Pilot's Post - EAA AirVenture Oshkosh Day Six

30.07.2023

No trip to EAA Airventure would be complete without a visit to the Seaplane Base, located on the shores of Lake Winnebago. The lake has an area of 557 square kilometres with an average depth of 4.5 meters. The total shorefront area of the lake is 141 kilometres, and it is 48 kilometres wide at its' widest points. Ice fishing is practiced extensively during the winter months with Walleye and Sauger being the most fished species.

The EAA Seaplane base plays host to a variety of seaplanes over the week of Airventure. It is also nestled in a beautiful, wooded area along the lakeshore. Making it a wonderful cool and breezy retreat from the heat of the Wittman Airport flightline. There are food vendors at the lakeshore as well as camping facilities. This must be the ideal place to visit if you are a seaplane owner! If you want an escape from the hustle and bustle of the main airport, this is highly recommended! The dedicated volunteers were also busy with cleanup operations after last night's substantial storm.

In one of the most intriguing interactions, I have had this week, I was introduced to Mr George Wilts from Streator Illinois. He is a CFI and has a love for old aeroplanes when he does not fly a Citation II for a private owner. What happened next completely affirmed and accentuated everything that EAA Airventure is about, he took a two dollar bill out of his pocket and started working the paper between his fingers. What emerged from that process less than 5 minutes later was a beautiful origami F14. What a wonderful experience, spending such a short amount of time with an unassuming gentleman while we “hanger-flew” for five minutes.

The Saturday Afternoon Airshow brings out all the heavy hitters! Possibly the best airshow I have seen all week. But then again, the whole week brought some of the best airshow flying I have ever seen. The night airshow and fireworks display are certainly one of the highlights. I was so mesmerized I had to remember to take photographs.

As far as flying goes, this brings our week at EAA Airventure to a close. Tomorrow is pack-up day and time to head to Chicago to board our flight to Doha.

EAA Airventure 2023 was an absolute blast! If you have ever wanted to come to EAA Airventure at

If you want to visit next year, please contact Neil and his team at www.airadventure.co.za

I also want to extend my thanks to Roger Machin and his team at Canon South Africa, for allowing me to use the Canon EOS R5 and the superb 24-105mm RF lens. It made short work of anything I threw at it.

What an amazing privilege to visit the biggest airshow in the world! Thank you to Juri Keyter and Willie Bodenstein for trusting me with the responsibility of covering the event for PilotsPost. For now, that is Oshkosh 2023 wrapped up.

Beaver at Osh 2016

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Events 2023
Oshkosh 2023