By Chris Moran, EAA Canadian Council, EAA 726984
Dennis first showed up at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 1995, looking to buy a Rotorway helicopter kit to build. He had heard that all the latest kits were on display and that “down on the farm,” as they referred to it back then, was a great place to hang out with other kit builders and pilots. It didn’t take long before he was hooked and volunteered to help during the daily flight operations, and hasn’t missed a show since.
Dennis has become an integral part of the small crew that runs the rotorcraft flight operations at the south end of the AirVenture grounds, the “Fun Fly Zone” as it is referred to now.
Dennis does it all. Need some equipment moved from your camp site to your helicopter parked on the flight line? Need a ride to the main show to find your wife who went off with the keys to your helicopter? Need a ride all the way to the north end to find a Jet A fuel truck to fill up fuel cans for your turbine powered helicopter? How about a ride to the announcer’s tower or a tow to the repair area to get a landing skid re-welded? Dennis is your man.
He’s always there on his Gator, with a big smile and ready to help. Any of the pilots who come to Oshkosh to fly each year will know Dennis and the many, many hours he puts in and the many things he does to help out.
Dennis also has safety duties on the flightline from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. while the helicopters and gyroplanes are flying in our little piece of aviation heaven, helping to ensure that pilots, volunteers, and the spectators all get to enjoy flight operations safely.
He is a volunteer firefighter and paramedic in his hometown of North Canton, Ohio, and can routinely be seen on the flightline carrying a large medical pack and a cooler full of water in his Gator during flight operations, just in case someone needs either one.
Oh, by the way, he did buy a Rotorway helicopter kit.