Oshkosh Odds And Ends

By Tom Woodward

To put on an annual event a massive as AirVenture takes a lot of volunteers that contribute their time doing jobs that you might not think are related to airplanes ... and in fact, they’re not. There’s garbage to pick up, restrooms to maintain, grass to be mowed and a hundred other jobs that are done to make your aviation experience fantastic.

Lost and Found

I stopped by the Lost and Found for no other reason than to talk with some of the people doing these jobs. The first question I asked was, “what was the most unusual item that has ended up in the Lost and Found?” One volunteer who obviously had been there for many years told me that they had someone turned in a glass eye that someone lost. I’m not sure how the owner wasn’t aware that it was missing, but it was never claimed.

One other time they had someone drop off a brown paper bag with $10,000 in it…not in an envelope, or money bag, but just loosely stuffed inside. Later a guy showed up to claim the booty, and only had to describe the unique method of carriage before the loot was returned in full.

The Flying Musicians

Also manning the Lost and Found booth was a member of the Flying Musicians. These musicians love aviation as much as they love playing music. I spoke with Flying Musicians member John Zapp. John told me that it is well documented that the skills required to play an instrument and fly are remarkably similar. He went on to tell me about how he had to hold at the Ripon intersection in his airplane during the time that the runway was shut down and he transitioned back to the music side of our conversation and named some of the more famous Musician who are members of the Association. If you’ve been to Oshkosh you probably know Aron Tippens who comes to Oshkosh on a regular basis. Another big name you might know is Alan Jackson.

One of the missions of the Flying Musician’s is to reward scholarships through their FMA SOLO program. This is a program awarding junior or senior high school music students, nominated by their music director, who exhibit a desire to fly. We probably would have talked more about music but I was at an airshow and frankly, the depth of my knowledge of music only extends to knowing the difference between C-chord and wing chord.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.FlyingMusicians.org, www.eaa.org/en/airventure/plan-your-eaa-airventure-trip/services/lost-and-found