Mark
Dave
Laura
Gerri
Chris
Our Board
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President
Gerri's lifelong passion for aviation has been shaped by her hometown's proximity to one of the nation's busiest airports, ORD. Her fascination with flight began in the early 1960s, when her father introduced her to the thrill of plane spotting at ORD. Later, with her own driver's license, she regularly visited O'Hare and the Glenview Naval Air Station to observe aircraft and capture photographs.
Throughout her personal and business travels, Gerri has flown on a variety of aircraft, including several Boeing and Airbus models, helicopters, and both single and multi-engine propeller planes. She delights in every aspect of air travel and eagerly anticipates each new journey. With a wealth of captivating stories about her travels and the crew members she’s met along the way, Gerri brings a unique perspective to aviation.
As a Board Member, Gerri is dedicated to enhancing the OAW experience, ensuring it is both enjoyable and educational for all members.
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Vice President & Secretary
I’ve had a life-long passion for planes and aviation. As a family when I was young, we traveled by air for vacations a lot. Taking my first flight when I was two in 1972, I’ve been fascinated with air travel ever since. I’m primarily an av-geek and a model collector. I have over 300 model aircraft in my collection. My late father gave me my first model plane when I was ten: a 1/200 scale Northwest Orient Airlines 727-200. My favorite aircraft is the 727-200 flown by Eastern Airlines in the white livery and the 787-9 flown by American. I love traveling and have been to Moscow, London, Anchorage, Aruba, and everywhere in between. My favorite airport is of course O’Hare. I also collect anything related to airlines and aircraft in general. My home contains a pair of first class seats from an American Airlines 767, numerous galley and service carts, full sets of china from Pan Am, TWA, Eastern, and Delta. Silver service, silverware, ticket envelopes, safety cards, a black-box flight data recorder, an overwing exit door from an E-175, the avionics hatch from a 747, etc, etc…! My husband and teen-age daughter are very accommodating of my hobby and my eccentricities. I love it and thankfully, they love me! In my former professional life I was an 8th grade US History teacher and then eventually spent 15 years as an elementary school principal at two schools in Chicago’s western suburbs. After leaving education, I spent several years working first for Jet Blue Airways and then American Airlines at ORD. I spent a year working in American’s hub operations control tower in Terminal 3. It was amazing, but the graveyard shift got to me. I got involved in planespotting at O’Hare and Midway in 2016. I mainly enjoy tracking and watching the air traffic and taking photos of airplanes with my trusty phone camera. I discovered and then joined OAW in 2019. I enjoy being with other OAW members and talking about our shared passion for aviation. Since retiring and after volunteering to help with the OAW 15th anniversary celebrations last fall, I decided to run for the Board to help advance OAW into our next season of fun and activities for our membership. I look forward to meeting you at one of our many upcoming events, virtually or in person. In the meantime, Happy Planespotting!
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Treasurer
I got into aviation when I got lost at O’Hare back in the early 70’s and I was hooked ever since. I tried to become a commercial pilot, but color blindness got in the way. After college, I worked for Air Wisconsin and was a load planner. I have always been interested in photography, but in the last three years, I started photographing Airshows and the Blue Angels in Chicago and St Louis.
My history with OAW has been very short. I joined in March 2023 and have shot planes on the hill 4 times at O’Hare. Can’t wait to for the weather to break so I can take more images.
My favorite airplane of all time is the DC-10. The sound of those engines taking off is spectacular. My favorite airport is O’Hare.
Mike
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Director
My aviation interest stemmed from my father talking about his early life in Flat, Alaska in the mid 1930’s. (Flat is a small gold-mining town about 8 miles from Iditarod, having a population of 150 people at that time). He told many stories about different planes flying in the interior of Alaska. Several included bush pilots who stopped by their modest house to hear weather reports from a distant radio station in McGrath, as they patiently awaited weather to clear before they flew. My father and I visited Flat in 1992, arriving from McGrath on a small US mail plane for $75 per ticket. I found out quickly how truly remote his early life was and why I heard so many early stories about airplanes. In the Alaskan bush, the quote was, “There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots. But, there are no old, bold pilots”.
In recent years, I have enjoyed learning new skills primarily in landscape and astro-photography. In 2020, I found an amazing airplane photo taken at ORD and posted on social media. The photographer worked for ATC, which I thought was the only way to have access to taking a photo like that. He shared that the photo was because he was a member of OAW, not his controller position. I joined OAW in 2021 and continue to enjoy learning more about aviation and exploring the photography opportunities with other group members.
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Director
I’ve been an avgeek since I was a toddler, when my airplane-obsessed father started teaching me about them, but I didn’t know that it was a “thing” until the summer of 2021. Coming out of the pandemic, I was really struggling personally and my morbid fascination with watching Air Disasters led me out of the darkness and into the light, where the YouTube algorithm began feeding me aviation content that led me to discover ORD Airport Watch. Joining the group was a no-brainer, and it inspired me to buy my first “real” camera and start learning how to use something more complex than my iPhone. Though I live up in Madison, Wisconsin, I had no qualms about regularly driving down to ORD to bask in the smell of jet fuel and the roar of GE90 engines. I soon discovered that there are a LOT of other people just as weirdly obsessed with aviation as me!
In 2023, I got more active with ORD Airport Watch. Before I knew what was happening, I was running for a spot on the board, and despite having no aspirations to be in charge of anything, I found myself in the role of Vice President. This is a responsibility that I do not take lightly! I’m a Communication Studies student at UW Oshkosh, so I have lots of ideas and enthusiasm for fostering member and community engagement.
My favorite airplane is naturally the Boeing 747, but I also have a deep affinity for the Boeing 777, 787, and the Airbus A380 (a sweet, sweet ride on the upper deck!), A330, A340, and A350. Honorable mentions go to the McDonnell Douglas DC-10/MD-11. The bigger the aircraft, the better!
When I’m not planespotting, I’m Mama to the two Cavalier King Charles spaniels I share with my partner, Rob. I’m also a semi-professional baker, as well as an occasional circus performer (aerial dance). It probably goes without saying, but I also love to travel. ORD is my favorite close-to-home airport but it gets edged out slightly by London Heathrow, which is a truly magical planespotting destination with incredibly diverse air traffic.
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Director
As a boy I had a small, silver pedal plane with stubby wings. Its prop spun as I went down the sidewalk. That was “it.”
Aviation is magical. Every take-off and every landing are wonderous. The sun’s rays, clouds, wind, and the earth’s tapestry all unfold around me. I can really fly. None of this should be happening. Yet, there it all is.
I’m especially fond of the Hill and Beeline Drive. It’s exciting to capture these big, “bad boys” in my viewfinder as they rumble in.
Favorite Planes (in no particular order)
de Havilland Mosquito
Avro Lancaster
Douglas DC-3
North American P-51 Mustang
McDonald Douglas F-15 Eagle
Piper L-4 Grasshopper
Pan Am China Clipper flying boats
Boeing 747
Lockheed P-38 Lightening
Blériot XI
The Pan Am China Clippers grip me like no others. Can you imagine, in the 1930’s, flying thousands of miles, low and slow, over the barely charted Pacific to the mysterious Far East, water landings and receptions at exotic, mid-ocean hideaways, in a magnificent four-engine flying boat? Utterly and totally incredible.