The Future of Private Aviation, or
An Open Letter to Tom Poberezny
By John Ross
Copyright 2007 by John Ross. Electronic reproduction of this article freely permitted provided it is reproduced in its entirety with attribution given.
This week's topic is about aviation, as Oshkosh is coming up in a month. The term used for all nonmilitary, noncommercial flying is "General Aviation," but I much prefer the more accurate "Private Aviation."
In my opinion, the biggest champion of private aviation is the Experimental Aircraft Association, founded over 50 years ago by the still-healthy Paul Poberezny and now headed by his son Tom. This organization originally sought to encourage backyard craftsmen to fashion small 1-place aircraft in their garages. Oshkosh is now the serious pilot's Mecca, drawing close to a million people like me to Wisconsin for the last week of July.
EAA has done such a good job that virtually ALL of the innovation in private aviation is now in the Experimental sector, and there are dozens of kit and component manufacturers turning out products superior to what the certified manufacturers can produce.
One issue always on everyone's mind is the future of private aviation. The costs to become a pilot and then fly regularly have risen faster than the cost of other activities, and so the pool of pilots is both shrinking and aging.
EAA has undertaken two major initiatives to counter these realities. One is the Young Eagles program, where pilots like me introduce young people to aviation by giving them a free flight. Since 1993, EAA members have given over 1.3 million Young Eagles flights.
The other initiative is that EAA successfully encouraged the FAA to create a new category of aircraft and license, Light Sport, for 1- or 2-place aircraft below a certain weight and speed. The license is half as expensive to get, and there are now dozens of new manufacturers of Light Sport aircraft.
Unfortunately, these two initiatives have not worked quite as well as expected. First, taking a kid for an airplane flight and having him say "That was neat!" is a long way from creating another aviator, especially if his parents are ambivalent (let alone hostile) to aviation.
Second, the "Light Sport" category aircraft all ended up costing more than anyone predicted, and the FAA in typical fashion gutted the most attractive part of the regulation: the ability to fly without a medical if you had a valid driver's license. Now you can only do that if your medical has expired, or if you've never had one. So a guy with five heart surgeries who's never flown can fly Light Sport, but the 5000 hour pilot whose flight medical was denied because of some lesser condition has to stay on the ground.
To get more young pilots, we need more aviation-oriented families. Here is an open letter I've written to Tom Poberezny, laying out how I think EAA could help bring this about. If you agree, let him and EAA know about it.
Send emails to webmaster@eaa.org
John Ross
St. Louis, MO
jrinvest@earthlink.net
Tom Poberezny
EAA
Oshkosh, WI June 22, 2007
Dear Tom,
Gearing up for another Oshkosh week, and as always, I'm expecting a great time. In 2005, my Pitts 12 (the purple and black one at the IAC tent) won Champion Plans-Built aircraft.
Tom, I’m writing you to address what I saw at Airventure as a serious threat to both EAA’s and Aviation's long-term health—indeed, its very future: The graying of the flying community. This is no news to you, I’m sure, and I realize that the Young Eagles program is EAA’s attempt to prime future generations for the passion of flight. Yet Young Eagles fails to see the “big picture” of how passionate aviators come to exist.
The problem with Young Eagles is that it ignores the realities of the world of flying. Most serious EAA members (life members such as myself) have had a passion for flying since a very early age. We hung out at small airports when we were kids, offering to wash planes or do chores for a few minutes of time in the left seat. The unfortunate reality of Young Eagles is that in the vast majority of cases, the Young Eagles flight is a one-time recreational diversion, like a birthday bungee jump or a trip to the water park. Taking a one-time flight in a light plane isn’t going to be enough to create a new generation of aviators.
Most passionate people in the aviation community come from families where at least one parent (usually the father) was heavily involved in aviation. I am an example of this, as my father was an aerobatic instructor at Pensacola during WWII and loved flying Stearmans (and anything else) until his death when I was a teenager. Look at the big names of Experimental aviation (Younkin, Franklin, Kimball, and Poberezny, to name a few) and you will see flying (and homebuilding) passion that continues for multiple generations.
Face facts: A child that grows up in a flying family is either going to love flying or he isn’t. If he doesn’t, fine, don’t try to pour water uphill. But if he does, for God’s sake don’t insult him! From all reports, Kidventure (at least the parts I’ve heard about) is a joke. Kevin Kimball’s son Kallin was helping stitch ribs and polish fittings when he was seven years old. If you had tried to make him sit on a board made to look like an airplane, or use crayons to fill in aviation-themed coloring sheets, he would have (rightly) kicked you in the shins. I suggest a new motto: “If your kids love airplanes, bring ‘em to the Oshkosh flight line. If they don’t, then hire a babysitter or send them to summer camp and come here without them.”
This brings me to my main point: Future generations of aviators will mainly come from aviation-loving families, and aviation-loving families by definition can only come from couples where the wife is capable of bearing children. The aviator in the family is usually (at least initially) the husband. This is fact, not opinion. What kind of women do single, aviation-loving men like me look for when they are ready to start families? Healthy, attractive, cheerful women with plenty of time left before menopause arrives.
The chilling reality of last year’s Airventure was a near absence of single, attractive women young enough to still bear children. This spells disaster for the long-term health of our sport. Young Eagles and Kidventure ignore the fact that to get aviation-oriented families, you’ve first got to have women that single male pilots would want to marry and start families with. On top of that, the most important component of any successful event is lots of friendly, good-looking women in the critical 20-to-35 age range.
For proof of this, look no farther than your own memories of great parties you’ve attended and vacations you’ve taken, perhaps when you were with the Red Devils or Eagles. I’d wager that most of those fond memories were of things where attractive women were around. When Airventure got to the point where Patty Wagstaff started dyeing her hair blond because male pilots were taking her too seriously, it should have been an enormous wake-up call for EAA. You’ve got to do something about this! Here are a few changes that would put Airventure on a healthier long-term path:
Additional sponsors. This one’s a no-brainer. With all the heat and sunburn at Oshkosh, the first sponsor you should line up for Airventure is Hawaiian Tropic. A hundred Hawaiian Tropic girls in thong bikinis putting complimentary lotion on pilots’ sun-sensitive skin would draw many more young pilots to Airventure than the world’s largest bratwurst grill. And the second sponsor you should contact is Hooters. Why aren’t they here? Memo to EAA: HOOTERS HAS ITS OWN AIRLINE! Do you think Hooters Air just might be a bigger draw than a DC-3 with a smiley face painted on it?
Institute a “Part 135/25” incentive rule (AKA “light sport”) Free admission and camping for the entire week to all single, childless, women who weigh 135 pounds or less and are age 25 or younger. Have scales at all the registration desks and volunteers checking driver’s licenses. If the board balks at this expense, pay for it with a voluntary surcharge on all single male attendees (they’ll pay it in a heartbeat.) Give these single young women t-shirts that say (in big letters) "Ready to Start an Aviation Family."
Additional ride-related activities. Set aside a block of time each day for Mile High Club flights in the Ford Tri-Motor, and triple the price. You’ll probably have to fly more hours to meet the increased demand. Maybe by 2010 we’ll see T-shirt vendors selling baby-size shirts saying “I was conceived in EAA’s Tri-Motor.”
Camp Scholler. Camp Scholler already has a reputation as the “dark side” of Oshkosh, and it often gets flooded during heavy rains. You can’t change these realities, so capitalize on them by having “best piercings” awards, wet t-shirt contests, and women’s mud wrestling there, all with large cash prizes. Part 135/25 rules apply, of course.
Judging. Add an additional category for Best Nose Art. Only artwork depicting women is eligible. Encourage airbrush artists to set up on the flight line and do nose art on the spot on attendees’ planes.
Tom, your dad founded EAA a half a century ago. In the ‘50s and ‘60s, most homebuilders were male hobbyists building minimalist airplanes like the Knight Twister, Fly Baby, Sky Skooter, Pober Pixie, and the like. They scrounged parts and built cute little planes that putted around on 65 HP Continentals.
Today’s EAAer is more likely to fly an airplane that can embarrass most certified aircraft for both performance and build quality: The RVs, Lancairs, Glasairs, Skybolts, One Designs, MX-2s, YAKs, Sukhois, Bearhawks, and others are the norm. Factory Light Sport aircraft cost as much as a small house. These are all real, high-quality, valuable aircraft built and owned by successful, motivated men.
Successful, motivated men like and are well-suited to healthy, attractive, fertile, marriageable women, and vice versa. Recognize this reality and use it as the basis for your plans to make EAA and Airventure thrive for the next 50 years.
Best Ever,
John Ross
John Ross 6/22/2007
St. Louis, MO
jrinvest@earthlink.net
Tom Poberezny
EAA
Oshkosh, WI June 22, 2007
Dear Tom,
Gearing up for another Oshkosh week, and as always, I'm expecting a great time. In 2005, my Pitts 12 (the purple and black one at the IAC tent) won Champion Plans-Built aircraft.
Tom, I’m writing you to address what I saw at Airventure as a serious threat to both EAA’s and Aviation's long-term health—indeed, its very future: The graying of the flying community. This is no news to you, I’m sure, and I realize that the Young Eagles program is EAA’s attempt to prime future generations for the passion of flight. Yet Young Eagles fails to see the “big picture” of how passionate aviators come to exist.
The problem with Young Eagles is that it ignores the realities of the world of flying. Most serious EAA members (life members such as myself) have had a passion for flying since a very early age. We hung out at small airports when we were kids, offering to wash planes or do chores for a few minutes of time in the left seat. The unfortunate reality of Young Eagles is that in the vast majority of cases, the Young Eagles flight is a one-time recreational diversion, like a birthday bungee jump or a trip to the water park. Taking a one-time flight in a light plane isn’t going to be enough to create a new generation of aviators.
Most passionate people in the aviation community come from families where at least one parent (usually the father) was heavily involved in aviation. I am an example of this, as my father was an aerobatic instructor at Pensacola during WWII and loved flying Stearmans (and anything else) until his death when I was a teenager. Look at the big names of Experimental aviation (Younkin, Franklin, Kimball, and Poberezny, to name a few) and you will see flying (and homebuilding) passion that continues for multiple generations.
Face facts: A child that grows up in a flying family is either going to love flying or he isn’t. If he doesn’t, fine, don’t try to pour water uphill. But if he does, for God’s sake don’t insult him! From all reports, Kidventure (at least the parts I’ve heard about) is a joke. Kevin Kimball’s son Kallin was helping stitch ribs and polish fittings when he was seven years old. If you had tried to make him sit on a board made to look like an airplane, or use crayons to fill in aviation-themed coloring sheets, he would have (rightly) kicked you in the shins. I suggest a new motto: “If your kids love airplanes, bring ‘em to the Oshkosh flight line. If they don’t, then hire a babysitter or send them to summer camp and come here without them.”
This brings me to my main point: Future generations of aviators will mainly come from aviation-loving families, and aviation-loving families by definition can only come from couples where the wife is capable of bearing children. The aviator in the family is usually (at least initially) the husband. This is fact, not opinion. What kind of women do single, aviation-loving men like me look for when they are ready to start families? Healthy, attractive, cheerful women with plenty of time left before menopause arrives.
The chilling reality of last year’s Airventure was a near absence of single, attractive women young enough to still bear children. This spells disaster for the long-term health of our sport. Young Eagles and Kidventure ignore the fact that to get aviation-oriented families, you’ve first got to have women that single male pilots would want to marry and start families with. On top of that, the most important component of any successful event is lots of friendly, good-looking women in the critical 20-to-35 age range.
For proof of this, look no farther than your own memories of great parties you’ve attended and vacations you’ve taken, perhaps when you were with the Red Devils or Eagles. I’d wager that most of those fond memories were of things where attractive women were around. When Airventure got to the point where Patty Wagstaff started dyeing her hair blond because male pilots were taking her too seriously, it should have been an enormous wake-up call for EAA. You’ve got to do something about this! Here are a few changes that would put Airventure on a healthier long-term path:
Additional sponsors. This one’s a no-brainer. With all the heat and sunburn at Oshkosh, the first sponsor you should line up for Airventure is Hawaiian Tropic. A hundred Hawaiian Tropic girls in thong bikinis putting complimentary lotion on pilots’ sun-sensitive skin would draw many more young pilots to Airventure than the world’s largest bratwurst grill. And the second sponsor you should contact is Hooters. Why aren’t they here? Memo to EAA: HOOTERS HAS ITS OWN AIRLINE! Do you think Hooters Air just might be a bigger draw than a DC-3 with a smiley face painted on it?
Institute a “Part 135/25” incentive rule (AKA “light sport”) Free admission and camping for the entire week to all single, childless, women who weigh 135 pounds or less and are age 25 or younger. Have scales at all the registration desks and volunteers checking driver’s licenses. If the board balks at this expense, pay for it with a voluntary surcharge on all single male attendees (they’ll pay it in a heartbeat.) Give these single young women t-shirts that say (in big letters) "Ready to Start an Aviation Family."
Additional ride-related activities. Set aside a block of time each day for Mile High Club flights in the Ford Tri-Motor, and triple the price. You’ll probably have to fly more hours to meet the increased demand. Maybe by 2010 we’ll see T-shirt vendors selling baby-size shirts saying “I was conceived in EAA’s Tri-Motor.”
Camp Scholler. Camp Scholler already has a reputation as the “dark side” of Oshkosh, and it often gets flooded during heavy rains. You can’t change these realities, so capitalize on them by having “best piercings” awards, wet t-shirt contests, and women’s mud wrestling there, all with large cash prizes. Part 135/25 rules apply, of course.
Judging. Add an additional category for Best Nose Art. Only artwork depicting women is eligible. Encourage airbrush artists to set up on the flight line and do nose art on the spot on attendees’ planes.
Tom, your dad founded EAA a half a century ago. In the ‘50s and ‘60s, most homebuilders were male hobbyists building minimalist airplanes like the Knight Twister, Fly Baby, Sky Skooter, Pober Pixie, and the like. They scrounged parts and built cute little planes that putted around on 65 HP Continentals.
Today’s EAAer is more likely to fly an airplane that can embarrass most certified aircraft for both performance and build quality: The RVs, Lancairs, Glasairs, Skybolts, One Designs, MX-2s, YAKs, Sukhois, Bearhawks, and others are the norm. Factory Light Sport aircraft cost as much as a small house. These are all real, high-quality, valuable aircraft built and owned by successful, motivated men.
Successful, motivated men like and are well-suited to healthy, attractive, fertile, marriageable women, and vice versa. Recognize this reality and use it as the basis for your plans to make EAA and Airventure thrive for the next 50 years.
Best Ever,
John Ross
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