Although it it’s only Tuesday, there are indications that AirVenture 2016 might be a record year for fly-in attendees. With construction at the north end of Wittman field taking away approximately 150 General Aviation parking spots, the EAA prepared new areas at the far south end of the field and in the old “B” parking lot just south of Homebuilt Camping to try and bring them back to holding the same capacity. As of today, the field was turning away GA aircraft, and parking for Show Planes (always guaranteed a spot) was getting tight.
As just one example, the homebuilt parking volunteers traditionally take a count of just the RVs on the field each night. In 2014, the 40th anniversary of the Van’s line, they counted 480 RVs on Tuesday night. This year, they counted 566 – a huge increase by any count. In addition to those popular aircraft, our Kitplanes staff has seen a wider variety – and larger number – of homebuilt aircraft, from biplanes, to fast glass to canards parked in every available slot.
New records? We’ll have to wait until the end of the show to tell, but with two days of nice weather so far, AirVenture 2016 looks to be on track to be one of the biggest years ever.
