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View Full Version : Unwarranted Vintage Oshkosh Chairmen Removal



FlyingRon
01-31-2017, 04:37 PM
As some of you probably will have realized by my posts here, I've been a devout volunteer in the Vintage Flight Line which provides the personnel safety, crowd control, and aircraft movements for everything south of the Communications Building at Oshkosh including most of the Vintage aircraft parking as well as the access to the Ultralight area and Emergency Aircraft Repair and, of late, GA overflow parking.

We were shocked when Geoff Robison called four of our volunteers late last week. Mike Kosta and Cathy McGurran, our main chairmen were summarily removed from their posts. Randy Hytry, another chairman, was told that he was not permitted to volunteer anymore at all. A fourth non-chairman worker bee was told he was not to volunteer anymore either. Geoff gave no explanation other than a vague reference to friction with Flight Line Safety (the people who manage the taxiways north of the Comm building) and that this was a board decision and any further inquiries would have to be made to EAA Human Resources.

Oddly, the first thing I did was to contact some of the other board members who appeared as surprised as I was. I also contacted some of the chairs of Flight Line Safety and they were dumbfounded as well. Further, when four contacted EAA HR, they were told it's a Vintage board thing and were referred back to them.

I can tell you that Mike and Kathy are excellent leaders. Not only have they honed the operation into a safe and efficient machine but they demonstrate to the volunteers on the Vintage Flight Line that they are valued by their action. I can't tell you the number of times I've sat down with them to make suggestions to them or to ask questions. When the fertilizer hits the ventilator on the flight line, it's a short radio call to "Denver" (Mike) or "Colorado Cutie" (Kathy) to get assistance to resolve whatever the issue is.

Nobody has been able to explain or even guess at a reason why the Vintage Flight Line was "decapitated" in this manner or how we are going to proceed.

If you are a vintage member (or even not), I encourage you to contact the board (their information is in the back of the Vintage Airplane magazine). In the interest of not setting them up for a lot of spam, I won't post their information on this publicly readable forum.

FlyingRon
01-31-2017, 04:38 PM
My letter to the Vintage Board:

Subject: Removal of Vintage Flight Line Chairman

I am a twenty year volunteer on the Vintage Flight Line including being named volunteer of the year several years ago. I regulary put in xx hours before, during, and after the convention. This includes not only working just about every job there is no the vintage flight line (I have worked operations, all four points, parked airplanes, crowd control, cooked, setup, tore down, run out to get things duplicated, sorted through all the cell phone numbers of every pilot temporarily parked at Sloshkosh and then called them when we could move them to permanent parking) as well as other non-flight line jobs lugging cones, shuffling golf carts, and helping setup the type club area. I was disheartened to learn that Michael Kosta, Kathy McGurran, and Randy Hytry were removed from their chairmanship roles on the Vintage Flight Line. I have found Michael and Kathy to be exemplary leaders.

Perhaps what volunteers crave the most is that their efforts be valued. These chairmen by their actions make every volunteer feel valued. Their removal sends just the opposite message. The Vintage board appears not to value the efforts of the volunteers. Michael and Kathy are extremely accessible and capable managers. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve given them a call to help quickly and effectively resolve a situation on the field. Further, they’ve taken my suggestions both during the show and when we’ve talked over the winter to work on improving the flight line to maintain the safety of the visitors to the show and the orderly flow of aircraft in and out of the area.

In addition, to providing outstanding leadership, I know that they interface well with the other Oshkosh committees. I’ve been in our ops building when Cathy has worked out issues with chairmen from flight line safety and emergency aircraft repair.

I strongly request that this removal be reconsidered. Vintage needs effective leadership like Mike, Kathy, and Randy provide. Thank you for your consideration.
Ron Natalie

Mayhemxpc
01-31-2017, 05:40 PM
I hope this works out for Vintage, Ron!

TedK
01-31-2017, 10:49 PM
Ron- this may not have the effect you desire, but as a Vintage member, I am with you. By all accounts you and your colleagues have been exemplars. For the Vintage Board to take this unilateral action is completely unsatisfactory. If Vintage Board does not permit you all to respond to this and reconsider with an open mind, I will cease my Vintage membership.

VAA- what the heck is going on?

tedk

gbrasch
02-01-2017, 09:01 AM
I read your Vintage posts. Good luck Ron. I have volunteered for years and sometimes good volunteer leaders are hard to come by. We need the good ones, please keep us updated. Glenn

Antique Tower
02-03-2017, 02:42 AM
Hope the Board members remember how to ride scooters....

Kurt Flunkn
02-03-2017, 04:16 AM
Your answer is right here: http://www.antiqueairfield.com/aaa/

Vote with your feet.....

Floatsflyer
02-03-2017, 07:33 AM
Your answer is right here: http://www.antiqueairfield.com/aaa/

Vote with your feet.....

Did not find any apparent "answer" in the link you provided. No smoking gun anywhere. The link is a last update from Sept.1, 2016, almost 5 months before Ron informed us of what occurred this week. Please elaborate.

Ron, do you know what Kurt is talking about?

DaleB
02-03-2017, 08:24 AM
Did not find any apparent "answer" in the link you provided. No smoking gun anywhere. The link is a last update from Sept.1, 2016, almost 5 months before Ron informed us of what occurred this week. Please elaborate.

Ron, do you know what Kurt is talking about?
I believe Kurt is pointing out that there is an alternative to EAA and VAA. His link was to another organization entirely, hence the "vote with your feet" statement..

gbrasch
02-05-2017, 10:07 AM
Ron, anything new?

FlyingRon
02-05-2017, 07:48 PM
No, the EAA HQ, the EAA and VAA boards have stonewalled both the parties involved and all of underling volunteers. As near as we can tell by touching any part of the VAA or EAA nobody other the Geoff Robison has any idea what the issue is and he is not talking.

deftone
02-09-2017, 02:55 PM
It's a sad state of affairs when an organization is run in this manner. The board members are elected by the membership, it sounds like at the next opportunity there should be a change in leadership. It's one thing to make a decision like this, but to hide and not explain it shows that something else is going on behind the scenes.

StuBob
02-17-2017, 07:32 AM
Before going all talk radio, we should consider this: It's possible there are good reasons for this action. It's also possible that the board is keeping mum in order to protect the reputations of those dismissed.

I have no inside information, but I've seen this happen in other organizations. Whipping up a frenzy among hundreds of strangers on an Internet forum expresses indignation, but I've never seen it result in anything positive for anyone.

vaflier
02-17-2017, 09:20 PM
Ron, what reason have they been given as to why they were let go ? I find it hard to imagine they have no clue as to the cause of their dismissal. There are always two sides to a story and most of the time each party will have a very different story to tell. The board may well be afraid of legal action if they tell the story publically.

Kyle Boatright
02-17-2017, 09:30 PM
Ron, what reason have they been given as to why they were let go ? I find it hard to imagine they have no clue as to the cause of their dismissal. There are always two sides to a story and most of the time each party will have a very different story to tell. The board may well be afraid of legal action if they tell the story publically.

This.

In addition, without some communication by the board, how is the next crop of volunteers to avoid the same fate? "Conduct detrimental to Vintage" isn't exactly a roadmap to avoiding similar situations in the future.

Hal Bryan
02-18-2017, 09:33 AM
Hi guys -

I'm stepping in while Glory is in vacation. For now, this thread is locked. In addition, one post was removed because it contained a specific personal attack - remember to always keep it civil and respectful.

If you have questions or concerns, you can follow up with Glory on Monday.

Thanks -

Hal