When thinking about history and remembering it, many people may think of museums. Museums do a fantastic job at capturing history and telling the stories of the forgotten. However, few people would like to stare at a painting or read a paragraph feeling like their body is going to shut down and their eyes slowly shut as they are being turned off, continuing to walk along thinking about all the better things that you could be doing.

“EAA: The Greatest Air Show in the World.” The title itself is so terrifying that all the local museums go out of business. Museums themselves shake, making everyone leave. Not because of an Earthquake, but the thunderous roar of the aircraft flying over. This is where history is told the greatest. Feeling the moment, imagining what it would be like if you were there. Creating a new entire world where the main character is yourself and you flew these things. 

Really, really hot days at EAA are the worst. Feeling like your skin is going to boil. Almost being able to crack an egg and put it on your skin and it would start to cook. Walking through the campsites meeting amazingly friendly people, but walking in the heat to the runway isn’t fun. Luckily bikes were all it took to take most of the walking away, but the sun can’t be stopped, at least not at this time. Putting on sunscreen helps prevent your skin from boiling. Plenty of this was used.

Going again and again, year after year, it’s a sense of motivation. Meeting the people who fly the aircraft, their history, but also the aircraft they fly. Incredible stories that make you wish you were there with them. The sensation that your heart wants to jump out of your chest makes up for all the heat, walking, and sometimes waiting. The remembrance that the announcer makes, that the people who fly these aircraft preserve the history that some forget. Nothing can beat EAA in putting history to the test showing that even when society moves on, history doesn’t.