What was the coolest thing you saw/did at OSH '25?

Jim K

Jim K

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For me it would be the tower tour, but so much cool stuff...(Kinda in order of coolness)
-F35B hovering & spinning around
-touched a blimp
-B1 flyby
-2 Mustangs chasing a ME-262
-U2 low approach & landing
-Allison run on a dynamometer made from the compressor section of a jet engine
-beer coffin
 
Jim K said:
-Allison run on a dynamometer made from the compressor section of a jet engine
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So that’s what that was.

In the warbird parking, I saw that rig sitting on a flatbed trailer, and I was so puzzled why a big piston engine’s shaft was connected to the rear end of a jet engine that had automotive radiators blocking its jet input. Was the weirdest looking thing.
 
NoHeat said:
So that’s what that was.

In the warbird parking, I saw that rig sitting on a flatbed trailer, and I was so puzzled why a big piston engine’s shaft was connected to the rear end of a jet engine that had automotive radiators blocking its jet input. Was the weirdest looking thing.
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The sound was amazing
 
To me, the A-10 Warthogs stand out a bit as really cool aircraft with unique sounds.

Also for some reason the Dyke Delta when I walk up to one.
A pic from 2024
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@Dave Theisen mentioned a runway incident with one this year.
I think this is a video of the landing.

A bit hard to see but looks like he was maybe down, then balloons up at :15 seconds and begins some PIO at around :20-22, then at :27 looks like he either hits the brakes hard, or maybe that's when the gear collapsed, or maybe it's when he left the runway...or all of the above.
Glad it wasn't worse.

Also a report with a picture.

Runway excursion Accident Dyke Delta JD-2 N71AW, Tuesday 22 July 2025

The pilot was flying in the Homebuilt Showcase during the EAA AirVenture air show. The pilot reported that while landing with a variable tailwind the airplane touched down about 2,500 ft ...
asn.flightsafety.org


The Beta Technologies CX300 was cool.
First time I've seen one.


Not promoting anyone/anything, but if interested, this video has a lot of great shots and unique aircraft.
F35 hover, blimps, warthogs, CX300, and more.
 
Pugs said:
Night show was a first for me and awesome
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Ditto - night show. I showed the video to my 5 year old grandson on Saturday, and after the T rex dance, he turned to me and said "Grandpa, would you please take me to Oshkosh". Not sure who is more excited about going next year though; he, or my son/his father.
 
I saw awesome pics of people doing awesome things at osh. that's all I got for now.
 
I ran into Xyla Foxlin and chatted with her for a bit. I was very happy to find that she's completely down to earth and someone I'd love to hang out with, and not at all the stereotypical "influencer".

IMG_0071.JPG

Other than that, I saw a lot of planes. :rofl: I don't know that any of them were super unique and different compared to other years, though.
 
This year was my first time at OSH. I am very glad I flew in and camped under my wing. My favorite thing I saw was simply the whole spectacle from the air on arrival and departure. I feel like I only saw 30% of what OSH had to offer, largely because we were trying to get around to see the stuff in the big hangars and watch the air shows. I had my 18yr old nephew with me who has flow a lot with me, but doesn't really have the aviation bug. I knew that dragging him to watch a lecture would quickly get boring for him. So we just tried to get around to a much stuff as we could. Next year I think I will do things differently. I will get up early to just wonder around looking at planes. I saw a lot of planes this year, but didnt really take time to walk the lines and really look at a lot of the really cool planes. I would also like to spend more time messing around in the hangars, tinkering with the latest tech toys. Next time I'll either go by myself or with another pilot/owner so we can really nerd out on aviation stuff. I had a blast. I cant believe It took me 9 years of flying to finally go to OSH.

Side note: I really wanted to watch the STOL competition, but I couldn't find it on any of the printed schedules. Did I miss it there or is it posted elsewhere?
 
1SGBrokePilot said:
Side note: I really wanted to watch the STOL competition, but I couldn't find it on any of the printed schedules. Did I miss it there or is it posted elsewhere?
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The STOL demo is the first part of the "Twilight Flight Fest". Held every night there isn't a night airshow on the ultralight field.
 
AV8R_87 said:
The Me-262 was also nice to see, both flying and on the ground. That was a sleek machine for the 1940s!
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I was surprised at just how badass it looked.

There were a lot of cool warbirds this year. First time I have seen a P-38 up close. Last year was first time I saw a P-47 fly. First time I've seen a B-24. Two B-29's in formation. 4 bird A-10 formation. Lots of treats this year.

This is the first year I have attended forums and presentations. I found some of those quite useful.
 
As I’m reflecting more on this my first year, I’d add to the list that just flying in and out were key moments. FISKE was not complicated at all, and getting out was my first “line up and wait”, with added bonus of sharing the runway with another guy doing the same.

Bucket list item!
 
Ed Haywood said:
I was surprised at just how badass it looked.

There were a lot of cool warbirds this year. First time I have seen a P-38 up close. Last year was first time I saw a P-47 fly. First time I've seen a B-24. Two B-29's in formation. 4 bird A-10 formation. Lots of treats this year.

This is the first year I have attended forums and presentations. I found some of those quite useful.
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One of the things I love about OSH is the B-29's cruising overhead at random intervals. I really miss the B-17s, and hope Aluminum Overcast will fly again. The Bell 47's drove me nuts the first year, but I don't even hear them anymore.

Another thing conspicuously missing this year: the 6AM T-6 wake up call. Did they not do the dawn patrol this year, or did they use 36 instead of 27? I read in the museum that Paul P. initiated that tradition as he thought the day should start with airplane noise and nobody needed to sleep past 0600 lol. Speaking of....there's a whole "founder's wing" of the museum I didn't know existed. It has a bunch of history and artifacts surrounding Paul & Audrey. Apparently they only open it when they have an event going on...it's worth a visit while the show is going on.
 
I love waking up to the sound of T-6's and stepping out of the tent to the paramotors buzzing around in the early AM. That's my favorite way to start the day and probably my single favorite part of Oshkosh to sip coffee and watch them go. Then shortly after the Trimotor starts doing its laps and life is good.

Spent a long time, maybe 45 minutes or an hour, with my little cousin talking with the engineer guy at the RTX section in one of the exhibit hangars. They had 2 deconstructed PT6A turbines that let you see a cross section, while all the parts rotated like normal operation so you could see how the whole thing worked. The rep explained, in detail, any component you wanted to know about. The material the different parts are made out of, how its machined, why its there, what it does, what speed the different pieces move at, etc. No question was too big or small, and not an ounce of impatience as my cousin bombarded him with questions related to blade angle they use, why they'd use inconel instead of titanium, the planetary reduction gearbox, how fuel is ignited, etc. Felt like I should have paid him a tuition check at the end of it! The guy just kept inviting more questions, it was great.

1753896759365.png

But overall the coolest thing about Oshkosh is the camaraderie of it. Doesn't matter if you arrive in a Cirrus Vision, an Ultralight, a T-6, a camper or drive in on a bus. We all just love flying machines :cool:.

That thought was reinforced when I was waiting in a SUPER LONG line for dinner on Wednesday evening at the Ultralight Cafe BBQ place, and I was next to this older Australian guy who just arrived. We were chatting when all the sudden the MiG 17 rips down the runway southbound at low altitude and then does a quick climb. Words weren't needed, we just looked at eachother and started laughing at how cool it is to see it. To me that's the coolest part about Airventure - ya just know it's cool.
 
WDD said:
As I’m reflecting more on this my first year, I’d add to the list that just flying in and out were key moments. FISKE was not complicated at all, and getting out was my first “line up and wait”, with added bonus of sharing the runway with another guy doing the same.

Bucket list item!
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Don't forget my challenge: "Be sure to come back and tell us how easy it was."

Ed Haywood

Post in thread 'Oshkosh 2025'

WDD said:
I'm in the middle of studying them, making notes, drawing out instructions for my knee pad, etc. As smart as I am, I haven't been there before so I do try to learn from others. I may not know what I don't know to ask. That said, 36 L or R being a left hand turn from Fisk Ave looks to be the easiest. But maybe actual experience might trump my never been there guess.
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I understand the urge to overthink this the first time, but it's not necessary. Listen to ATIS. Fly to the announced start point. Follow the conga line through the waypoints. When you get to Fisk, listen for...
  • Like
 
“It was easy”

Really, after reading the NOTAM booklet, highlighting and writing notes, it was uneventful. Landed in 36 L yellow dot, so probably easiest option possible - but not a bad way to start off.
 
Jim K said:
Speaking of....there's a whole "founder's wing" of the museum I didn't know existed. It has a bunch of history and artifacts surrounding Paul & Audrey. Apparently they only open it when they have an event going on...it's worth a visit while the show is going on.
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I don't think I've ever seen the whole Founder's Wing closed, though they may close the library and basement replica - I don't often make it in there because I'm busy chasing kids who have no interest in looking at any room that isn't full of airplanes!

The museum is also laid out in such a way that it's really easy to miss large parts of it, so if you haven't been there several times it's worthwhile to look at the map and really explore each area in detail, otherwise you'll likely miss a lot.

One thing I was a bit sad to see on my last visit in June is that the "top secret area" that used to house some of the racier WWII nose art is apparently gone now. :(
 
flyingcheesehead said:
I don't think I've ever seen the whole Founder's Wing closed, though they may close the library and basement replica - I don't often make it in there because I'm busy chasing kids who have no interest in looking at any room that isn't full of airplanes!

The museum is also laid out in such a way that it's really easy to miss large parts of it, so if you haven't been there several times it's worthwhile to look at the map and really explore each area in detail, otherwise you'll likely miss a lot.

One thing I was a bit sad to see on my last visit in June is that the "top secret area" that used to house some of the racier WWII nose art is apparently gone now. :(
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I went up there this spring on an engine break in trip. It was March or April.... there was still snow on the ground up there lol. Anyway, that whole wing was closed off, as was the kids area. It wasn't even obvious they existed at the time. The Eagle hangar was open though, which had the stuff of most interest to me, and I think is always closed during Airventure.

Point being, it's probably worth visiting the museum both during and apart from Airventure.
 
Jim K said:
I went up there this spring on an engine break in trip. It was March or April.... there was still snow on the ground up there lol. Anyway, that whole wing was closed off, as was the kids area. It wasn't even obvious they existed at the time. The Eagle hangar was open though, which had the stuff of most interest to me, and I think is always closed during Airventure.

Point being, it's probably worth visiting the museum both during and apart from Airventure.
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Extra weird! I've never ever seen the kids wing closed. Maybe that's a weekday thing and/or they were doing some work in there? There's a lot of things in there that seem to be broken frequently. :(
 
Jim K said:
Point being, it's probably worth visiting the museum both during and apart from Airventure.
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I was up in the area once on business in the winter. I dropped by late one afternoon. It was probably early winter because the snow wasn't deep, but it was snowing, maybe an inch or two on the ground. It was surreal driving down Knapp St, Waukau Ave, and the grounds in general. The roads were still covered with clean virgin snow. Barely a soul in sight. It was both peaceful and weird.
I did pop into the museum but they were about to close so I only spent a few minutes there that time.

I dropped in there one other random non-airventure time too. It was a nice visit
 
In the fall of 1962, my Dad was part of the USMC invasion force off the coast of Cuba, because of ICBM’s discovered by an airplane no one knew about.

Several years later, while stationed at NAS Lakehurst, NJ - he was called out to escort/guard a pilot and an unusual aircraft that had made an emergency landing there. Despite a top secret clearance - everyone involved was told that what they had seen/guarded did not exist. Many years later, he found out about the U2.

This year, he finally got to see one up close and personal. IMG_1602.jpeg
 
Learnin’ to fly… said:
In the fall of 1962, my Dad was part of the USMC invasion force off the coast of Cuba, because of ICBM’s discovered by an airplane no one knew about.

Several years later, while stationed at NAS Lakehurst, NJ - he was called out to escort/guard a pilot and an unusual aircraft that had made an emergency landing there. Despite a top secret clearance - everyone involved was told that what they had seen/guarded did not exist. Many years later, he found out about the U2.

This year, he finally got to see one up close and personal.
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OK, I think you won this thread!
 
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