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EAA SWRFI Press Release, March 25 2005
San Antonio
25 March 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Building one’s own airplane is the heart of Experimental Aircraft Association At the beginning, a century ago, things with wings were not manufactured or mass produced. Airplanes were hand-made, in someone’s workshop or stable. ‘Contraptions’ of wood, wire, and fabric, they flew in spite of their builders’ only rudimentary knowledge of aerodynamics. A mere decade later The Great War broke out in Europe and airplanes became weapons. Enormous resources poured into their development, and aeronautical progress accelerated. It remained possible, however, to construct an airplane from scratch in someone’s workshop or garage. After the War To End War airplanes began delivering mail, carrying adventurous passengers, spanning oceans, penetrating the polar regions, competing in races and undergoing rapid technical improvement. Metal started replacing wood and fabric, engines became more reliable, and production-line methods were applied. Yet skilled craftsmen could still build an airplane by hand in a shop, much the way Ryan Aircraft of San Diego built an all-metal monoplane to the specifications of a pilot named Lindbergh, in about six weeks in the year 1927. In another human generation came a Second World War, in which airplanes played a decisive role. Production lines turned out thousands of war planes. Visionaries said that the end of World War Two would see aviation transformed into a mass market, with personal airplanes as cheap and universal as Henry Ford’s automobiles, and air travel affordable by everyone. Only the second part of this vision came true with the growth of airlines into another form of mass transportation. Private airplanes, however, never sold in mass quantities, and many small airplane manufacturers failed or were bought out by companies with deeper pockets who simply shelved the private plane designs. Still, the steady growth and spread of aerodynamic knowledge, better tools and cheaper materials meant it was not only possible but actually easier than ever for a man with a dream of flying to assemble an airplane in his garage or a friend’s hangar. As do-able as building a boat, or turning a ‘36 coupe into a street rod. In the early ‘fifties, groups of enthusiastic do-it-yourself airplane builders were getting together at rallies dubbed ‘fly-ins’ to swap information, share expertise and admire each other’s airplanes. They formed a national organization called the Experimental Aircraft Association after the title of particular chapters in the Federal Aviation Regulations — which the leaders of their movement helped officials draft — that sanctioned and specified the building and flying of home-built aircraft. In 1953, the same year that a group of home-builders in the Middle West began holding annual fly-ins at Milwaukee; a similar group in Texas started getting together in 1963 and every summer thereafter at the airfield in Georgetown. The Wisconsin fly-in ultimately developed into AirVenture Oshkosh. The Georgetown, Texas fly-in became known as the Southwest Regional Fly-In. The Southwest Regional Fly-In grew over the next forty years from a handful of home-builders to an event hosting hundreds of aircraft and thousands of aviation enthusiasts. The SWRFI outgrew Georgetown municipal airfield and moved to Kerrville. Eventually too big for Schreiner Field, it moved again to Abilene Regional, and in 2003 from Abilene to New Braunfels with renewed success in spite of aircraft parking and taxiing problems. But 2004 at New Braunfels was hampered by heavy rain which produced acres of mud and made safe operation difficult. This year, the Southwest Regional Fly-In comes to Hondo, Texas, an ideal site for it to grow. Hondo Airfield was constructed in 1942 in less than three months, but they built it big, built it right, and built it to last. Three generations later, the runways from which just about every apprentice Army Air Corps navigator lifted off to learn his trade by sighting the big, bright stars at night are still broad, long, well maintained and welcoming. The parking ramps can still accomodate thousands of airplanes, and if it rains the water runs off promptly. The Experimental Aircraft Assocation of which SWRFI — now called just The Texas Fly-In — is a regional associate, will be on hand to present an EAA Member village, like the one they operate at Oshkosh, to provide information on all the different programs and services the EAA provides its members. Hondo’s a great location for a gathering of people who love building their own airplanes, and for those who want to learn how to build them, as well as the general public which just likes to inspect human-scale machines that fly. There’s space enough at Hondo for manufacturers and sellers of aviation products to exhibit their wares. Space enough for all kinds of food and a variety of technical displays and discussions, as well as feasting and partying at the end of each day. Finally, there’s enough space at Hondo for The Texas Fly-In to have an Air Show. On Saturday afternoon, May 14th, and Sunday afternoon, May 15th aerobatic performers will astonish us with their amazing aerial maneuvers. For more information, visit The Texas Fly-In web site at http://www.swrfi.org/. -30- Contact: E. D. Yoes, Jr. Secretary, SWRFI |
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