Aircraft Judging

[Bob Axsom]

I've read the EAA Judging instructions and I have first hand experience that there is no uniform assurance of compliance with them. I am curious if anyone (like a former judge) can reveal what actually goes on in the judging process. What does the orange dot mean? There are three squares for judges initials and at Sun 'n Fun that's what I got. At Oshkosh there were five sets of initials. I have specific curiousities that I will bring up later perhaps depending on how enlightening this thread turns out to be. Images of the two prop sleeves are shown below.

Bob Axsom

[robertahegy]

Hi Bob,

The three squares are for at least three judges looking the aircraft over. They want at least three, looks like you got more, which is good. The dot is when the photographer has photographed the plane. All planes that are considered potential winners are photographed. I have no idea of the very subjective judging procedures.

Roberta

[Bob Axsom]

That is the kind of information I was looking for. I know the judging is very subjective and it is a big job so I won't pursue it very much. The photo information refered to in the judging standards in the "inovative" personal changes to improve the the airplane that are stressed to some degree simply are not checked in many cases by the judges. I shipped my 34 pound builder's album and log and clothes to the FEDEX facility at Appleton at a cost of $105 because I did not have the album at Sun 'n Fun and the judges seemed disapointed and I had not read the judging standards. I composed a list of the special mods I had made to our plane and printed copies for the judges. I slept in the plane each day after washing it to make sure I didn't miss the judges. When the first judges came there were only two not three like in Florida. There was a man and a woman the man said they only wanted see one copy of the list and it was given back to me without checking the modifications. The woman studied the photo album and looked at the log. The man judge looked at it briefly. The woman judge told me I did not have to stay with the plane. The other judges looked at the plane on different days without any auxiliary information when I was not there. I saw a Lancair with a restaurant like signboard out front touting the outstanding attributes; the cowling was off and it was beautiful. The judging standards say it is not a beauty contest but it is hard to ignore that kind of beauty. With over 1200 homebuilts at Oshkosh I am very proud that the orange dot says ours was considered enough to warant a photograph. I would guess that the judges have so much work to do that they use an elimination process to reduce the field to a manageable level and apply the detailed judging standards to the remaining airplanes. I can understand that. Thanks again for the dot information that's big for me - yes I am proud of our plane like everyone else.

Bob Axsom

[robertahegy]

It's a good lookin' ship, Bob. I'm sure you were close for an award. Problem is, in our category, the competition is really fierce. I got the dot last year, but so many planes are so beautiful. I was not dissappointed when I did not win anything, just proud of what I accomplished. The compliments of my work from the judges, builders, pilots and spectators was reward enough for me. See you next EAA.

Roberta

[Vince Koehn]

I got a orange dot too, and was wondering what it meant. There were alot of wonderfully built airplanes there. I wish the RVs were judged amongst themselves....maybe when we account for more than 50% of the planes on the ground they will!