飛行生活

TIPS： The Origin of EAA AirVenture

Located at east Wisconsin， U.S.A.， Oshkosh used to be a trade center between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi of agricultural， forestry and husbandry products. Its location and commercial activities made it famous over 100 years ago. In 1969， the EAA Fly-In Convention （Now known as EAA AirVenture） moved here. Since then， Oshkosh stages a grand celebration at the last week of July each year， attracting over 10，000 airplanes and tens of thousands of aviation enthusiasts. Many planes displayed here are home-built， and most participants hold pilot certificates. Visitors can not only watch various airplanes and enjoy flying performances， but could also join the many theme events and aviation forums. Because of the scale of the event and the diverse attendance of people of different nationality， age and sex， the EAA AirVenture is acclaimed as the Mecca for aviation enthusiasts.

At 10：25 am， July 2rd， 2013， Mark Seliger’s Piper PA-24 touched down on Wittman Regional Airport， marking the 3，000th aircraft to Oshkosh. In the following days， more than 10，000 airplanes will flew to this town.

The landing of one aircraft may be insignificant， but when all traffic are added up， you will find it unbelievable. Oshkosh is a small city with a population of 50，000 and an small airport with three runways. But several days before the EAA AirVenture （Fly-In Convention）， over 10，000 airplanes will arrive at its airport. Even if a landing or take-off requires only 20 seconds， it still takes days for 10，000 airplanes to land on its three runways. During the week-long event， more airplanes will take off and land for flying performances. But it all works orderly and smoothly， as easy as parking cars. Even more surprising is that all the management and coordination of airplanes are done by a group of volunteers， because Experimental Aircraft Association （EAA）， the organizer of the event has no dedicated staff for the task. How did they make it？

Flying， a Gentleman’s Sport

At Wittman airport， countless airplanes line up for take-off like cars queuing before a toll gate. But it is all efficient and orderly. When one airplane takes off from the runway， at the signal of a volunteer， a second plane moves forward， accelerates， and shoots up into the sky.

This makes me wonder， what would happen if over 10，000 cars were stuck on the third ring road of Beijing and no authority was there to coordinate traffic？

What happens when over 10，000 aviation enthusiasts poured into Oshkosh， a city the size of a Chinese village？ Hotels are overbooked， restaurants are overcrowded， visitors have to camp on the ramp amid airplanes. When Mr. Li from Beijing woke up one morning， he found to his amaze， that no litter could be seen on the campsite. When everyone left for the morning event， there is no trace that suggests over 10，000 people had stayed there for the night.

What does this detail reveal？ In most places around the world， owners of Porsche or Rolls-Royce are generally more polite than average people no matter how proud they are inside. For the even richer ones who owns and flies private airplanes， being gentleman does not prevent them from realizing their true self. The growth of private aviation and the grand celebration of EAA AirVenture suggest that gentlemen are becoming main players in private flying

More than Distance

Why is it possible to organize such a big gathering of airplanes， not to mention countless smaller one， but never a gathering of sport cars of the same scale？ The answer is simple， unlike sky which is three dimensional， a two dimensional highway offers only limited capacity. You cannot drive a sport car across the sea or out of road shoulders. Even at maximum speed， a sport car is still way slower than an airplane.

That is why the Oshkosh EAA AirVenture is so spectacular. It proved the ability of aircraft in overcoming distance and congestion. Tens of thousands of private airplane owners travel to this small city from Canada， Caribbean， and other places of U.S. All that takes is just a few hours.

When the first auto race in human history --the Gordon Bennett Cup started from Paris， it attracted five entrants， and only two made it to the finish line. When these cars inspired amazement as they passed through country roads at 50km/h， no one could have foresee that 80 years later， nearly every European could own a private car.

Who could tell if the Oshkosh EAA AirVenture is not sending a message， that in the near future， private flying will become the major way of long-distance travel because of its speed， efficiency， and safety？

Airplanes can fly more than distance. Free and open general aviation can remove barriers between countries and peoples， promoting a more open world.

General aviation enthusiasts in China has tried to introduce the EAA model to the country， some organizers even dubbed their events as China’s Fly-In Convention， but none is as nearly successful.

In 2012， the first “China Fly-in Convention”， the 2012 AOPA-International Fly-In was held in Faku County， Shenyang. Although named as “international”， the event attracted only two fly-in airplanes， a Robinson from Zhuhai， Guangdong， and a Bell 206 helicopter from Beijing. Even so， one of it was not allowed to fly due to various reasons.

Apart from average acrobatic flying and paramotor performances， no other activity was staged at the event. Exhibitors have no way but to swallow all the grudges.

It is true that general aviation and private flying in China lags behind North America， but that could not justify a 10000：2 difference. Why the prospect is so dismal in China while everyone says private flying is rising？ A comparison with Oshkosh helps identify three challenges for private flying in China：