Last year’s show was a stellar and exciting one, if you were a visitor or pilot looking for a great summertime aviation experience—but for reporters in search of news, it was a weeklong exercise in frustration. “The press conference schedule has been busy, but other than avionics, nothing of significance has emerged,” wrote AVweb’s Paul Bertorelli. “Continental promised ‘multiple major product announcements,’ but my fellow journalists were grumbling, as only journalists can, that incremental reports on engine certs and new roller tappets aren’t exactly major.” Nevertheless, beautiful weather and a long list of events, workshops, airshows and unique, gorgeous airplanes on display brought no complaints from the non-journalist contingent, with record crowds on site all week.
The B-29 “Doc,” from Wichita, made its debut at the show, roaring to life after years of effort by thousands of volunteers. Blue Origin displayed New Shepard, its reusable rocket, along with a full-size mockup of a crew capsule with room for six future astronauts. And a stage full of real astronauts reminisced at Theater in the Woods about the Apollo era, which launched 50 years before. Two new aircraft made an appearance, with the first public showing of the Stratos 714 VLJ proof of concept, and Kitty Hawk’s multi-rotor LSA flying at the Seaplane Base. And by week’s end, Bertorelli found one brand-new ready-for-market airplane to report on—Vulcanair’s 1.0 trainer, a less-expensive alternative to the classic Cessna 172, made its Oshkosh debut.
