EAA Wright Bros. Memorial Banquet Goes Virtual In 2020

The Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual Wright Brothers Memorial Banquet, which has brought some of the world’s top aviation personalities to Oshkosh for nearly 20 years, is moving to a virtual online format for this year’s event on Thursday, December 10.

Apollo 13 commander James Lovell will be the special guest for the evening, which honors the 117th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ first successful powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903. Capt. Lovell will be interviewed by Charlie Precourt, a former NASA space shuttle commander, in a program that begins at 7 p.m. Central Time on December 10.

“As much as we would love having Capt. Lovell and EAA members all together at the EAA Aviation Museum as we’ve had for past Wright brothers banquets, limits on large gatherings because of the COVID-19 pandemic have just made that impossible this year,” said Jack J. Pelton, EAA’s CEO and chairman of the board. “We are grateful, however, that Capt. Lovell has agreed to join us for an online streaming interview session where he’ll talk about his aviation and spaceflight experiences.”

This December 10 special event is free for all EAA members by using their membership access to EAA’s website at EAA.org/WrightBrothers. Nonmembers may attend the event by first purchasing a one-year EAA membership for $40 at EAA.org/Join, and then creating a member web account at EAA.org.