EAA ditches air racing?

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Originally Posted by Frank Giger

What a stupid and unfortunate chain of events to this cluster "fudge."

Let's see if I get this right:

The race is ran - organized and orchestrated - by one organization.

They place a supporting organization front and center as a co-sponsor.

The supporting organization has no authority over the organization and orchestration of the event; they only provide support, and object to being identified as having more to do with it than they actually have.

This is known as responsibility without authority, and is a really bad place to be in.

The actual responsible organization then objects to sole responsibility and says they will cancel the whole event if the supporting one doesn't accept an untentable position.

They cancel the event.

The organization that supported them through volunteers and PR is blamed for the cancellation.

Uh, what?

This is no different than if Coke or Sporty's or any other company provided goods or services either gratis or at a reduced rate and found that they had gotten top billing as being responsible for the event. They'd probably do more than send an email - they'd send a cease and desist letter via registered mail or courier.

If the race organizers had put the EAA as a supporting organization along with all the other vendors there would probably not be an issue. Calling it the AirVenture Cup and featuring the EAA front and center puts the EAA firmly on the blame line for anything that goes wrong. Personally I think letting any event where the EAA isn't directly in charge be called an AirVenture anything is dangerous territory, as it's a trademarked brand for the organization.

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Yeah, that was pretty much my thoughts about this whole debacle. It's sour grapes and the pessimists and naysayers group that hangs around this forum have latched on it as "evidence" of some grand conspiracy by the EAA to do away with the imagined heyday of homebuilding history. Honestly, the whole thing reminds me of the oddballs on shows like Ancient Aliens trying to stitch together unrelated events to support their beliefs.

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Originally Posted by steveinindy

Honestly, the whole thing reminds me of the oddballs on shows like Ancient Aliens trying to stitch together unrelated events to support their beliefs.

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And I see me at least one ostrich with his head buried in the sand.

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Originally Posted by Old Timer

And I see me at least one ostrich with his head buried in the sand.

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I see one person who needs to remember that I don't see a problem with the approach the EAA is taking. There's a difference between being oblivious and being aware of what is actually going on. Organizations do not survive by pandering to every vocal minority faction with an agenda or being recalcitrant simply because of historical ideals.

On what basis do you claim to speak for the majority?

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Originally Posted by Old Timer

On what basis do you claim to speak for the majority?

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Same question to you.

I'm only claiming to speak for myself and my view is that the EAA is doing its best to meet the wants, desires and needs of a broad population and accommodate as many folks as possible (Paul's old saying that there's room enough for everyone). My contention that the various factions are minorities is an educated guess since most pilots are not air racers, aerobatic types, etc. Simply look at the number of members in the "main" EAA versus the various specialty clubs. If everyone is so dedicated to whatever little faction you wish to point out, then why aren't they members of the club for it?

The difference in opinion seems to largely break down (anecdotally) along age lines. The 'old timers' (no offense intended) seem to want to see the good ol' show with lots of daring do and classic light aircraft and showcase their love for the mystique of aviation. Those of us under the age of say 40-50 want to see aircraft that we identify with or want to fly and those tend not to be the Piets and other antiques except for the warbirds. We don't tend to have the same form of love for aviation (the 'mystique' versus a love for a fun form of transportation) and we are a little more focused on the latest technology so it tends to grate on the nerves of our parent's generation of pilots.

They don't seem to realize that there is room for us all here but resources are limited so not everyone is going to get their way. Failure to realize that the EAA is a business (and businesses have to make tough and sometimes unpopular decisions to survive) is at the heart of this entire mess. Sometimes we are going to not like the decisions that have to be made (example in my case: the Warbirds taking that chunk of parking to let the reenactors have their little encampment; that space could be used much better to showcase something really aviation related) but in the wash it all balances out.

Let's all stop bitching at one another and play nice. No one is out to run anyone else off so long as they can stay civil. We're all airplane geeks and so it's about time that we stop bickering and realize we either live together as friends or perish apart as fools.

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Originally Posted by steveinindy

No one is out to run anyone else off

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I believe this whole discussion began with EAA saying that owing to public concerns it wanted to disassociate itself with air racing of all kinds.

....... so it's about time that we stop bickering and realize we either live together as friends or perish apart as fools.[/QUOTE]

I think Ben Franklin said something very similar a few years ago. Smart man he was.

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Originally Posted by Burtles

Following this logic, EAA Chapters should be afraid, very afraid.

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Yes, they should - and shouldn't.

A chapter can't do stuff that isn't approved by National and keep their charter, but in the end National is going to be held liable for anything a Chapter does before then.

Look at all the rules for YE flights - they're there for a reason. If a Chapter doesn't follow them and someone gets hurt, both the Chapter individually and National is liable.

Similarly, National could come down and state that a function a Chapter wants to do can't be labeled as an EAA event or associated with the parent organization. An extreme example would be a chapter fundraiser calendar featuring naked women posing next to aircraft. Clearly the EAA would not want their trademarks anywhere on it.

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Originally Posted by Frank Giger

....... would be a chapter fundraiser calendar featuring naked women posing next to aircraft........

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what, where are those I missed those....:) my shop needs a calendar

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Originally Posted by steveinindy

I'm only claiming to speak for myself...

Those of us under the age of say 40-50 want to see aircraft that we identify with or want to fly and those tend not to be the Piets and other antiques except for the warbirds. We don't tend to have the same form of love for aviation (the 'mystique' versus a love for a fun form of transportation) and we are a little more focused on the latest technology so it tends to grate on the nerves of our parent's generation of pilots.

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Admittedly, this is completely off topic from the thread, but I just have to comment about this particular post. ;) First you claim to speak for yourself, then you paint a huge demographic with a very wide brush. I'd just like to point out that there are plenty of us "under the age of 40-50" who DO indeed love the antiques (especially Piets) and DO indeed love aviation BECAUSE of the romance and "mystique" of it all. :cool:

THAT being said, I completely, absolutely, 100% agree with the rest of your comment. "We're all airplane geeks and so it's about time that we stop bickering and realize we either live together as friends or perish apart as fools." You hit the nail on the head with a 10lb sledgehammer!