Dan Gryder banned from Airventure

What is EAA's beef with Gryder and the other banees? Do they just have an aversion to armchair internet s***thouse experts?
 
What is EAA's beef with Gryder and the other banees? Do they just have an aversion to armchair internet s***thouse experts?
Don't have a specific answer on that. Surfing around, saw a report that he was at the controls of a DC-3 at OSH a few years back where his prop blast almost blew over a Piper (one report says the Piper was actually flipped, but I can't find an NTSB report on it). It's speculated that he was less than helpful in the discussions of the incident.

Ron Wanttaja
 
Holy s****. Of course EAA has a right to admit or refuse individuals at will, but publically calling them out like that borders on defamation.

Proving a case of defamation would require Gryder to stand up in a Court and prove the defamations are in fact wrong. I don’t think that is likely.

-Skip
 
Proving a case of defamation would require Gryder to stand up in a Court and prove the defamations are in fact wrong. I don’t think that is likely.

-Skip
Well and also establishing quantifiable damages. I just said the action of public banishment borders on defamation, not necessarily crosses it.
 
But EAA did not publicly proclaim that Gryder is banned. A security volunteer slipped up and let someone see the banned people list, and that person then took a photo and posted it. The one who saw the list should have had the discretion and foresight to pretend that he didn’t see it, and keep it confidential.
 
But EAA did not publicly proclaim that Gryder is banned. A security volunteer slipped up and let someone see the banned people list, and that person then took a photo and posted it. The one who saw the list should have had the discretion and foresight to pretend that he didn’t see it, and keep it confidential.
I see. I missed that part.
 
The one who saw the list should have had the discretion and foresight to pretend that he didn’t see it, and keep it confidential.

But certainly had no legal obligation to do so. Besides, keeping it confidential would have deprived POA of a three-page (so far) thread.
 
Evidently he knows he's banned. There is a video of him taunting people at OSH....
 
I mean, trollin' white sneakered nerds who take that carnie too seriously is not my going in plan for retirement, but it's entertaining to watch. Now, ducking out from said carnie, volunteer fuzz in rudderless pursuit, while the perp's in crutches, and gets away lol. Take away his uncharitable takes for a second, it's just a damn good story, excellent potential for retirement home 10% truth legend-building.

That comment section is cooking though. Two of the people in question participate here, so I'll stay out of it and won't screenshot the YT feed.
 
pretty clever of DG to be on crutches (probably ditched them to make his escape, eh?)
 
It’s amazing after those injuries that Dan is moving around like that.
 
Hello everyone, this is the real life Paul Koepnick from the banned list. I somehow ran across this thread and instead of being embarrassed and hide, I thought I would be a man, and be transparent about what happened almost 10 years ago so that you don't have to dig around and speculate and poke fun at what happened in my life. Now I take full responsibility for all of the outcomes that lead to this situation and the consequences of my life choices. Like anyone, I make mistakes, and unfortunately my mistakes became public record. Be grateful that your skeletons and the things you are ashamed of were not misconstrued or aired for the world to see.

Anyway let me give you some facts and let you make your own opinions about me:

I came to EAA that year to work sales for a start up cooler/AC company called icy breeze that a few years ago was featured on shark tank.

I had/have a real actually non profit called Proud Local Inc. you can verify in the business entity search that I started in 05/2015. It dissolved in 2018 but I reinstated it in 2023. All fund raising was legitimate and by the book.

Its true that after the event I asked to stay onsite, I signed up to be a volunteer where in the EAA volunteer handbook it specifically states " During the week of AirVenture alone, there are 130 different volunteer areas. These volunteer opportunities can be pre-event, during the fly-in , and post-convention. The time commitment can be flexible, with opportunities being only a couple hours, a few days, a week, or even months. EAA also encourages family volunteering for families with youth under 14 years old, which means there are volunteer opportunities for every age and of all interests."

It also states if you are volunteering you are allowed to camp on the grounds. https://www.eaa.org/eaa/support-eaa/volunteer/articles/2014-09-volunteering-at-airventure-oshkosh

I was digging through dumpsters because people would fly in to OSH buy brand new camping equipment from target, use it for a week, and then throw it away because they couldn't take it on the plane. I literally wasn't doing it for profit, I just thought it was a great opportunity to donate it to goodwill, salvation army, shelters, which I have proof that I did. I hauled it all with my own truck and asked for nothing in return, I went to airventure and told them exactly what I was doing, I never tried to hide it, but what my mistake was that I blasted the wasteful practices all over social media....This is what ****ed them off. I was making EAA look bad for exploiting an oversight as neglect and then painting myself as the good guy and EAA as the bad guy. I found out pretty quick in private against my will how upset they were at me, but who is going to believe me...I had good intentions, and the proof to back it up, but my desire for admiration for it and my behavior was wrong. I truly was trying to be of service, but it was never asked for and that was my fault.

They ended up confiscating my camping equipment, my computer, my tablet, my phone, everything I had and refused to give it back. What was I going to do call the cops?


As for the check, that was a miscommunication with my parents regarding non profit contributions and how I used those funds, and I settled that financial conundrum myself when I got home.

In my desperation and out of fear, I do admit that I took a car I believed a "friend" gave me permission to use. They were not aware that I took it, and when I came back to drop off the car, I was arrested and got a "Joy riding" misdemeanor. No damage, no one got hurt. I made a huge error in judgement and paid the humiliating price for it and live with the public reminder of it daily. And I have no one to blame for it but myself. I went through a lot of stressful **** in a short amount of time and I broke, I'm not making an excuse but I cracked and I couldn't get my feet back underneath me. I understand The truth of it all is very difficult to believe but that is all I got, and I am at peace with it all and after 10 years I am willing to be transparent about it. Again, I have nothing to hide anymore.

I find it amusing that they still have me on some banned list like I am going to show up and make a scene. I have turned my life around, got married, have a family, run a successful business, and I have zero interest in going to EAA. I have never even stepped foot in OSH in almost 10 years. If you are curious in what I do, watch the videos of my cold water immersion practice and how I teach people to overcome fear and trauma, so they don't have to live through the hell that I did. I wish EAAA nothing but the best. Planes are cool, EAA is cool, the people are cool, but I don't need to rock the boat and make more of a spectacle of myself. I'll leave everyone alone but can we please return the favor.

I will end with this, everyone makes mistakes, nobody is perfect, especially me, but my character is defined by what I do next not what happened yesterday. And tomorrow I will be better, I will do better and I will learn, adapt, and I will be kind to others and help empower them instead of putting them down. I feel for those men on those list, I don't know what they did, I am not justifying their behavior and understand if they are a continued threat they don't deserve the privilege to attend a private event. If this continued embarrassment is my consequence then fine, I will live with that. You can make fun of me all that you want, you have every right to, just be mindful that I am trying to be an example of resilience for my kids and my family. Your words don't effect me much but they do effect my kids and my family. I cannot tell you how to behave on here, but I hope we can all try to learn, grow, and choose to be better. What would you do if it was your face on that list? I know I would respect a man who stood up and took ownership. So I hope I can earn a little respect from you now.
 
Paul: to paraphrase George W Bush, many of us were young and irresponsible when we were young and irresponsible. You are not alone in that regard. Try not to be too hard on yourself, and be thankful for what you have now. Life is long, and you are not forever defined by youthful errors.
 
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Ron Wattanja already posted the Oshkosh newspaper article on Paul K's escapades.

While volunteers get camping credentials under certain circumstances (you have to put in a certain number of hours and then you get comped for the NEXT year). It's not the case that if you say you're volunteering or show up for one shift somewhere that you can camp willy nilly how you like. It also doesn't mean you can trespass on the EAA grounds (Schoeller is not public land) after the show has concluded. And just because someone leaves keys in a car doesn't make it up for grabs.
 
And just because someone leaves keys in a car doesn't make it up for grabs.
One company I flew for had a scheduler who was, well, wound up just a little too tight. I lived in a rural cold state, and she was in the metro area. During cold snaps, it’s not unusual where I lived to leave cars running in the parking lot while shopping.

She called while I happened to be in the local fleet store picking something up, and when she was done with whatever she needed to talk about, I said, “well, I better get back to my truck before it runs out of gas.” She responded with”you people think you can just leave the keys in your cars and nobody will steal them.” I said, “well, what if somebody else’s car runs out of gas and they need to take mine to the gas station so they can get theirs filled up again?”

Oh, the string of words that came through the phone! :rofl:
 
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