To add to this, I only pay $20/year, the only reason I'm a member is that I'm required to be in order to compete in the IAC. I chose the most basic option (not on the website, you have to call and request it) that does not include the magazine. No big problem now that they publish them online.
Unfortunately in science what you believe is irrelevant.
"I'm an old-fashioned Southern Gentleman. Which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-***** when I want to be."- Robert A. Heinlein.
In my lifetime the EAA has been populated older people. This is okay so long as young people step in as they get older. Flying has definitely gotten so expensive that only a choice few can participate.
My folks used to rent planes for $40 an hour(1980's). Nowadays you are lucky if you can find a rental for less than $100 an hour. We used to have EAA meetings, the works, I miss those times.
While this is probably true for many, there is certainly a large proportion that will still have enough disposable income to afford to fly...provided they have good jobs. With my group of friends, I've found that money usually isn't the issue. It's usually more along the lines of...
1) Spouse doesn't want them flying because...
a) Fear an accident will leave the other spouse alone, potentially with kids to raise, bills, etc.
b) Doesn't want the spouse spending the money on a "frivolous" pursuit.
c) Insert other reason here.
2) They have kids and just feel they don't have any time to devote to their own pursuits.
This is one of the main reasons my wife and I do not have kids and never will. We have a list of things we want to do during our lives and kids just don't fit in that equation. So instead, we'll give back to youth through programs like Young Eagles, Mentoring at local schools, and spoiling the heck out of our nieces and nephews. Doing that still leaves us plenty of time to fly and have fun.
Now...what we need to do is attract families to EAA! That is something Paul has wanted all along and our chapter has really taken that to heart the past couple of years. We are actively recruiting families and encouraging the meetings and events to be family events. We've had a lot of success doing this and the meetings have been much more well attended in the past two years.
Remember the stool!
Paul's View of EAA by ToT-LUG, on Flickr
Part of the "Social" leg is families. Paul stressed this when he spoke at the EAA Leaders Academy session I went to in 2011.
Chad there perhaps a thousand of so EAA people who could write with knowledge, experience, and even expertise about a T-6, which is a very important airplane for it's history as an advanced military trainer and it's great service which still continues today. There are vets who trained in them, and guys who own them now and who fly airshows in them or teach in them.
So why have an article from a guy that knows so little about a T-6? It would be like me writing about Learjets, hey, I did have a half hour flight in one once,
He has experience and probably expertise in business type planes, and who be a good source of an article in Business Aviation or Flying or even AOPA. But that is not what our mag should focus on and not what most of our members are interested in reading about.
Nothing wrong with the TBM article, except it is just in the wrong magazine, wrong organization.
Notice that the TBM article is about twice as long as the T-6 one and sounds like the writer knows what he is talking about.
I could, of course be wrong about what our members want, maybe they can't wait for the latest turbine and jet news, and maybe I am just one of the few old fashioned ones around.
How to know for sure; take a poll of members in the next issue, include a mail in card, and let our members choose if they want to read more about a WW II Mustang, or the air conditioned business jet that Cessna calls a Mustang?
The only problem with that idea is that it basically implies that folks as they get older naturally become interested in slower aircraft or rag wings or whatever you wanna call it. I don't believe that is the case. I believe it is more that those now in that age bracket (the older members) simply have a strong sense nostalgia for their youth and the aircraft that were popular at that time.
Unfortunately in science what you believe is irrelevant.
"I'm an old-fashioned Southern Gentleman. Which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-***** when I want to be."- Robert A. Heinlein.
That question contradicts what many people have been calling for. Why not get Mac to fly some Experimentals to get his perspective? I've heard that so many times in the last few months. A fresh perspective from someone with expertise in another area of flying. I can tell ya...the first time I got my hands on a Learjet, I was ECSTATIC about it, and couldn't stop talking about it. I think if I would have written an article about that experience, it would have been a good read.
I don't know what all Mac has flown as far as Warbirds, Vintage, or EAB's go, but new perspectives are usually an interesting read.
Every issue since April of 2008 has had a survey done on it, and what we are seeing now is a direct result of what our members are saying. Some of the choices have been great, some not so great, but that all depends on the individual preferences and opinions. Do I read every single article in Sport Aviation? Nope. Some of them don't interest me, and that's fine...I don't really care, because it does interest someone else, and I'd like to think they are enjoying the magazine as much as I do.
Chad Jensen
EAA #755575