Warbird Ground... The Donut Man... An Intrepid Airman... The Champ Incident.

It's 6:15 a.m. and the sun has been up for half an hour. A few early risers are slowly moving to the showers near the edge of the North Forty campgrounds.

Inside the Warbirds fence, Mike Wagnon, coffee in hand, is looking forward to another day of directing planes and keeping the EAA AirVenture crowds out of harms way.

Mike is from Seattle, Washington where he is an engineer for Boeing at Paine Field. He's been a Warbird line operations volunteer at Oshkosh for eight years now. He says most of the line volunteers come back every year. "Alot of them are retired guys who travel to fly-ins all over the country - here, Sun 'n Fun, Arlington - just to help out with these airplanes."

Mike, and many of the rest of the line crew, will work all day, from early in the morning until the field closing at sunset.

Around 6:30 a.m. the line people will start preparing for the arrival of the aircraft crews. Early morning flights often consist of photo missions, rides for VIPs, occasional last minute training missions, and of course, just going out to fly for the joy of it.

Time to make the donuts. One of our favorite times and places at the fly-in is early morning at Ace's Cafeteria where we get our coffee and a fresh baked donut. The donuts are the product of Bill Stiedemann and his crew.

Stiedemann arrives at 4:30 a.m. each morning during the fly-in. The cafeteria opens to the public at six, but Bill also puts together orders for the volunteer committees here at EAA AirVenture. "It's one of the perks of volunteering, free donuts," he says.

Bill's not really sure how long he's been making donuts for the fly-in. "I forget when I started. I think it was about 12 to14 years ago." He estimates that these days he and his crew make from 2,500 to 3,500 donuts each day during the convention.

You can say good morning to Bill, and pick up a fresh baked donut, each day at Ace's Cafeteria which is just south of the NASA exhibit hall.

Harry Wilson is the editor of "The Intrepid Airmen", the newsletter of EAA Chapter 62 in San Jose, California. Seven years ago, at a time of life when some people settle down and do less, the septagenerian Wilson began to pursue his lifelong, but always postponed, love for aviation.

He became an EAA member in 1991. "My son gave me a birthday present of an EAA membership," he remembers. Two years later his chapter needed a new editor, so he volunteered.

In the five years since he took over, "The Intrepid Airmen" has repeatedly won 2nd or 3rd place in the annual EAA McKillop Award for chapter newsletters. This year he and his team won the 1st place prize.

Harry, now 77, has never learned to fly. "All my life, ever since Lindbergh, I've been fascinated with aviation. But I could never afford it." But now he's determined to make it happen. In the past year he's gotten his medical and taken ground school. He's hoping to begin flight lessons soon at Watsonville Airport, which is a short drive from his home in Rio Del Mar, California.

"The thing I like about EAA is the people and the airplanes. The other day I sat here," he said from his seat in the Volunteer Center where he's helping out during the fly-in, "and watched a hundred crosswind landing. I was riveted. We talked them over and I was able to learn a great deal. It's a wonderful thing."

Now that he's won 1st place surely he'll slow down. Nope. The members of Chapter 62 have elected him the be president next year.

The EAA McKillop 1st Place Award this year was also shared by David McGowan of Chapter 242, Columbia, South Carolina, and Cecil Hatfield of Chapter 723, Camarillo, California.

The first-time Oshkosh attendee from Ames, Iowa had asked for suggestions on what to see. When directed to the Warbirds area he said. "My father flew Corsairs." Like so many things at the fly-in, this triggered a memory.

"When I was two my father was taking me for a ride in his Champ. My mother was strapped into the back and he set me in the front. When he hand-propped the engine, I did what I'd seen him do so many times. I pushed in the throttle.

"Well, my mother and I went rolling across the field, with my father chasing behind. He lost both his shoes running. Finally, he grabbed the wing strut just as we were about to go into the fence.

"I rode in the back after that."

The first-timer from Ames headed off for the Antique/Classics flight line. Probably looking for a Champ.