crusty old aviator
06-09-2013, 06:32 PM
I sure had a good laugh reading the cover line on this issue: 60 Years of Tailwinds, The first passenger-carrying homebuilt. I thought, okay, so some EAA editor has very little knowledge of aviation history and violated the primary rule of journalism by not checking his/her facts before going to print...but I wonder how the Pietenpol bunch will take this?
I do give credit to the article's author, Jim Stanton, for correctly stating in his prose that it was the first passenger-carrying Experimental - Amateur Built category aircraft to be signed off by the Feds, but that's because it was a brand new category then and it was just a matter of timing. There were plenty of pre-E-AB category, passenger-carrying homebuilt aircraft built, registered, and legally flown prior to the Tailwind's debut.
If EAA no longer has a resident aviation historian who can review their publications for correctness, before they go to print and embarrass themselves, send your pre-pub copy to me and I'll be happy to fact check it for you...especially the cover lines!
I do give credit to the article's author, Jim Stanton, for correctly stating in his prose that it was the first passenger-carrying Experimental - Amateur Built category aircraft to be signed off by the Feds, but that's because it was a brand new category then and it was just a matter of timing. There were plenty of pre-E-AB category, passenger-carrying homebuilt aircraft built, registered, and legally flown prior to the Tailwind's debut.
If EAA no longer has a resident aviation historian who can review their publications for correctness, before they go to print and embarrass themselves, send your pre-pub copy to me and I'll be happy to fact check it for you...especially the cover lines!