Asked to give presentation

[propsync]

Hi Group,

I've been asked to give a presentation on home building to an open group of people who will be attending a county aviation authority open house.

There are 4 programs, the group of people get to decide which they will choose to attend. I'm told my program is going to be the larger of the 4. I'm up against Wings program, advanced guide to holding, and avoiding loss of control.

The audience sounds like it is going to be pilots.

I wanted to get input from you on some must have topics !! Off the top of my head, here is what I have so far not in order.

My background
Benefits of experimental
Mechanics license
aluminum vs composite
airplane mission
Tools / space
EAA info including Eagles and Young Eagles, joining a chapter
photos of my build
popular manufacturers
handouts at the end (magazines, flight school info, building instructions page)
Q&A

Please chime in!

[TX7A]

Many years ago at a SWRFI, I listened to Mel give a presentation on the subject*; something like: "So You Want to Build an Airplane"...
I bet he has some pointers.




* I hold Mel totally responsible for getting me into this adventure.

[scrollF4]

My initial thought: that's a big speech, if you want to cover all those sub-topics. How much time have they given you? I'd budget 2/3d to 3/4ths to talking, leaving the rest to Q&A.

Having said that, I think you've listed a great cross-board list of topics, that could be grouped into 'hands-on building', engineering aspects, and the regulatory aspects. From that, maybe your hosts could let you know what they want you to emphasize--there's your focus area.

[RV7A Flyer]

You need to pick a theme. That's a monster list of things, each of which could be a talk in and of itself.

What is the primary idea you want to communicate to the audience?

[Staunch111]

How much time is allocated to the presentation? My thoughts - pick 4 or 5 topics and give them the choice of 2 or 3. You need to qualify your audeience. By doing so, you engage your audience from the start. Do a Q&A, invite them to ask questions on the presented material, but allow scope for questions on other categories. Provide a handout of tips and tricks (particulary w.r.t tool selection for newbies and reference material for key websites).

[terrykohler]

The topic might be...
"So Easy Anyone Can Do It!"
In the early days of homebuilding (60's), builders were aeronautical engineers who designed and built from scratch. They had names like Van Grunsven, and Rutan.
These early builders sold or shared plans to their designs. The next generation of builders (70's) were just that. Building someone else's designs from scratch. Many were skilled mechanics.
Then came the ability to buy components.
After that, complete kits.
Today you can buy a kit that's so precise, no rigging or fixtures are required. You don't have to be an aeronautical engineer, or even an A&P. If you can follow directions, you'll have a finished plane built so exactingly, that you'll know the entire performance envelope within a couple of knots - even before you fly it.
You can have a 150+ kt. aircraft that stalls like Cherokee, climbs like a Baron, and will cruise great distances sipping 8 gallons per hour.
These designs are so well recognized that insurance companies can offer complete coverage for less than $1,000 per year.
You can do your own maintenance.
Best of all, if you have any question during or after your build, you can go online to sites like www.vansairforce.net and get literally dozens of inputs within seconds.
Still think building might be too hard? Homebuilts are about 15% of the GA fleet today and growing - you can even get "quickbuild kits". Still too hard? Check out Glasstar's "Two Weeks to Taxi". Still too hard? Look for a used homebuilt - there's a substantial market already out there.
The RV14 assembly instructions are a great example of the evolution of home building.
Just some ideas if your audience is likely to be pilots or wanna be pilots who know little about homebuilding.
If a projector is available... I love pictures.
Good Luck. Have fun.
Terry, CFI
RV9A N323TP

[Jim T]

Originally Posted by terrykohler

The topic might be...
"So Easy Anyone Can Do It!"
In the early days of homebuilding (60's), builders were aeronautical engineers who designed and built from scratch. They had names like Van Grunsven, and Rutan.
These early builders sold or shared plans to their designs. The next generation of builders (70's) were just that. Building someone else's designs from scratch. Many were skilled mechanics.
Then came the ability to buy components.
After that, complete kits.
Today you can buy a kit that's so precise, no rigging or fixtures are required. You don't have to be an aeronautical engineer, or even an A&P. If you can follow directions, you'll have a finished plane built so exactingly, that you'll know the entire performance envelope within a couple of knots - even before you fly it.
You can have a 150+ kt. aircraft that stalls like Cherokee, climbs like a Baron, and will cruise great distances sipping 8 gallons per hour.
These designs are so well recognized that insurance companies can offer complete coverage for less than $1,000 per year.
You can do your own maintenance.
Best of all, if you have any question during or after your build, you can go online to sites like www.vansairforce.net and get literally dozens of inputs within seconds.
Still think building might be too hard? Homebuilts are about 15% of the GA fleet today and growing - you can even get "quickbuild kits". Still too hard? Check out Glasstar's "Two Weeks to Taxi". Still too hard? Look for a used homebuilt - there's a substantial market already out there.
The RV14 assembly instructions are a great example of the evolution of home building.
Just some ideas if your audience is likely to be pilots or wanna be pilots who know little about homebuilding.
If a projector is available... I love pictures.
Good Luck. Have fun.
Terry, CFI
RV9A N323TP

That would be a wonderful presentation!

Along those same lines adding some info about ELSA & now SLSA airplanes. Differences between EAB & ELSA. ex. Fly-off times

Jim

[flyboy1963]

Tom, I'm like you when i plan to give a talk. My syllabus for the young Eagles ground school covers at least 6 hours of material. I usually find I have time for only one or two main themes, and zing! 15 minutes have passed.

Terry's list is great; here's another idea....steal (borrow) a builder's blog & photos, and run thru the 20 main steps in construction of an RV-12 for example.
At the end, show that it was built in 9 months, by a half-dozen 15-year old kids!
Can't make a much stronger case than that, how kit-building has become pretty straight-forward, accessible, and achievable, .....even affordable when partnered!

[rbibb]

FWIW from someone who gives a lot of presentations for a living?.

Remember KISS.

I would take the list of topics you have and narrow it down to maybe three.

Consider that audience will likely be quite varied in its knowledge even if they are pilots.

I'd do a slide or two on just what the EAB category is and what allows us to do this. A nice summary of the history could also introduce and explain what EAA is and how it came about.

I'd talk about the evolution of home building from scratch built one offs to quickbuild kits. I wouldn't spend a lot of time on construction details or methods. That is the second talk to give for those who are more serious about the topic.

Include lots of pictures on the slides and talk to the pictures. A good range of examples of homebuilts can illustrate the range in size and sophistication of what has been built. Include the Voyager as one of the pictures as most probably don't realize that was a "homebuilt"?

Less words on the slide the better and NEVER read them (you go in with the assumption they can read you are just amplifying what they are reading - this is why you have few words on slides so they can see them and read them quickly).

Conclude with a "want to learn more?" slide with contact info and resources.

Avoid the temptation to try to tell it all. Lastly like to old preacher said -organize the talk like he did his sermons:

"I tells 'em what I'm going to tell 'em"
"I tells 'em"
"I tell 'em hat I told 'em"

Remember - LESS IS MORE. Just want to educate a bit and get them curious to want to learn more. Stick to basics as most people have not real clue as to the basics of what we do even if they think they do.

[Moondog]

You might start with a sample of stupid questions builders must endure, just to get your audience's attention with a bit of humor. For some good material, see Paul Tuttle's thread.