AirVenture 2003

This section is dedicated to the memory of Jim Wright, who built and piloted the the Hughes H-1 Racer replica. Jim and the plane were lost in a Wyoming crash on August 4, 2003. He was returning to his home in Oregon from Oshkosh. The circumstances of the crash are unknown.

Total estimated attendance: 770,000
Total estimated aircraft flown in: 11,000
Total showplanes at Oshkosh: 2,960
Commercial exhibitors: 807
Registered media: 1,075

AirVenture 2003 was the best show ever with 770,000 people attending and about 11,000 aircraft. There were several firsts for me: the Hughes H-1 Racer, the Boeing 307 Stratoliner, the Polikarpov I-16, and NASA's Active Aeroelastic Wing (AAW) F/A-18A Hornet.

Unfortunately, our stay was cursed by severe thunderstorms and rain, and the bad news about the loss of Jim Wright and the H-1 at 6:30 p.m., Monday evening, August 4.