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EAA CEO Jack Pelton with longtime volunteer Art Schwedler. Pelton first flew into Oshkosh in 1978 and joined EAA in 2012.
attractions at the fly-in, attended at least one event in Rockford with his family as a child and then came to Oshkosh two or three times a decade in the 1970s - 1990s. He went to work mar- keting for airlines and continued the radio-controlled model aircraft hobby he started as a kid.
In the mid-1990s, he brought his youngest daughter Erica to Oshkosh be- cause he thought she’d enjoy camping at Camp Scholler. They started coming ev- ery year, and by the early 2000s their at- tendance had inspired them. Rick built a Quicksilver kit plane then moved up to a Piper Cub in 2004, the year he came on staff at EAA. Erica went on to gradu- ate from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2010 and is now a first officer with Delta Air Lines.
“There’s only one EAA, there’s only one event like this and we are all proud
EAA Vice President Rick Larsen and his daughter Erica, who was inspired by their years of attending Oshkosh and now flies for Delta Air Lines.
to be a part of something that has an im- pact on getting and keeping people in- volved in general aviation,” Larsen said. “From the staff side of the fence, along with volunteers, we realize that we’re all caretakers here to make sure we don’t lose what’s magic about this event.”
Pelton first flew to Oshkosh in 1978 as a 19-year-old with his father in their Cessna 140A from Southern California, where they were members of EAA Chapter 1. They attended about every three years, then raising a family and building his career kept him away throughout the 1990s. When he joined Cessna Aircraft Company in 2000, he started attending on an annual basis. He was elected chairman of the board for EAA in 2012, the first elected from outside the organization’s founding Poberezny family, then in 2015 Pelton added the role of CEO.
“What makes Oshkosh special is the culture that’s been established, on purpose initially by Paul and it’s been continued by being engrained in the tradition over the years,” said Pelton, at- tending his 20th consecutive f ly-in this year. “Oshkosh is its own unique Disney
EAA Fly-In Convention Milestones in Oshkosh
1970:
Annual fly-in convention held in Oshkosh for the first time.
1976: John Moody, the father of the modern ultralight movement, displays his powered hang glider for the first time.
1983: New EAA Aviation Center dedicated, including the international headquar- ters of EAA and the EAA Aviation Foundation, as well as the EAA Air Adventure Museum.
1984: First major public exhibition of Voyager, the unique aircraft that went on to circle the globe nonstop without refueling in 1986.
1985: British Airways’ Concorde supersonic jet makes its first appearance in
the Midwest.
1992: First Young Eagles flights take place at the fly-in convention.
2003: Airbus makes its first appearance at OSH, bringing an A300-600ST Super Transporter, also known as an Airbus Beluga.
2005: SpaceShipOne, the world’s first successful civilian-built spaceship and winner of the $10 million Ansari X Prize, exhibits with its carrier aircraft White Knight.
2009: Carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo lands at the fly-in convention for its public unveiling and the Airbus A380, the largest passenger airliner, makes its North American debut.
2012: Eagle Flights program makes its first flight during fly-in convention, launching EAA’s new program to get adults involved in aviation.
2014: U.S. Air Force Thunder- birds fly at OSH for the first time.
2016: Pilot and actor Harrison Ford flies the 2 millionth Young Eagles at AirVenture.
2017: U.S. Navy Blue Angels fly their full performance at OSH for the first time, Jeff Bezos brings the Blue Origin rocket booster and capsule and Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee donates the Aviore superhero to Young Eagles program.
(Source: EAA)
14 • TWIN & TURBINE / July 2019