Top 5 Things to See at EAA AirVenture

As the greatest air show in the world, EAA Air Venture 2019, takes off in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, this week, we’d like to help out our guests coming to town by sharing a few suggestions on what to see when they visit. With hundreds of acres of planes, educational events and vendors spanning a couple miles end to end, visitors will want to plan ahead what they want to see and do, so here is my list of the top five things to see at EAA AirVenture 2019.

5. Twilight Flight Fest takes place in the ultralight aircraft demonstration area several evenings during the week. This incredible event demonstrates the short take-off and landing capabilities of aircraft that fly in remote locations. In addition to the take-off and landing demonstrations, there are also skydivers after dark. As the sun slips beyond the horizon and the sky turns from orange to purple and black, with only a few dim runway lights, you begin to feel like you are in remote Alaska watching the next supply plane fly in!

The Ultralight area is also one of the locations where Excellerate’s solar ground mount and energy storage units are providing power to electric planes.

4. Apollo 11 command module pilot Michael Collins will be the featured guest as AirVenture commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, which in July 1969 marked the first time men landed on the moon and returned safely. Collins will be will be joined by fellow Apollo astronaut Joe Engle during the evening program at Theater in the Woods on Friday, July 26. The program will highlight the millions of man-hours and hundreds of thousands of people who made the first manned moon landing possible. “Even a half-century later, the Apollo 11 mission stands as one of the great human achievements of all time,” said Rick Larsen, EAA’s vice president of communities and member programs, who coordinates AirVenture features and attractions. “We are honored to have Michael Collins, Joe Engle and others take us back to the memorable ‘one giant leap for mankind,’ Larsen said.  This will be a must see for all of us who remember this event and/or appreciate the history of the Apollo missions.

3. For all the car people out there (me being one of them), Ford will highlight its “Ford Day” activities by unveiling the 2019 vehicle to be auctioned at EAA’s The Gathering fundraiser on Thursday, July 25. Each year since 2008, Ford has created a custom, aviation-themed vehicle for EAA to sell at a charity auction during the event, which has raised over $3 million dollars to support EAA’s education, safety and outreach. Some of my favorite vehicles include last year’s Eagle Squadron inspired 2018 Mustang GT and the F-22 inspired 2017 Ford Raptor F-150.

2. If you enjoy nighttime fireworks, explosions and upside-down airplanes that look like their wings are on fire, then the night airshows are for you! These popular and amazing air demonstrations take place on Wednesday and Saturday evenings; spectators will be dazzled by the aerobatics and wingtip-to-wingtip flying by ace pilots.

Excellerate will have a perfect view of these amazing shows from the viewing deck atop the product container that will be set up at our booth.

1. Speaking of the Excellerate booth, the unveiling of our new energy products is definitely a must see!  After last year’s successful debut of our mobile microgrid, we decided to challenge ourselves and return this year with three new products. These products are scalable, repeatable energy generation, management and storage products that can provide power resiliency and cost savings to our customers.

Stop by and check out our new products and join us on our viewing deck to take in the airshows, then you can put together your own EAA AirVenture top five list!