When he visited the pop-up Boeing Store at AirVenture, Wick made a beeline for the Plane Tags – an Oshkosh exclusive coming soon to other company stores. Though his background gave him plenty of first-hand experience to choose between, one tag stood out from all the rest: the McDonnell Douglas DC-9.
“That was my favorite plane,” Wick said. “And one of the first ones I ever flew commercially. I remember when they started designing that airplane — it was a very radical thing. At the time people said we never approved it — a jet airliner with only a three‑man crew — but it really changed things.”
He remains quite fond of the Boeing 757, too, which he referred to as a “hot rod.”
“It was the first time I flew a plane that had more horsepower than I knew what to do with – in a good way,” Wick said.
Standing in the Boeing Store, studying the rack of plane tags both historic and up to the present day, jogged all of these memories. Wick is who this experience is designed for: aviation enthusiasts for whom EAA AirVenture is something akin to a pilgrimage.
“Flying was all I wanted to do,” Wick said. “I remember being three years old and wanting to fly; it’s been my dream my whole life. Being here connects me with that.”
Driving the news: Boeing Store employees said the first few days in Oshkosh have been packed with interest, especially around America250 merchandise.
- “Day one here at Oshkosh has been amazing,” said Jennifer Reed, Boeing Store operations. “It’s great to interact with customers and hear their stories, why they’re here and what the Boeing brand means to them.”
- “Our America250 collection has been a hit in the store and is doing really well,” Reed added. “You can see the excitement at the front of the store. People are lined up because they want to shop our brand.”
- Mabe Brown, merchandise and experience manager, said the energy at the event was “contagious” and reflected “the passion for aviation everywhere.”
