After 35 years of
AirVentures, FAA staffer to retire
By Jack Hodgson
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Mike Simon Photo
by Dave Higdon |
Mike Simon was an FAA
staffer here at Wittman Field back when the EAA Oshkosh fly-in first
came to town. And this year he’s back again, volunteering to support
the radio and other electronics facilities, for one last time before he
retires after 35 years.
In the ’70s, Simon was
newly out of the U.S. Air Force, and he came to work for the FAA here in
Oshkosh. He remained here for about five years before moving on to other
FAA facilities. Over those years, he has repeatedly returned here during
the fly-in to help out.
Mike is not an aircraft
controller. He’s one of the less obvious, but very important, team
members supporting the infrastructure of the world’s busiest airport.
Mike’s portion of the
FAA operation is called airway facilities. They come to town a week or
two in advance of the fly-in to set up all the extra communications and
other electronics systems for the event.
"We fire up extra
frequencies, set up the ‘moocows.’ It’s a lot of work for us. We
put a lot of time in, before, during, and after."
The ‘moocows’ are the
temporary control towers out at the edge of the runways. It’s not an
official name, but Mike says it stands for something like mobile
communications outlet.
Most recently Mike has
worked for the FAA at the Green Bay facility as an electronics
technician.
Mike has "38 Mondays
to go" before his retirement begins. He says he’s interested in
getting involved with ultralight flying.
The AirVenture FAA Tower
staff are well known for their fluorescent pink shirts. But back when
Mike started here, the fly-in tower staff wore yellow shirts. Mike
managed to dig out one of these original shirts (it still fits!) and was
wearing it on his final day here to commemorate his start all those
years ago.
