Story and photos by Archibald Robbie, EAA 1697937
When I announced I intended to spend some of my retirement money to travel to the United States from my home in Scotland in 2026, the question most asked was “Are you going to see Scotland play in the World Cup?” My reply of “No, I’m going to Oshkosh” brought either a look of puzzlement or “Oshkosh, as in children’s clothes?,” do you have relatives there, or just a plain “Why?”
After explaining that the world’s largest air show at the (temporarily) world’s busiest airport was my reason then things became clear to those who know of my love of aircraft.
Prior to retiring, I worked at Edinburgh Airport and during an early morning chat with Dave, a member of the check-in staff, it emerged that he was a keen aviation photographer who volunteered at Oshkosh as part of the team at Fightertown. Further discussions on all things aviation took place and as 2025 drew to a close, I began to firm up my plans as regards to attending AirVenture 2026.
“You won’t manage to do everything that you plan to do and there’s a lot that you just won’t have time to see” and “You can never fully imagine what you are going to encounter until you are there” were some of the sage words from Dave.
To put things in context, the Light Aircraft Association Rally in the United Kingdom has approximately 550 aircraft attend. That, combined with the fact that I’d flown over A.M.A.R.C. (Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Centre, better known as the “boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona), I thought that I may have a slight understanding of the enormity of the event.
Well, that was soon debunked.
I arrived on Sunday, 19 July, and joined the queue of RVs checking in to Camp Scholler. I was aware of the statistics surrounding the event and had seen images, however the reality of seeing how much of the campground was already occupied and how far I eventually ended up away from the showground gave me the first inkling that there were more pre-conceived ideas which were not going to remain for long. After settling in to my spot, I introduced myself to my neighbours and gained an insight on how far people are prepared to travel to attend the event.
Monday morning, map in hand, I made my way from my RV to take a ride on a Bell 47, my aim being to try to get a sense of perspective of the size of the event. YouTube videos can only provide a sense of scale, the reality of actually seeing the sheer numbers of everything on the ground and the area of ground covered was mind blowing. The walk from my RV to the helicopter rides area also brought to my attention that there were many more miles to be trodden during the next week even when I incorporated bus and trams into my travel around the showground.
As the week progressed, the experience of chatting to fellow campers, volunteers, proud aircraft owners, spectators, and participants exceeded my expectations. The common bond of love of aviation was a joy to share.
Overall opinion: Wow, I have never seen such a spectacular event as the night air shows, the positive vibe of the event, the diversity of aircraft, and skill shown by pilots during the displays has made me hoping that AirVenture wasn’t a once-in-a-lifetime event for me.
