EAA legend returns in restored airplane after 'hard landing' damage in 2022

When Larry Weber's 1976 Cessna 182 suffered a hard landing after EAA Airventure in 2022, he was told it was totaled. Against the odds, it's back in the sky and back at EAA in 2024.

• Weber has owned his plane since 1976, and has been coming to EAA on and off since 1978
• He says the hard landing in Joliet, Illinois in 2022 nearly ended his life, and the plane's, but after a $100,000 restoration, it's as good as new
• Weber and his plane are regulars in the Vintage camping area at EAA

(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)

Every plane here in the vintage area at EAA has a story behind it. This particular plane — after nearly 50 years of coming here — is lucky to still be in the sky.

"Aviation is a way of life, and flying this airplane was a way of life," Larry Weber said.

Weber has had his Cessna 182 for nearly 50 years.

"I've flown it to California from Illinois, I've flown it to Alaska, it's just been an old friend," Weber said. "And it's been a workhorse that does a lot for me."

But disaster struck on a return flight from EAA two years ago.

"I just love this old plane, and I almost lost it," Weber said. "I landed in Joliet, Illinois on a grass strip, and I had a hard landing."

Larry survived, but he was told the plane was totaled.

"You can see that it's all crinkled and bent and that sort of thing, and that's what I saw after landing it, unsuccessfully," he said.

But he decided to restore it the plane instead — putting more than $100,000 dollars into getting it fixed here in Oshkosh.

After visiting in a different plane last year, Larry and his original plane are back.

"Here we are in vintage camping, and this is the only plane that truly looks vintage," Weber said. "We have a lot of fun with it."

And he's proud to be an EAA mainstay — no matter how much hardware.

"I ask to be judged every year and I never win anything, so my friend gave me a little trophy here: 'Best in class,'" Weber said. "We sort of need a new category of planes in order to accommodate this one."

Larry also says his plane still has the original paint job, and for it to be replaced — he'll have to be dead.