Carson Schultz, EAA 797125, started volunteering at the EAA Aviation Museum as a docent in early August. Although he’s only 14 years old, Carson has been visiting the museum for more than a decade.
“I’ve been going since I was 2 to the museum, and then at 3 years old I started going to the air shows,” Carson said. “I’ve always had a love of aviation, and I always loved going to the museum. I go to the museum annually, so it just felt perfect to become a docent and volunteer my time and my skills there.”
On his first day as a docent, Carson said he ran into people from all over the state, the country, and even the world.
“It was very fun,” he said. “It was good to meet people from all over the country, and I also met people from Switzerland. It was really cool to see the impact EAA has on the world.”
Carson said he can tell the history of most of the airplanes in the EAA Aviation Museum, and his favorite is the Bugatti Model 100. He said he enjoys surprising people with just how much knowledge he has when it comes to aviation.
“Most people say, ‘You’re only 14, what do you know about airplanes?’” Carson said. “I just come back at them with all the information I’ve observed in the 14 years I’ve been going. I just like shocking people with the knowledge of aircraft.”
He’s still got most of high school and all of college left to go, but Carson said he plans to be a NASA aerospace engineer once he’s done with school, thanks to an inspiring trip to NASA Space Center Houston.