Seaplane Base Offers Different Volunteer Jobs Than KOSH

By Maria Morrison

AirVenture has thousands of airplanes, so many that it’s hard to see them all within a week. However, there are even more AirVenture aircraft than are seen on the field.

Southeast of Wittman Regional is a cove in Lake Winnebago that is home to 96WI, the seaplane base at Oshkosh. Like KOSH, it is staffed with EAA volunteers and has opportunities for pilots to fly in, camp, and travel to and from the rest of AirVenture.

One of the volunteer workers at the seaplane base is Cathy Retzlaff. Travelling to Oshkosh from Winneconne, WI, Cathy drives the pontoon boats in the shallow water. Airplanes tie up to buoys in the lake, which is roughly three feet deep on average. If visitors want to see the float planes tied up in the water, they can take a ride by donation on a pontoon boat around the lake.

Other times people sit on the banks and watch as the airplanes taxi in on the water before volunteers “catch” them at the docks.

Cathy has been a volunteer at EAA for years, and this year took off work to bring her adult son along. She used to work at the main airport but then went to the seaplane base due to their need for volunteers. “This is all volunteer work,” she says, “I’d rather volunteer out here for free than work over there and get paid.”

Aside from the joy of helping the Greatest Aviation Celebration, being a volunteer has its perks, especially at the seaplane base. Cathy has not yet begun flying, but would like to start in the near future. “A lot of times, when the pilots come in, they give me advice about how to begin my training and what types of certificates I could get.”

Seaplane base volunteers also occasionally get rides from pilots going in or out of the base. The workers help with a variety of jobs before, during, and after the week of AirVenture. They sink concrete blocks attached to buoys, build the docks, and do general maintenance around the grounds. During the week there are many activities for those who stay into the evening, mostly live music and community bonfires. Most of the pilots that come in take the bus to KOSH at least once, sometimes to speak at the forums. They return in the evening to celebrate with pilots with similar interests at the seaplane base, a rarely seen part of the AirVenture experience.

(Image provided by the author)

FMI:
www.eaa.org/en/airventure/place/place?id=8E69FBBE733D445FBDBED5FFDF976C63&sourceid=2a93279f80e546b8bb101600ec3b97c5