EAA gets record number of show planes A hang glider flies across the setting sun Friday, Aug. 1, 2003, near the Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture, grounds in Oshkosh, Wis. (AP Photo/The Post-Crescent, Mike De Sisti) News-Chronicle OSHKOSH, Wis. (AP) - A record number of nearly 3,000 show planes showed up for the EAA AirVenture this year _ beating the previous record by more than 200. Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture Chairman Tom Poberezny attributed the increase to a rebound in aviation after Sept. 11, 2001, when many private planes were grounded for a short time, and a brightening economy. "There's been this pent-up demand in aviation over the last few years," he said. Activities geared toward the centennial of the Wright brothers' first flight also attracted visitors, he said. "People really connected to the 100th anniversary of flight. It's one of those once-in-a-lifetime events," Poberezny said. The weeklong aviation convention ended Monday. A reproduction of the Wright brothers' 1903 plane that flew at Kitty Hawk was unveiled to AirVenture visitors for the first time. The reproduction will be flown on the same sand dunes this December, 100 years to the minute after Orville Wright flew 120 feet in 12 seconds. Thousands of people packed the Countdown to Kitty Hawk pavilion to look at the reproduction plane and try flying it on a computer simulator. Each year, more than 10,000 planes are flown to AirVenture, while thousands of additional visitors come by auto. The first plane arrived at Wittman Regional Airport for AirVenture on July 23, six days before the convention started, said EAA spokesman Dick Knapinski. Attendance figures were to be announced Tuesday. International visitors numbered 2,100 from 65 countries. ___ On the Net: Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture Fly-In: http://www.airventure.org