EAA Air Academy Sponsorships

Every year the chapter selects applicants to send to EAA's Air Academy in Oshkosh, WI. Students spend a week getting a hands-on experience with flying and working on aircraft. Interested students can submit an application along with a letter explaining why they'd like to be selected to attend. More information on the Air Academy itself can be found by clicking the link above.

2009 Attendees

The 2009 Attendees from Chapter 856, in addition to the regular activities, were allowed to attend a BBQ in their honor hosted by John Seibold who is a major contributor to our efforts at sending young people to Air Academy. They will also be honored at the banquet and auction at Valle Airport on August 29. In return, they each sent a thank-you letter to the Chapter which will be reproduced in the student's section below.

• Ciana Giovannini

Thank you for this unforgettable experience. I am truly indebted to you all and will never be able to repay you enough for the unforgettable memories you have given me. This has been the best time of my life. Thank you all; I am truly grateful to all of you.

I'm sure you want to know some of the stuff we've done. My personal favorite, as I'm sure you know, was getting to fly. I got to fly in a German-made aircraft. It was amazingly small. I'm surprised I fit. I think one of the greatest things I got to do was ride in a helicopter; that was the most amazing thing I've ever done. The staff was unbelievably fun. They were some of the most awesome people I've met/ I have made lifetime friends. I would like to take this time to thank you again.

• Shaun McKernan

Due to your generous support I was able to proudly represent Chapter 856. The Air Academy in Oshkosh, WI, has truly been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Although this is the only year I was able to participate in the Air Academy, I have gained valuable experience and knowledge in aviation. But when I heard about the Summer Air Camp, I thought, "Alright, I'll check this out." So, long story short, I did. About 6 months ago I honestly had no interest at all in aviation. Since that time I started looking into aviation.

When I came to the Air Academy in Oshkosh, I had no idea what to expect since I'm fairly new to the aviation world. During the course of the camp I came to learn all kinds of things. Everything I was introduced to was exciting and new. Even thoug I still have much to learn I would like to express my gratitude and thank you, EAA Chapter 856, for sponsoring me. Thanks to my experience at camp, I now have a base knowledge of aviation that I can build upon. Hopefully one day I'll spread my wings and soar. Thank you for your time.

• J.D. Hennihyson

Dear EAA Chapter 856, I thank you for the funding to help me come to the EAA Advanced Air Academy. The Academy was really fun, getting all the knowledge about planes and how they work. I am very grateful. I was reinvigorated about aviation.

In the classroom I reviewed a plethora of videos and slides. In the workshop we learned about the tools and materials. It was really interesting seeing the 4th XP-51 Mustang off the line. I feel really lucky to attend the Air Academy. Thank you for helping me advance my aviation knowledge.

2011 Attendees

We seemed to have skipped reporting, though we did send youngsters in 2010. Anyway, this year we sent some youngsters and got a nice letter of appreciation from EAA HQ as well as letters from two of the attendees. Both youngsters have since attended the Valle Airport Thunder Over Coconino airshow and flown with us or helped us at events. The link below will take you to a .pdf version of the letters.

Media:02121101.PDF