EAA AirVenture 2017 Breaks Records

The Twin Tiger Aerobatic Team is unique in that they fly their Bengal-tiger-striped Yak-55Ms through smoke rings that are generated from the ground. The custom smoke-ring generators are placed out on the airfield and fired multiple times to create smoke rings throughout the act. The team is based in Senoia, Georgia.

Many warbird pilots practice formation flying before coming to Oshkosh, and then build up mass formations in a scale seen perhaps only at Oshkosh once a year. Adding to the drama is the visual effect of flying formations over each other; aircraft here include T-6 and T-34 trainers. 

A Consolidated Vultee BT-13 trainer and B-29 Superfortess “Fifi” fly by each other during the Oshkosh air show.

Beechcraft T-34 Mentors stick together at Oshkosh.

The U.S. Air Force’s latest toy, the F-35 Lightning II, flew often at Oshkosh in a Heritage Flight formation with an A-10 Thunderbolt II ground support aircraft and two P-51 Mustangs. 

This shot from below of the Heritage Flight – with an F-35 Lightning II leading an A-10 Thunderbolt II, and a P51 on each wing – shows the relative size of the aircraft, and the apparent smallness of the F-35.

The Paradigm Team of ultralight powered paragliders, also known as paramotors, mesmerized the crowds with incredible maneuverability, precision, and performance made even more magic by the addition of LED lighting. Although their paramotor ultralights use lightweight two-stroke engines worn by the pilot like a backpack, they emitted just a soft hum as they performed their routine.

Nicknamed “The Bone,” the B-1B Lancer long-range, multi-mission conventional bomber has served the USAF since 1985, and has been nearly continuously deployed in combat operations over Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001. In Oshkosh one could see (and feel) the power of four afterburning General Electric F101-GE-102 turbofans as it flew by, slowly but with wings swept, in reheat.

The B-1B flew by even more slowly, showing the effect on low speed handling of spreading its wings from their high-speed, swept position.

The Aeroshell team of four T-6 Texans flies over the 1936 Bucker Jungmeister flown by world aerobatic gold medallist David Martin. He specializes in emulating the routines of the all-time greats who flew the German-made airplane through sequences that are still talked about today.