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jtayloraaf(at)yahoo.com
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 Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:53 am Post subject: changes in EAA?--amen, brothers... |
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pike n beauford. john bowman prvlle, la
From: Beauford <beauford173(at)verizon.net>
To: kolb-list(at)matronics.com
Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2012 11:10 AM
Subject: RE: Re: changes in EAA?
--> Kolb-List message posted by: "Beauford " <beauford173(at)verizon.net (beauford173(at)verizon.net)>
Amen, Brother Pike:
To me, the real yardstick for measuring the shift in the center of gravity
of the EAA can be found in the
mix of airplanes which show up at Airventure and Sun n Fun (even though the
latter is no longer an "official"
EAA event)... The areas set aside for ultralights and "poor-boy" rag and
tube aviation have shrunk dramatically
in the last ten years... the vendors and participants renting space in the
UL spaces are choked down to less than half of
their original number, and the ones which remain tell stories about the fees
charged to them by the shows having
doubled and tripled in the last few years. I have personally heard two of
the few who remain commenting about the dying
UL environment and wondering whether it is even worth returning the next
year.
In contrast, the great carnival ways at the shows are crammed with "sport"
machines with glass panel displays and price tags
more commonly associated with a four bedroom house. At this end of the show
it is possible to stand on blue astroturf and be "pitched" by an
immaculately coiffed, gold chain bedecked, individual in $200 Ray-Bans and a
monogrammed jump suit festooned with what appear to be Congolese Air Force
Pilot wings and the name "Lance" on the pocket... If he sizes you up as
having shaved that morning and observes that your neck is draped with a
Canon or Nikon, vice some lesser brand, he may deign to suffer you to
briefly sit in the front seat of a quarter million dollar toy which appears,
on closer inspection, to actually be a depraved Super Cub in drag...
This downward slide into glossiness is easily tracked in the EAA and UL/LSA
trade magazines... The EAA "Experimenter" of fifteen or twenty years ago
had a totally different target audience and focus than it has today. I have
a stack of the old ones in a closet... They contain articles and detailed
discussions about actually putting tab A into slot B and doing innovative,
inexpensive things with non-exotic materials to safely get into the air with
a minimal commitment of bucks in something you actually built yourself. The
objective wasn't to go real fast or look real sexy...only to fly and have
fun on a budget which would not cause a man to lie awake all night counting
the popcorn lumps on the ceiling and wondering how he was going to pay off
the airplane loan. These old magazines contained no endless, look-alike
"pilot reports" on equally look-alike airplanes from Czechoslovakia,
Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Croatia, or wherever... the least expensive of
which cost at least double the annual wages of the average wanna-be
pilot/builder reading the magazine.
I believe the evidence clearly supports the contention that the EAA has
morphed from an organization dedicated to
supporting the needs and aspirations of the rank and file amateur aviation
enthusiast, into a slick, well lubricated money
extraction machine intent on sucking every possible shekel out of the hide
of anyone who shows an interest in airplanes.
It is big business... and it ain't about "us" any more.... They no longer
get my money or support.
Mebbe the time has come for another "EAA" to crank up... a real one...
again.
Ranted-out beauford
FF-076
Brandon, FL
Do Not Archive
-----------------------------original message--------------------------
--> Kolb-List message posted by: "Richard Pike" <richard(at)bcchapel.org (richard(at)bcchapel.org)>
You have to wonder. I did not renew my EAA membership this last year, been a
member since 1980, but EAA was no long about "Experimental" aircraft, but
about "Recreational" aircraft, which included everything from Cessna 172's
to Super Connies. That and the constant over emphasis on coming to spend
money at "Airventure." It was so much better when it was just Oshkosh.
Maybe somebody turned on the lights and they'll wake up and get back to our
end of the flying spectrum, but I'm not holding my breaArchive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, gt; [quote][b]
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rickofudall
Joined: 19 Sep 2009
Posts: 1392
Location: Udall, KS, USA
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| Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:36 am Post subject: changes in EAA?--amen, brothers... |
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|
It's funny that Paul P. said pretty much the same thing about where Tommy took the organization and actually started the Sport Aircraft Association for awhile. I knew the end had come when Experimenter became Sport Pilot whose dedication was "Those who buy, fly and.....Light Sport Aircraft". Well, that and the renewal questionaire that has 10 reasons for joining EAA, NOT ONE of which is I am building or want to build an airplane. When I was building a LongEZ there was much ado about no longer having a gathering at Oshkosh because EAA was demanding that the group rent EAA's tent, buy their hot dogs from EAA's vendor, and on and on. I continue my membership so I can be a local chapter member, but I have no use at all for national and will probably never go AirVenture as I just can't afford it.
Rick Girard
On Sun, Jan 15, 2012 at 11:50 AM, john taylor <jtayloraaf(at)yahoo.com (jtayloraaf(at)yahoo.com)> wrote:
| Quote: | pike n beauford. john bowman prvlle, la
From: Beauford <beauford173(at)verizon.net (beauford173(at)verizon.net)>
To: kolb-list(at)matronics.com (kolb-list(at)matronics.com)
Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2012 11:10 AM
Subject: RE: Re: changes in EAA?
--> Kolb-List message posted by: "Beauford " <beauford173(at)verizon.net (beauford173(at)verizon.net)>
Amen, Brother Pike:
To me, the real yardstick for measuring the shift in the center of gravity
of the EAA can be found in the
mix of airplanes which show up at Airventure and Sun n Fun (even though the
latter is no longer an "official"
EAA event)... The areas set aside for ultralights and "poor-boy" rag and
tube aviation have shrunk dramatically
in the last ten years... the vendors and participants renting space in the
UL spaces are choked down to less than half of
their original number, and the ones which remain tell stories about the fees
charged to them by the shows having
doubled and tripled in the last few years. I have personally heard two of
the few who remain commenting about the dying
UL environment and wondering whether it is even worth returning the next
year.
In contrast, the great carnival ways at the shows are crammed with "sport"
machines with glass panel displays and price tags
more commonly associated with a four bedroom house. At this end of the show
it is possible to stand on blue astroturf and be "pitched" by an
immaculately coiffed, gold chain bedecked, individual in $200 Ray-Bans and a
monogrammed jump suit festooned with what appear to be Congolese Air Force
Pilot wings and the name "Lance" on the pocket... If he sizes you up as
having shaved that morning and observes that your neck is draped with a
Canon or Nikon, vice some lesser brand, he may deign to suffer you to
briefly sit in the front seat of a quarter million dollar toy which appears,
on closer inspection, to actually be a depraved Super Cub in drag...
This downward slide into glossiness is easily tracked in the EAA and UL/LSA
trade magazines... The EAA "Experimenter" of fifteen or twenty years ago
had a totally different target audience and focus than it has today. I have
a stack of the old ones in a closet... They contain articles and detailed
discussions about actually putting tab A into slot B and doing innovative,
inexpensive things with non-exotic materials to safely get into the air with
a minimal commitment of bucks in something you actually built yourself. The
objective wasn't to go real fast or look real sexy...only to fly and have
fun on a budget which would not cause a man to lie awake all night counting
the popcorn lumps on the ceiling and wondering how he was going to pay off
the airplane loan. These old magazines contained no endless, look-alike
"pilot reports" on equally look-alike airplanes from Czechoslovakia,
Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Croatia, or wherever... the least expensive of
which cost at least double the annual wages of the average wanna-be
pilot/builder reading the magazine.
I believe the evidence clearly supports the contention that the EAA has
morphed from an organization dedicated to
supporting the needs and aspirations of the rank and file amateur aviation
enthusiast, into a slick, well lubricated money
extraction machine intent on sucking every possible shekel out of the hide
of anyone who shows an interest in airplanes.
It is big business... and it ain't about "us" any more.... They no longer
get my money or support.
Mebbe the time has come for another "EAA" to crank up... a real one...
again.
Ranted-out beauford
FF-076
Brandon, FL
Do Not Archive
-----------------------------original message--------------------------
--> Kolb-List message posted by: "Richard Pike" <richard(at)bcchapel.org (richard(at)bcchapel.org)>
You have to wonder. I did not renew my EAA membership this last year, been a
member since 1980, but EAA was no long about "Experimental" aircraft, but
about "Recreational" aircraft, which included everything from Cessna 172's
to Super Connies. That and the constant over emphasis on coming to spend
money at "Airventure." It was so much better when it was just Oshkosh.
Maybe somebody turned on the lights and they'll wake up and get back to our
end of the flying spectrum, but I'm not holding my breaArchive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, gt;
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get="_blank">http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Kolb-List
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Zulu Delta
Mk IIIC
Thanks, Homer GBYM
It isn't necessary to have relatives in Kansas City in order to be unhappy.
- Groucho Marx
[quote][b]
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