Aviation Influencers, the Rutans, and Iconic Concorde and 747 Pilots to Headline Thursday at Theater in the Woods

June 27, 2019 - Thursday's programming at Theater in the Woods during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2019 will be on many attendees' must-see list, and the lineup continues to get stronger.

Kicked off by the #OSH19 Aviation Social Influencer Panel, the day will also see acting FAA Administrator Dan Elwell take the stage at 11:30 a.m. followed by Burt Rutan twice — first at 1 p.m. and then at 8 p.m. for the evening encore program alongside his brother, Dick Rutan. Pilots of the iconic Boeing 747 and Concorde will be on the stage prior to Burt's encore program to discuss the 50th anniversary of those aircraft.

The #OSH19 Aviation Social Influencer Panel is chock-full of the top names in the aviation social media world. Stephanie Stricklen will emcee that discussion, joined by backcountry STOL pilots Trent Palmer (trentonpalmer) and Kevin Quinn (stolpilot), the ever popular Steve Thorne (flightchops), EarthRounder and Bonanza extraordinaire Matt Guthmiller (mattguthmiller), Ice Pilots/Plane Savers and Buffalo Airways' own Mikey McBryan (mikeymcbryan), retired military pilot Combat Learjet (combat_learjet), airline pilot Swayne Martin (swayne.martin), Textron Aviation sales director Mindy Lindheim (schmiiindy), and educational influencers Josh Flowers (captainmraviation101) and Chris Palmer (angleofattack).

In the 7 p.m. time slot, the Boeing 747/Concorde 50th anniversary panel will showcase many pilots from both of those aircrafts’ past. Concorde and Boeing 747 Capt. Richard Westray will be flying over from Europe to lead the discussion with emcee and 50-year Oshkosh attendee Jerry Burke. Astronaut Joe Engle will join NASA pilot Troy Asher to talk about flying different 747 variants at NASA, and current Boeing 747 chief project engineer David Loffing will discuss the current 747 program.

A major part of Burt Rutan's great Oshkosh presence in 2019, two Theater in the Woods programs on Thursday will be events that many attendees won't want to miss. Starting off at 1 p.m., Burt will speak about the "Struggles of a Retired Aircraft Designer" before joining his brother, Dick, on stage for a special program titled "Starship to Spaceships: Fun in Mojave."