Touring a Cathay Pacific 747-8F and EAA AirVenture 2016

We spent Saturday, 30 July at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual mega event, AirVenture. Spanning a full week, over 10,000 aircraft and 500,000 people visit the show each year. Full of new and vintage aircraft, AirVenture—or simply Oshkosh, after its location in Wisconsin—brings together aviation enthusiasts from around the world.

Inside Hong Kong Trader

We began our day aboard Cathay Pacific’s ‘Hong Kong Trader’, a Boeing 747-8F, touring the inside of the aircraft, including the main cargo deck and flight deck. If you missed the live tour, you can view it in HD below. Cathay’s 747 was in Oshkosh as part of Boeing’s Centennial celebration.

We also took some close-ups of some of the more interesting parts of the cargo deck.

Looking after from the L1 door on the main cargo deck of the Boeing 747-8F

A close-up of the rear cargo door loading area. Motorized wheels in the floor and rollers move cargo across the deck.

The nose door operating panel on the 747-8F. Eight dual locks ensure the door stays closed.

One of two jack screws that control the movement of the nose door on the 747-8F.

One of four GEnx engines on the 747-8F. This is the same engine available on the 787.

Looking out the rear cargo door of the 747-8F. Note the DC-3 parked underneath the wing with room to spare.

Touring AirVenture

Besides our tour of ‘Hong Kong Trader’, we visited some of the static aircraft displays and watched the afternoon. We were disappointed to learn the the Martin Mars, the world’s largest water bomber, would not be participating in the air show due to damage it sustained the day prior. Enjoy a gallery of some of the other aircraft from AirVenture 2016. We’ll be back next year for more aviation fun.