When surrounded by thousands of EAAers and their airplanes, people don’t often think of the work involved to prepare Wittman Regional Airport, the 1,400 acre stage on which the annual EAA AirVenture takes place. Some of the preparations are small, like replacing sun-faded windsocks, like this one.

“There’s a lot of grass mowing,” says Airport Manager Pete Moll. Crews cut it shorter than normal for aircraft operations, taxiing to and from parking and camping areas in the grass on both sides of Runway 9 (the North 40) and west of Runway 36. It takes roughly seven days to cut 1,000 acres, “and then we start all over again.”

When they are not cutting grass, the four full-timers, one part timer, and two seasonal employees are painting pavement. To keep airplanes moving smoothly and safely at the world’s busiest airport (for that week), controllers tell pilots to land on a specific color dot painted on the runway.

Nearly 100 feet in diameter, the dots on east/west Runway 9/27 are white, green, and orange. On the north/south Runway 36/18 they are blue, pink, yellow, and green. Crews also obliterate the big 18 on the main runway to reduce confusion for pilots assigned to land on the parallel taxiway, which has temporary markings as Runway 18 Right/36 Left, Said Moll.

All temporary markings, except for the dots, must be removed after AirVenture. To make this job easier, Wittman crews are using a new paint this year, he continues. Spraying it with a separate chemical loosens it up for the pressure washer.

As opening day approaches, the Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting crews, on duty 24/7/365, train and review their procedures and operational plans for every AirVenture possibility. They close Runways 22 and 31, which become parking areas, blocking the ends with a big, flashing X.

They also remove select landing and taxiway lights leading to the grass areas where airplanes park. During AirVenture, the airport is closed from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m., so we don’t need the lights, Moll explains, adding that it’s cheaper to remove them than replace those inadvertently hit by airplanes.

It’s a lot of work, and during AirVenture the staff breaks into two shifts, with John Dorcey, manager of maintenance and operations leading the morning crew, from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Moll leading the second shift from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. But that certainly doesn’t mean the airport crews have actually left the airport. They’re often around much later.

In the end, said Moll, the work is all worth it because AirVenture “is a lot of fun, and it’s something you’ll not see at any other airport.”

Scott Spangler