Friends of the
RED BARN DEAR FRIENDS,
For one week every year a temporary city of about 50,000 people is created in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on the grounds of Wittman Regional Airport. We call the temporary city EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. During this one week, EAA and our communities, including the Vintage Aircraft Association, host more than 500,000 pilots and aviation enthusiasts along with their families and friends. With the support of the very capable VAA officers, directors, and more than 600 volunteers, the Vintage Aircraft Association annually welcomes more than 1,100 vintage showplanes throughout the week of AirVenture on our nearly 1.3-mile flightline. We continue to work to bring an array of valuable services and interesting programs to the VAA membership and to all of our Vintage Village visitors during this magical week. Across Wittman Road and in front of our flagship building, the VAA Red Barn, we will feature some really interesting airplanes, including the beautiful past Vintage Grand Champions, an array of Fun and Affordable aircraft, and some exciting rare and seldom seen aircraft. In Vintage Village proper we have a hospitality service, a bookstore, a general store (the Red Barn Store), youth programs, educational forums, and much more. As you can imagine, creating the infrastructure to support these displays as well as the programs offered during the week is both time consuming and costly, but they are made possible thanks to donations from our wonderful members.
In 2018, thanks to your support, we were able to dedicate the Charles W. Harris Memorial Park complete with a “back porch” and picnic tables for the enjoyment of the guests at Vintage Village. In 2018 we also began a multi-year landscaping project for the entire Vintage Village area, which should be complete by AirVenture 2019. As I write this the final phase of the Red Barn renovation is underway for the grand reopening of our Red Barn Store. As your president, I am inviting you on behalf of the Vintage Aircraft Association to join our association’s once a year fundraising campaign — Friends of the Red Barn (FORB). The services and programs that we provide for our members and guests during AirVenture are made possible through our FORB fundraising efforts. A donation from you — no matter how large or small — supports the dream of aviation for aviators and aviation enthusiasts of all ages and levels of involvement. We invite you to join us in supporting this dream through the Friends of the Red Barn. I thank you in advance for your continued support of the Vintage Aircraft Association as we move this premier organization forward on behalf of our membership and the vintage aircraft movement. I am looking forward to seeing you all in July, If you have already made a 2019 FORB contribution, thank you for your dedication and support of the vintage aircraft movement. I look forward to seeing you all in July !
SUSAN DUSENBURY, PRESIDENT VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION
4 July/August 2019
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACK FLEETWOOD, CONNOR MADISON
