OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – We’re one week away from the world’s largest airshow and fly-in convention.
People from all over the world come to Oshkosh for EAA’s AirVenture every year.
More than 600,000 people are expected to attend the 70th AirVenture event.
“We’ve been coming here for the last 25 years,” said Neil Bowden, President of EAA’s South African chapter.
The campgrounds opened on June 30. EAA officials say people started coming and flying in that day.
Bowden was one of them.
“We camp on the airfield. We can’t bring a lot of luggage or anything on the plane with us, so we’ll stay in tents, keep our equipment on site and set it up every year.”
Bowden says around 150 South Africans come to AirVenture every year.
“It’s just Oshkosh is Oshkosh, you know, there’s nothing else in the world like this,” he said.
Bowden says when they arrive in Oshkosh, he and other members will go and buy sleeping bags for everyone for the week.
“And at the end of the year, end of the week, we normally load them up and take them to a homeless shelter in Oshkosh and the guys down there really appreciate the donation and it makes us feel good as well,” he said.
Bowden and his crew aren’t the only ones who decided to show up early.
“It’s like summer camp for adults who like airplanes,” said Bill Mcallister.
Mcallister also came into Oshkosh on June 30th. He may not be from South Africa, but has been coming to AirVenture from St. Louis, Missouri since the early 80s.
“The people that are around, after a while you get to know a lot of the individuals and groups and just coming back to spend time with them,” said Mcallister.
With some possible storms in the forecast this week, both Mcallister and Bowden say it wouldn’t be AirVenture without a little bit of rain.
“The first thing to realize is it’s Oshkosh and you’re going to get wet sometime in the week that you’re here, so you just deal with it,” said Mcallister.
“I warn the guys before they come, if you haven’t had a storm in Oshkosh, you’ve never been to Oshkosh,” said Bowden. “So we just ride out the storms, hopefully there won’t be too many. Back home at the moment it’s freezing cold and it was snowing in Johannesburg this week, so the guys are looking forward to getting here and having a bit of warm weather and maybe a storm.”
EAA AirVenture begins July 24 and runs through July 30.
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