Why doesn’t EAA allow Fifi and other Warbirds to Charge for rides?

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Originally Posted by glider90

I recall it being made pretty clear in 2017 that FiFi and Doc on the same field would likely be a one time thing. Boeing and EAA wanted it to happen, (the two of them together for the first time) at Oshkosh.

Both Doc and Fifi need to make money on rides and ground tours to sustain their operation. Once an event has one B-29, a second one dilutes the customer base. Since Doc was on the schedule for EAA this year, FiFi scheduled an event elsewhere. Plain and simple Doc was going to be there this year but had an engine issue which brought her tour to a halt. FiFi was already booked elsewhere.

Also, the B-29's usually split the week with some days being ride experiences out of Appleton and some days being ground tours at Wittman. One of the past crewman told me that the ground tours at Oshkosh are hard to beat with "a constant flow of paying patrons going through the airplane without us having to fly it".

There was a very long time where there was not a single airworthy B-29 to attend Oshkosh at all during FiFi's engine rework era. I would like to see a B-17 on the field again, it has been a long time since a B-17 was based on the grounds.

I do not understand why so many people want to paint a pitch fork into the hands of the EAA over everything that has changed over the years with Airventure. I have been attending since 1973, it has changed a bunch. The EAA convention is a product in demand. The EAA has utilized that demand to do things for the membership that would have never been possible had they turned their backs on the companies that wanted to invest in the product. As long as there are some airplanes and people that love them, to me it is Oshkosh. The big players change over the years, but the homebuilts, vintage, and private warbirds are the core, and the real people that are involved in bringing them to Oshkosh are the essence of the event to me.

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Finally, a voice of reason and truth!

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Originally Posted by glider90

I do not understand why so many people want to paint a pitch fork into the hands of the EAA over everything that has changed over the years with Airventure. I have been attending since 1973, it has changed a bunch. The EAA convention is a product in demand. The EAA has utilized that demand to do things for the membership that would have never been possible had they turned their backs on the companies that wanted to invest in the product. As long as there are some airplanes and people that love them, to me it is Oshkosh. The big players change over the years, but the homebuilts, vintage, and private warbirds are the core, and the real people that are involved in bringing them to Oshkosh are the essence of the event to me.

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Good post, Glider.

We have to remember that these are just ordinary, airplane-loving folks working out of EAA headquarters (though, mind you, I've noted a waft of brimstone coming out of Hal's office :-). There's a lot of things they'd like to do, but they're restricted in myriad ways, from the binding of state and federal laws, the need to remain a "good neighbor" to the Oshkosh non-aviation community, and the whole logistics nightmare of putting on the world's largest airshow, running for a whole week at a time.

Yes, there are some &^%*% lawyers involved...unavoidable, with a corporation this large. However, stop by EAA's headquarters sometimes... sure, it's big, but there aren't THAT many people working there. Most of the building is the museum.

We can bemoan the smaller, intimate events of the 60s and 70s, but I think most of the complainers today would be disappointed if they were plopped down in the middle of the event in, say, 1962. "What, only a hundred homebuilts?" "The warbird show was just six T-6s." "No trams?" "I got a splinter from that wooden sani-can." "No showers?" "Only two food vendors, carrying only brats?" "Why does the whole place just shut down at 6 PM?" "Where are the seaplanes?" "Why is that eight-year-old kid yelling about headset impedances?"

The founders of EAA grabbed a tiger by the tail when they started holding an annual convention. The tiger has dragged them over some odd terrain over the years. We may not agree at some of the decisions made, but it did result in a pretty darn good aviation event.

Ron Wanttaja