2021 Raffle Winners Come to Oshkosh to Claim Their Prizes

September 9, 2021 – Juliana Hart, winner of the 2021 Young Eagles Mustang Raffle, and her husband Michael picked up their brand-new 2020 Ford Mustang GT convertible on Thursday, September 2.

Juliana, EAA 1291251, of Rockford, Illinois, said they were very surprised when they got the phone call. In fact, when the call came in, she was so nervous she made Michael answer the phone.

“We were together, and I was like ‘Why is EAA calling?’ Immediately I was like what did I do? Did my member card not go through for the discount, did I trip over a plane? So, I was like ‘Oh my god, you answer!’”

When Michael handed the phone over to Juliana, she said she just sat there for a moment in disbelief. When it finally sank in that she had won, she was beyond thrilled.

“We were shocked, and very excited,” she said. “The first thing we did was call the kids down and tell them. There was a lot of jumping and screaming.”

Juliana said the first stop in the new vehicle is to pick up the kids from school.

“They are so excited,” Juliana said. “They already asked if they could have it when they turn 16. They said that they want to be picked up from school in the new Mustang, so that’s where we’re headed!”

Michael said that he and his wife have been entering the raffle contest every year for the past five years.

“We strongly believe in the cause that this supports, we donate a lot to it every year, and we will continue to do so,” Michael said.

Juliana and Michael weren’t the only excited and happy raffle recipients to pick up their prize in recent days.

Mark Kaidan, EAA 463449, of Brooklyn, Michigan, officially became the custodian of a PA-18 replica, the grand prize of EAA’s Great 2021 Aircraft Raffle, on Wednesday, Sept. 8, when he came to Oshkosh to sign paperwork with his wife, Jean.

Mark has been entering into EAA’s sweepstakes contest, and now aircraft raffle, for 30 years. When he received the phone call that he had finally won, he couldn’t believe it. In fact, his first words were, “Is this a scam?”

“I said no way, I couldn’t believe it,” Mark said. “It was pretty surreal for quite a while. It was a bit of a shocker.”

While Mark is not currently tailwheel endorsed, he said he’s always wanted to fly one. In fact, Mark is currently halfway through building a taildragger kit at the moment.

“I’m halfway through building a GlaStar right now, so this [the PA-18] will kind of be a prelude to that,” Mark said. “It’s pretty cool that it’s a taildragger. I’ve always wanted a Piper Cub, which this is.”

Winning this PA-18 will get him into a taildragger sooner than he ever anticipated. Mark’s future plans for the airplane are to eventually outfit it with either floats or skis.

“The airfield I live on, the gentleman there, was talking about going in with me on putting some floats on it, and maybe some skis in the wintertime,” Mark said. “I think it would be a lot of fun.”

Congratulations, Juliana and Mark!