70 years ago, the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) began when three dozen Milwaukee-area aviation enthusiasts came together to establish what would later become a worldwide organization with more than 270,000 members and 900 local chapters. Led by former military aviator Paul Poberezny, the aviation club officially formed in 1953, and later in September that same year, the first EAA fly-in gathering formed the foundation for EAA AirVenture as we know it today.
That very first fly-in was held at Curtiss-Wright Field (now Timmerman Airport), right here in Milwaukee. Fewer than 150 people registered as visitors, coming in mostly homebuilt and modified aircraft. From 1953 to 1958, the fly-in gathering continued in Milwaukee, but quickly began to outgrow its airport space. In 1959, Curtiss-Wright Field was renamed Timmerman Field after former Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors Chairman, Lawrence J. Timmerman, while the EAA fly-in moved to Rockford Municipal Airport in Illinois, where it would stay for the following decade.
In 1970, the fly-in convention made its final move back to Wisconsin at Oshkosh’s Wittman Regional Airport, where it has remained ever since. In 1998, the occasion would take on the name we know it by today: EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.
In the last 70 years, what started as a small gathering of Milwaukee aviators has transformed into the world’s greatest aviation celebration. Enthusiasts from across the globe come together to see the latest aircraft and innovations, view spectacular air shows, meet top aviators, and join part in a global community of enthusiasts that share a love of flying. This year, we celebrate 70 years of this grand aviation tradition that was born right here in Milwaukee.
