WIX Archives
Re: Long and boring...part duex
Posted by JimH on Tue Jan 28, 2003 03:34:54 PM
In reply top Long and boring... posted by bdk on Tue Jan 28, 2003 03:05:49 PM
first off...thanks BDK...and I agree with you totally.
I've been in and out of EAA since 1980...they have done more than most imagine to keep GA alive...not to mention the "other facets" they support. I met and got a pat on the head by Paul 1 in 1981 at Hales Corners (I was 10)...and my experience with a/c has been mostly with homebuilts. EAA IS responsible for the contuation of this movement past the 1950's. EAA must grow to stay vital, and it says alot when most of the aircraft in the collection that were flying regularly are now temporarily grounded due to costs. It is getting harder to attract new faces and money to aviation, lets face it...it's expensive as hell to fly no matter where you live or how deep your pockets are...the average age of the student pilot program I am in is 45...with me being the youngest by far at 31. If GA, Warbirds, Vintage, Experimental aircraft expect to survive we need a large and powerful (read that corporate) voice such as the EAA to represent us...the little guy. While the magazine is decidedly boring...there are numerous articles yearly about the lobbying efforts of the EAA in Washington...and the FAR/AIM books reflect this admirably. Flying is not what it was 10-20 years ago...but at least we have that general freedom to roam the skies. Geez...my Grandfather's (EAA Antique and IAC member) Dart didn't have a radio...GPS...VOR...Mode C...we just got in the plane...pointed it to a compass heading and we were off...nowadays from the same airport you have about 15 miles of free air to the east of Class C a/s...stay below 2,500ft to avoid call ups...yada yada yada... BUT thanks to people that run the EAA we can still fly. I'll live with the minor inconvienences!
Jim