207. If you don’t join, and purchase daily non-member $68 tickets you’ll be out $476. The math on this one is simple.

Another very simple aspect is the cost for people 18 years-of-age and younger. They’re free, so grab your son or daughter, strap them into your passenger seat, and expose them to aviation’s finest domestic event.

Even if you’re only going to be at the show for a few days, the daily ticket price for members is $49, so it doesn’t take long for the $19/day savings to pay for the EAA membership. If you attend three days, the EAA membership is more than paid for by the daily ticket price savings.

Military personnel, both active and veterans, are graciously offered the daily member ticket price of $49. That’s 28%, which is a heck of a lot better than we vets get at the local Home Depot.

There are other ticket options as well. If you plan to attend AirVenture 2026, head over to their site (https://www.eaa.org/airventure) with your calculator at the ready and consider your options.

High-End Tickets
A bit more on the pricy side, and only available to EAA members, are the Aviators Clubs. There’s actually two. One, known as Aviators Club North, is located north of the control tower on the east side of Wittman RD, while Aviators Club South, is located along the same road, but this time on the west side. While these areas offer shade, food (breakfast and lunch (and dinner if you stay for Wednesday’s or Saturday’s evening show)), and comfortable seating, be advised that they are well away from the show line, so if photography without heads in pictures is your goal, they may not be your best option. Alternatively, if shade and food are the priority, then the $158/day ($896/wk) price tag may be worth it.

Show Line Obstructed Views
Along the majority of the show line, there is no rope between you and the runway. Just a burn line in the turf demarking where you can be. I found that very convenient when it came to snapping pictures from my fold-out chair of aircraft taxiing by. What I didn’t consider at 7:05AM, when I put my chair in its’ place for the day, were the numerous U-shaped breaks in the show line marked with a rope boundary highlighted with colorful flags. Perhaps I should have know that something was different about these areas, but it didn’t occur to me that there would be vehicles parked there, completely blocking my view of portions of the runway. By the time I realized it, there were no more front-row spaces along the show line to be found, so I shot over the Ford F-250 that blocked all but the far left and far right portions of the runway. Needless to say, I didn’t make the same mistake the next day.

Herein contains my only suggestions to the AirVenture staff:
– Eliminate the U-shaped parking areas along the show line. Move them, and the vehicles, to the far left and right sides.

– Move at least one of the Aviator’s Clubs up to the show line where these parking areas were. Do that, and I’ll be the first to purchase a weekly pass for the club.

Parking
Given the number of people who attend this event, I can’t say enough about how well parking is laid out, and even more so about how very quick and hassle-free getting into and out of the show went. I recall sitting for a full two hours trying to get off of the airport grounds at the New York Air Show a few years back, which was, by far, a smaller event, and I was pleasantly surprised that AirVenture had this aspect impressively well coordinated.

Food and Drink
As you might imagine, food and drinks are expensive. Four bucks for a bottle of water, and $15-$20 for a fast-food meal, are what you’ll find on the show grounds. That said, there is no issue bringing your own food and drinks. While I didn’t bring my own, I did drag my camera gear in a fold-out wagon through security each day, and my suggestions would be to adopt the same approach with a cooler full of sandwiches and drinks.

Lodging
Again, as you might imagine, lodging during the AirVenture is insultingly expensive. Expect to pay 200% to 300% over normal pricing in the Oshkosh area. This even includes little towns like Ripon, 17 miles SW of Oshkosh, where small hotel rooms were running in excess of $350/night. My strong suggestion is to book early before room inventory starts to get tight and prices go up even more.

Photography
The single aspect of the AirVenture that I liked best is the orientation of the show line combined with the start time of the formal air show. Situated on the west side of Wittman Field’s North-South runway, the afternoon sun is behind you during the entire show, which doesn’t start until 2:30PM-ish each day. Unlike so many shows where you’re forced to shoot into the sun, AirVenture is a pure photographer’s paradise.

During the morning, after staking your claim on the show line, grab your camera with a wide-angle zoom (I used 24mm – 70mm) and check out the static aircraft in the warbirds and vintage areas, as well as Boeing Plaza, or any of the industry booths that line Celebration Way.

Final Words
Go to this show. If you’re looking for a truly positive experience, you won’t be disappointed. There’s plenty of room on the show line for your chair, people are respectful of your space, food is plentiful, and the show is one amazing act after another.