Cool Aviation Events

Featured Alaska event

  • Great Alaska Aviation Gathering — May 2–3, 2026, Palmer, Alaska at the Alaska State Fairgrounds and Palmer Municipal Airport. This is the one I’d put first on your calendar. The attendee page lists it as free admission, with exhibits, aircraft displays, educational seminars, airplane demos, and a spot landing demo at Palmer Airport on Sunday, May 3 at 11 a.m.

Other Alaska aviation events worth knowing about

  • Valdez Fly-In & Air Show / Valdez STOL — the signature Alaska bush-plane / STOL weekend. The official Valdez materials describe it as the premier bush plane competition in the western U.S. with the world-famous STOL competition, plus beach landing, balloon bust, flour bombing, aerobatics, and pilot roundtables. There is a small date discrepancy right now: the main event site shows May 9–10, 2026, while the Alaska Fly-Ins calendar and registration page show May 8–10, 2026. I’d plan around May 8–10 but verify closer to the event.

  • Port Alsworth Sourdough Fly-In — May 23–24, 2026, Port Alsworth. A classic Alaska fly-in entry on the statewide Alaska Fly-Ins calendar.

  • Merrill Field Aviation Celebration — May 30, 2026, Anchorage. The Alaska Fly-Ins listing says it will feature warbirds, bush planes, helicopters, amphibians, flybys, a fly-in, airport tours, aircraft tours, and a career fair.

  • Midnight Sun 99s Poker Run — May 31, 2026, Fairbanks. Open to pilots on wheels, skis, floats, and helicopters, which makes it a very Alaska-style GA event.

  • Wood River Lodge Fly-In — effectively the June 7–8, 2026 weekend, with arrivals beginning earlier if desired. The posted schedule includes camping, cabins, dinner, pancakes, and an easygoing lodge/fly-in atmosphere.

  • Skwentna Fly-In — June 6, 2026, Skwentna. Another classic Alaska destination-style fly-in.

  • FLY8MA Pilot Lodge Fly-in — July 11–12, 2026, Big Lake. This one is especially relevant if you like the bush/STOL scene: the listing calls out a STOL comp, flower bombing, and the 727 Tire Race.

  • Seldovia Fly In — July 25, 2026, Seldovia.

  • Alaska Regional Tcraft Fly In — August 1, 2026, Sheep Mountain. The listing includes flour bombing and flapless STOL, so it clearly leans into the backcountry/bush-flying crowd.

  • Interior Alaska’s Great Northern Pumpkin Drop — fly-in camping September 26–28, 2026around Sky Ranch near North Pole, with airplane pumpkin dropping and a very Alaska local-fly-in feel.

  • Arctic Lightning Open House — August 1–2, 2026, Eielson AFB near Fairbanks. This is more airshow than GA fly-in, but it is one of the bigger aviation weekends in Alaska in 2026.

  • Kenai Peninsula Air Fair — canceled for 2026 because of runway rehabilitation at Kenai Municipal Airport from May through September 2026.

Two big national shows

  • SUN ’n FUN Aerospace Expo — April 14–19, 2026, Lakeland, Florida. For your interests, the key extra is that SUN ’n FUN is also hosting the STOL Basecamp / Bushwheel Basecamp, which the organizers describe as a hub for STOL pilots and backcountry aviation enthusiasts, with daily and nightly activities, underwing camping, and forums on backcountry flying, STOL competition, and pilot safety in remote areas.

  • EAA AirVenture Oshkosh — July 20–26, 2026, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. That’s the summer anchor event on the U.S. GA calendar.

Other 2026 events

  • National STOL Series — the official site currently shows a tentative 2026 schedule with Swamp STOL (April 10–11, Louisiana), Appalachian Mountain STOL (May 8–9, Pennsylvania), and Pony Express STOL (May 29–30, Missouri), with more updates expected.

  • Triple Tree Fly-In — September 21–27, 2026, Triple Tree Aerodrome, South Carolina. This is a major GA fly-in on a 7,000-foot grass runway and a strong choice if you enjoy destination fly-ins even though it is less specifically “bush plane” than Valdez or STOL events.

  • High Sierra Fly-In — this is one of the iconic backcountry / STOL / bush-plane culture events at Dead Cow Lakebed, Nevada. Right now, a public event listing shows October 1–4, 2026, but the official High Sierra site still only shows 2025 dates, so I would treat the 2026 date as not fully confirmed yet.

Quick shortlist if you care most about bush planes and bush flying

My top picks for your interests would be:

  • Great Alaska Aviation Gathering — best Alaska GA community event.

  • Valdez Fly-In & Air Show — best pure bush-plane / STOL spectacle.

  • SUN ’n FUN + STOL Basecamp — best spring combo of mainstream aviation and backcountry/STOL culture.

  • EAA AirVenture Oshkosh — best major summer aviation week.

  • FLY8MA Pilot Lodge Fly-in and Alaska Regional Tcraft Fly In — best smaller Alaska events with strong STOL / bush-flying flavor.

  • High Sierra Fly-In — best Lower 48 backcountry vibe, but I’d wait for final 2026 confirmation.