This piece originally ran in the November 2024 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.
Kyle Breon, EAA 1335139, has been coming to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh pretty much since he was born. His dad, Shawn Breon, EAA 501777, has always loved aviation, volunteering as a teenager at the local air show in their hometown of Rockford, Illinois. Shawn started volunteering at AirVenture in the late ’90s, “and when I was born, my dad always brought me up, and over the years, I just fell in love with the place,” Kyle said.
Kyle started volunteering about 10 years ago with his dad at the EAA Seaplane Base, greeting arriving guests and helping with their luggage. “I really liked when I was doing that, seeing where they came from, how’d they figure out how to come here and all that type of stuff,” he said.
These days, Kyle helps with preconvention setup by preparing the docks and getting boats in the water, and then during the week he serves as a tugboat driver, bringing seaplanes to and from the docks.
While the Seaplane Base is often considered AirVenture’s best-kept secret, Kyle also assists at the even lesser-known Warbird Island, an alternative landing spot for seaplanes during bad weather. “I help set up Warbird Island. We have five [temporary mooring locations] out there that we have to set up, and then if anyone needs to land over there, I’m one of the people who will go out. We have a boat down there, so we can ferry people back and forth.”
“I really like the Seaplane Base and the seaplanes, but I really like the community we have here. It’s a lot more close knit; everyone knows each other,” Kyle said. “We work really hard to get this all running smoothly, and we just have as much fun as possible.”
Kyle is currently in his senior year of high school, and he has his eyes on a future in aviation after graduation in the spring. “I plan to do aerospace engineering. I’m looking at ROTC with the Air Force and going that path,” he said. “I would love to work on rockets, so working for places like NASA, SpaceX, Boeing. I’ve always loved aviation and space, and I want to continue that when I get older.”
Volunteers make EAA AirVenture Oshkosh — and just about everything else EAA does — possible. This space in EAA Sport Aviation is dedicated to thanking and shining the spotlight on volunteers from the community. Sadly, it cannot capture all of the thousands of volunteers who give so much to the community every year. So, next time you see a volunteer at AirVenture or elsewhere, however they are pitching in to make EAA better, be sure to thank them for it. It’s the least we can do. Do you know a volunteer you’d like to nominate for Volunteer Spotlight? Visit EAA.org/Submissions.