We'll, I am sure that they are and I am glad of that, I am not against EAA having facilities on government grounds, but I am merely noting how EAA is now on the prowl to get a "piece of the action" in everything they can and I am concerned about what all this "non-profit" goes too. Seems to be a lot of "programs" that have big appetites.
Regarding Compass Hill and the Memorial Wall, I have family and friends on that wall and I think it is a great place to visit each year when I return to AirVenture for reflection and solace. However, Compass Hill is in neglect, in my "humble" opinion. The pathways are in need of more gravel and a lot of black plastic is visible under the mulch and reading the stone placards on the pathway is difficult as they seem weathered. I know what you are thinking. Make a donation and volunteer to fix it up. Forgetaboutit. Someone has to whine and snivel and it might as well as be me. Maybe it is just me. My comment was more to illustrate the fact that there are so many aspects of the entire complex and each year they grow and multiply exponentially causing money grabbing schemes to help quench the monetary thirst and it has gone so far as to cause the "Great and Knowing OZ of aviation" to prohibit vendors to giving thirsty EAA members from getting water without crawling for miles or paying beer prices for it. OK, so beer is mostly water, right? But fish don't do in beer what they do in water.
I know it is difficult for some to hear complaints about EAA or AirVenture. There are devotees to EAA that have worshiped the grounds of AirVenture as if it were some "mecca". Actually in a way it is. I expect someday to see loyal EAA devotees whipping themselves with with a sjambok. My opinions, though negative, are not acts of blasphemy. After all, I have been a member for some 29 years and have attended 28 consecutive EAA AirVenture Fly-in's. That is no record by any stretch, but it should establish me as a member who has paid his dues, and some. Nobody has put a gun to my head yet and forced me to buy the $2.95 ice cream cones or pay $3.00 for a bottle of water, but making opinionated comments, (and that's all they are) although they may be negative, it does not damage the "credibility of the forums."
Think how boring this forum would be if all you read here were praises of admiration and joy. Read between the lines, Hal, and remember that I'll be back next years with another bag of money to satisfy the voracious appetite that I too am guilty of enabling. Tell them next year that those damn ice cream cones are too big and that limits my beer consumption capability at Beer Venture. Those cute little bartenders there need their "piece of the action" also.
Fly safe and I'll see you next year!
