OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — The annual Experimental Aircraft Association's Airventure event is getting underway this week and lasting through Sunday.
If you're not sure where to start, you're in luck.
The new Youth Welcome Center offers a way for kids and parents to learn exactly where to go and what to see.
Pilots and aircraft enthusiasts of all ages are elated to take flight and see what's new during the annual Experimental Aircraft Association's week-long event in Oshkosh.
"It is something unlike I have ever experienced before. The people who have been coming here - whether they're first-timers or they've been coming for decades, they are all so welcoming. They just want to share the spirit of aviation with anyone they run into," EAA Aeroeducate Program Manager Danielle Schmick said.
Schmick says she's proud to unveil the new welcome center for kids and families.
"We are super excited to be able to guide them to all the spaces that they can go see," Schmick said.
The Youth Welcome Center is one of the many new additions to this year's event.
It might not look like much now, but more than 650,000 people are expected to pass through the gates to experience all the different aircraft.
"What we want is for youth to understand is that there is a spot within the aviation aerospace industries for them. They can dream big, work hard, and they can make that a reality," said EAA Education Director Paul Malloy.
Malloy is a former teacher, and he said kids will be able to get their picture taken in the F-100 Sabre Cockpit, get a map of the places to visit at EAA, and there's even a plane-spotting activity for kids to decode their secret message at the new youth center.
"Having been a classroom teacher, it almost makes me giddy to think about all of the excitement that the kids are going to have as they get to see, hear, watch, and experience aviation and aerospace," Malloy said.
