So we're renting out flight line space now?

[steveinindy]

There is a real nice airport in Rockford with plenty of parking for homebuilts...

Good luck getting the cargo boys to put up with Oshkosh level traffic. LOL

[FlyingRon]

They did it last year, too.

[Clarke Tate]

Family, homebuilts, kids, and real personal and vintage aircraft front and center (not chalets!). Magazine cover is a table of contents, not a nice airplane photo. I looked at Sport Aviation very little again this month. I find the old archives more interesting which really does not bode well for the organization.

[steveinindy]

I find the old archives more interesting

To a certain degree, I'll agree with you. If I'm looking for ideas or things to copy, I look at Sport Aviation or one of the other aviation magazines that are current. If I'm looking for "how to" information, I look towards the archives. Both have their pluses and minuses. It's also nice to be able to look back and see how far we've advanced from the origins of homebuilding and to wonder what became of some of the more eccentric ideas that have come out of the hobby....

which really does not bode well for the organization.

Having been tangentially involved to varying degrees with the EAA since 1988 (mostly as a "hangar rat" with one of the chapters back home), that's not a new refrain like a lot of people want to make it seem. I've come to kind of come to accept that the only thing some pilots like to do more than fly is search for things to get their undies in a knot over. That's not directed at you personally Clarke...more of a general observation.

[Kyle Boatright]

They did it last year, too.

Last year, it was one pavilion. This year it is 5.

IMO, this is the kind of thing that doesn't cause a lot of angst if things are going well and the members are generally satisfied. When a sizeable portion of the membership base is openly questioning the direction of the organization, this is fuel for the fire.

As someone posted earlier in the thread, there appears to be a spark of inspiration on the VAF site to collect proxies and attempt to elect one or more directors who better represent the homebuilt movement. Without a significant effort, it will be very hard to overcome the advantage the current EAA proxy process gives to the powers that be...

[martymayes]

Family, homebuilts, kids, and real personal and vintage aircraft front and center (not chalets!).

As it would be when Mr. Paul was in charge.

Time to do the math Clarke: 1 chalet last yr @$40k/wk., somebody figured WOW! this is easy money. 5 chalets this yr =$200k/wk. I suspect there will be more next yr., families and kids can take their homebuilts and vintage airplanes to the N. 40. A $40 annual membership prolly covers the weekly rental for 1 portapotty.

[Jim Clark]

Sell one more chalet and use the money to lower the price of water from the insane $3.00 per bottle down to the mildly ridiculous $2.00 per bottle.

[Antique Tower]

What bothers me most is the golf carts. We're supposed to be DECREASING the number of vehicles at the airshow.

[steveinindy]

When a sizeable portion of the membership base is openly questioning the direction of the organization, this is fuel for the fire.

I've still yet to see anything conclusive to say a "sizable" portion is openly doing anything? A couple dozen people griping on internet forums isn't a valid sample and you're smart enough to know the danger of assuming that just because you hold an opinion doesn't mean that when you encounter a few others who do that it means you're part of a grand majority or something. I'm not saying which side is correct. The answer is likely neither because there has to be middle ground because either you guys are going to finally get ticked enough to totally stop caring, showing up and griping or you get your way and the funding shrinks and you get something new to gripe about. What I am saying that relying on anecdotal evidence is probably not the best way to just the mood of a group where most of them are not taking part in that sample. Especially an internet forum where you have no way of knowing that what is put out as several people is not what it seems.
For example, how do you know that FlyingRiki, MartyMayes, FlyingRon, MikeSwitzer and myself aren't all just one person having an "argument" with himself?

I know a lot of people who have petty gripes but I don't know that it's a sizable chunk of the EAA membership. I've got a few grievances myself but not anything that I can't see why they are doing what they do to appease the aspects of the membership who differ in interests from my own. I'd like to see a lot of the non-aviation vendors run off of the grounds. I'd like to see that little reenactors' camp done away with so there'd be more parking for Cubs or RVs or whatever but the warbird guys want them there apparently.

As someone posted earlier in the thread, there appears to be a spark of inspiration on the VAF site to collect proxies and attempt to elect one or more directors who better represent the homebuilt movement. Without a significant effort, it will be very hard to overcome the advantage the current EAA proxy process gives to the powers that be...

I think trying to work to get the EAA back to a "happy medium" is a good idea. I don't think it should be reduced to nothing but an RV type club or an all ragwing show or a "Nothing but auto conversions" hour. The thing is that abandoning ship so to speak and letting the EAA 'wither on the vine' as has been previously suggested by some is to abandon not only the work of so many that you guys or myself would not dare spit in the face of but also to abandon the "political capital" and connections the Association has. We can't underestimate that.

As Paul said, "There's room enough for us all". Perhaps pushing for a representative (or preferably two) from each of the areas of homebuilding would be a good idea? That way, everyone:
-Ultralights
-Ragwings
-Kit builders
-Wood designs
-Composite builders
-Seaplanes
-The "kerosene club"
-Warbirds
-Helicopters
-Auto conversion engine guys
-Et cetera, et cetera
....have a vote and a representative. Paul and his friends put too much time and effort into this to let it die. If the majority of EAA members support such a move, I say go for it. My only fear is that we simply wind up with a "new dictator" who caters to a different special interest group and this cycle starts over again.

All of that said....
Here's my practical question: If we get rid of the big vendors, the sponsorships, et cetera, how precisely are they supposed to fund the event? You start doing away with that stuff, membership rates go up to cover the costs of the event. People will gripe about that. They start doing away with aspects of the show to keep costs down. People will gripe about that. Maybe I am looking at this more like a business than whatever you guys who have been around longer than I have see it as....

A $40 annual membership prolly covers the weekly rental for 1 portapotty.

I hate to admit this, but one of my cousins runs a company that rents them. They generally run about $250 for a weekend rental. Just FYI...not sure how much of a discount you get for "bulk" orders.

As it would be when Mr. Paul was in charge.

And you'd have about half to two-thirds the attendance because you're limiting the audience. Oshkosh- out of all the aviation events I go to annually- is the only place I can get my addiction in all its permutations satisfied in one place.

[steveinindy]

Sell one more chalet and use the money to lower the price of water from the insane $3.00 per bottle down to the mildly ridiculous $2.00 per bottle.

Agreed.

What bothers me most is the golf carts. We're supposed to be DECREASING the number of vehicles at the airshow

Can I have one if I agree to keep a bucket of ice with bottled water in the back? $1 donation to the non-profit that we are starting to sponsor safety research is suggested but not required to take a bottle. It kills two birds with one stone.