I WAS DRIVING BACK FROM A LATE-NIGHT GROCERY run when I saw it, that unmistakable curving tail, silhouetted motionless against the dark sky. It was part of a B-17G, the celebrated Flying Fortress of World War II. I stopped, parked, and discovered that I could walk right up to the beautifully preserved four-engine bomber. I studied it from all angles, awestruck to find myself alone with an icon of aviation history. It was an Oshkosh moment.

For more than a half-century the annual gathering of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), now called AirVenture, has been bringing people together with airplanes. Throngs converge on a lakeside airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to admire aircraft in the air and on the ground. They buy and sell them. They learn how to build them. And yes, they fly them. Another purpose of AirVenture is to bring people together with other people, air enthusiasts all. During the weeklong event few conversations stray far from things that fly.

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