VFR Flight Following -- What's going on here?

Paul Poberezny (the founder of EAA, father of the current president, Tom)
has started a competing group (whose name I can't recall -- Homebuilders
Aircraft Association? Sport Aircraft Association?) because so many EAA
members have felt disenfranchised by the direction the group has taken in
recent years. It is apparently growing steadily.

Go to the AAA (Antique Aircraft Association) fly-in in Blakesburg -- of
which Paul Poberezney is a regular attendee and a member -- and they can
barely speak of EAA without spitting.

What does this say about Paul's attitude toward the direction his son is
taking EAA?

After being an EAA member for roughly 20 years, this year I got the
renewal in the mail, looked at it unopened for a minute, and chucked
it in the trash. The EAA I knew died when Paul P left the helm. It just
took me several years to bury it. And by then, it was smelling
awfully foul.

I've heard this, over and over, from (usually gray-headed) long-term EAA
members. Some of them quite vociferously.

Yet, for the life of me, I can't get ANY of them to tell me what, precisely,
they are so ****ed about. I'm not sure even they know -- it's almost a
gut-level frustration that can't be described.

I've been a member of EAA since 1983. I've seen Airventure grow
exponentially, year after year, until it's now the premier
fly-in/convention/air show in the world. I've read Sport Aviation every
month -- that's 264 consecutive issues -- and (although I must admit to
being bored with many of the topics) it has improved many orders of
magnitude since the Reagan Administration.

Annual dues are cheap. The museum in Oshkosh is incredibly beautiful, and
well done. Local EAA chapters are almost always fun, lively, and filled
with good people who are in love with aviation. Kids are welcome, and Young
Eagle flights are the best thing that has happened in GA since the 1940s.

So WHAT is there to hate about EAA? I just don't get it.

IMHO, General Aviation is so small that we simply can't afford to become
fragmented into little competing groups. Not if we want to survive.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"
"Nomen Nescio" ] wrote in message
...
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From: "Jay Honeck"

Paul Poberezny (the founder of EAA, father of the current president, Tom)
has started a competing group (whose name I can't recall -- Homebuilders
Aircraft Association? Sport Aircraft Association?) because so many EAA
members have felt disenfranchised by the direction the group has taken in
recent years. It is apparently growing steadily.

Go to the AAA (Antique Aircraft Association) fly-in in Blakesburg -- of
which Paul Poberezney is a regular attendee and a member -- and they can
barely speak of EAA without spitting.



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Jay,
So WHAT is there to hate about EAA? I just don't get it.

Is it true that the EAA force people to become EAA members to attend
Oshkosh?

Hilton

"Hilton" wrote in message
nk.net...
Jay,
So WHAT is there to hate about EAA? I just don't get it.

Is it true that the EAA force people to become EAA members to attend
Oshkosh?

Hilton

Yep, they hold guns to people's heads and force them to pull out their
credit cards before they are allowed to enter. Not only that, they hijack
people that are headed to Green Bay and force them to become members.

I assume your question is a troll but if it isn't.......no you do not need
to be a member to attend. But if it was a requirement so what, it is an EAA
event and if the decision was to limit it to EAA members so be it.

Dave Stadt wrote:

Hilton wrote:
Jay,
So WHAT is there to hate about EAA? I just don't get it.

Is it true that the EAA force people to become EAA members to attend
Oshkosh?

Hilton

Yep, they hold guns to people's heads and force them to pull out their
credit cards before they are allowed to enter. Not only that, they hijack
people that are headed to Green Bay and force them to become members.

I assume your question is a troll but if it isn't.......no you do not need
to be a member to attend. But if it was a requirement so what, it is an
EAA
event and if the decision was to limit it to EAA members so be it.

Wow - that's the second time I've been called a troll in as many months.
Anyway, moving right along... I decided to peek around a little and I found
this line " You must be an EAA member to purchase a ticket" in:

http://www.avweb.com/news/osh2002/181590-1.html

So, either the article is wrong or the policy has changed since 2002. I
also remember a few other write-ups about this 'technique' to (at least
temporarily) boost the EAA membership. BTW: I'm not saying it is right or
wrong - I simply posted in response to Jay's comment "So WHAT is there to
hate about EAA?" - I'm sure there are people out there that don't like to be
forced to join an organization just to attend an airshow.

Hilton

I can't speak to the policy that was in effect in 2002. I haven't found
many errors in Rick's articles, but nobody is infallible. However, for THIS
year's policies (which have member as well as non-member rates) I'd suggest
that you peruse:

http://www.airventure.org/2005/planning/admission.html

I don't hate EAA. I'm not all that thrilled with some things they've done
over the years, but on balance they are one of the best things that has ever
happened to aviation. Elsewise I sure as the devil wouldn't be running for
their board of directors.

Are there some things that could be done differently, subjectively better,
or with a different emphasis? Certainly. However, EAA and Airventure are
not a single vision but the collective vision of the entire organization.
Just because the organization's vision isn't YOUR particular vision or MY
particular vision doesn't make them wrong, just different. And, if you want
a louder voice for how you think the ship should be steered, volunteer for
the crew of the ship.

Jim




Wow - that's the second time I've been called a troll in as many months.

Anyway, moving right along... I decided to peek around a little and I
found
this line " You must be an EAA member to purchase a ticket" in:

http://www.avweb.com/news/osh2002/181590-1.html

So, either the article is wrong or the policy has changed since 2002. I
also remember a few other write-ups about this 'technique' to (at least
temporarily) boost the EAA membership. BTW: I'm not saying it is right or
wrong - I simply posted in response to Jay's comment "So WHAT is there to
hate about EAA?" - I'm sure there are people out there that don't like to
be
forced to join an organization just to attend an airshow.

No, it is NOT a requirement to be an EAA member to buy an admission
ticket -- unless they changed the rule from last year. You do have
the option at the gate to join and get the discounted admission
price.

And, if I remember correctly, you do not need to be a member to
park the aircraft, but if you want to camp with the aircraft, you
must be an EAA member.

On the other hand, in my case, senility set in with puberty and I
could be wrong.

"Blanche" wrote in message
...

On the other hand, in my case, senility set in with puberty and I
could be wrong.

Thanks for the good laugh Blanche ! That just tickled me good!

Patrick
student SPL
aircraft structural mech

"Hilton" wrote in message
nk.net...

So, either the article is wrong or the policy has changed since 2002. I
also remember a few other write-ups about this 'technique' to (at least
temporarily) boost the EAA membership. BTW: I'm not saying it is right or
wrong - I simply posted in response to Jay's comment "So WHAT is there to
hate about EAA?" - I'm sure there are people out there that don't like to
be
forced to join an organization just to attend an airshow.


Nobody is forced to join an organization to attend an airshow. This is an
organization's annual convention. How many organizations allow the general
public to attend their conventions?

"Hilton" wrote in message
nk.net...
Dave Stadt wrote:

Hilton wrote:
Jay,
So WHAT is there to hate about EAA? I just don't get it.

Is it true that the EAA force people to become EAA members to attend
Oshkosh?

Hilton

Yep, they hold guns to people's heads and force them to pull out their
credit cards before they are allowed to enter. Not only that, they
hijack
people that are headed to Green Bay and force them to become members.

I assume your question is a troll but if it isn't.......no you do not
need
to be a member to attend. But if it was a requirement so what, it is an
EAA
event and if the decision was to limit it to EAA members so be it.

Wow - that's the second time I've been called a troll in as many months.

Anyway, moving right along... I decided to peek around a little and I
found
this line " You must be an EAA member to purchase a ticket" in:

http://www.avweb.com/news/osh2002/181590-1.html

So, either the article is wrong or the policy has changed since 2002. I
also remember a few other write-ups about this 'technique' to (at least
temporarily) boost the EAA membership. BTW: I'm not saying it is right or
wrong - I simply posted in response to Jay's comment "So WHAT is there to
hate about EAA?" - I'm sure there are people out there that don't like to
be
forced to join an organization just to attend an airshow.

Then they need to exercise their option to stay home. If you aren't willing
to support the organization, any organization, you are not welcome.

Is it true that the EAA force people to become EAA members to attend
Oshkosh?

When we first started attending OSH, back in the early '80s, you could
attend the fly-in without being a member, but you could not go on the flight
line without a separate pass that required membership. To get that precious
pass, you had to join EAA -- which is what got me in the fold! I wanted to
be where the action was, and I couldn't see it from 200 yards away behind a
fence.

At some point they eliminated that whole thing, and now just let everyone
in, everywhere, although they do charge non-members more.

IMHO it was better to only allow full members access to the flight line.
Some of the show planes at OSH represent thousands of hours and tens of
thousands (hundreds of thousands, in some cases) of time and money, and I
don't think letting the NASCAR crowd in unimpeded was a good idea. Not
often, but occasionally I have seen ignorant parents letting their kids run
around too near fabric planes, and have just about had a heart attack. That
NEVER happened under the old rules.

To combat this, they now have an entire battalion of volunteers called
"Protect Our Planes" (or something similar), to police the grounds. This
seems silly, to me, (as opposed to going back to the old rules) but I
suppose they are trying to open the flight line to everyone in hopes of
growing GA?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"