Understanding Air Traffic Control
at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh
ABOUT THE CONTROLLERS
The FAA has staffed a tower at the EAA convention
since the 1960's. FAA Air Traffic personnel (including controllers, supervisors
and managers) come from throughout the new Central Terminal Service Area (CTSA)
to provide air traffic control (ATC) services each year. For 2008, 172 air
traffic professionals volunteered to staff the facilities at Oshkosh (OSH), Fond
du Lac (FLD) and Fisk - of which 78 were selected to work at the event.
With the exception of one guest controller from
Sun 'N Fun, all ATC personnel come from FAA facilities within the 17-state
Central Terminal Service Area (comprised of terminal facilities within the old
FAA Great Lakes, Central and Southwest Regions). All together, 50 towers from 15
states are represented.
Controllers are normally limited to volunteering
for a total of seven years at the EAA convention, to allow others a chance to
volunteer for this temporary duty assignment.
The controllers are divided into teams of four
persons each:
- One Veteran controller serves as the
"Team Leader" and another Veteran may work on the team as well.
Each of these controllers will have three or more years of previous OSH
experience.
- At least one member of the team will have one
to two years of OSH experience. This group is identified as the
"Limited"
- The final member of each team will be new to
OSH and is identified as a "Rookie".
These teams stay together throughout the
convention as they rotate through the control towers at OSH or FLD, FISK
VFR Approach Control and the mobile departure platforms (known as
MOOCOWs - which is short for MObile Operating and
COmmunications
Workstation).
Listed below is the complete
listing of control tower personnel for AirVenture 2009 - along with their home
facilities:
WISCONSIN LAKE DISTRICT AIR TRAFFIC MANAGER
Wanda L. Adelman - Milwaukee Mitchell (MKE)
CONVENTION AIR TRAFFIC OPERATIONS MANAGERS
Elaine Buckner - Duluth (DLH)
David McCurdy - Peoria (PIA)
ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT
Lake District Administrative Officer -
Patricia Hutson - Milwaukee Mitchell (MKE)
Administrative Support - Aimee Miller - Bismarck (BIS)
Quality Assurance - Dean Smith - Saginaw (MBS)
John Reagan - San Antonio (SAT)
Training - Tim Fitzgerald - Chicago O'Hare (ORD)
Michael Snaer - Lansing (LAN)
Ray Thyfault - Kalamazoo (AZO)
OPERATIONS SUPERVISORS - CONTROLLERS IN CHARGE
- OSHKOSH
Mary Blake - Minneapolis Crystal (MIC)
William Casey - Evansville (EVV)
Tim Fitzgerald - Chicago O'Hare (ORD)
James Hovick - St. Louis (STL)
Michael Howard - St. Paul (STP)
Donald Kruse - Detroit (DTW)
Rick Polete - Evansville (EVV)
Robert Reed - Minneapolis (MSP)
Dan Ricks - O'Hare (ORD)
Michael Snaer - Lansing (LAN)
Scott Stark - Roswell (ROW)
Raymond Thyfault - Kalamazoo (AZO)
OSHKOSH AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TOWER SUPPORT
CONTROLLERS
Tim Baumer - Grand Forks (GFK)
Kyle Bitters - Cleveland (CLE)
Lisa Brickley - Evansville (EVV)
Robert Brickley - Evansville (EVV)
Craig Burzych - O'Hare (ORD)
Stephen Byrum - Amarillo (AMA)
Bernard Campau, II - Detroit (DTW)
Christopher Chambliss - Houston (HOU)
Randy Clark - Kansas City (MCI)
Thayer Davis, IV - Flying Cloud (FCM)
Richard Dawson - Terre Haute (HUF)
Michael Devenport - South Bend (SBN)
Jerry Drew - Pontiac (PTK)
Gregory Emberland - Minneapolis (MSP)
Richard Fendley - Houston Int'l (IAH)
Steven Gatewood - Houston Int'l (IAH)
William Gibbs - Minneapolis Crystal (MIC)
Rick Gleason - Des Moines (DSM)
Thomas Hattori - Milwaukee Mitchell (MKE)
Chad Haupert - Waco (ACT)
Robert Hissom - Pontiac (PTK)
Eric Hitchock - David Wayne Hooks (DWH)
Jerry Hough - Grand Rapids (GRR)
Mark Irvin - St. Louis (STL)
Lamonte Kendzierski - Tulsa Riverside (RVS)
Gregory King - Detroit (DTW)
Dean Kirchoff - O'Hare (ORD)
Kevin Klein - Lansing (LAN)
Scott Kordes - Amarillo (AMA)
Brian LaFleur - New Orleans (MSY)
Donald Medernach - New Orleans(MSY)
John Menchaca - Roswell (ROW)
John Moore - Minneapolis (MSP)
Michael Moynihan - Muskegon (MKG)
Raymond Mulvihill - Tulsa Riverside (RVS)
James Nelson - Palwaukee (PWK)
Kenneth Nowosatka - Des Moines (DSM)
Tim Oberdoerster - Cleveland (CLE)
David Patterson - DuPage (DPA)
Jeffrey Peace - Dallas (DFW)
Ryan Picha -Crystal (MIC)
Charlotte Rhodes - Abilene (ABI)
Tina Rowe - Houston Int'l (IAH)
Edward Ruhbeck - St. Louis (STL)
Todd Schick - Flint (FNT)
Russell Schneider - Indianapolis (IND)
Amy Sedin - Duluth (DLH)
Russell Sell - Duluth (DLH)
W. Grant Shinn - Houston Int'l (IAH)
Charles Smith - Ann Arbor (ARB)
Michael Sparks - Little Rock (LIT)
Walter Stokes - Longview (GGG)
Scott Strader - Midway (MDW)
Larry Strayhorn - St. Louis Downtown (CPS)
Wallace Sturgill - Oklahoma City (OKC)
Jeremy Ternes - Fargo (FAR)
Kevin Thornton - O'Hare (ORD)
John Trowbridge - Oklahoma City (OKC)
Trent Tyler, Evansville, IN (EVV)
James Vantine - Grand Rapids (GRR)
Dean Walther, II - Columbus (CMH)
Leonard Weidner - Spirit of St. Louis (SUS)
Robert Kelly Winston - St. Louis Downtown (CPS)
SUN 'N FUN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TOWER SUPPORT
CONTROLLER
Dennis Dodge - Miami (MIA)
OSHKOSH FEDERAL CONTRACT TOWER SUPPORT
CONTROLLERS
Ian Billington
Chip Dyni
Dena Dyni
Marty Sweeney
Brian VanLankveldt
