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EAA Chapters?

Fenderbean

Well Known Member
I wanted to have my tail kit and work done so far inspected and get opinions on a few things, the local EAA chapter doesn't seem to respond to emails or hasn't yet anyway. Do certain chapter not offer this type of help?
Thanks
 
Yep, dive in and go meet some folks at your local chapter. Look up a counselor or two and make contact with them. Think of it more of an interaction than a service ...

It shouldn't take long to get hooked up with someone who will take interest in you and your project, you'll be on your way.

Cheers
 
I wanted to have my tail kit and work done so far inspected and get opinions on a few things, the local EAA chapter doesn't seem to respond to emails or hasn't yet anyway. Do certain chapter not offer this type of help?
Thanks

EAA chapters are community groups, not service providers. If you join in and participate in their community I'm guessing you'll find plenty of help, and maybe some friends.
All that said, not all chapters are really that active, including not very active in monitoring incoming emails, so you'll probably need to do some more exploring. Sometimes nearby communities have more active chapters.
Good luck.
 
Being located in Huntsville go out to the local airports KMDQ & KHUA and do a little visiting, if you’re friendly and seem sincere I’am sure someone will steer you in the right direction.
 
I wanted to have my tail kit and work done so far inspected and get opinions on a few things, the local EAA chapter doesn't seem to respond to emails or hasn't yet anyway. Do certain chapter not offer this type of help?
Thanks

I went to a few EAA meetings when I first moved here. The guys were all friendly, but in the 3 or 4 meetings I attended there was:

a) a lot of local political talk and turmoil over chapter leadership. (this could have just been bad timing, as it was mostly stemming from one person/incidence/issue)

b) very little experimental aviation talk. I didn't meet one other person who had built or was building, I guess there were a couple members that had but they weren't very active/there when I was.

c) I met another guy on the field who was building an RV and he didn't have anything great to say about the chapter either from the experimental aviation side...

so not all EAA chapters are "builder centric" or have the ability/knowledge to give inspections/advice...
 
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As has been mentioned, each chapter is a unique entity. They each have a collective "personality" that is the sum of the interests of the active members. Some chapters are VERY builder-centric, and some are exactly the opposite.

The chapter I helped found back in the day started out very much a builder chapter, with several projects under construction. But over time, the projects got finished and no new ones were started, and and as member came and went the chapter morphed into more of a social club, with hardly any projects of any kind.

So there is no template for how a chapter operates. It all depends on the members. Hopefully you'll find one that suits your needs and tastes. A chapter can be a wonderful thing to be involved in if you can find the right one. Keep looking!
 
As has been mentioned already every chapter has it's own style and level of engagement. My local chapter is a builder's chapter and we currently have well over a dozen if not 2 dozen builds going (we are working to collect and share this data with the members). Our meetings are all about EAB/aviation, with a dash of learning. Each meeting includes a guest speaker. This week it was the airport manager and tower managers, last month was a couple of amazing doctors that talked about their non-profit that services medical needs in Mexico (Topic, flying in and out of Mexico and what to know), before that it was a retired USAF test pilot discussing phase 1/test flights of EAB aircraft. We have monthly fly-outs for lunch, monthly Young Eagles flights (between 30 to 45 kids 8 to 17 go take to the sky in a GA plane for the first time with our chapter members)

The Tech Counselors are great and very engaged. That all said the other local chapters have faded over the years, 1 is just a social club, the other is...... not sure really.

Find out when the member meetings are, join them as a guest to learn a little about each chapter and hopefully you can find one that has the resources and attitude that fits you. Remember, this is a friendly community, so making friends should be your priority. You can not view the relationship as a transaction as these are volunteer groups and we do this because we LOVE aviation.
 
I did get an email and will attend their meeting next week, it was mentioned in the email they have no tech counselors but they do have a few guys building planes. So that will help some I'm sure and goofy as it sounds im hoping to make some friends since I dont really have any here that do full scale. Been here for 2 plus years so its time to make some friends.

I was a little worried about the club being as mentioned so well see.
 
I went to a few EAA meetings when I first moved here. The guys were all friendly, but in the 3 or 4 meetings I attended there was:

a) a lot of local political talk and turmoil over chapter leadership. (this could have just been bad timing, as it was mostly stemming from one person/incidence/issue)

b) very little experimental aviation talk. I didn't meet one other person who had built or was building, I guess there were a couple members that had but they weren't very active/there when I was.

c) I met another guy on the field who was building an RV and he didn't have anything great to say about the chapter either from the experimental aviation side...

so not all EAA chapters are "builder centric" or have the ability/knowledge to give inspections/advice...

This was my experience, too, and it was extremely disappointing. The first (and only) meeting I went to, I introduced myself and said what I was building, etc., and got precisely zero positive feedback. The chapter hangar was filled to the rafters with junk, including several ancient, long-abandoned projects, and the meeting was almost entirely a bitch session about the then-current President.

Never went back, and I don't think any of my fellow RV builders (all completed) ever did, either. Fortunately, there are enough of us RVers alone to help each other out that we don't need the chapter.

A shame...but, as always, YMMV and your local chapter could be freakin' awesome. Go check it out and let us know how it goes!
 
I went to a few EAA meetings when I first moved here. The guys were all friendly, but in the 3 or 4 meetings I attended there was:

a) a lot of local political talk and turmoil over chapter leadership. (this could have just been bad timing, as it was mostly stemming from one person/incidence/issue)

b) very little experimental aviation talk. I didn't meet one other person who had built or was building, I guess there were a couple members that had but they weren't very active/there when I was.

c) I met another guy on the field who was building an RV and he didn't have anything great to say about the chapter either from the experimental aviation side...

so not all EAA chapters are "builder centric" or have the ability/knowledge to give inspections/advice...
a) That is a pretty negative hot take. Maybe your chapter at this time is weak? That can change for the better overtime.

b) All chapters have election meetings once a year. Business is part of all meetings. Also corona has kept people out of the loop.

c) 3 meetings and heard hearsay and innuendo from others is not fair shake. Don't paint EAA with broad brush.

d) Most chapters have separate builders clinics and project visits aside from meetings.

e) You made a connection to another RV builder, help each other. So that is positive.

f) My chapter has people with wide skills and abilities, A&P's, composite gurus, welding, fabric, CFI's, airline pilots, aerobatic pilots as well as a few active builders, Zenith, Van's, Lancair. Sling and restoration of DH Chipmunk and fabric covered planes. They don't jump out at you. You have to go to the meetings and MEET THEM.

g) You get more detailed specialized info about RV building in these VAF Forums, either archived or new threads than most EAA Chapters. (Donate to VAF). If you need help with a bucking bar buddy the chapter may be best place to find a helper. Also EAA technical counselors are found at EAA Chapters. Did you ask if they have technical counselors? Do you know what planes people are building or flying in this chapter?

h) My last EAA meeting a member volunteered the service of his 3D printer (large industrial). Great to make plugs and molds or small non structural parts. I see my days carving and sanding foam freehand coming to an end.

i) One member has a LSA (not experimental) he makes available for members to fly and get instruction in. I am going to get checked out and donate my CFI time.

j) My chapter sponsored a student pilot with a grant from EAA mother ship. Instruction and plane made available at discount. I am not involved in that activity but may donate my CFI/II/MEI time in the future.

k) Local EAA chapters are not builders assist groups so to speak. I can't speak to your Chapter. I joined EAA 1986 or 87 (Lifetime). After a move I joined my current EAA local chapter 10 yrs ago. It was pretty disorganized for years. Now modernized and new life in it, with new members it's a new animal. We are moving to another airport a little further out but will have a dedicated meeting place and support from the airport. The airport we were at was banning projects due to switch from private hanger ownership reverting back to city. The point is EAA chapters evolve.

l) Last is we have breakfast at most of the meetings and special fly-in pot lucks or BBQ events including Christmas dinner....Yummm.
 
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In my experience, EAA Chapters are a crapshoot. I’ve basically stopped attending my current Chapter because I just don’t get anything out of it. A lot of the membership are retired, have never built anything, and we just don’t have a lot of common ground. I’ve got lots of other competing interests and more and more the local chapter is getting pushed down the list of things I want to spend time on.
 
Also did a counselor search nothing showed up in AL or TN?

Must not be doing something right with the search…. I just did the search and got 20 in TN and 14 in AL. Just enter the state (or zip code and radius) without any of the other filters. In fact, I looked up the zip for Huntsville and entered that along with a 50 mile radius and it came up with 4 (3 in AL, 1 in TN).
 
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I did get an email and will attend their meeting next week, it was mentioned in the email they have no tech counselors but they do have a few guys building planes. So that will help some I'm sure and goofy as it sounds im hoping to make some friends since I dont really have any here that do full scale. Been here for 2 plus years so its time to make some friends.

I was a little worried about the club being as mentioned so well see.

I suggest you take a couple control surfaces or assemblies that will fit in your car to the meeting. You could probably ignite interest & conversation by asking folks to take a look. This would show you are serious in getting their opinions.
 
I wanted to have my tail kit and work done so far inspected and get opinions on a few things, the local EAA chapter doesn't seem to respond to emails or hasn't yet anyway. Do certain chapter not offer this type of help?
Thanks

Yes. Some folks post here with the tendency to believe that every airport has an EAA chapter, and that those chapters, rural or urban, are laden with tech counselors and all other manner of experimental aviation experts. I'm a member of both of my local EAA chapters (two different rural airports). Their memberships are populated by some truly wonderful aviation enthusiasts, and as a local flying club they are outstanding. As a detailed resource for technical E-AB questions...maybe not so much.
 
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I suggest you take a couple control surfaces or assemblies that will fit in your car to the meeting. You could probably ignite interest & conversation by asking folks to take a look. This would show you are serious in getting their opinions.

Thats what I was planning, going to take the vertical/rudder with me. I did the above when I search not sure why nothing popped up in the search I will try again.
 
I've been doing the aviation thing for 35 years and have found myself go thru some interesting changes. Like many who have posted here, I've belonged to good and less good chapters, I've served a couple of terms as a chapter president, and had a period of time during which I was very turned off by both the local chapter and the national organization. Eventually, I came to understand that the local chapter is a volunteer organization and what the actually means. They are not there to make me happy - it is what I make of it. I can complain that the chapter is not doing what interests me or I can bring that interest to the chapter. So, now I do fairly regular presentations about what I am building/maintaining, my backcountry flying activities, or even the flying skill that I'm currently working to improve. Some of the members don't care - that's ok. Others have taken up the unspoken challenge and are talking about their latest project or asking about ways to improve their flying. Others are revealing that they have skills that were unknown to us and are proving to be a valuable resource. Yes, it requires some effort but most things of value do.
 
On emails, I emailed contacts for what I think is all the chapters within an hour of me, only heard back from one after maybe a month. Facebook presence seems light. I walked in to a meeting, good friendly people but the vibe was it was for just that local airport and not for experimentals or homebuilders. I went to another club, seemed to have one person that was heavily involved in aviation in many areas. Folks brought stuff to share with the group, included several builds ongoing. Tech counselor belongs but was out of town.

My advice, just show up. As a newer pilot and potential builder, I feel like I am just networking and building my contacts.
 
Went to the chapters meeting here Tuesday, seems like a good group and they actually had two new members show up that night besides me to join that had vans kits. They did a class on basic CAD design and talked about projects locally. We will have to bring someone in for inspections since the only one local from their info isnt active. So we will see how it goes, still a bit on the fence about building, hopefully once I get my shop done I can get motivated. and planning to attend more of their events.
 
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