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Art Schwedler,
Government Relations Host, EAA 1447, Chapter 839 Hometown:
Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. |
What do you do? Escort VIPs to and
from hotels, on ground and to and from forums and lectures, and make
sure they understand EAA’s mission.
Years volunteering: 24
Day job: Retired TWA airline
captain.
What do you enjoy most? Catching
up with old friends and meeting a lot of interesting people.
What surprised you about AirVenture
when you first started to volunteer? What a close-knit family EAA
people are.
Who introduced you to aviation?
Paul Poberezny gave me my first airplane ride at around age 11 in a
farmer’s field in English Settlement, Wisconsin.
What aircraft do you own? A Sky
Ranger and a Stinson 108-3.
What are you building right now?
An RV-4.
If you could fly any airplane at
AirVenture, it would be: Custom Cabin Waco. Because I think it was
the Cadillac of airplanes in its time.
An AirVenture aircraft arrival you
would run to see? A TWA Constellation.
AirVenture experience you won’t
forget: Receiving the Charles Taylor and Wright Brothers awards at a
Technical Counselor/Flight Advisor breakfast in July 2007. EAA officials
(at my wife’s urging) kept it a complete surprise and arranged for her
to attend.
Most memorable person you met through
AirVenture: Neil Armstrong and the rest of the Apollo astronauts.
Favorite spot to relax at AirVenture:
The back room of the Antique and Classic Red Barn.
What is the most unique airplane you’ve
seen or taken a ride in at AirVenture? Most unique one I’ve seen:
the Voyager. Took a ride in: the Ford Tri-Motor.
I would love to have lunch with:
Roscoe Turner, a 1920s barnstormer and 1930s air racer. I would ask him
if Gilmore, his pet lion, liked to fly.
Fun volunteer story: Buck Hilbert
kissing me on the head every morning at the briefing.
AirVenture survival tip: Get a
good night’s sleep and keep hydrated. First-timer? Plan on having as
much time as possible available because it is not just some little
county fair that can be seen in two hours.
If there’s one thing
AirVenture-goers shouldn’t miss it’s: EVERYTHING!
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