July 28, 2009 - Oshkosh, Wisconsin - Johnny Carson’s 1963 Cessna 172, N2997U, made an appearance at Aero- Shell Square yesterday. The pioneering late-night host flew it for several years as he was coming to fame on the Tonight Show. As he became busy with his career, he sold the plane. It was the only plane of the several he owned that he flew.

The current owner of the plane, Dave Huntington, of Syracuse, New York, and Carson’s nephew, Jeff Sotzing, of Fullerton, California, were on hand to talk about the plane and Carson’s time with it. Huntington didn’t know the plane had been Carson’s until Tom Poberezny, EAA president and chairman, gave him a call. Interestingly enough, the previous owner had known about it, but didn’t mention it when he sold it to Huntington.

The plane will be parked in Row 57 in the Vintage area. Sotzing will formally dedicate a Johnny Carson exhibit in the EAA Museum tomorrow at 9:30 a.m., which will feature his uncle’s original flight bag.

Included in the exhibit is old footage showing Carson flying with aerobatic champion Art Scholl in one of Scholl’s de Havilland Chipmunks. The footage has not been seen publicly since it originally aired. Carson’s flight bag serves as the centerpiece of the exhibit.