Oshkosh

Next Week At AirVenture -- Lots Of Everything

EAA AirVenture opens in Oshkosh next Monday, and as usual, the show will overflow with airplanes and events. The afternoon airshows feature all the top aerobatic performers, and this year they'll be joined by a new act appearing at Oshkosh for the first time -- Team RV, which calls itself "the world's largest formation aerobatic team." The 12-ship team will fly in honor of the 40th anniversary of the popular Van's homebuilt design. The 12 airplanes create "a constant whirl of activity in the aerobatic box," says the group, featuring "exciting rejoins, extended trail chases, graceful aerobatics, and the team's signature large-formation photo passes." But while visitors will have thousands of airplanes to look at, one that will be missing is the Terrafugia Transition prototype, which the company says is too busy with flight testing to come to the show.


"Due to our aggressive drive and flight test schedule, we will not be bringing the Transition prototype to AirVenture," Terrafugia COO Anna Mracek Dietrich said this week. "Our executive team will be staffing our booth at AirVenture this year while our engineering team continues testing activities with the prototype. Getting the Transition into production is our top priority; we hope all our friends at Oshkosh will understand." The booth will feature photos and videos from the recent flight tests, she said. Visitors will have other new airplanes to check out, including a few in the light sport aircraft segment. One of the newest may be an as-yet unnamed new STOL design from Just Aircraft, according to bydanjohnson.com. The slow-flight design allows for "the shortest imaginable takeoffs and landings," says Johnson.