Quote Originally Posted by cluttonfred View Post
I appreciate both of your comments and agree completely that the organization has to evolve over time. What concerns me most is that homebuilding has disappeared entirely from the 2013 articles. That seems very problematic for an organization that still calls itself the Experimental Aircraft Association. EAA can join other organizations like AOPA in promoting general aviation broadly (though that's not why I belong to EAA) but those other organizations do not focus on homebuilding. If EAA does not focus on promoting homebuilding as its primary mission, who will?
To answer your direct question, no one! EAA really is the only organization that people can turn to for home building.

What I really think you are asking is if EAA's primary focus should be home building? It is clear from my time working at HQ that it's an internal struggle as well. How does the organization balance what it used to be vs. what it is.

More so, is EAA an airshow or is it an organization? It's a difficult question to ask and answer because everyone has their own opinions but the facts pretty clearly state that the organization is driven by the revenue of AirVenture. That's not to say that members don't see benefits in home building ad education because of it, but without that economic engine I wonder if EAA would be little more than a bunch of old guys grabbing coffee in a hangar every weekend.

All of the industry numbers are terribly concerning, and while everyone wants to point at costs being a deterrent to being a pilot and owner of a plane it's clear that awareness and education are the bigger issues.

I could riff on this for days. It's amazing to zoom out and see just how much it has grown – on the foundation of inclusion, a key belief of Paul's. It would be more accurate to describe EAA as a loose group of niche aviation communities.

But, for an organization rooted in home building and experimental it's sad to see that it hasn't necessarily driven that thinking forward. The Founder's Innovation Prize is an attempt, but where is the truly big thinking? What about a set of plans for a truly affordable aircraft that could be driven by the partnership from kit companies? Something that anyone could build in months vs. years?

Or what about embracing what experimental means in alternative fuel (electric), drones, or technology that disrupts the industry? I just don't think you are going to see that from an organization that is more focused on being a care taker of the brand / mission vs. pushing it forward.

It's not easy to manage and balance what might have been with what might be. But for too long the organization has meandered between both and now finds itself somewhere between pockets of excellence in the organization and daily mediocrity. It's sad to see...

While the yearly financial success of AirVenture is something to be proud of and point to, if you were to judge EAA's success on the statements of purpose (from the original charter in 53 or now) I think it would score pretty low.