Wittman Regional Airport (IATA: OSH, ICAO: KOSH, FAA LID: OSH) is a county-owned public-use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) south of the central business district of Oshkosh, a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. A large portion at the south end of the airport is located in the town of Nekimi. It is located adjacent to Pioneer Airport, part of the EAA Aviation Museum. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2025–2029, in which it is categorized as a national general aviation facility.
History Oshkosh Airport, Inc. was established on 11 October 1927 and the field dedicated the following day. By the end of the year, a 7,680-square-foot (713 m2) hangar had been completed and a flight and maintenance school was training students. Airmail service was inaugurated by Northwest Airways in December 1928. Steve Wittman became airport manager in March 1931 and by mid May 1936, he had started a flying service. The county voted to buy the approximately 298-acre (121 ha) airfield in October 1940, making it the Winnebago County Airport. Three years later, it tentatively put forward $100,000 from its general fund to demonstrate a willingness to invest in the airport if the federal government were to do the same. However, when the money was appropriated in December, the matching local funds were deemed to not be necessary. As a result of building frustrations that led to a contentious exchange during a meeting, the chairman of the county aviation committee resigned in August 1946. The airport was dedicated on 13 October 1946. In April 1950, the county approved construction of a 9,020-square-foot (838 m2) hangar for Kimberly-Clark to store a C-47 it was having converted for executive use. The company began renting the newly built hangar in February 1951. A pair of additions to the hangar to accommodate a second DC-3 were authorized in April 1954. After initially requiring all hangars to be built and owned by the county, in September 1955, the county board changed its policy to allow the leasing of land.
Infrastructure improvements By 1955, the Quonset hut that was acting as a terminal building was outdated and inadequate. Warren Basler, a student and employee of Steve Wittman, bought his firm from him in 1957 and renamed it Basler Flying Service. A just over $300,000 project to build a control tower, extend the east-west runway, add a taxiway and make other improvements to the airport was approved by the state in 1958. To do this, additional land west of Knapp Street was required – with 582 acres (236 ha) eventually being purchased. The county turned down a proposal for a joint airport with Outagamie County in 1960. The new control tower went into operation in May 1962 and the lengthened runway opened in November. Although the extension increased the runway to a 6,100 feet (1,900 m) distance, before it was even completed the county had taken an option on another 108 acres (44 ha) of land to the south of the airport at the urging of a local citizens group that wanted to lengthen the north-south runway to 9,500 feet (2,900 m). Yet, in seeking federal money for the project, it again ran into conflict with the Outagamie County Airport, which also sought the "regional" designation that would accompany the funds. In 1964, the state gave preliminary approval to a budget calling for the construction of a north-south runway at the airport. However, the Federal Aviation Administration supported a plan to build a northeast-southwest runway as it would result in fewer airspace conflicts. The city, in turn, objected that such an approach would interfere with an adjacent industrial park. The county agreed with the plan for a north-south orientation, but was forced to move to purchase the land of a local asphalt company necessary for the FAA proposal. Nevertheless, the county voted to begin construction on the north-south option in November 1965. The original plan called for simply extending the main runway to 7,000 feet (2,100 m) with the northernmost 600 feet (180 m) becoming an overrun to allow for 7,000-foot (2,100 m) takeoffs and landings from the south and north, respectively. However, by June 1966, when federal aid was approved, it had changed to building an entirely new 6,700 feet (2,000 m) runway 500 feet (150 m) to the west of it, with the old runway slated to become a taxiway. As part of the project, a historic barn was moved out of the path of the runway and the airport control tower relocated 4,600 feet (1,400 m) south. It also required the closing of State Route 26 and the nearby Brennan Airport. The goal of the extension was to accommodate DC-9s operated by North Central Airlines. However, upon completion of the 6,700-foot (2,000 m) runway in 1968, the airport manager noted that the length was inadequate for a fully loaded DC-9 in certain conditions and suggested that it should be expanded to 7,500 feet (2,300 m). Just under three months after his retirement at the end of April 1969, the airport was renamed Wittman Field in honor of his 37 years as airport manager.
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