LettersFromFlyoverCountry
Well Known Member
Hopefully, moderator will instantly close the thread and let Van's words speak for themselves, rather than start yet another debate.
But, you know what, the guy can write!
I’m sure that most of you are aware of the sudden departure of Rod Hightower as EAA President and C.E.O. As many of you have probably surmised, his resignation was not entirely voluntary. There had been concern over his leadership of EAA for some time. With input from many concerned prominent EAA members, the EAA Board of Directors saw fit to make this change. What were the problems? The closing line of a press statement made by EAA Board Chairman Jack Pelton hints at some of the pivotal issues. “As an association we must remain focused on the original mission of our founder, Paul H. Poberezny, to welcome all members no matter what they fly, celebrate our volunteers, and treat our employees fairly”. The points emphasized here are conspicuous by their presence.
What does this sudden and unprecedented leadership change mean to you and me? That depends upon your feeling about the importance of EAA relative to the airplanes you build and fly. My position is that it is very significant. EAA is the only organization representing and promoting our interests. It is the only show in town. It is OUR organization. If we continue to support its original goals, and to encourage and assist our new leaders in doing so, it will remain OUR organization and become better and stronger than ever.
It’s easy to sit back and trust that our future flying freedom is assured. For many, the freedom and opportunity we have to fly Amateur-Built airplanes is seen as an entitlement. “We’ve got a right to build and fly our own airplanes!” Really? Where did our founding fathers say; “the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and to build and fly non-certificated airplanes”? From that perspective, it is not a right; it is a privilege. From the very beginning, through the present, and into the foreseeable future, it will be a continuing struggle to preserve that privilege. The current NTSB attention to EAB accident statistics is an example of this continuing struggle. My point is that we all need to get engaged and work with EAA HQ, through our local EAA Chapters or otherwise, to preserve and strengthen the freedoms we now enjoy.
WHAT IS EAA?
As we all know, the letters “EAA” stand for, the Experimental Aircraft Association. However, from the type of publicity seen in most magazines, aviation and otherwise, these letter could easily stand for, the Enormous Airshow Association. I know that this sounds a bit sarcastic, but if you think about it, how often do you see publicity about the EAA that is solely about AirVenture? How often do you see publicity about the “EAA” that happens the other 51 weeks of the year? I know; “Dog bites man---that’s not news. Man bites dog---that is news”. Obviously, the spectacle of AirVenture is more attractive headline material than the EAA Chapter and individual achievements which we all know to be the real strength of EAA.
Which definition of EAA should we endorse? Actually, both. While I think that we all would find that the more important of these is the 51 weeks of worldwide EAA activity, the AirVenture week is also of great value. It offers a lot to the stalwart, entrenched EAA members; a sort of icing on the cake. But, there is a lot about AirVenture that we “old-timers ” may see as irrelevant. We need to remember that what is “old hat” to us may be just the enticement others need to take their first step in the proverbial journey of a thousand miles. The concern we should all have is that AirVenture truly offers a valuable “first step”; that AirVenture is an enticement to further participation in aviation, not just a meaningless spectacle. Is it just an extravaganza or does it offer a balance of spectacle and substance? There has been growing feeling that the direction of AirVenture has been away from the core interests and values on which EAA had been founded. Regardless, I think that with this change of EAA leadership, we have a new opportunity to assert ourselves and help steer AirVenture in the best direction. An article just published in in the December e-EXPERIMENTER sums this up quite well. It’s worth your read. It is titled: Abour Your Homebuilt Aviation Council by Rick Wiess. Rick is chairman of the EAA Homebuilt Aircraft Council and an EAA B.O.D. member. It is a good description of the Council, how it originated, transformed, and continues to work for us.
Of the approximately 170,000 EAA members, how many are members of the Enormous Airshow Association? I’m serious! The AIRVENTURE attendance fees are structured to encourage membership in EAA. The “member” fees are lower by an amount more than the annual dues. Thus, it’s more economical to become a member just to attend AIRVENTURE. I imagine that there are members whose only involvement with EAA is their annual, or periodic, attendance at AIRVENTURE. As Jerry Seinfeld would say, “…not that there’s anything wrong with that.” I’m not suggesting that there is. However, it does illustrate the vast difference in perspective between such members and those of us who consider ourselves hard core, long time members. Which members does EAA HQ listen to the most when planning activities and programs? Hopefully EAA’s new leadership will pay close attention to, and seek direction from, those members who have been serving in the “trenches” and fighting the good battle for many years.
SPEAKING OF THE e-EXPERIMENTER
How many of you are aware of and regularly read the e-EXPERIMENTER? It is a relatively new EAA effort that first appeared in Sept. 2012. The content is exclusively dedicated to Amateur Built Aircraft, the type of content we used to see more of in SPORT AVIATION before it morphed into a clone of FLYING magazine. Sorry, I’m editorializing, but my feelings on this matter are shared by more than a few other die-hard EAA members. While I agree that as our flagship publication, SPORT AVIATIONS’ content needs to appeal to the broad cross section of EAA membership interests, coverage of Amateur Built airplanes should not be marginalized to the extent we have seen.
Please read the e-EXPERIMENTER, both because its dedicated content should be of interest to you, and also to help you form an opinion regarding ideal SA content. The change in HQ leadership may provide an opportunity for members to help steer SPORT AVIATION content.
But, you know what, the guy can write!
I’m sure that most of you are aware of the sudden departure of Rod Hightower as EAA President and C.E.O. As many of you have probably surmised, his resignation was not entirely voluntary. There had been concern over his leadership of EAA for some time. With input from many concerned prominent EAA members, the EAA Board of Directors saw fit to make this change. What were the problems? The closing line of a press statement made by EAA Board Chairman Jack Pelton hints at some of the pivotal issues. “As an association we must remain focused on the original mission of our founder, Paul H. Poberezny, to welcome all members no matter what they fly, celebrate our volunteers, and treat our employees fairly”. The points emphasized here are conspicuous by their presence.
What does this sudden and unprecedented leadership change mean to you and me? That depends upon your feeling about the importance of EAA relative to the airplanes you build and fly. My position is that it is very significant. EAA is the only organization representing and promoting our interests. It is the only show in town. It is OUR organization. If we continue to support its original goals, and to encourage and assist our new leaders in doing so, it will remain OUR organization and become better and stronger than ever.
It’s easy to sit back and trust that our future flying freedom is assured. For many, the freedom and opportunity we have to fly Amateur-Built airplanes is seen as an entitlement. “We’ve got a right to build and fly our own airplanes!” Really? Where did our founding fathers say; “the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and to build and fly non-certificated airplanes”? From that perspective, it is not a right; it is a privilege. From the very beginning, through the present, and into the foreseeable future, it will be a continuing struggle to preserve that privilege. The current NTSB attention to EAB accident statistics is an example of this continuing struggle. My point is that we all need to get engaged and work with EAA HQ, through our local EAA Chapters or otherwise, to preserve and strengthen the freedoms we now enjoy.
WHAT IS EAA?
As we all know, the letters “EAA” stand for, the Experimental Aircraft Association. However, from the type of publicity seen in most magazines, aviation and otherwise, these letter could easily stand for, the Enormous Airshow Association. I know that this sounds a bit sarcastic, but if you think about it, how often do you see publicity about the EAA that is solely about AirVenture? How often do you see publicity about the “EAA” that happens the other 51 weeks of the year? I know; “Dog bites man---that’s not news. Man bites dog---that is news”. Obviously, the spectacle of AirVenture is more attractive headline material than the EAA Chapter and individual achievements which we all know to be the real strength of EAA.
Which definition of EAA should we endorse? Actually, both. While I think that we all would find that the more important of these is the 51 weeks of worldwide EAA activity, the AirVenture week is also of great value. It offers a lot to the stalwart, entrenched EAA members; a sort of icing on the cake. But, there is a lot about AirVenture that we “old-timers ” may see as irrelevant. We need to remember that what is “old hat” to us may be just the enticement others need to take their first step in the proverbial journey of a thousand miles. The concern we should all have is that AirVenture truly offers a valuable “first step”; that AirVenture is an enticement to further participation in aviation, not just a meaningless spectacle. Is it just an extravaganza or does it offer a balance of spectacle and substance? There has been growing feeling that the direction of AirVenture has been away from the core interests and values on which EAA had been founded. Regardless, I think that with this change of EAA leadership, we have a new opportunity to assert ourselves and help steer AirVenture in the best direction. An article just published in in the December e-EXPERIMENTER sums this up quite well. It’s worth your read. It is titled: Abour Your Homebuilt Aviation Council by Rick Wiess. Rick is chairman of the EAA Homebuilt Aircraft Council and an EAA B.O.D. member. It is a good description of the Council, how it originated, transformed, and continues to work for us.
Of the approximately 170,000 EAA members, how many are members of the Enormous Airshow Association? I’m serious! The AIRVENTURE attendance fees are structured to encourage membership in EAA. The “member” fees are lower by an amount more than the annual dues. Thus, it’s more economical to become a member just to attend AIRVENTURE. I imagine that there are members whose only involvement with EAA is their annual, or periodic, attendance at AIRVENTURE. As Jerry Seinfeld would say, “…not that there’s anything wrong with that.” I’m not suggesting that there is. However, it does illustrate the vast difference in perspective between such members and those of us who consider ourselves hard core, long time members. Which members does EAA HQ listen to the most when planning activities and programs? Hopefully EAA’s new leadership will pay close attention to, and seek direction from, those members who have been serving in the “trenches” and fighting the good battle for many years.
SPEAKING OF THE e-EXPERIMENTER
How many of you are aware of and regularly read the e-EXPERIMENTER? It is a relatively new EAA effort that first appeared in Sept. 2012. The content is exclusively dedicated to Amateur Built Aircraft, the type of content we used to see more of in SPORT AVIATION before it morphed into a clone of FLYING magazine. Sorry, I’m editorializing, but my feelings on this matter are shared by more than a few other die-hard EAA members. While I agree that as our flagship publication, SPORT AVIATIONS’ content needs to appeal to the broad cross section of EAA membership interests, coverage of Amateur Built airplanes should not be marginalized to the extent we have seen.
Please read the e-EXPERIMENTER, both because its dedicated content should be of interest to you, and also to help you form an opinion regarding ideal SA content. The change in HQ leadership may provide an opportunity for members to help steer SPORT AVIATION content.
