I was up there until early Saturday and had a very good time at my first visit to EAA or Wisconsin for that matter.
I was there Friday and Saturday. Saw the show twice. The Pearl Harbor reenactment was very well done. There were eight “Japanese” aircraft (all modified T-6s used for Tora Tora Tora), and they flew in an impressive formation.
PING
The only flying B-29, Fifi, was at Dayton, and they were going to do a re-enactment of the dropping of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, before the PC weenies started whining. But they decided that would be insensitive, so the Wall of Fire was scheduled to not coincide with the B-29 flyover.
The day I attended there was an accident early on, and the rest of the show was cancelled. Fortunately, we got to see Fifi arriving as we drove up.
I remember the lump in my throat, and thought how those men must have felt as those real planes strafed and bombed. It was a very good illustration of what the original must have looked like, albeit in a very much smaller scale.
BTW, I believe there is only one or two of the original Japanese airplanes that actually flew during that time period of Pearl Harbor attack (Dec 7th,1942) left in existence.
B5N2 (bombers)-none
D3A (Dive Bombers -2; none "flyable"
A6M5- (Fighters) -3, maybe just one with original engine. Many (see Wikipedia) exist in museums, only one "flyable"
Conversely, there are several examples still around of the Allied aircraft used in that period.
Go figure....
WoW! I haven’t been to an EAA Fly-in since 1973. I was fortunate enough to meet Ken Rand, Burt Rutan, and Paul Poberzney.