What year to qualify for classic show plane?

[brandon67e]

Does anyone know if they are going to change the year for what it take to be considered a classsic, or show plane? Right now it is a 71 or older. Any plans to change that this year or when? Thanks.

[rawheels]

I don't know for sure, but I would guess it is a few years off. It was limited to pre-1968 aircraft for at least 6 years (2004-2009 AirVenture NOTAMs, and possibly earlier). Since it was only "recently" changed to pre-1971 aircraft in 2010, I'd guess you have at least a few more years before another jump up.

[H.G. Frautschy]

Actually, the cutoff year is the end of 1970, not 1971. The official guidelines for EAA judging categories are posted here, on the AirVenture website.
http://www.airventure.org/awards/judging_manual11.pdf

Please note that the Contemporary category is the only one of the 3 Vintage aircraft judging categories which has an end date that can be adjusted. It is not adjusted yearly. At this point there are no plans to move the date forward during 2012.

For more on Judging guidelines, feel free to visit the VAA's website here:

http://www.vintageaircraft.org/informational_articles/Judging Guidelines.html#TopOfPage

I see at the end of that article I need to make a revision to it, as we don't publish the judging standards manual in hard copy form any more; it's available for download as a PDF at the link I posted above.

H.G. Frautschy
Editor, Vintage Airplane magazine
Executive Director, VAA