In his editorial in the July Sport Aviation, Jack Pelton makes the case for bringing the Thunderbirds to Oshkosh this year. As a member who has been against the idea since it was just a rumor, I tip my cap to Jack- the argument that he makes is the most convincing one I've yet seen. In essence, his argument is that big, noisy jet air shows are what get kids excited about aviation, and we need to attract more kids to aviation. It's a sound argument. I'd like to use this forum as a "letter to the editor" to tell Jack why I disagree with him.
I'll get my main point out of the way first, since it borders on heresy. The purpose of Oshkosh is not to attract kids (or adults for that matter) to aviation. The purpose of Oshkosh is to be a gathering (convention to use the old term) of members who are already involved in aviation. We core EAA members spend the other 51 weeks of the year running local chapters, flying Young Eagles, supporting local air shows, sponsoring B-17 and Trimotor tour stops, flying more Young Eagles, doing school programs and hosting ground schools, flying still more Young Eagles, and volunteering in a hundred other ways. In other words, doing the evangelical work of EAA. These are the activities that grown participation in aviation, much more so than a week airshow in an out-of-the-way upper midwest town. These activities are local and reach a far broader audience. We do all this because we love and and are passionate about our brand of aviation.
Oshkosh, in it's correct form, is for us, the core EAA members. It's a gathering of members who spend the other 51 weeks growing aviation and need a week for ourselves, to recharge our batteries for the next 51 weeks. It needs to be focused inwardly towards the core members, and that philosophy should guide the planning for the event. It used to be that way.
Of course, some will think this is selfish and that we need to focus outwardly to attract others. Here's the funny part- back when EAA was focused more inwardly, we were (almost accidentally) extremely successful in attracting outsiders to come to the event. Let's face it- what we do is just so awesome that regular folks were more than willing to pay the admission price in order to get a ticket to stand with their noses against the flight line fence (remember that?) and watch us do our thing. The show wasn't for them and yet they came, in greater numbers than they do today, I might add.
Not to get all Dr. Phil on you, but here's an analogy- parents are most successful when they love one another more than they love their kids. That relationship naturally creates a loving family environment conducive to raising good kids. We as EAA need to love ourselves more than we love other people's kids.
Some time in the mid 90s, we began to lose our way. The focus began to shift from Oshkosh as a convention (a gathering of members) to Oshkosh as a circus (designed to maximize attendance.) From the dismantling of the flight line fence to the renaming of the convention to Airventure to a hundred large and small changes, the focus gradually shifted. As it did, EAAs relationship with it's core members became more and more strained. "I'm leaving and never bringing my airplane here again!" was an all-too common refrain heard after the circus crowds had damaged planes on the flight line where they were suddenly allowed to roam.
Bringing the Thunderbirds is just the next step in this evolution. As sure as I am sitting here, there are core EAA members who would otherwise have flown to the show who are not going to attend this year because of the T-birds and all the changes to the event they require. Still more will come, only to be sufficiently irked that they are less likely to return in the future. Is their loss worth the small gains made by attracting a slightly larger weekend crowd of locals? I don't know how to calculate this- but I'd bet all the money in my pocket that members who come to Oshkosh tend to be more involved in their home chapters, fly more Young Eagles and do more of that EAA evangelism that is so needed. Granted it can be a chicken and egg argument, that members who do these things are more likely to come to Oshkosh, but the reverse is certainly true. I know I leave Oshkosh every year with a renewed enthusiasm that would be sorely missed if I didn't go. We need to take care of our own and nurture that EAA spirit, and when we drive core members away from Oshkosh, we damage the organization.
These opinions, while mine, are certainly not only mine. Despite the Thunderbirds, I am still looking forward to the show. I volunteer on the homebuilt parking crew, and one of the great things about my job is that I get to meet and interact with core EAA members (any homebuilder qualifies in my book) in large numbers and get a good cross section of what members are thinking. It's a great way to get the temperature of the membership in a way that you can't get even from just a local chapter. I would invite those members of the EAA management ranks who are worried about the direction and culture of the organization to come out and work with us for a day or two. You'll learn more from these core members than you will in a whole month of executive meetings, I promise you.
Back at the now infamous 2012 annual meeting, I was one of the long line of members who stood up to address the board. The gentleman who spoke before me told that board that he had built an airplane and flown it to 32 consecutive Oshkosh shows, and was planning to not come back next year. He proceeded to expand on the reasons why. I applaud him for doing so, but for every person who takes the time to air their grievances on a public forum like that one (or this one) many times that number will simply vote with their feet. Any member of management would not have been caught off guard by the sentiments expressed at that meeting had they spent an afternoon with me talking to core members.
By the way, I spent my time at the mic warning the board that they were in danger of loosing the support of their volunteers and what that could mean to the organization. When the meeting broke, the only board member who came to seek me out to discuss this further was a rookie class 3 director by the name of Jack Pelton. So I know you get it, Jack, you understand the culture and EAA has made great advances under your guidance these last couple of years. But I'm afraid you are just wrong about the Thunderbirds.
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Originally Posted by Jeff Point
