14 awesome flying machines from the biggest air show in the US

Every July, hundreds of thousands of people flock to the middle of Wisconsin for the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture, a combination trade show, air show, and party for aviators and people who just like looking at cool planes. As its name suggests, EAA's main mission is to promote so-called experimental aircraft — typically small planes that hold between one and four people and can often be built in a garage — but AirVenture brings out everything from helicopters to airliners and fighter jets.

It's hard to fully explain why you'd want to walk around a rural Midwestern airport in sweltering heat for a week without actually experiencing it yourself, but it helps to see the breadth of flying machines you encounter there. Here are just a few of the countless aircraft you run into while strolling across Oshkosh's Wittman Regional Airport during AirVenture, the event that the EAA bills "the world's greatest aviation celebration."