Finding Fisk: How AirVenture Oshkosh Lands 10,000 Airplanes

One Week in July

For most of the year, Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is a fairly quiet airport. 

For one week every July, that changes completely.

That week is EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, the annual convention of the Experimental Aircraft Association. Thousands of the people who attend fly in themselves.

This year's show ran from July 20 to 26 and drew about 734,000 people, a new record. More than 10,000 aircraft arrived at Oshkosh and nearby airports. From July 16 to July 27, Wittman alone had 15,527 operations, about 101 takeoffs and landings for every hour the airport was open.

Of those aircraft, 2,851 were showplanes, including 360 warbirds, and about 6,000 volunteers helped run the week.

Where It Started 

EAA was founded in 1953 by Paul Poberezny. Its first fly-in that September in Milwaukee drew fewer than 150 people and only a handful of airplanes. 

The event moved to Rockford, Illinois, in 1959. When it outgrew Rockford, Steve Wittman, who ran the Oshkosh airport, convinced Poberezny to bring it to Wisconsin. It moved to Oshkosh in 1970 and was renamed AirVenture Oshkosh in 1998. 

Managing the Traffic 

Most of the planning for arrivals is laid out in the Oshkosh NOTAM. The FAA publishes it every year, and pilots are expected to read it before the trip. 

The most well-known procedure is the Fisk VFR arrival. Pilots follow a set of railroad tracks from Ripon toward Fisk, a small community southwest of the airport, flying single file at a set altitude and speed and keeping their own spacing. 

At Fisk, FAA controllers watch the traffic with binoculars, identify each airplane by color and type, and assign it a runway. Instead of reading back on the radio, pilots rock their wings to acknowledge. 

Controllers can land several airplanes on one runway at once by assigning each one a colored dot painted on the pavement. Departures are handled from mobile units at the ends of the runways, and Fond du Lac, a nearby airport, gets a temporary tower for the week. 

During the event, the Oshkosh tower is often described as the busiest control tower in the world. It is staffed by 64 FAA controllers selected from facilities across the country, who rotate between positions and wear pink shirts. 

Smoke in 2026 

This year, smoke from Canadian wildfires moved over Wisconsin in the days before the show. On July 16, the air quality index in Oshkosh reached 414, which is in the hazardous range, and the airport was operating under instrument-only rules. 

Since the Fisk arrival requires VFR conditions, many pilots waited at other airports for the visibility to improve. 

The Pilots

I interviewed four pilots who each arrived in a different airplane and a different way. 

Jesse McClintock had been to Oshkosh several times in the right seat of other people's airplanes, but this year was Jesse's first time flying in solo. The trip started in Camarillo, California, and took the southern route through El Paso to avoid high terrain. 

Jesse reached Madison, Wisconsin, on Wednesday and waited out the smoke through Thursday. On Friday, Jesse took off about 30 minutes before Oshkosh was expected to go VFR, with plenty of fuel on board in case he needed to hold or turn back. 

The airport went VFR when Jesse was about halfway there. With around 15 airplanes already ahead on the arrival, Jesse found a gap and landed on Runway 27. 

"It was a big relief," Jesse said. 

Stevie Triesenberg has flown into Oshkosh five times as pilot in command, four times in a Beechcraft Bonanza C35 and once in a Cessna 140. Before every trip, Stevie prints out the NOTAM and reads through it. 

According to Stevie, the procedure itself is fairly straightforward. The harder part is the unexpected, like heavy traffic or an unplanned hold. In 2023, flying solo, Stevie was given the Rush Lake hold over a lake that had nearly dried up. 

Having a second person on board, Stevie said, makes a big difference for spotting traffic and keeping track of the NOTAM. 

Max Weldon has been flying into Oshkosh since 2019 in Citation jets, using both IFR and VFR procedures. 

This year, Max was descending out of 20,000 feet on Sunday when Milwaukee Approach stopped accepting Oshkosh arrivals. Max was given holding instructions and worked through alternate airports, including Madison and Fond du Lac. 

"Safety is the number one thing," Max said. 

"There is nothing better than flying into Oshkosh for any pilot ever in the world," Max said. 

James Webb has flown warbirds into Oshkosh since 2021, including an OV-10 Bronco, a SIAI-Marchetti S-211, and a Grumman HU-16C Albatross. 

Warbirds use a separate arrival. Pilots fly to Fond du Lac, then hold at a point called Warbird Island until they are sequenced for a straight-in approach or an overhead break. 

This year, James flew the Bronco in from Minneapolis with the B-25 Miss Mitchell. The smoke and traffic kept them from doing an overhead break. 

"The pilots flying the warbird arrival generally have done it a lot, so we kind of know the drill," James said. 

On the Ground 

After landing, there is no more radio. Pilots put a sign in the window showing where they are parking, and volunteers direct them across the field. Stevie made a point of thanking the volunteers who direct traffic all week 

Looking Ahead 

All four pilots said they would fly into Oshkosh again. 

Their advice for first-timers was similar. Read the NOTAM, watch videos of the arrival, and if possible, fly it the first time with someone who has done it before. 

"Half the fun of Oshkosh is flying to Oshkosh," Stevie said. 

AirVenture 2027 is scheduled for July 26 to August 1, 2027.