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AIRVENTURE TODAY
AROUND THE GROUNDS
TOWER POWER How ATC keeps AirVenture safe BY TENLEY ONG
AIRVENTURE TODAY STAFF
WITTMAN REGIONAL AIRPORT is a fairly quiet place for 51 weeks out of the year. But during one week in July, the Class D airspace becomes the World’s Busiest Control Tower for EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. This year, over 8,000 airplanes (yes, you read that right — three zeros) had arrived before Monday morning. Thus, the control tower was even busier than the busiest, including Chicago O’Hare or Atlanta. To manage the influx of traffic, it takes a village. The Oshkosh tower employs 64 hand-picked controllers for the event. Tony Molinaro, media relations manager for the FAA central service area, says they are the “best of the best controllers from around the country.” Jay McKinty, air traffic manager, adds they come from “San Francisco to Miami … and everywhere in between.” Normally, the airport places one controller on departures and one on arrivals, with each focusing on one runway or airplane at a time. During AirVenture, the intensity of the job increases, when controllers land multiple airplanes on the runway at once. It is the ultimate privilege to join the team in the sky during this time.
TOWER TEAMWORK The teams are split into groups of four, consisting of a team lead, one communicator talking to the pilot, and two spotters telling the communicator what to say (yes, two people talking in your ear at once!). To be such a cohesive team, these groups must get along, both in the tower and on the ground, including off the clock. “The teams stay together the whole week. They get to know each other, they get to trust each other, they go to lunch together,” says Molinaro. There are 16 teams, for a total of 64 controllers. Many people behind the scenes run the show, including 13 operations supervisors, four operations managers, multiple tech ops (also hand-picked for AirVenture), and volunteers.
5 IN THE SKY EXPEDITION
PHOTO BY TENLEY ONG
Oshkosh tower controllers observing Runway 18/36.
Family of Five Flying Around the World for Charity
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