To celebrate 50 consecutive years of fly-in conventions in Oshkosh, we’re featuring Stories of Oshkosh told by attendees remembering their special moments at EAA’s long-standing home. If you or someone you know would like to share your own Story of Oshkosh, email editorial@eaa.org.
Some people attend EAA AirVenture Oshkosh once and they buy into it for life, some get the EAA bug later on in life, and others are born into it. John Maxfield, EAA 63682, grew up in an EAA family just down the street from where Ford Tri-Motors were built at the old Ford Airport in Dearborn, Michigan. John’s father was a member of EAA Chapter 113 and he played in the sand piles with his EAA friends as the adults built their first chapter hangar. John soloed in his 1948 family Funk airplane on his 16th birthday and got his private pilot certificate when he was 17 years old. He eventually worked his way through college as an A&P mechanic and started flying corporate for Chrysler after graduation. Since then, life has come full circle for John, as he is now one of EAA’s volunteer pilots that fly the Ford Tri-Motor on tour and at Oshkosh.
John was six years old in 1964 when his father took him to the EAA fly-in convention in Rockford, Illinois. He went again in ’65, but missed ’66 due to illness and was heartbroken when his dad left without him. John went again with his father in ’67 and hasn’t missed a convention since.
John said he keeps coming back each year because of the common bond he has formed with the people he has met at AirVenture. The love of flight is such a special bond that he wouldn’t miss for the world.
“EAA’s founder, Paul Poberezny probably said it best when he said that we come the first time to see the airplanes but we return each year for the people,” John said.
John started volunteering in 1970, EAA’s first permanent year at Wittman Regional Airport. He rode around the fly-in grounds on a flatbed farm trailer, using a megaphone, asking people around them to pick up the field stone in the grass and toss it into the trailer. Since his days of helping EAA keep the grounds free of rocks, he went on to volunteer as the assistant to the chairman of flightline safety, he worked with the south maintenance department and volunteered as a host in the forums area. Most recently, John has been volunteering his time by serving on EAA’s Chapter Advisory Committee.
John said he can’t put his finger on one particular moment that he would call the most memorable, as there are so many, but one experience that never gets old year after year is simply flying in.
“Nothing beats the view of Wittman Field out my windshield, and the tower controllers say ‘Welcome to Oshkosh!’” John said. “It gives me goose bumps every time.”