Flying in the L&O Airshow at AirVenture 2025
So, you want to fly in the L&O Warbird show at EAA AirVenture 2025. We all do! It is the most prestigious stage that most of us will ever have the opportunity to participate on. There some information that we would like to pass on prior to your showing up at AirVenture. Our goal is for everyone can to meet the FAA and EAA's regulatory and safety requirements and be able to fly home safely after putting on a great demonstration for the crowd.
Our objective is SAFETY! If you can’t demonstrate safety you won't be able to fly in the show.
In order to fly in a formation during the airshow, you will need to have a current FAST card and meet the currency requirements of having flown the airshow profile in the proceeding 45 days (FAA order 8900). You can only participate in a formation to the level of your FAST card. Pilots with a 2-ship card can only fly in a 2-ship formation. To fly in a 3 or 4 ship formation you must have a 4-ship lead or wing card. You must have the appropriate lead card to fly as a lead in the waivered airspace.
If you are wanting to fly as a single ship in the show and/or have not flown with us before you will need to have a basic airshow check-ride flown with one of the JLFC Safety / Check pilots. All AirVenture First Time pilots, single-ship, or formation, are required to the attend the First Timers Briefing. Details will be on the bulletin board posted near the entrance to the WarBird briefing building.
A sure-fire way to make sure that you meet FAA and FAST currency requirements is to attend the JLFC "Cheddar Flag" Formation Clinic in Waukesha County Airport Waukesha Wisconsin (KUES) June 19-22 2025 or the JLFC "Casa De Aero" Pre-Oshkosh Formation Warm Up Clinic July 17-20 2025. The “Casa” clinic is held at the DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport DeKalb Illinois (KDKB) a short 123 nm flight to Oshkosh. Information and registration for both clinics can be found at:
Home - Joint Liaison Formation Committee (flyjlfc.org).
Most of the other FAST organizations have made attendance at their respective Pre-AirVenture formation warmup clinics mandatory to fly in the WarBird show. We are certainly being pushed in that direction so we are trying to be proactive by encouraging attendance at one of our Pre-Oshkosh Warmup Clinics. I would also suggest working on getting a Formation card through JLFC as formal formation training will help make you a safer and more confident airshow participant. As an added plus, there are more opportunities to fly during the shows at Oshkosh if you have a card than there are for single ships.
Make sure you submit all the paperwork required by the EAA / FAA to participate.
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS & REQUIRED WAIVER OR AUTHORIZATION
The following documents are required to fly in the airshow:
Current pilot certificate, both sides
Current medical certificate
Copy of insurance certificate, which states inclusion of fly-by coverage
Date of last BFR
Certificate of Waiver or Authorization, (This document will be signed when you check in at the warbird check in kiosk)
Online
To pre-register for EAA-Warbirds at Oshkosh, and to submit your documents online
Warbirds Pre-Registration
Email/Fax, or bring your documents with you to AirVenture
If you have any paperwork issues submitting early allows the office to get with you and get those issues corrected in time for you to fly the show. If you wait until the last minute to turn in your paperwork you will not get to fly if there is an unresolved issue.
You will be required to sign a waiver. If you do not meet the requirements listed on the waiver you won't fly.
Tuesday has been a stand down for safety day for as long as I can remember. If you want to participate in the L/O show you should also participate in our safety forum. The participation of our pilots has been EXTREMELY poor over the last several years. In light of the recent incidents in formations and demonstrations we need to make sure we are focused on training and prevention. Representatives from the FAA, NTSB and EAA have been in attendance the last two years and have been impressed with the information that was presented during the safety forum, I'm sure that you will find it interesting as well.
If you are not committed to safety you shouldn’t plan to be a flying participant. If you don’t participate in the L/O safety forum we will take that as an indicator of your interest in JLFC participation.