echristley(at)nc.rr.com
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 Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 9:59 am Post subject: Off Topic- Was : Re: We can't build our own avionics |
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John Burnaby wrote:
| Quote: | Despite the dearth of applicable information for homebuilders in SA,
and that AOPA Pilot unabashedly promotes trainer aircraft that cost
more than my house, I still pay my dues to support the EAA and AOPA. I
do this because general aviation is under assault on myriad
fronts. The public perception of private aircraft is one of
exclusivity, an arena reserved for the wealthy. Anything that excludes
the lazy and unimaginative, that celebrates creativity, possibility
and industry, is frightening to a lot of people because it challenges
them to shut-off the TV and learn something. That takes effort and I
think, unfortunately, most people don't want to stray very far from
the comfort zone of what they know and repeat. It's easier to dismiss
homebuilders and non-commercial pilots as crazy than to go to the
airport and talk to one about flying and building.
Inspite of the condescending, cornball, syrupy image of a family
affair promoted by the EAA, I support the organization because I am
convinced that private aviation and legal homebuilding would simply
vanish without the cumulative efforts of AOPA and EAA. The two
organizations are microphones for a collective voice, amplifying the
message of our passionate group. They are the glue that keeps our
spinning, aviating world cohesive, staving off the centrifugal forces
that would fragment us into meaningless pieces. Without them, I fear,
the few letters that may arrive on congressional desks, supportive and
protective of our passion, will be drowned in a tide seeking
conformity and banality. So, I say send in your dues, and let the EAA
and AOPA put on the smiley face and the suit that allows us to do the
putative job of the EAA; experimenting, sharing information,
camaraderie, and advancing aviation technology.
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Good words, John. EAA and AOPA do provide necessary functions, but they
will spin off into the mind-numbed, TV-viewing masses if we let them.
The subject article being a prime example. The only response is to
scream until the usurpers who would lead us down that path scurry back
into their holes.
I don't want to write a freakin' article. I want to build my airplane,
and have EAA provide me with some help in that goal. That attitude
places me dead square in the middle of the MTV generation. "My needs.
My needs," I cry, along with the rest of the mind-numbed. And I'm not
alone. Builder's everywhere are hunkered down in their garages,
expecting someone else to look after their interests. But we can't do
that. We all want a revolution, where the productive, intelligent, and
demonstrably capable come out on top, but we want someone else to lead
and fight the battles.
That won't happen. The president of the organization has never built
anything. The leadership can't find the funds to build a friggin' WIND
TUNNEL, but there's cash enough to purchase and operate a P-51 for said
president to have joy rides in. Meanwhile, has the CAFE Foundation done
ANYTHING since getting a mogas STC for certified planes? These are not
the priorities of experimenters trying to expand on the best we know how
to do. You aren't fighting an organization of experimenters gone
astray. You're fighting a rising wave of conformity and banality
washing in from the outside and threatening to swamp us all. They try
to tell us that the EAA has grown to be something larger than it used to
be. I say that it has shrunk to be much less, nothing more than the
Disneyland of airplanes.
If we let the nonsense published in the subject article go unanswered,
then our collective voice will be saying that we're not capable of
building an entire airplane. We need to be circumvented and have
artificial fences erected around us. It may be to late. The
condescending cornballs may have won already, in which case legal
homebuilding as we know it will eventually vanish. "Homebuilding" will
amount to nothing more than showing up for a two week 'quick-build'
vacation at a kit factory, where you install your selection of off the
shelf components in a pre-molded shell of an aircraft. Of course, you
can a Lindsy at a flyin, because you chose the best paint scheme from
those available.
Bob fought back till he lost interest. I know others who simply have no
interest in such activities. However, I've generated a LOT of
inter-activity in builders from my local chapter by just sending out a
lunch invitation by email. If not for that interest, I'd drop my EAA
membership this year. I have little more than a couple articles in me,
but I'll give what I have. If the cornballs have won, I'll look to
organize and join "HAA!" (Homebuilder's Aviation Alliance...we laugh at
you!)
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