Major head-chopping at EAA

[N96337]

Re: Major head-chopping at EAA

Well said Jim! I only got to OSH once.... I was amazed.... then Paul comes cranking up behind me on his Gator and hollered at me to get out of the way so HE could get up to visit with a buddy..... that did it for me. I had a couple older guys in front of me too, that he hollered at to get out of the way... just so he could roll his fat butt up to his buddy. An aquaintence of mine was a volunteer there not only through the flyin, but all year long and told me about the politics the "top few" played all the time. They lost my money forever, not that it will matter to them. I agree that it's too bad that it doesn't all go back to the grass roots and remember where it all came from.

[M Towsley]

Re: Major head-chopping at EAA

The money they talk about I am sure has a lot to do with the warbird guys. Not that there is anything wrong with warbirds but they cater greatly to those guys. Free parking, passes for the wife and kids, etc., etc. A buddy of mine takes his Mustang up there just about every year and it is unbelievable how well they are taken care of. It is a business now and will remain so as long as other people, (certain EAA folks), get the fringe benefits.

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Major head-chopping at EAA

We have two Pietenpohl ships here and they fly a lot. I was on the line to EAA immediately , they hired young folks to man the phones. Mine told me she thought the new www.eaa.org had been that format for five years. Hmmmmmm I finally got logged on again and posted our Taylorcraft fly-in. Jeff will be speaking at our ECOPA Spring banquet , we hired him while he was still cheap $2500. We only paid Paul expenses in the past..... www.ecopa.cc Good night back Wed.....

[guns68]

Re: Major head-chopping at EAA

Its not and never will be the EAA of "the good old days" too much $$ found ts way..folks dont scratch build much anymore (although many should be with the economy the way it is) ah what the heck constant change. We can still pick up the pieces with our clip wing Taylorcrafts and the Taylorcraft Standard fleet. Long live the frugle flying days . Bernard Pietenpole did not need any EAA !!

Amen!

[crispy critter]

Re: Major head-chopping at EAA

I've never been to the EAA Flyin at KOSH but my cousin says I'm going this year even if he has to tie me to the struts and pay my way,lol....I did however spend a night there back last summer(the weekend before the flyin started). I was highly upset with the way I was treated. I had just spent a week delivering a Super Cub from east Ky to the north west coast Oregon....bad weather everyday.

The last leg of the trip from Boise,Idaho and over the Triple Sisters regin of Oregon. I was up at 4am,airborne by 5am trying to beat some of the weather they had been having and in that 200nm I encountered snow,sleet,freezing rain,thunderstorms,and fog!!!! I got the Cub to its new owner and he took me out to an early supper then dropped me in Portland to catch a flight back to Appleton,Wi where I had the son of the seller of a Bellanca 14-13-2 Cruisair waiting to pick me up and take me over to KOSH to pick up my newly purchased Cruisair.

My flight was the red eye out of Portland that didn't leave until 11pm, direct to Chicogo,then to Appleton at 9am the next morning...couldn't sleep on any of the flights and remember I had been up since 4am the morning before. I arrive at KOSH around to pick up this decent looking old Cruisair that had just undergone a detailed inspection from one end to the other by one of the two maintance shops on the field, its all good to go he said,no problems. So I'm tired,it's friday morning and I haven't been home in a week,hadn't showered or shaved in two days,same clothes,etc. and my 12th anniversary was the next morning. I had weather moving in from the north west and all I wanted to do is get 300 miles south east...HOME!

I done a decent preflight,ground run the bird that had supposably been flown just a few day before,I went in to pay my fuel bill and got treated very poorly. Back in the Cruisair and clear for 18, I shoved the throttle forward and all seemed well. She was smooth, responsive,very easy to handle on the ground and felt like a dream once she became airborne....that was short lived! at 500' she started loosing power and I had to bring her around and put her back down on rwy 9....and there I was. I didn't know what the problem was and didn't care. I wanted to go home and I would get the airplane another time.

The owners son who had always answered my every call was suddenly nowhere to be found,the owner lives in another state and made it clear that it was not his or his sons responsiblity to provide anymore service or asistance to me. There was no motels that I could find,the FBO would not hardly even talk to me,they would not loan me one of six courtousy cars out front because those are left there just in case a VIP comes in overnight,there was no rental cars to be found because of some type of rock festival in town and even if I could get a ride somewhere there were no flights out until Moday morning and no motels that I could find!

The maintance shop let me put the airplane back in thier hanger but that was it. Nobody could come up to get me because of the weather moving in and after exhausting everything option I could think of the FBO told me they close at 6pm and I needed to be out! I ask where I was supposed to go and we shared some very choice words as I tried to explain my delima they refused to even offer me a ride down to the nearest dark alley to sleep with the homeless. Then a nice gentlman and his two teenage kids who had been in town for the rock festival came to me, he had obviously been overhearing everything said. He said he had a motel room and a retal car both reserved through saturday and told me to take them because he decided to go home a day early.

I tried to pay him for them,tried to get his info,but he refused...he said he had to pay for everything anyway and he would call the motel and the retal car and let them know I had them.....I truely wish he would've given me his name. The next morning I had a friend coming to pick me up in my Comanche. I showed up at the airport,clean clothes,freshly shaved,VERY WELL rested,feeling and looking like a completely new person. I walked into the FBO,call the retal car folks to see where they wanted the car keys left, and sat down to await my friends arrival.

I sat there using the time to catch up my log books and reorginize my flight bag and the every soo sweet lady(who was not so sweet the day before) asked if there was anything I needed, we have courtusy cars if you would like to go get something to eat,if your staying overnight we can help you find a suitable motel,etc,etc. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! I said I was just waiting for a friend to pick me up and I would be gone as soon as he landed and I could get my butt out the door and it would not be soon enough. She then ask if I had an unpleasant visit to the area.

I stood up and looked her straight in the eye and I said you've got to be kidding me! I was hear all F###ing day yesterday and you treated me like shit! I also had a few more choice words and expressed my opinion about how we treat folks where I come from no matter how they are dressed or what they look like. I always wanted to go to the flyinn but because of that experience I really have no desire to go back to that airport at all.

[Larry Lyons]

Re: Major head-chopping at EAA

Amazing ain't it! The VP that resigned, Andy Smith I believe, came down to our chapter and made a presentation about 3 years ago and he was marvelous. The EAA hired him from a museum in the UK, he was passionate, knowledgeable, and a pilot. You see how he was treated, and what his opinion was worth. Oh well I too am a card caring member of the old guard and think the EAA is on its way out. It is so big it will take a generation or two too die but it is no longer for us lowly GA folks. My member number is 25,580, I started going while the show was in Rockford in the early 60's. I could spend another hour or more telling you about the treatment I/we have received while camping on the flight line by kids and geezers, (volenteers) neither knew which end of an airplane came first but each of our families there had spent more then $1,500 to be there for a week while we slept on the ground. By the way have you been reading sport magazine? I now see articles telling me how great a particular product is! A thinly disguised 2 or 3 page advertisement.

OK, off my soap box, I still belong, but not a happy camper!

Larry

[cvavon]

Re: Major head-chopping at EAA

Kivin if you are going to kosh this year here is a tip go to new holstein and if you are camping it's half the cost of osh the supper cub people put it on the food is a lot cheaper and very good showers at high school shuttel bus to osh nice bunch of people chuck

[crispy critter]

Re: Major head-chopping at EAA

If I go, we were planning to fly dad's newly restored Cessna 170 up and hoping to camp under the wing...do they still let ya do that?

[cvavon]

Re: Major head-chopping at EAA

kivin i guess they do but the New holstein thing is much better and its jest across the sea plane lake from kosh and they will treat you like you were at home give me a call kivin