AirVenture Begins

July 26 - White Knight/SpaceShipOne, the world’s first successful civilian-built spacecraft, arrived in grand style today to top the opening day festivities at the 53rd EAA AirVenture Oshkosh fly-in. The history-making aircraft pair will be on display at the event throughout the week. On Sunday afternoon it will make its final public flight demonstration, taking off bound for SpaceShipOne’s retirement home in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Upon arrival, EAA President Tom Poberezny, project investor Paul Allen and thousands of eager EAA AirVenture enthusiasts greeted pilot Mike Melvill and passengers Burt Rutan and Brian Binnie.
  

“The men behind White Knight/SpaceShipOne missions represent what EAA is all about, and we are happy to welcome them here,” Poberezny said.  “I thank you for selecting Oshkosh for the only public appearance of this amazing machine.”

The arrival of White Knight/SpaceShipOne marks the aircraft’s only public appearance since its record-setting space flights last fall, winning the $10 million Ansari X-Prize. 

This is my 35th year here at Oshkosh and this year is at the top,” Rutan said. “This is a spectacular experience to have SpaceShipOne here at Oshkosh and I look forward to having an amazing week!”

Rutan, Binnie and Melvill will also be at Theater in the Woods on Tuesday, July 26, with their program, “Winning the X-Prize.”  WhiteKnight/SpaceShipOne will be on display in AeroShell Square at EAA AirVenture until Sunday, July 31 at Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh.

The departure of White Knight/SpaceShipOne will be the last public opportunity to see the mated spacecraft fly together.  After departure, SpaceShipOne will be flown to retirement at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Other Monday highlights at EAA AirVenture 2005 include:
 

The arrival of 20 aircraft from France, whose pilots completed a one-week trip across the Atlantic Ocean to participate at EAA AirVenture;
·         F-4 Phantoms roaring into Oshkosh to lead a contingent of current and former military jets;
·         A C-130 transport aircraft from the 440th Air Wing from the U.S. Air Force Reserve in Milwaukee;
·         A vintage C-54 airplane that participated in the Berlin Airlift in the late 1940s;
·         The B-24 (LB-30 designation) “Diamond Lil” from the Commemorative Air Force, a rare flying example of the famed World War II bomber;
·         P-38 “Glacier Girl,” the World War II-era fighter that was saved from below more than 250 feet of Greenland’s ice cap;
·         The arrival of “Upupa Epops,” the meticulously restored P-51D Mustang from the Paul Allen Flying Heritage Collection.

EAA AirVenture 2005 continues on Tuesday, July 26, with the much-anticipated arrival of the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer and other remarkable aircraft.
 

 EAA AirVenture information is also available through the World Wide Web at www.airventure.org.