Dave Higdon/OSHKOSH
More than ever before, the annual convention of the US Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) personified a major trade show - without sacrificing its traditional role as a fly-in and air show.
Retitled Air Venture Oshkosh '98, the event attracted new industry announcements in seemingly record numbers and drew record numbers of sport and personal aviation enthusiasts.
More than 855,000 people attended the mostly blue sky event from 29 July-4 August, many of them arriving in a record number of show aircraft (more than 2,750) and a seemingly record number of fly-in arrivals, with more than 12,000 transient aircraft estimated to have touched down at Wittman Regional Airport and several nearby reliever airfields.
The fly-in drew almost 20 business aircraft, spanning more than five decades of corporate aviation history, ranging from Lockheed 10s and vintage Beech Bonanzas to modern business jets, including the ultra-long-range Gulfstream V.
Aviat Aircraft's new Pitts S-2C arrived at Oshkosh with a fresh type certificate from the US Federal Aviation Administration. The Wyoming-based company emphasises the S-2C's suitability as an aerobatic trainer
Considerable interest surfaced in WipAire's line of floats, seen on a Cessna 182S Skylane and 208A Caravan as well as this Quicksilver MXLII
Cessna's 206 took centre stage at the company's new exhibit stand, the first new Stationair to appear at a major air show since the early 1980s. Certification of the 206 and turbocharged T206 is near, says Cessna
Zenair has added muscle to the Zodiac 601XL with the six-cylinder, 75kW (100hp) Jabiru Australian adaptation of a Subaru motor engine. The XL gains 4kt (7km/h) and 45kg (100lb) gross weight over the 601HD, powered by a 60kW Rotax 912
Avia Bellanca's big six-seat SkyRocket is still a couple of years away from kit deliveries, but the company is considering offering an Orenda engine as an alternative to the basic Teledyne Continental powerplant
The AvStar promises stand-up cabin space and piston-twin operating costs at near-jet speeds - once the design emerges from development some time early in the next century
VisionAire showed a mock-up of its two-seat, single-turbofan Spirit, which shares airframe and powerplant philosophies with the Vantage single-engined business jet
Diamond Aircraft's DA40 Katana takes the basic composite airframe of the two-seat DA20 and adds two more seats. A Teledyne Continental IO-360 engine will be installed
A new 30kW (40hp)-plus engine from Wankel Rotary drives this unusual airframe, the PneuWing, an inflatable wing with no internal structure except the self-stiffening channels that inflate within the skin to shape the aerofoil.
Source: Flight International
