Aviation Institute Students Promote Aviation as Volunteers at AirVenture Airshow

Omaha – Aviation Institute students Brandon Perkins, Austin Naylor, and Patrick McCarthy drove from Omaha to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in July for the Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EAA) AirVenture Oshkosh airshow. Touted as the largest general aviation airshow in the world, the event lasts an entire week. Over 10,000 airplanes and over 500,000 people come to Wisconsin for the event each year.

Perkins, a senior, and Naylor, a sophomore, are students in the Aviation Institute’s Professional Flight concentration. Patrick “Trace” McCarthy is a senior in the Air Transport Administration concentration. All are members of the UNO chapter of Alpha Eta Rho, a coed service organization for college students interested in aviation. In exchange for volunteering at the airshow, Alpha Eta Rho provided the students with lodging and free admission to the airshows. Naylor and McCarthy volunteered at the departure briefing stations, where they gave pilots quick summaries of the procedures for departing the Oshkosh Airport, including radio frequencies, headings, and altitude restrictions. Perkins volunteered at the Frasca Simulator trailer, a mobile simulator used for training pilots. As a Certificated Flight Instructor (CFI), Perkins taught non-pilots the basics of flying an airplane. All three students volunteered at the Gathering of the Eagles, the EAA’s largest fundraiser of the year, which raised $2.2 million to support the EAA’s outreach and education programs.

McCarthy said of the experience, “We met people from all over the world including Canada, Brazil, Portugal, and Australia. There were so many different famous airplanes on display for the public to see up close and personal. When we were not volunteering, we tried to see as much of the airshow as possible. We saw some amazing demonstrations including an F-16 Viper, F/A-18 Super Hornet, B747-8, U-2, and countless others. The airshow truly is an experience I will never forget. We are already planning on going back next year. Maybe we’ll fly instead of drive next year.”