Oshkosh: The Extravaganza Continues…

John Morris

Warbirds Never Die

Maureen Spuhler

Douglas A-26B Invader, USAAF Serial Number 44-34104 and named “Silver Dragon,” suffered a nose gear collapse on landing at Oshkosh last year. Now it’s back! Intensive work by its crew repaired the damage caused by the after-effects of a relatively small rod in the landing gear shearing and wedging itself in a gear door. There’s still some dental work to do on the paintwork that surrounds the .50 caliber nose guns.

A Toothy Grin

Maureen Spuhler

A pair of fierce-looking T-34s were among many here.

A Two Horse Town

Maureen Spuhler

P-51D Mustangs 44-73029 “Bald Eagle” and the polished, unnamed 44-73420 (NL151AM) take off for one of the warbird displays at Oshkosh.

A Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing

Maureen Spuhler

This North American SNJ-4 Texan N714AW “Bundle Buggy”, built in 1943, is restored as an armed Texan with guns and bombs. Fagen Fighter WWII Museum of Granite Falls, Minnesota, won a 2017 Most Authentic Restoration award at Oshkosh for the aircraft, which represents a small contingent of SNJs used by Marine Air Group 11 for artillery spotting around Espiritu Santo in the Pacific

A Camper With A Difference

Maureen Spuhler

A Grumman C-1 Trader, which spent its life ferrying supplies to aircraft carriers, forms the basis for this prospective camper by Houston-based  artist Jason Barnett. He was at AirVenture with several art-from-junk creations. 

T-6s Line Up

Maureen Spuhler

Almost wherever one looked at the Warbirds Park at EAA AirVenture, one could see endless lines of noses and tails. Many of them were T-6 and SNJ Texan trainers.

Honoring U.S. Veterans

Maureen Spuhler

P-51D “Quick Silver” was the dream of father and son team Bill and Scooter Yoak. Built from over 200 Mustang parts and projects it stands now as a tribute to our veterans, says the Quick Silver website. The remanufactured parts are handmade by Bill Yoak with the skill and care of a master craftsman, with the utmost attention to detail necessary to restore this Mustang to a condition better than factory-new in 1945.

A B-25 of “Catch 22” Fame

Maureen Spuhler

Go! An EAA flagman waves off B-25J “Briefing Time,” operated by the Mid Atlantic Air Museum, just as the B-25s on the Doolittle raid on Tokyo were waved off the aircraft carrier USS Hornet.

A Polished Performance

Maureen Spuhler

B-29 Superfortress “Doc” won several awards at EAA AirVenture including Best Bomber.

A Rare Formation

Maureen Spuhler

A sight not seen for at least 40 years, according to the experts: two B-29 Superfortresses in formation. Not just two, but the world’s only two: “Fifi” and “Doc.”

The world’s biggest variety of airshow performers and many rarely-seen warbirds could be seen at EAA AirVenture 2017.

John Morris

John has led Aviation Week's ShowNews, the best-read daily news magazine of aerospace trade shows, for nearly two decades. His background in business journalism before joining Aviation Week includes stints at Reuters, the American Banker daily banking newspaper and as business news editor at the Milwaukee Journal and the Cincinnati Enquirer.