Homebuilding’s Perseverance Award

I caught up with EAA’s Charlie Becker—which is easy to do as he drags around the weighty title Director for Chapters & Communities and the Manager of the Homebuilt Community—at AirVenture’s Homebuilding Headquarters. The conversation turned quickly to homebuilding’s Perseverance Award, which recognizes EAA members who “..have pursued, with stamina and tenacity, the ultimate fulfillment of building an aircraft no matter how long it took.” The award, a wooden plaque, is given to homebuilders the first year they register their homebuilt at AirVenture. The story behind the award—formerly a ribbon, formerly a Snoopy toy—is worth telling.

At the 1977 EAA Fly-in Dr. Bergon “Doc” Brokaw displayed his Brokaw Bullet for the first time, to the delight of thousands. The grass around Doc’s Bullet lay trampled, earning the aircraft the unofficial “dead grass” award. While the Bullet attracted throngs, Doc’s wife, known fondly as “Miss Buddy,” noticed the nearby aircraft were largely ignored. She knew each of those aircraft represented someone’s tireless effort, over many years, to complete as well as the effort needed to fly it to Oshkosh. To recognize those efforts, she began placing Snoopy toys on each aircraft. Her effort continued year after year and became known as the Brokaw Perseverance Award. In time the Snoopy toys were replaced by yellow ribbons. Today, EAA continues the tradition begun by Miss Buddy by presenting a plaque and baseball cap to all EAA members registering their homebuilt at AirVenture for the first time. Be warned, however, the homebuilt registration team presents both with a song written specifically for the occasion.