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EAA OSHKOSH 1970 • PHOTO COURTESY OF EAA
by MeLinda Schnyder
Once upon a time, Oshkosh was best recognized as a brand of overalls. Today, much of the world hears “Oshkosh” and thinks airplanes.
That’s because the Experimental Aircraft Asso- ciation (EAA) is celebrating 50 years of Oshkosh, Wisconsin as the location of its annual fly-in conven- tion, which this year runs July 22-28. This is the 67th edition overall of the week-long event. It started in 1953 at Milwaukee’s Timmerman Field then moved to the Rockford, IL airport in 1960 before a final move to Oshkosh in 1970.
While the official name is EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, most people simply call it Oshkosh or OSH. Residents in the town of 60,000 about 80 miles northwest of Mil- waukee are proud to be EAA’s hometown. Members, who numbered well below 100,000 in 1970 and now top 200,000, have watched the organization and the event grow from a small grassroots homebuilders air show to the largest aviation gathering in the world encompassing all types of pilots and enthusiasts from every corner of the globe.
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