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Thread: How can I get my local EAA Chapter out of bed with the local cops and FAA?

  1. #11

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    "If you're not happy with the programs in your chapter, the solution is easy. March up to the chapter president and say, "Let me plan the programs for the next year." THEN you can have some real neat stuff, and no doubt everyone in the chapter will thank you."

    As a past chapter president and current chapter safety rep and FAAST rep, I heartily concur. Heartily. Really heartily.

  2. #12
    Mayhemxpc's Avatar
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    Agree with Mike M. However, there is always the possibility that the management is perfectly happy with doing the things the way they have always been done and are unwilling to change. The solution then is to find another chapter. As was also pointed out, the great thing about being a pilot is that you can travel some distance to another chapter that is more in line with what you would like.

    I just got back from my chapter meeting. Yes, it finished with grilling hot dogs and hamburgers, but that is mostly an opportunity to sit down and talk airplane stuff. For example, one of the women in our chapter is a mechanic who works for the Smithsonian. She told us about twhat she is doing in the ongoing restoration of the B-26 FLAK BAIT. Cool lunch discussion. The main presentation was about how to build a Stratux and use it as an ADS-B-in device. We have had presentations by people who flew their GA aircraft around the world, about training the Afghan Air Force how to fly and maintain aircraft (did you know there is no word for "turbine" in Dari?) and other things that keep my 13 year old interested in coming. We also have a vibrant YE program. Heavy on participation, lots of youth, low on the rule books. (We just do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, not because it is mandated by some rule.) Yes, most of the people are older. (Comment from one, also at lunch today, "I remember one time, 80 years ago...") But we also have young people, some of whom were introduced to flight through the YE program, and are now pilots in the Chapter and CAP.

    I can't believe my chapter is unique, so, if -- after you offer to help build a more interesting program -- you remain unhappy...find another that better meets your desires!
    Chris Mayer
    N424AF
    www.o2cricket.com

  3. #13
    Jim Heffelfinger's Avatar
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    Choppergirl's rant is not at all unique AND National has been aware of this "condition" called 'aging of the chapters' for a number of years. It is the reason for Chapter Leadership weekends at OSH, the on the road Chapter Leadership Boot camps, the monthly chapter video magazine. chapter e newsletters, and the list goes on and on. Even a speakers bureau listing of presenters. https://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/eaa-chapt...peakers_bureau
    My chapter has gone from over 200 members in the 90's to the on-paper membership of ~50. We see about 10-12 at any meeting anymore. Getting in new (not necessarily young) blood is a challenge that , like many other chapters, remains elusive.
    As I have addressed in other similar threads my kids (mid 30s to 40) do not do clubs - Asking any of the "clubs" [Moose, Elks, Shriner, Lions, Yacht Clubs, Car Clubs......] and you will get the same answer - membership is aging and new members are hard to find - even harder to retain. They just do social/philanthropic (volunteer) activities differently - Much of which is because of the device you are reading this posting on.

    Getting someone to organize presentations is a on the face an easy job BUT I assure you it is not so and takes a personality with strong social skills and LOTS of follow through
    So, as has been noted - Just because the chapter doesn't do much should be taken as need for your energy to step up and be programs chair. I guarantee you will be thanked - profusely.
    https://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/eaa-chapt...pter-resources
    Last edited by Jim Heffelfinger; 03-25-2017 at 03:52 PM.

  4. #14
    We had our monthly meetings on a Thursday night at a local college for years, struggling (and begging) to get people to come to the meetings, having maybe 20-30 people in attendance on the good nights. Now we have discovered what people really want:

    1. Hanging out at the local airport.
    2. Fellowship and wild flying stories.
    3. Coffee and Donuts.

    We concentrate more on lengthy fellowship, with short presentations at the end of the meetings. Now attendance is between 75-100, with very little advertising (no begging). Through habit and consistency, they all know to head out to the airport, to the same hangar every first Saturday of the month. Here's a video of one of our monthly meetings:

    Last edited by FunInAviation; 03-26-2017 at 05:43 AM.

  5. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike M View Post
    "If you're not happy with the programs in your chapter, the solution is easy. March up to the chapter president and say, "Let me plan the programs for the next year." THEN you can have some real neat stuff, and no doubt everyone in the chapter will thank you."

    As a past chapter president and current chapter safety rep and FAAST rep, I heartily concur. Heartily. Really heartily.
    No it is not that easy. Some are happy with the way things are and I will leave it at that.

    Quote Originally Posted by FunInAviation View Post
    We had our monthly meetings on a Thursday night at a local college for years, struggling (and begging) to get people to come to the meetings, having maybe 20-30 people in attendance on the good nights. Now we have discovered what people really want:

    1. Hanging out at the local airport.
    2. Fellowship and wild flying stories.
    3. Coffee and Donuts.

    We concentrate more on lengthy fellowship, with short presentations at the end of the meetings. Now attendance is between 75-100, with very little advertising (no begging). Through habit and consistency, they all know to head out to the airport, to the same hangar every first Saturday of the month. Here's a video of one of our monthly meetings:

    To the ones whom do not have active clubs. Posting something like this in a thread like what we have here, is like rubbing salt into a wound.

    Tony

  6. #16
    Facts about our chapter since going to the coffee/donut/meeting format:

    1. Membership enrollment has tripled over the past 2 years (more funds for the chapter and the National EAA).
    2. The Members love the new format.
    3. Members bring their families to the meeting. (Spouses, kids, dogs, friends)
    4. All ages in attendance.
    Last edited by FunInAviation; 03-27-2017 at 06:00 AM.

  7. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by choppergirl View Post
    ...and is there any way I can change this, or should I just give up on EAA?
    If I were you, I'd give up on the EAA. Here's why.

    Flying is very structured and regulated. Building an experimental doesn't change this by much. A mid-air collision because a pilot didn't follow the law, hurts just as much, regardless of what you are flying. An aircraft in a 'transponder required area' that wanted to 'stick it to the man' by not having it calibrated is a hazard to all flyers. Most builders are pilots. While they'd argue whether an AN bolt is superior to a grade 8 bolt, they all know and accept that they have to follow the rules they are given.

    Now, some quotes from you:

    About obtaining a PPL
    Quote Originally Posted by choppergirl
    Take a written test or two online, pass it, and pass a few essential flight simulator check rides maybe (the kind you sit in and it moves around perhaps), and you are good to go.
    Quote Originally Posted by choppergirl
    I am not going to, nor ever will pay $XXXX for an instructor, or that amount of gasoline, just to demonstrate I can fly around. It's just absolutely ludicrous. Maybe if you wanted a commercial license to fly a big old bus in the sky loaded with passengers... sure... but a little GA plane... pfft.
    This thread
    Quote Originally Posted by choppergirl
    While I am not advocating any club should actively break the law (that's my job!), they should at least not be a shill and a tool and acting as an extension of the police state.
    Quote Originally Posted by choppergirl
    are they going to rat and narc me out someday for something petty and stupid?
    Quote Originally Posted by choppergirl
    by members being brainwashed into being hallway monitors?
    and finally, your sig
    Quote Originally Posted by choppergirl
    My Six Swords of Freedom: disobedience defiance resistance revolution sedition & sabotage
    Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. By definition, those that obey, must be slaves.
    You completely trivialize what it is to fly and the privileges of the PPL, and by doing so, belittle every PPL holder and owner of a 'little GA plane'. You seem to be very anti-authoritarian with terms like 'police state' and how it's your job to break the law. Calling people shills, narcs, slaves and brainwashed is not a way to make friends with adults. Anti-authoritarian and piloting are mutually exclusive. Basically, your beliefs are at odds with 99% of pilots, builders and any organization that represents them. They would also make you an extremely poor pilot.

    While there is always room for improvement in any club, you need to decide if a small program change would placate you or would you still be unhappy sharing space with 'slaves' you obviously disdain?

  8. #18
    Cary's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by turtle View Post
    If I were you, I'd give up on the EAA. Here's why.

    Flying is very structured and regulated. Building an experimental doesn't change this by much. A mid-air collision because a pilot didn't follow the law, hurts just as much, regardless of what you are flying. An aircraft in a 'transponder required area' that wanted to 'stick it to the man' by not having it calibrated is a hazard to all flyers. Most builders are pilots. While they'd argue whether an AN bolt is superior to a grade 8 bolt, they all know and accept that they have to follow the rules they are given.

    <snip>

    You completely trivialize what it is to fly and the privileges of the PPL, and by doing so, belittle every PPL holder and owner of a 'little GA plane'. You seem to be very anti-authoritarian with terms like 'police state' and how it's your job to break the law. Calling people shills, narcs, slaves and brainwashed is not a way to make friends with adults. Anti-authoritarian and piloting are mutually exclusive. Basically, your beliefs are at odds with 99% of pilots, builders and any organization that represents them. They would also make you an extremely poor pilot.

    While there is always room for improvement in any club, you need to decide if a small program change would placate you or would you still be unhappy sharing space with 'slaves' you obviously disdain?
    As I read through your first post, Chopper Girl, I wanted to say the same things that Turtle said, but he (or she, I don't know) said it better. Ordinarily I don't like ad hominem comments about others, but there're a couple of lines from Top Gun that seem to fit you. Iceman is talking to Maverick:
    You're everyone's problem. That's because every time you go up in the air, you're unsafe. I don't like you because you're dangerous.
    Later, he says:
    Maverick, it's not your flying, it's your attitude. The enemy's dangerous, but right now you're worse. Dangerous and foolish.

    For very good reasons, primarily safety, aviation must be highly regulated, and having discussions with those who know more about those regulations than you do is valuable. I go to the local monthly EAA IMC Club meetings, yet I keep up with the regulations on my own, and I've been an IR pilot for 42 years. I've been flying for more than 44 years, I was once a CFII, a SE charter pilot, and I've got more than a few hours in my logbook. I've taken more checkrides than you have fingers. You think I don't know how to fly in the clouds legally, how to stay out of trouble with ATC, how to live? I absolutely do, but all of us are students in aviation, no matter what our experience or training. It is impossible to know everything that there is to know about aviation.

    Actually, if you can't change your attitude a bit, I'd just as soon that you don't learn to fly, that you don't build an airplane, and that you stay out of the sky. It'll be a whole lot safer for the rest of us, who understand the need for and abide by the rules and regulations.

    Cary
    "I have slipped the surly bonds of earth...,
    put out my hand and touched the face of God." J.G. Magee

  9. #19

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    EAA IMC Club?
    First I heard of that since I joined EAA 43 years ago.
    Is that the current trend of EAA now?

  10. #20
    Auburntsts's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Berson View Post
    EAA IMC Club?
    First I heard of that since I joined EAA 43 years ago.
    Is that the current trend of EAA now?
    EAA and IMC Club merged a little over a year ago. At the National level IMC Club got their own page on the EAA website and a folder on this site (it's the first folder in the Aviation Interests section on the forum homepage). At the local level, from what I can tell, the merger has been less obvious. In any event, I wouldn't call it an EAA trend, just another area in aviation that interests many of us in the E-AB world.
    Last edited by Auburntsts; 03-28-2017 at 04:03 AM.
    Todd “I drink and know things” Stovall
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