By Emme Hornung

The Fisk arrival conga line is only the first half of the dance that is flying into Wittman Regional Airport during AirVenture — the dance doesn’t truly end until the engines shut off. Before pilots get to pitch a tent under their wing, the Flightline Operations team orchestrates ground movements to get the thousands of flying-in pilots to their campsites safely and efficiently. Part of the team is Sandy Strebel, EAA Lifetime 883319, who has been recognized as one of EAA’s 2026 Volunteers of the Year.

Growing up in Oshkosh, aviation has always been a part of Sandy’s life. “Before I volunteered, I’d be playing in my backyard, and I would watch warbirds fly in formation over our house because we’re about 2 miles away from the runway,” she said.

Aside from living in EAA’s backyard, volunteering for EAA is a whole family affair. Sandy’s family have been dedicated volunteers since the 1970s when EAA first moved to Oshkosh. Her father, Jim Casper, was the chairman of Flightline Ops for many years, and today the reins are held by her sister, Carol Carona.

Sandy started volunteering at just 13 years old with Operation Thirst on the flightline, but it wasn’t long before she started helping with parking operations. “My dad taught me how to park airplanes,” she said.

When she was 16, six of her cousins joined the efforts in Oshkosh, and they quickly proved themselves. “We were called the cousins on the radio, and we were our own parking crew, and we would get plopped all over the field wherever they might need us,” she said. “So, that was sort of the beginning of how it started.”

Nearly 40 years later, Sandy now manages parking and camping operations in the North 40, which includes more than 1,000 parking and camping spaces in this one area alone, though Sandy and her team of volunteers almost make it look easy — almost.

“On top of working really long hours, the heat is really difficult. There’s a lot of pressure on us. You have to make sure that you can lean on each other and trust each other, and instinctively make decisions in order for us to fade into the background so people don’t notice us,” she said. “It’s like a referee of a football game. The less you think about the referees, the better job they’re actually doing. So, we don’t want to affect the big show, but we also need to make sure that everything’s going to be safe and efficient.”

In her leadership role, Sandy has been taking detailed notes for nearly 20 years of unique situations her team runs into and how they’re handled, what works and what doesn’t work, and different trends in order to make operations better every year, making for a priceless resource for the entire Flightline Ops team.

“I am incredibly humbled to be recognized for the work that I’ve done, mostly because I do the work not thinking about what I’m going to get back from it. I do the work because it’s important,” she said.

Thank you, Sandy, for everything you do for EAA and for a safe and enjoyable AirVenture experience!