EAA Sport Aviation - April 2011

REO SPEEDWAGON TO ROCK
AIRVENTURE OPENING DAY

REO SPEEDWAGON WILL rock the ramp during AirVenture’s annual opening day concert, courtesy of Ford Motor Company. The performance, free of charge to all AirVenture guests that day, is held adjacent to the Ford Hangar immediately following the afternoon air show.

Known the world over, REO has garnered multiple generations of fans during more than 40 years of recording and performing. The band’s unrelenting drive and nonstop touring and recording jump-started the burgeoning rock movement in the Midwest during the 1970s. They produced timeless rock classics like “Ridin’ the Storm Out,” “Roll With the Changes,” and— appropriate for Oshkosh—“Time for Me to Fly.” The band has sold more than 40 million records and charted 13 Top 40 hits.

VERTICAL VELOCITY: HARRIER RETURNING
TO AIRVENTURE
ALWAYS A CROWD
FAVORITE, a U.S.

Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II jump jet will appear at AirVenture this summer, flying its popular vertical takeoff demonstrations during the afternoon air shows. It will also figure prominently in the weeklong Centennial of Naval Aviation celebration, which includes U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard operations. AirVenture is a designated Tier 1 event for the centennial.

Harrier IIs were first deployed by the Marines in 1985 for combat air support, patrol, missions against ground defenses, and armed escort. The single-seat fighter is 46 feet long with a wingspan of slightly more than 30 feet. It can reach transonic speeds and has radar systems similar to those found in F/A- 18 fighter jets.