What makes the EAA tick?

I went to the chapter leader weekend workshop last fall. Paul is really
upset about this succession process and the disagreement within the
board. He talked with the group around the fireplace at the lodge, and
it got pretty intense. Not an angry intense, but hurt feelings in that
the direction of the organization is slipping away from what it was. I
gathered that he wants to retain the comradeship the members have in the
organization. He wants it to be a bunch of people who have the common
interest of aviation, not a bunch of aviators who are only interested in
the machines.

It looks like at that time he was taken out of the selection process,
but he may have veto power (or a strong yes/no say on who is selected.)
Take a look at that letter he wrote for Christmas. To me, part of it
reads as a good bye letter.
http://www.eaa.org/chapters/newslett..._greetings.pdf

With the issues last summer, it looks like they want someone to be
President who is an existing member. Last month, the chapter Presidents
got a letter from Tom asking for recommendations. I know they feel that
chapter members are among the most active and loyal members, so that's
probably why they sent looking to the chapters.

It could be an interesting next few months for the organization.

Scott wrote:
Stealth Pilot wrote:


Personally, I think when Paul was running it, it was more of a "family"
of aviators. Since Tom took over, it SEEMS geared toward highbuck stuff
and "glitz" as someone else mentioned in a different thread. I still
get a kick talking with Paul (and he even remembers my name when I bump
into him at Oshkosh or other fly-ins). I called him once to ask about
some Corben stuff and we chatted for about 45 minutes on the phone...he
wasn't too busy to take time to tell me all about what I had called to
find out about

Scott

Paul (P) WAS the heart and soul of EAA.

"cavelamb" wrote in message
m...
Paul (P) WAS the heart and soul of EAA.

In a lot of ways, he still is.

The way I read the letter, he also made some excellent points about the
members, through the chapters, making themselves heard in the overall
decision making process--rather than just grumbling in small groups. It's
ok to grumble; but work it around to something that you can actually work
for.

Peter

On Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:30:40 -0800, jim ham
wrote:

. I'm sure that if one was
involved in the organization it's not that simple, but it sure looks
that way from the outside. I believe that most of the board are
appointed. Some are elected from the membership.

Having run for the Board four times now, I think I can shed some
light. On its face, the Board members are all elected. However, after
coming up with several thousand proxy votes on my own by newsgroup and
email means, I can tell you that EAA will elect who they damned well
please. They have several tens of thousands of proxy votes and the
"elections" are foregone conclusions for whoever EAA wants on the
Board. If you know that going in, all you can hope for is that by
showing a strong grass roots support, you can convince EAA to shovel
tens of thousands of their proxies your way. And that ain't going to
happen unless you are willing to play the political game.


Jim

"RST Engineering" wrote in message
...
They have several tens of thousands of proxy votes and the
"elections" are foregone conclusions for whoever EAA wants on the
Board.

Thanks. That validates my long-standing practice of not automatically mailing
in those proxies.

Vaughn

RST Engineering schreef:
EAA will elect who they damned well please.

No surprise there - that's how democracy works, and keeps on working.
What still baffles me is that some people will absolutely make democracy
the only viable system, imposing it as _the_one_solution_ on any poor
blighters they find in trouble. But that's a political discussion, I
suppose, off-topic here.

BTW glad to hear from you Jim, still got your soldering iron hot?

On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:52:17 +0000, jan olieslagers
wrote:

RST Engineering schreef:
EAA will elect who they damned well please.

No surprise there - that's how democracy works, and keeps on working.
What still baffles me is that some people will absolutely make democracy
the only viable system, imposing it as _the_one_solution_ on any poor
blighters they find in trouble. But that's a political discussion, I
suppose, off-topic here.

BTW glad to hear from you Jim, still got your soldering iron hot?


Never cooled down.

Thanks,

Jim

On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:46:31 -0800, RST Engineering
wrote:

On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:52:17 +0000, jan olieslagers
wrote:

RST Engineering schreef:
EAA will elect who they damned well please.

No surprise there - that's how democracy works, and keeps on working.
What still baffles me is that some people will absolutely make democracy
the only viable system, imposing it as _the_one_solution_ on any poor
blighters they find in trouble. But that's a political discussion, I
suppose, off-topic here.

BTW glad to hear from you Jim, still got your soldering iron hot?


Never cooled down.

Thanks,

Jim

I often wondered how you went in those elections Jim.
I always voted for you.

I left the EAA when I heard that the EAA had refused to lend support
to the Canadians who were taking advantage of the Canadian Owner
Maintenance legislation and were being refused entry into america so
that they could fly to Oshkosh.

one of the dumbest EAA stupidities ever.

Stealth Pilot

RST Engineering writes:

Having run for the Board four times now, I think I can shed some
light.

Or not.

They have several tens of thousands of proxy votes and the
"elections" are foregone conclusions for whoever EAA wants on the
Board.

Or they don't want an abusive hot-tempered idiot in an organization that
must work by cooperation....sore loser-man.

On Feb 3, 9:41*am, Bug Dout wrote:
RST Engineering writes:
Having run for the Board four times now, I think I can shed some
light.

Or not.

They have several tens of thousands of proxy votes and the
"elections" are foregone conclusions for whoever EAA wants on the
Board.

Or they don't want an abusive hot-tempered idiot in an organization that
must work by cooperation....sore loser-man.

Hmmm...
Is this the same "organization" that must work by cooperating with
their premier sponsor Ford Motor Company, who detests having one of
their products used in an Experimental aircraft ???.

Sounds like they need to call it the Certified Aircraft Assoc.

And for you half assed comment. It appears the Experimental Aircraft
Assoc needs some hot tempered idiots on the board to staighten out the
mess they have woven. I don't know Jim but he sure seems to be one who
could get things done. My .02 cents worth.


Tailwinds
Ben
www.haaspowerair.com