11 minute read
Up in the Tower
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.
PHOTO BY TENLEY ONG
Oshkosh tower controllers observing Runway 18/36.
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There are two teams of four on the field and three teams of four in the tower, plus one temporary tower at Fond du Lac and one temporary trailer at Fisk. Departures are controlled from “moo-cows,” aka mobile communications, tall platforms on the runways.
Each runway has a set of three colored dots or squares. When multiple aircraft are landing, these dots indicate where to touch down. Copies of these symbols are displayed in the lower window panes of the tower for the controllers’ easy reference.
BEST OF THE BEST Every year, the FAA asks qualified individuals from around the country to apply and join the Oshkosh tower for the week, resulting in about 120-130 applications. Every controller is a certified professional controller (CPC) and works an eight- to 10-hour shift during AirVenture.
The controllers return every year through a bidding process, moving up and eventually becoming team leads. However, there is some turnover every year, leaving 16-17 positions open for rookies to apply.
PILOT TIPS Read the notice; listen to instructions. It makes the controllers’ jobs difficult when pilots don’t do what they’re told, as the process is always being refined.
The best time to fly into AirVenture is “early in the week and early in the day,” says McKinty, unless weather is bad in the morning or a runway closes. “Plan early, and plan for an alternate if necessary.” For example, five incidents on Sunday backed up traffic and caused pilots to fly 50-plus miles away and stay in holding patterns, with backups stretching to Portage.
So, next time you see someone in a pink shirt and socks, smile and thank them for everything they do.
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OSHKOSH MOMENTS
TEEN PILOT FROM GEORGIA LANDS AT AIRVENTURE
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY TENLEY ONG
AIRVENTURE TODAY STAFF
CRAZY IS DEFINED as “intensely busy in a chaotic way.” But for high school students, it’s a way of life, from prom to graduation, SATs to sports meets, and more.
Taking a busy lifestyle to the next level is Benson Milam, a 17-year-old private pilot from Calhoun, Georgia.
A goal like a private pilot certificate isn’t necessarily on the forefront of most teenagers’ minds. But for Benson, life is a little different. Instead of school sports, he put his energy into his schoolwork and flying.
“He finished his school stuff junior year and is enrolling at an FAA A&P program,” said Darenda Milam, Benson’s mom. He plans to help mentor other kids around the airport and pay it forward in the way others did for him.
After his first Young Eagles flight at age 12, “The whole airport community took him in and showed him the ropes,” said Ben Milam, Benson’s dad. In return, Benson spent many days around the airport, helping with maintenance, washing and moving planes, and any other odd jobs that came about.
A couple of days after soloing on his 16th birthday, Benson received a birthday gift most teenagers could barely dream of. No, it wasn’t a car! Instead, his parents gave him a ’46 Aeronca Champ, which had previously been in the care and ownership of many of Benson’s mentors and friends around the airport. In early June, about a month after his 17th birthday, he passed his private pilot checkride.
Having recently reached this milestone, Benson turned his focus to a new challenge: flying into Wittman Regional Airport during the week of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. Although neither of his parents are pilots, they took turns sitting in the back seat, taking off Sunday from Calhoun and landing in Oshkosh on Monday morning.
Darenda played the role of co-pilot mom, researching Benson’s flight plan, AirVenture, and landing at Oshkosh. During this process, she discovered something she didn’t expect: There were several newly minted 17-year-old pilots flying in this year.
“We saw posts about several 17-year-old pilots coming up, and were like, ‘Holy smokes, these kids are killing it at life,’” said Darenda. These youths included her son, a dad and his triplets flying in separate planes, and a young man in his Cessna 140 with his little brother.
Darenda hopes by spreading her son’s story, she can promote the Young Eagles program. “I think it would be a wonderful tradition to gather these young aviators and celebrate them in some way.”
Darenda is active in the official EAA Facebook group, which has proven to be an excellent way to connect with others in the community.
DARENDA MILAM
Benson Milam, age 17, standing in front of his 1946 Aeronca Champ, which he flew to Oshkosh from Calhoun, Georgia.
OSHKOSH MOMENTS
MENTORING AND ENCOURAGING THE NEXT GENERATION
BY SAM OLESON
AIRVENTURE TODAY STAFF
AS COMMANDER OF the U.S. Transportation Command, U.S. Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost is in charge of a lot of moving parts, from aircraft to airmen and everything in between. One of the parts she’s always thinking about isn’t necessarily one of logistics or strategy. It’s the inspiration and education of potential future pilots, mechanics, and other aviation professionals — military or civilian. Van Ovost and husband Alan Frosch, who manages Whitewater Aviation Corp. in Copperhill, Tennessee, visited EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2022 with the goal of helping inspire and educate the next generation of pilots who will take the U.S. Air Force into its next 75 years.
“I think it’s important to see what’s possible earlier [in life]. It’s not just one experience with these youth. It’s the follow-through,” Van Ovost said. “How do we get some sort of aviation STEM course into high schools that provides a pathway into you getting your written [exam] done for your private pilot [certificate] or a pathway to getting your solo done so they can see themselves do that? That’s absolutely the next step we need to take.”
Van Ovost began her aviation journey early in life after her parents started a fixed-based operation. Prior to attending the U.S. Air Force Academy, and later going on to U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, Van Ovost earned her private pilot certificate, and multiple ratings, while flying any way she could, from towing banners, to ultralights, to providing charter services through the family business. All told, she had about 1,000 hours prior to attending the Academy. But it all began like it did for so many other pilots.
“I was sweeping the floors of the hangar, changing oil and filters [for the FBO],” she explained. “Doing some maintenance work and between all that, just getting enough money to get another flight. Refueling airplanes, cleaning windows. I had a little fuel truck. What became a ‘Hey, pitch in’ became a passion. It really became the foundation for what I wanted to do in the future.”
Meanwhile, Frosch came into aviation by joining the Air Force during the Vietnam War, working on jet engines as a technician before becoming a flight engineer. In the 1990s, while at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, Van Ovost enrolled Frosch in flight school (to meet her end of the deal he taught her to sail), and the two of them bought an airplane soon after he got his ticket.
PHOTO BY ANDREW ZABACK
One of the passions both Van Ovost and Frosch developed during her military service and his civilian aviation life is the promotion of aviation to youths who may not ever think about it as a potential career. The two of them use every opportunity toward the advancement of STEM education for the next generation and underserved communities. In his position at Martin Campbell Field, Frosch encourages high school students in the area to come out to the airport and learn more about aviation and STEM opportunities.
“I try to get high school students out to teach them what’s really out there,” he said. “Some of them live up in the mountains and don’t have much exposure to aviation or some of the opportunities available to them.”
As part of Van Ovost’s visit to AirVenture 2022, she took part in WomenVenture activities on Wednesday. As a high-ranking woman in the Air Force and someone who advanced through the ranks with few women surrounding her, Van Ovost knows the importance of encouraging women, as well as minorities, to consider aviation as a potential career path.
“This nation needs to remain on the competitive edge, and to do that, we need to excite everybody,” she said. “It’s important that you don’t leave talent on the table. You can’t be what you can’t see. … It’s really important to have females and those from all diverse backgrounds and ethnicities become flight instructors, CEOs, and maintenance officers to show that you can do this. I’ve had the chance to talk to folks at WomenVenture, and we can’t just expose it to them once today. I challenged them to be the one to continue to reach out.
“Just one person, one event, one inspiration, one mentorship,” she continued. “A mentor will keep you going. It’s clearly not easy what we do. I’ve been there; I’ve tilled it. Mentors have helped me recognize that I should get up. I can do it; I’ve done it before. If you match your passion to your talent, you won’t work a day in your life. It doesn’t mean you won’t fail at something. … How do we instill that ‘go get it’ in them?”
When it comes to mentorship, Van Ovost talked about three different phases that everyone should consider — all important steps in inspiring and encouraging the next generation. “The most important people in my life are those that went before me, those that opened the doors. Eileen Collins, who was the second female test pilot, I looked up to her. The Women Airforce Service Pilots, the Tuskegee Airmen — they showed us what could be; they broke ceilings. Those who went beside me are the next person. Those that encourage you along the way and see you stumble along the way, but help you. Then there are those that are behind you that are looking up to you. The ones that want a hand up, and not a hand out. They’re depending on you to keep going. … You’re all three of those people, but you’ve got to take action.”
