Wisconsinites may have heard of the EAA - Experimental Aircraft Association - but did you know they host one of the world's premier aviation events in Oshkosh?

What started as a small gathering of hobby airplane builders and enthusiasts at Milwaukee's Timmerman Field, as part of the now defunct Milwaukee Air Pageant in 1953, has grown to include more than 10,000 planes and 500,000 attendees over a week in July.

The convention used to be called the Fly-In, but its name was officially chanced to AirVenture in 1998. For one week, aviation enthusiasts from all more than 80 countries converge on tiny Oshkosh, where the Fox River enters Lake Winnebago.

Prior to finding a home in Oshkosh, the Fly-In was based in Milwaukee and then Rockford. But it outgrew those locations and looked for a new home. Oshkosh offered two lengthy runways that didn't intersect and vast, open fields surrounding the airport for people to camp and gather. At the time, there was no building or convention center, but as with most everything the members of the EAA do, they rallied and now Oshkosh is the permanent home of not just the association, but the AirVenture and a year-round museum of flight.

The EAA was founded by was founded by Paul Poberenzy, a World War II and Korean War veteran, in the basement of his Milwaukee home. There are now more than 800 North American chapters and even more worldwide. From folks just obsessed with flight to those who build, restore and fly small aircraft, the EAA is home to all kinds of air enthusiasts.

Not only do the folks in the air traffic control tower help 10,000 different planes land over the course of the week, but they help run the logistics for sea plane arrival to Lake Winnebago and ultra-light aircraft, as well.

The FAA provides the folks that man the air traffic control tower at Wittman Regional Airport over the course of the week. FAA Air Traffic personnel (including controllers, supervisors and managers) come from throughout the 17-state Central Terminal Service Area (CTSA) and are supplemented by additional management personnel with Sun ‘n Fun experience. Altogether, 50 towers from 19 states are represented.

On a normal day, the folks working this tower might see a few hundred take-offs and landings. But on the busiest day at the EAA (usually Thursday), they'll direct more than 3,000 flights in about a 10 hour period - more than Atlanta's Hartfield-Jackson Airport, usually the busiest in the world, will handle over a 24-hour period that day.

During the EAA, Wittman receives an FAA exception and their two runways are divided into multiple lanes to handle the increased traffic. The runways are broken into several smaller sections and split down the middle so pilots can land on the left and right sides. There are four sections marked by colored dots. Pilots are instructed to land on a specific dot. At their peak, they'll have 10 airplanes taking off or landing per minute.

Nearby airports in Ripon and Fisk have controllers on duty, using binoculars to help keep track of the planes and relay information back to Oshkosh. Despite the organized chaos, there's never been an air-to-air accident at the AirVenture.

The convention is first and foremost for aviation enthusiasts, but it's also a great way to spend a day if you're able to. Daily airshows, military aircraft, the historic warbirds and so much more make it worth a day trip.

But while you're there, make sure you pay attention to the skies as planes go in and out. It's a delicate ballet and it's one that's put Wisconsin on the map - even if only for a week every summer.

Have you ever flown in for the EAA AirVenture or visited the convention? Tell us about it in the comments!

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