Exactly my feeling. Nuts! This is also the sentiment of the majority of our Chapter members.
Exactly my feeling. Nuts! This is also the sentiment of the majority of our Chapter members.
Mark, this goes far beyond just effecting Young Eagles. It effects how we deal with the great young members we have in our chapter. I personally will not have our chapter basically put up an unwelcome sign to the next generation of aviators. That is what this policy is doing.
Originally Posted by Mark van Wyk
For once we agree, Mark. My choice, and apparently that of others, is leave EAA, unless there are major changes.
The new YE demands were the final straw, but I believe that for many of us older members (for reference, I attended my first EAA National fly-in in RFD in 1962, age 14) there is a greater issue. It's EAA's slide from a confederation of like-minded, aviation-enthused individuals, to a Corporate entity. EAA has made a primary focus of promoting itself to the public. One way it does this is thru an airshow catering to the lowest common denominator....concerts, huge non-aviation exhibits, buy a 'membership' at the gate and we'll let you and your six kids out among airplanes that may be the life-long accomplishment of the builder/restorer, etc. I believe EAA has lost sight of the 'Association' portion of their name. Because of that I choose to no longer associate.
I believe everyone at EAA Corporate is acting in good faith. I am also a firm believer in the concept of unintended consequences, which I predict will have repercussions throughout EAA. PHP would NOT be happy!
As an active pilot and multiple-aircraft owner, I will continue to promote aviation in any way I can, including kids' rides.
Jim
EAA #64315 (1971-2015...the membership, not me!)
Last edited by Jim Rosenow; 02-03-2016 at 08:56 AM. Reason: always a typo!
I am a MEMBER, not an employee.
1996 Quad City Challenger CWS w/503 - Sold
1974 7ECA Citabria - Sold
1986 Pitts S1S
Another way of putting it is that we are CUSTOMERS, not employees. We pay money to belong. If a price rises too high (either in the fiscal or other sense) we can take our custom elsewhere.
Ron Wanttaja
Good word. Better words, FUBAR! and Hubris. By the time EAA recognizes that a bulldozer was not required to kill a knat, it might be too late to fix. Just add this great lie to, the cheque is in the mail and, "I promise I won't....."
As the president of Chapter 427, we will have to probably stop all YE fights. Most of our volunteers and pilots will not go through the checks.
We usually fly between 110-125 kids sometime later in the fall and don't get our setups done until close to the event. We have used the local Boy Scout troop for a lot of our "labor" in the past and the young boys are really good. They, I guess , won't have to fill out background checks. But the real truth of the matter is maybe it is just time to fold the chapter and get on with life. I personally give lots of people and kids rides in my open cockpit biplane year around and that won't change.
I am truly amazed and disappointed in the response from HQ on the issue. This is prolonging the issue, especially on this forum. I don't agree with all the comments on here but really believe you guys all at least care.
For what its worth, you might want to read:
http://www.aero-news.net/ANNTicker.c...9-a3aa1685685d
Its a bit long, but its written to fill an on online column. The author reviews many comments made in this thread, but most important of all he speculates, because he has no actual documentation, regarding events that may have occurred. Speculation is risky because it may or may not be true, and if untrue, breeds rumors. (That's why EAA should come clean on this. If there have not been any molestations, then say so ! If there have, then EAA just needs to day "Yes, but we're not giving out details to protect the minor(s) involved.")
The author also states "I have been advised and confirmed documentation that has provided some basic warnings from headquarters of the impending need for this, for a number of months via online/written communications that were sent to those involved in these programs."
Q: What's a basic warning?
Q: Sent to those involved? Define that. Our YE coordinator throws away nothing. Ever. He reads everything. Asked him if had received anything prior to January 15th, and he said that he had not.
You might want to research the writer's background.
BJC
Once again, while EAA attempts to allow you full freedom to express your opinions here, in the interest of clearing up a few misconceptions let me add a few more things to the conversation.
The following three links are the newsletters that went out to YE pilots, YE coordinators, and EAA volunteers respectively
http://spirit.eaa.org/youngeagles/ne...field-rep.html (September 2015)
http://spirit.eaa.org/youngeagles/ne...-ye-pilot.html (May 2015)
http://spirit.eaa.org/volunteerinfo/...er/1504v2.html (April 2015)
This is the text of the article that appeared in each of these newsletters:
EAA's Youth Protection Program
EAA staff is creating a Youth Protection Program for our members and volunteers actively engaged in youth programs. The main goal is to provide a consistent organizationwide program that creates awareness and provides education to volunteers on the best practices of working with youth. As an organization that actively engages in youth activities, EAA feels it is important to ensure our volunteers have the appropriate training and knowledge to effectively work with this audience.
The program will be introduced in greater detail to the volunteer chairs and chapter leaders in the next few months. We have volunteers assisting in the implementation and testing of the program. We look forward to sharing the tools with you soon. If you have a specific youth program you are working on, let us know. We want to hear your ideas as we create this program.
In addition, we talked about it at the YE luncheon and the Chapter Leader’s breakfast during AirVenture. We chose these venues because they reach the people who are impacted the most by the policy. We did receive feedback from folks after these went out.
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