Oshkosh is underway!
The 2009 EAA AirVenture is in full swing! Yesterday thousands of aircraft descended on Wittman Regional Airport in a truly incredible display of precision air traffic control. By some estimates there are about 7000 aircraft on site with an additional 3000 or so at airports in the Oshkosh area.
The State of General Aviation
Companies like Cessna, Piper, Cirrus and Hawker Beechcraft will all be giving updates on their latest product offerings and even possibly announcing new ones. However, the updates will also be a good chance to get a sense of how these companies are fairing in the recession. Cessna and Hawker both have been hit by major cutbacks in recent months and Cessna’s workforce just returned from a major furlough.
A380 Goes Regional
MSN001 will touch down in Milwaukee (KMKE) on Monday for a quick stop for some crew rest and a tour for airport officials. The superjumbo will make a quick flight to Oshkosh on Tuesday around 2:30 PM CT. The logistical details of getting such a large aircraft into a regional airport are nothing short of monumental. More on those later.
WhiteKnightTwo
The Virgin Galactic mothership will arrive on Monday afternoon here in Oshkosh. This will be the 16th test flight of N348MS and the farthest the twin cockpit composite aircraft has traveled from its base in the Mojave desert in Southern California. Sir Richard Branson will also be here this week promoting his space tourism venture. WKII will serve as the launch platform for the VMS Eve (SpaceShipTwo) for suborbital flights.
Embraer Exec Jets Update
The Brazilian airframer will update the media on Wednesday about the production status on the Phenom 100 and flight test developments for the larger Phenom 300. This may also provide an opportunity to hear a bit more about the company’s thinking about its new narrowbody concept it is considering.
ZA101 Assembly
The last parts for ZA008 arrived in Everett over the weekend and final assembly may not be far off. One thing to watch for with this airframe is how quickly the second production 787 actually goes into the final body join as it is likely paced by the wing fix. Boeing is still yet to provide a timeline on the details of the implementation or an updated program schedule.
This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.