EAA Sport Aviation - January 2010

TOM POBEREZNY

COMMENTARY / POSITION REPORT

Welcome
…To the world of Sport Aviation

EACH DAY WHEN I arrive at the EAA Aviation Center,
I see a sign that welcomes everyone to our facility.
;at sign was placed there when the building opened
in 1983.

;e EAA Aviation Center was a major change for EAA, a step that combined the headquarters and the annual summer fly-in, now known as AirVenture, at one location. ;e sign’s lettering has been updated through the years, but the sentiment remains the same: Welcome to EAA and Oshkosh, your year-round home for sport aviation.

;at memory stuck with me as we prepared this first edition of the relaunched EAA Sport Aviation magazine. What you’re holding right now is the monthly journal for all the magnificent facets of EAA and sport aviation—a doorway into a world of flight that means something slightly di;erent to each of us, but is special to us all.

In this issue you’ll notice some of the most exten-
sive changes in the more than 56 years of EAA
publications. It’s not a cosmetic “tweaking” of the magazine, but a milestone
event for your organization. With these format changes, you’ll see enhanced
graphics, outstanding photography, and expanded content. Yet it was impor-
tant to keep the popular columns each month as well.

How did we get here? By asking thousands of EAA members what they wanted in their monthly magazine. For the past year and a half, about 1,500 members per month responded to surveys on how you view Sport Aviation, what type of content you’d like to see, and what new elements should be added. Each of your responses was valuable, and as a whole it created a vision for your monthly publication that reflects EAA’s membership.

;ese significant enhancements are also made possible by new technology. It’s di;cult, if not impossible, to provide everything to everyone in a single monthly magazine. With today’s growing access to the Internet (who would have thought of that just 20 years ago?), a monthly magazine is a portal for so much more now available within your particular flying passion. ;e

success of the Experimenter e-newsletter for homebuilders and the growing menu of other similar o;erings mean each one of us can “dig deeper” and find specific knowledge and information that 100 to 150 monthly printed pages cannot hope to provide. You can discover more about all of EAA’s electronic newsletters at www.EAA.org/newsletters.

It’s all designed to answer the question, “How do I…?” It might mean, “How do I select or build the right airplane?” or “How do I become a better pilot?” or “How I can get more people involved in aviation?” ;e possibilities seem infinite, but I promise we’ll do our best to provide answers to those questions.

EAA has always been a varied community and has constantly reached out to welcome those passionate about participating. Homebuilders and vintage enthusiasts were part of EAA’s first meeting in 1953, warbirds and aerobatic aircraft began appearing in the early 1960s, ultralights in the 1970s and early ’80s, and light-sport aircraft in just the past five years. EAAers own, fly, and dream about all types of aircraft!

;at diversity is EAA’s strength. ;e spirit of aviation binds and inspires us, regardless of the particular aircraft we fly. You see and feel that spirit each year at AirVenture Oshkosh. It makes EAA unique among aviation organizations—o;ering the ability to discover and learn from each other across the entire spectrum of flying. ;at is what you’ll see in the new Sport Aviation.

;is has been a labor, but a labor of love for all of us who have been involved in this transformation. We took your constructive comments and criticism to shape the new magazine you’re about to read. Dig through and absorb it. Keep passing along your ideas. It’s all very exciting, as the content better reflects EAA-member requests more than at any time in your organization’s history. Your headquarters team is looking forward to sharing much more in the months ahead.