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

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


You get the EAA Member's daily "ticket discount" if you choose to join. They
make it easy to join right there on the spot - then they give you a
thank-you gift to lug around (We got an insulated coffee mug for the car)

Last year I enjoyed the member's discount *and* a guest discount. Combined
over 3 days, it paid for the EAA membership ...plus I got a one year
subscription to EAA's Sport Aviation magazine thrown in to boot ..."free."
:-)

I'm switching to their Sport Pilot magazine, that Sport Aviation magazine
didn't do it for me.

http://www.eaa.org/memberbenefits.html


Montblack

"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.

Hilton wrote:

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

I don't know about walking in the main gate, but the last time I attended, you
had to be a member to enter from the North 40. If you aren't, they sign you up
right there.

George Patterson
Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
Because she smells like a new truck.

I always thought that removing the members only flight line admissions
was a mistake. Not just because of the ignorant types, but food and
drink also. They should have at least kept the gates to the flight line
and enforced the no food and drink rule (except water bottles).

John

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"

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

Two years ago I had a few of the non-aviation types in front of me
during the airshow. When the show was over they stood up and started to
walk away, leaving their trash behind them on the ground.
I called after them and told them to pick up their trash stating, "We
don't leave trash on the grounds here."
Despite his indignant glare, I stood and pointed to the mess they had
left. He came back and picked it up, but was not happy that I publicly
pointed out his littering.

Two years ago I had a few of the non-aviation types in front of me during
the airshow. When the show was over they stood up and started to walk
away, leaving their trash behind them on the ground.
I called after them and told them to pick up their trash stating, "We
don't leave trash on the grounds here."
Despite his indignant glare, I stood and pointed to the mess they had
left. He came back and picked it up, but was not happy that I publicly
pointed out his littering.

THANK YOU. This kind of activity epitomizes what I mean when I call them
"the NASCAR crowd."

Since EAA got rid of the flight line members-only rule, I've had to tell
people not to smoke, not to leave piles of crap next to planes, not to touch
fabric or props, not to let their kids climb on a wing. And I'm not even
camped in that area -- I just see it and instinctively react.

I have come to expect this kind of behavior at every other airshow in
America -- but never, ever, EVER in Oshkosh. The day it becomes the norm at
Airventure is the day I stop going to OSH.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
link.net...

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:Rsywe.101244$_o.82057@attbi_s71...

Wow -- 1970! That's really a surprise.

I wonder what he was thinking at the time? Creating a new Association
sounds like the kind of thing someone would do who is facing a power
struggle for control at the top of an organization.

Was someone bucking Paul for control of EAA back in '70?


I don't know. I first learned of the EAA in 1970 when I was a mere lad of
13. That was the year the convention moved permanently to OSH and local
television began covering it. I became a member the following year. I
don't recall any effort to oust Paul but at that age I wouldn't have paid
any attention to that kind of stuff. I have since obtained all back
issues of "Sport Aviation", one of these days I'll dig into them and see
what I can find out.


The following appeared in the January 1971 "Sport Aviation" in Paul
Poberezny's "Homebuilder's Corner" column:


SPORT AVIATION ASSOCIATION?

All of you undoubtedly have noticed how commercial magazines have edged in
on the name of our organization - and, particularly the name of our
publication, SPORT AVIATION. We receive letters regularly asking about
things which have appeared in "our" magazine "Sport Flying" which happens to
be a similarly named, but commercial product. Imagine the confusion if
someone came up with the name "Sport Aviation Association" and used this in
the name of their publication!

Therefore, EAA has registered the name "Sport Aviation Association" and has
formed a corporation - so as to protect the name and reputation of our
existing organization.

Due to the increased pressure on all sport flyers in the form of
ever-tightening government control, problems with the press, insurance
companies, and even other aviation groups over the real meaning of the word
"experimental" - many EAA members have expressed a desire to change the name
of EAA to something like "SAA" (for "Sport Aviation Association"). Further,
they would continue the widening of the scope of the organization to include
a larger number of enthusiasts so as to offer a more massive front to those
who would legislate sport flyers out of the air. It should be noted that
most of these sincere members recommend that if such a name change were ever
made, that it be done gradually over a period of years to forestall a
self-induced identity crisis.

At any rate, the name "Sport Aviation Association" is now protected - if we
ever decide to use it, it's there. What are your comments on this?

Sincerely,

Paul H. Poberezny

PRESIDENT

At any rate, the name "Sport Aviation Association" is now protected - if
we
ever decide to use it, it's there. What are your comments on this?

Wow -- that's fascinating stuff.

Prescient, that Paul Poberezny guy was -- but just a little ahead of his
time.

In any event, they *should* have changed the name when they had the chance.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"