AirVenture Oshkosh, a pilgrimage for aviation aficionados, beckons like a cherished family reunion.

Wayne Schmidt, EAA 437248, from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, has been attending EAA AirVenture for 50 years, and has been an EAA member since 1993.

Most people arrive at Oshkosh by airplane or car. But Ed Strohmaier isn’t most people. Ed, of Schleiden, Germany, arrived at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh after cycling from New York.

Michael and Martina Höcker, of Aachen, Germany, certainly took the long route to arrive at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. About a 20,000-mile route, in fact.

There was no comparison to the feeling of taking someone flying in a small aircraft for the first time, seeing the smile and adrenaline pumping through them.