What the heck is this???

[dewi8095]

Sounds like the dissatisfaction with SA is closely followed by AirVenture. Maybe there needs to be a national fly-in for experimentals, like the Rockford days. The biplaners recently found their salvation in Jim Clark who now organizes the annual biplane fly-in at Junction City, Kansas, after the Bartlesville, OK event folded.

Thank you Jim Clark for providing the venue for biplanes, both certified and experimental.

Freeman Field at Junction City, by the way, would be a great location for an experimental fly-in. Great central location and two well maintained grass runways, plus a hard surface one for those who like to hear the squeek of tires when landing. All we need is someone to put it together. Not an easy task though. Maybe a smaller start with a multi-state event. Does EAA still provide support for regionals like Copper State? I am unaware of anything in the midwest states that approximates an experimental event.

Don

[Chad Jensen]

OUCH
Wow, I was getting annoyed at all the articles about people building all the dime a dozen common kits, RV's, Zeniths, Rans etc.
I always look for people that are actually doing EXPERIMENTAL stuff, I used enjoy the odd one off's that appear in the magazine, and used to get 'Experimenter' till it was discontinued.

Experimenter has been running online since January 2009...it's all homebuilt content, and if you haven't subscribed, I invite you to check it out. I know it's not a paper magazine, but it's really a good read. We are talking about ways to make it more online-reader friendly.

http://www.magnetmail.net/actions/su..._form_ExAA.cfm

I know some of the one off's out there can be a bit rough, but it's a start, people are learning.
As an example, here's an airplane I built about 15 years ago;
Attachment 1000
Never got around to writing an article, plus I'm in Australia.
One day maybe...
Arthur.

That is REALLY cool Arthur! I would love to hear more about it either on here (start a new thread) or give me an article about it for publishing in Experimenter...it has a mini turbine Porter look to it to me, and I'm intrigued!

[Chad Jensen]

Sounds like the dissatisfaction with SA is closely followed by AirVenture. Maybe there needs to be a national fly-in for experimentals, like the Rockford days. The biplaners recently found their salvation in Jim Clark who now organizes the annual biplane fly-in at Junction City, Kansas, after the Bartlesville, OK event folded.

Thank you Jim Clark for providing the venue for biplanes, both certified and experimental.

Freeman Field at Junction City, by the way, would be a great location for an experimental fly-in. Great central location and two well maintained grass runways, plus a hard surface one for those who like to hear the squeek of tires when landing. All we need is someone to put it together. Not an easy task though. Maybe a smaller start with a multi-state event. Does EAA still provide support for regionals like Copper State? I am unaware of anything in the midwest states that approximates an experimental event.

Don

EAA supports thousands of events and fly-ins around the country through the Chapter network (some of them are quite substantial).

We attend and participate in most of the regional fly-ins like Copperstate, MERFI, SERFI, Golden West, Sun-N-Fun, and our development team even travels to the big one's like AOPA, NBAA, and EBACE, but our only supported major fly-in is AirVenture.

Give Ron Wagner here at EAA a call at 920-426-6122...he is always more than happy to talk to folks about this kind of stuff.

[RENO]

I'm sorry, I just don't understand some of these comments. True, the EAA has it's roots firmly planted in the experimental aircraft movement which has allowed thousands of pilots to own, operate and maintain their own aircraft. True, the EAA continues to advocate for the common person who just wants to fly - what about LSA, ELSA, Young Eagles and numerous other programs that benefit each of us. Sure, I am a retired professional aviation owner/operator but I love all the freedoms that are now ours through the efforts of yours and my EAA. The issues which surround the purchase, construction, testing and approvals of our home builts are far from "grassroots" but are necessary nonetheless. EAA is soo much more than your Air Cam or my RV. Let's enjoy it all When was the last time YOU requested a column or story for our magazine/s? In short, if it's a garbage can and someone puts wings and a motor on it and it flies safely or a brand new TBM turbo, I say HOOHRAY for all of us!!! Just my 2 cents. I'll be quiet now.

[Experimenter]

Hi guys, I have been an on-again, off-again member of the EAA. I had my intoduction to "real" flying by builder and pilot extraordin-aire, George Read. My first three years flying with George set the stage for what I do and enjoy today. I have been a modeler for more than 40 years and now, following my heart, I am building a Pietenpol, just as George recommended more than 25 years ago. BAck then the SA mag was awesome, I could learn about any kind of homebuilding from perusing it's pages and it meant a lot to me, it spoke to me. The forward movement of progress has also made the EAA a more commercial enterprise, and I believe, it has moved away from the origins, from the place of Bernie Pietenpol, Wittman, Corben and so many others that experimented and taught us how to build! As we speak, I am building a Pietenpol, I want and need a magazine that represents the small, garage working experimenter, that can build and get others involved in building their own personal machine. SA has no business publishing an article on the TBM or any other non-experimental, non-homebuilt, commercially made and regulated aircraft. I do not think the TBM has the placard "This aircraft is amateur-built and does not comply with Federal Safety Regulations for Standard Aircraft". It has not spoken to me in a long time...

Jose R. Soto

[Kyle Boatright]

SA has no business publishing an article on the TBM or any other non-experimental, non-homebuilt, commercially made and regulated aircraft. Jose R. Soto

I think the umbrella needs to be much bigger than that. Antiques, Vintage aircraft, and Warbirds are interesting to aviation enthusiasts and should be represented in SA. But not factory builts that can be purchased off of the showroom floor.

[akroflyer]

Anyone know when we can expect TBM kits or plans? can't wait to start building one!!! Articles like that are exactly why I dropped "flying" magazine. I had to look at the magazine cover to see if I was really reading "Sport Aviation"

[Mike Switzer]

Oh Boy... I get flying magazine for the "almost for free" professional rate for people waiting around the office to read - the December issue showed up yesterday, it has a Pipistrel LSA on the cover and what appears to be an article on flying a Cub on skis - I'm wondering if I woke up in some kind of alternate universe.

[MrBill]

There seems to be a lot of opinions on the current direction of the magazine. (I'll keep my opinion silent for now). How about a quick survey of the masses to see if they are happy with the direction. Not a place to post opinions, but just a quick yes or no vote. Tally the votes, and then ask opinions based on the outcome of the survey.
Just an idea....

[RATS]

Having read all of the posts on both threads, and found them interesting to say the least. It would appear that folks on both sides of the coin have made some good points, but in my opinion everyone has missed the real issues. The issues are this organization belongs to the membership, and the membership is growing. The roots of this organization are firmly planted in education, and that is the premises that our planes are licensed under. Why is it that the EAA is growing at such an exponential rate?

Let me apologize now for the length of this post. Everyone seems to be upset by what the editors of Sport Aviation are doing. The problem is not what they are doing, but it is what the membership isn’t doing. Remember they work for us, we do not work for them, and we are the ones paying membership dues. It is up to us what is published in the magazine for our organization, if you are not happy with it demand a change! Just like most of you, I am very unhappy with the direction of both the EAA and Sport Aviation and it is up to us to make our feelings known!

Secondly, education is what the EAA is all about! The reason that the FAA allows us to build and fly experimental/amateur built aircraft is for education and recreation! Where does the Bell 47 or the Daher-Socata fit into this? Both of those aircraft are without a doubt fine examples of their type, but not educational. This is just a case of the leadership not knowing what the reason for their existence is! The leadership needs to find the mission statement, read it and understand it!

Why is the EAA growing at such an exponential rate? There are several reasons for that. People that are interested in aviation are looking for a source that will provide them with information. Have any of you read Flying magazine, AOPA Pilot magazine or Kitplanes? You can no longer just walk up to a magazine rack and pickup aviation magazines, and when you can find them they all include those 3 million dollar aircraft that most of us couldn’t afford ever. A lot of the guys that are flying factory built planes with a type certificate, would like to build, but don’t know where to start. If we allow Sport Aviation to employ writers like J. Mac McClellan we will also lose all of the new membership seeking information about how to get started in the homebuilding/ experimental aircraft market.
So in closing, let’s take back our organization! We all need to contact everyone at headquarters and demand they return to education and recreation! The choice belongs to us the members, will we just set back and complain, or will we stand-up and be counted? The back of your membership card contains a toll free phone number, USE IT!

Steve Carruthers
EAA 399354