This year marks the 50th consecutive year that the EAA AirVenture fly-in has been held in Oshkosh, WI. The annual event, which actually began in 1953, was located at several other venues in Wisconsin and Illinois during its early years. AirVenture has grown to be the largest annual fly-in in the world, welcoming more than 600,000 attendees and over 10,000 aircraft last year.
Highlights this year include featured guests, such as legendary aircraft designer Burt Rutan and Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins. This year, dubbed the “Year of the Fighter,” will feature legendary American military aircraft, from World War II warbirds to present-day fighter aircraft. A P-51 Mustang reunion will feature National Aviation Hall of Fame member and WWII triple ace Clarence “Bud” Anderson. Several air combat demo teams are slated to perform, including the F-35 Lightning II, A-10 Thunderbolt II, and F-22 Raptor demo teams.
Flying into KOSH
If you plan on flying into Oshkosh, get ready for some company. A NOTAM is in effect from 6 a.m. CDT on Friday, July 19, until noon on Monday, July 29, that outlines procedures for the different types of aircraft. There are several changes this year, including:
- New procedures for aircraft diversion to Fond du Lac (KFLD) in the event of airport closure at Wittman Regional Airport (KOSH)
- Removal of the restriction on transponder use
- IFR routing changes
- Manitowoc (MTW) VOR decommissioned
Download the 32-page NOTAM booklet from the EAA to become familiar with arrival and alternate procedures well in advance of your flight. Don’t wait until you are airborne to read it – this is mandatory preflight material!
An enhancement to assist those flying into AirVenture is an expanded text message system to receive arrival status information. Pilots can receive arrival updates to help them plan accordingly, whether that means continuing to Oshkosh or perhaps temporarily stopping at an outlying airport if traffic levels are very high. To receive arrival alerts, text OSHARRIVAL to 64600. This alert system joins two other alert systems: OSHALERT (AirVenture site weather and updates) and OSHFUN (AirVenture features and highlights).
Gleim Expands Interactive Display Booth
This year, the Gleim Aviation booth, located in hangar A (spaces 1104, 1105, 1106), is expanding to provide an even greater interactive flight simulation experience and more room to browse flight training materials and meet with our flight instructors and aviation training consultants. Three flight simulation stations will be available to demonstrate the Gleim X-Plane Flight Training Course and multiple configurations of the Gleim Virtual Cockpit™. An optional switch panel, radio, autopilot, and multi-function instrument panel(s) can now be added to the Gleim Virtual Cockpit to enhance your simulation experience.
During AirVenture, customers who purchase the Gleim Virtual Cockpit Ultimate Set will receive the X-Plane 11 software and the Gleim X-Plane Flight Training Course for FREE. That is $149.95 in savings.
Gleim is excited to team up with Honeycomb Aeronautical to bring its new Alpha Yoke system to Oshkosh for the first time. Following rave reviews at last month’s FlightSimExpo, the Honeycomb Alpha Yoke and Switch Panel is arguably the most anticipated new product in flight simulation. Gleim has been involved with Honeycomb for over a year, since the first production model prototype arrived in the United States. Featuring aerospace grade internal components and realistic ergonomics, the highly anticipated Honeycomb Alpha Flight Simulation Yoke and Switch Panel is available to test at the Gleim Aviation booth. Plus, you can meet with the Honeycomb team and test out the yoke on a custom flight simulator built on the Gleim Virtual Cockpit.
New Product Editions
Student pilots and pilots training for the instrument rating or advanced certificates can browse the newly released 2020 editions of the Gleim FAA Knowledge Test Prep books and FAR/AIM. These new editions have been updated in accordance with the latest changes in the Airman Certification Standards and the FAA Computer Testing Supplements containing the knowledge test images and figures. All questions in our test banks have detailed answer explanations for both the correct and incorrect answer choices, so you will never be left wondering how we arrived at a specific answer.
Show Specials
Throughout the event there will be deals on many Gleim Aviation training products, including pilot kits, mechanics courses, and refresher course bonuses. Gleim pilot kits have everything you need in one convenient package (except your airplane and CFI) to get your pilot certificate or rating. Pilots can upgrade their kits to include the Gleim Online Ground School for free or save $50 on advanced training kits, including the Ground School. Plus, our Online Ground School includes the Gleim pass guarantee.*
Aviation Maintenance Technician students can use the AMT Set, which covers all three AMT knowledge tests (General, Airframe, and Powerplant), in our easy-to-use online test prep. Each part is regularly $49.95. All three parts are available for the special price of $99.95.
Flight Instructors and Inspection Authorized AMTs can also save on their respective online refresher courses. CFIs can get free document processing with the purchase of a FIRC (a $25 savings). IAs can save $30 on the unlimited access option to meet or exceed their annual recurrent training requirements.
Take advantage of the savings on pilot kits, flight simulation, maintenance training, and refresher courses by following this link to the promotions or calling our aviation training consultants at 800.874.5346, ext. 471.
We hope to see you at EAA AirVenture 2019!
Written by Paul Duty, Aviation Product Manager and Chief Instructor
*AirVenture promotions end July 31, 2019, may not be combined with other offers, and are not applicable to prior purchases. Pass guarantee: We will refund the cost of the Online Ground School if you do not pass your FAA knowledge test on the first try.