OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — A record-breaking EAA AirVenture came to a close Sunday as thousands of aircraft departed Oshkosh, marking the end of aviation's biggest gathering of the year.
Watch Kyle Langellier's full broadcast story here:
(The following is a transcription of the broadcast story.)
One week ago, I sat watching thousands of planes land before the event began. Now those same aircraft are taking off, going their separate ways before doing it all again next year.
"We measure things in Oshkosh years... Like 3 Oshkoshes ago, four Oshkoshes ago, five Oshkoshes ago," said Gary Grommon, who has been attending EAA Airventure for 20 years.
"After going here so long it's like we're in a giant family," Grommon said.
Grommon built a plane with his son, Justin, who could be seen taking off among the departing aircraft.
Thousands of spectators gathered to watch the departures on the final day of the fly-in convention, with one pilot leaving with a special sense of accomplishment.
"I was the first diabetic airshow performer in the world," said Michael Hunter.
Hunter was told he would never be able to fly when he was diagnosed with diabetes.
"Aviation is what I dreamed about my whole life... I couldn't put it into words," Hunter said.
Hunter fought for changes to Federal Aviation Administration regulations and turned his passion into progress by starting the charity "Flight for Diabetes."
"The number of people in this crowd that came up and said that 'I have diabetes,' or 'I know someone with diabetes.' It's just unbelievable and we use this to demonstrate to people what is possible if they take care of the disease," Hunter said.
Hunter joined the long line of planes taking off 30 seconds after one another, with all eyes falling on the C-17 Globemaster, a show-stopping lift-off of one of the biggest planes in the world.
The week saw more than 10,000 aircraft, an estimated 40,000 campers, and the highest turnout ever with nearly 690,000 attendees.
Official numbers will be released Monday, but EAA officials tell me that by nearly every metric, AirVenture 2025 has been the biggest so far.
