Oshkosh 2026
The World Cruiser Debuts at Oshkosh 2026, or What I Did On My Summer Vacation
By Bob Dempster
It all started with Chris Henry—Director of the EAA Museum at Oshkosh—reaching out to me. Chris wondered about the possibility of having the Seattle II (our reproduction of the 1924 Douglas World Cruiser, first plane to circle the globe) on display at the 2026 Oshkosh EAA AirVenture Convention. The focus: celebrating USA’s 250th Anniversary and the Pioneers of Flight. As plans developed, the Cruiser would be there, at AirVenture 2026, with a subsequent loan to the EAA Museum following the event, and an agreement was signed. I immediately realized that packing, shipping, assembly, displaying on floats, outdoors, at the flightline Vintage Area, and post-conversion from floats to wheels for transitioning into the EAA Museum was going to be (at least) a two-month commitment. Furthermore, with past experience at Oshkosh, I anticipated that the assembly and display of the Cruiser in hot, humid, and stormy Wisconsin would be a challenge
Now came the pre-shipping tasks: to collect, organize, clean, wrap, package, and crate all of Seattle II’s components, pieces, and bits—plus the tools and specialized fixtures required for aircraft assembly. Nothing could be forgotten or left behind. With the time constraints, going back was not an option.
Finally, shipping day arrived. With the help of our local EAA Chapter 609 volunteers, the loading began. Mike Morgan, the owner of Morgan Transport—and a pilot—was so enthused with the project that he came and personally oversaw the loading and the packing—a lot of work for everyone on a hot day! The fuselage was loaded first, on a low trailer, and the driver left with it right away. Two days later, the rest of the aircraft departed. Mike, with years of experience, had masterfully packed the 54-foot moving van, which arrived at its destination with everything in perfect condition.
(Use the left and right arrows to scroll through the photo galleries below)
It was then that I realized that the fuselage was already halfway to Oshkosh! Diane drove me to SeaTac, to catch an overnight flight to Oshkosh, via Chicago and Appleton, Wisconsin. There, I picked up a rental car and drove to Oshkosh, arriving Sunday afternoon at the hotel. Monday morning, the fuselage showed up and I helped unload it. The moving van came a few days later, and I was pleasantly surprised by the great enthusiasm and help provided by the EAA Volunteers.
It is a given, that the EAA exists, truly, by the incredible volunteers. Even though I had, myself, volunteered five years at some past AirVentures, doing Vintage Aircraft Parking, Trolley, and Tall Pines Breakfast Duty, this time I was working with so many areas of the “Big EAA” organization: the Museum, Maintenance, Fabrication, Transportation, Security, and the Pioneer Airport Facility, where we assembled the Cruiser. At the Vintage Area on the field, Diane and I renewed old friendships, and we were overwhelmed by the “Get ‘Er Done!” spirit. We were, also, warmly welcomed to join in the wonderful, local pilot group’s hangar gatherings for Friday Movie Nights, Sunday Morning Coffee, and Camaraderie.
I decided that camping on the grounds would keep us close to the plane for the assembly and display activities and eliminate or, at least, lower transportation needs. After Diane dropped me off at SeaTac, she drove to Oshkosh with our camping gear and all the rest of supplies that two months of camping would require. So, it was seven weeks in our tent, with Oshkosh storms, which made our camping pretty interesting!
The Cruiser was assembled, sans floats, in one of the Pioneer Airport hangars, where the whole Pioneer Team of Volunteers helped and made us feel right at home. We attached the floats outside—for the aircraft to be towed, on beaching gear, to the flightline Vintage Area. The AirVenture start date was coming up fast, so we installed the Cruiser’s propeller out in the field, to save time. Immediately afterward, we loaded and secured the Liberty engine, fuel, and oil onto the bed of EAA’s Model T Ford truck, and, again, moved it all to the Vintage Display Area.
For the AirVenture events lineup, I offered and gave two presentations at the Forums Plaza: one on the History of the 1924 First World Flight, and one on the Building of Seattle II, the reproduction aircraft that we brought for display. More activities included interviews and presentations at the Vintage Area. Additionally, I donated 200 world flight commemorative art prints to the EAA Museum Gift Store.
Since Seattle II was to be loaned for display in the EAA Museum, I selected relevant, historically-significant artifacts to accompany the aircraft display that best helped to tell the fascinating story of the 1924 world flight. Among the artifacts displayed are original maps used by the crews; period flight instruments; one of the pilot’s passports; a steering wheel from the original World Cruiser command ship “Seattle;” autographed copies of the official flight biography, written by Lowell Thomas; primary source photographs; a unique Liberty propeller; and a world flight popular board game of that era.
After the AirVenture Convention, we stayed on, to move the Cruiser to the Museum and convert the aircraft’s landing gear from floats to wheels, for indoor Museum display. We loaded the Liberty engine and floats for transport back home to the Cruiser Hangar at Chehalis, Washington and I flew out, once again, to meet the moving truck. Diane, as before, drove our “ground support” van.
The figures for the 2026 EAA Convention: over 700,000 people attended and 10,000 aircraft flew in. We were very busy the whole time but had evenings to enjoy and be amazed by the fireworks and night flying displays. The Red Arrows Aerobatics Team were thrilling to watch, and the Goodyear Blimp was Diane’s favorite (future airship pilot?).
All in all, it was, truly, a very memorable event, reuniting and meeting with our Seattle World Cruiser Board Members, our Chehalis EAA Chapter 609 group who flew to Oshkosh, and our many aviation friends, old and new. Again, I extend my heartfelt thanks to all the EAA Staff and Volunteers who helped with the Cruiser displays and who made the 2026 Oshkosh EAA AirVenture a great success.
