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Randy

Well-Known Member
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Good Morning,
I have been invited by Mr. Richard Knapinski to address the EAA Homebuilt Advisory Board. This board is composed of experienced "homebuilders" and provides advice and guidance to the EAA on setting the future policy of the organization.

Mr. Knapski asked me what my definition of a true "homebuilder" was. That is an exceptionally hard question to answer but I think we have over 240 true homebuilders right here as none of us are building a kit plane by any definition. The views of 240 members will far outweigh the views of one.

What I would really like to discuss here is what do we need and what would we be happy with. Keeping in mind that the EAA is never going to return to what it use to be. We need to find a "nich" for the true homebuilder within the EAA framework. Is it more technical articles in Sport Aviation, is it our own magazine similar to Sport Aerobatics and Warbirds with information geared towards us and written by us?

That statement, "written by us", is true no matter what happens. If we want to see a certain content in any magazine including Sport Aviation we need to start submitting it. If no one writes it it cannot be published.

I really hope everyone on this forum will contribute wether you are building or not. If you are not building why not? What do you need to help you make the decision to jump into the building process? If you are building what type of technical articles do you need? A special parking area at Oshkosh, forums geared towards us? Again, articles "written by us" also includes forums "presented by us." The point being we cannot ask for something then wait for someone to give it to us. If given an opportunity to fill a "void" we must be prepared to help fill that void.

I would like to be able to include everyone's views in the address to the council. If everyone posts here so we can all read the ideas presented we should be able to modify everything a little until we come up with a good presentation. Public posts will also present new lines of thought that we may not have considered. In the end we all win. If you do not want to public post here then send me a PM with your thoughts. If you do that I reserve the right to repost them here for consideration by everyone but I will not disclose your name.

I solicit all your complaints but I also need to hear some possible solutions to your complaints. As the man said, "you are either part of the solution or you are part of the problem." We have an opportunity to possibly influence the direction of the EAA in a small way for our benefit, let's make the most of it.

Anyone here belonging to other homebuilder sites feel free to copy this and post it there. If anyone does not want to join this site to post their thoughts they can email them to me at
[email protected]

So, as a bunch of true homebuilders, what could the EAA do to make the building process and learning curve easier and more enjoyable?

P.S. I was informed of the 20% decline in EAA membership over the last 12-14 months by a very reliable source. I have also been informed, by an equally reliable source, that these figures are incorrect. Seeing as I cannot confirm or deny that either is correct I am withdrawing my statement until it is verified one way or the other. I doubt the EAA would ever publish the fact but seeing a new program with a big push for new members would be a clue.
 

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