Young Eagles Raffle Winners Collect 2018 Mustang

September 17, 2018 - Joe, EAA 725810 and Kathy, EAA 1181912, Veile came to EAA headquarters on Monday to collect their new 2018 Ford Mustang GT Convertible after they purchased the winning ticket for the 2018 Young Eagles Raffle.

According to Joe, it was Kathy’s idea to get the ticket, and the two of them initially decided to purchase it to support Young Eagles, not to win any prize.

“We entered [the Young Eagles raffle] here on the grounds during AirVenture,” Joe said. “We were walking around inside the Ford tent and saw the raffle booth there. She walked up and said. ‘You need to do this.’ She was the instigator. I said alright, it’s a good cause.”

Neither Joe nor Kathy expected to actually win the Mustang, and when the call came Joe was out of town and on a flight. Kathy said before they found out they won they actually joked about the possibility.

“I was shocked,” Kathy said. “All weekend long I kept telling him, ‘Did you miss a call from Oshkosh?’ And he was laughing, like, ‘You’re funny.’”

Joe and Kathy have been EAA members and have made the annual trip to AirVenture for several years now. Joe, who is a private pilot who owns an RV-7 and is currently working on building an RV-14, said his work as an engineer at Boeing meant it always made sense to get to Oshkosh.

“Oshkosh and EAA were always touted as having creativity and ingenuity,” Joe said. “Being an engineer by trade, it was, ‘Go to Oshkosh, you’ll see stuff you’ve never seen anywhere else.’”

When she was asked if there would be room in their garage for the new Mustang, Kathy laughed and said they would be sure to make some if they had to. Both she and Joe said they were grateful to receive the Mustang.

“We’d just like to thank the whole EAA,” Joe said. “It’s a very worthwhile aviation organization, what they’re doing for the community that participates. We really appreciate it.”