Jim's EAA Platform '05

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EAA Board of Directors 2005 Platform

Jim Weir, EAA 86698


1. I bring to this Board the experience of 3000+ flight and flight
instruction hours, restoring 3 classic aircraft from spinner to
tailfeathers as an A&P, IA, the founder and chief engineer of a 35 year
old avionics company dedicated to owner-built homebuilt aircraft
electronics, and eight years on the county elected board with the
responsibility for a $100 million budget, 800 employees, and 1000 square
miles of land mass.


2. If I have a particular focus and passion, it is education. I note
with interest that EAA has established three entry-level education
programs:

a. The Young Eagles program and website
b. EAA Air Academy
c. Aeroscholars.

i. One of the problems I note with these three programs is that they are
all reactive. That is, it requires effort on the part of the participant
to become involved. My thought would be to have a passive program geared
to the K-8 system that would involve aviation materials integrated into
the basic curriculum. That is, we all remember reading about John and
Jane going to visit their uncle in the country. How did they get there?
Drive, of course. Thus, the student grows up believing that automobiles
are the natural way to travel. Or bus. Or train. Never once did the
concept of flying in a light aircraft enter the elementary school
curriculum. Once you "grab" a young student and have them "grow up" with
the thought that aircraft is a natural way to travel you have a built-in
candidate for their Young Eagle and Air Academy years.

ii. Of course, this naturally folds into making aneroid barometers /
altimeters in science class, papier-mâché airport dioramas in art class,
weight and balance in mathematics class, and all the rest of it. One of
the problems I foresee with this program is that elementary school
teachers expect a fully-fledged curriculum-in-a-box that can be used with
minimal effort. Part of the true work setting up this program is to
understand what the needs of the faculty are and to meet or exceed them.
I note with approval the Fox Valley program, but also observe that this
effort is enjoyed by a very few (1600) students.

iii. I also note with some regret that both the Air Academy and
Aeroscholars are geared towards the privileged students who can afford to
pay for the program. While local chapters certainly can sponsor a
student(s) at both of these programs, I would suggest that a nationally
sponsored scholarship plan for both programs would allow disadvantaged
students with the "fire in their belly" for aviation to participate and
bring new blood into the aviation gene pool. (Yes, I am aware of the
named scholarships and internship program, but these programs are not well
advertised at all.)


3. Another deeply held interest is aircraft electronics, both historical
and modern. After all, avionics has been both my profession and my
avocation for nearly half a century. The museum has a smattering of
historical avionics, but nothing focused. I would propose that we find an
unused corner of the museum for some working, hands-on aviation
electronics and instrumentation that the museum visitor can touch, smell,
and feel.


4. Last, but certainly not least, is my desire to have all segments of
aviation represented within the EAA umbrella. Certainly there is room
inside the EAA tent for anybody who has an enthusiasm for aviation to find
their niche in the organization. In the words of Lyndon Johnson, "I'd
rather have them all inside the tent spitting out than outside the tent
spitting in."



Thank you for your time and trouble.







Jim Weir
VP Engineering
RST Engineering

RST Engineering wrote:
Position statement.

Right on Jim!!!!!!

Best regards,

Jer/ "Flight instruction and mountain flying are my vocation!" Eberhard

--
Jer/ (Slash) Eberhard, Mountain Flying Aviation, LTD, Ft Collins, CO
CELL 970 231-6325 EMAIL jer'at'frii.com WEB http://users.frii.com/jer/
C-206 N9513G, CFII Airplane&Glider, FAA-DEN Aviation Safety Counselor
CAP-CO Mission&Aircraft CheckPilot, BM218 HAM N0FZD, 228 Young Eagles!

You could write an email in support of my candidacy if you like. email me
at for the procedure.

Jim



Right on Jim!!!!!!

Best regards,

Jer/ "Flight instruction and mountain flying are my vocation!" Eberhard

Great start Jim.
One "plank" that I believe that you support and an area that I think the EAA
could place more emphasis on is the area of owner assisted maintenance for
pilots and owners of both experimental and certified aircraft.

Not only reminders of which maintenance procedures are allowed by part 43,
but examples of how under the supervision of an A&P, an interested and
active owner/pilot can dive in to the inner depths of his airframe and
powerplant without feeling that he is "doing something illegal" or wrong.

How many owner/pilots change their own oil/filter?
How many know where their jack points are on their airplane?
How many know which type of grease/oil to use where?
How many know how to safety wire?
How many own the parts and service manuals for their airplanes? The parts
and service manuals for their engines?
How many know how to research AD's and SB's on their airframe, engine, AND
accessories?

As the expense of flying continues to climb, pilots need to become more
involved in the maintenance and airworthiness of their aircraft. This is
and easy way that a pilot/owner can dramatically lower his average hourly
operating costs while increasing his safety by virtue of the additional
knowledge and familiarity of his aircraft. The lower the owner/pilot can
keep his costs, the more he will fly, and hopefully the safer both he, as a
pilot, and his aircraft will be.

I applaude your focus and passion for education. On going education and
pilots seem to go hand in hand. While some pilots seem content with their
current position in aviation, most seem to be continually asking themselves
"what's next?". I would love the EAA to develop a series of booklets or
articles on "So you just passed your XXXXX flight test, what's next?" or
"So you just bought an airplane, now what?" We can't let our established
pilots down by forgetting that they need encouragement and support to take
the next step. I'm particularly appalled at the lack of "building blocks"
and interim training between the commercial certificate and the CFI. The
EAA could help by developing a "So you think you want to teach somebody to
fly? bridge to fill that huge gap. Or a CFI mentoring program to help
coach CFI wannabe's and lead them through maze of information. Maybe such a
program exists, but it wasn't obvious to me or several other CFI's I know.

You've also touched upon an area that I've thought about many times. That
is the many areas of aviation that would mesh together in a formal middle or
high school education program. A program that a local EAA chapter or pilots
association could present to a school board or a group of teachers and say
"Here is a predesigned aviation education program that brings together
aspects of mathematics, aerodynamics, physics, chemistry, history, weather,
writing, electronics, research ect." Each class could mesh together and
with assistance from the EAA chapter or pilots group, not only bring the
airport to the kids, but take the kids to the airport at the appropriate
times to make the lesson reality and show them how what they are learning
applies to the real world.... make it exciting... start the fire burning. I
think this idea may have a better chance of taking off, if it were first
presented in middle or high school as an elective, as many students may not
have the initial interest and many parents may simply think it's "too
dangerous", but hopefully a trickle down effect would occur similar to how
sports, choir, and band have trickled down into the younger grades. I find
it rather bizarre that you can fly a glider at 14, solo an airplane at 16,
get your private pilot's cert at 17, commercial at 18, ALL before you
graduate highschool, yet in most highschools across the country, these goals
and opportunities are NEVER presented to the students! I would love for
this idea to be moved forward by the EAA.

Thanks for stepping up to the plate and keep up the good work.

Sorry for bending your ear off.

Jim

Thanks for your comments. Of course, we are on parallel tracks. Now all
you need to do is send these thoughts to the Board Selection Committee and
get them on our railroad. Email me for the
procedure.

Jim



"Jim Burns" wrote in message
...
Great start Jim.

In article ,
"RST Engineering" wrote:

Thanks for your comments. Of course, we are on parallel tracks. Now all
you need to do is send these thoughts to the Board Selection Committee and
get them on our railroad. Email me for the
procedure.

Jim


A followup to my posting in rec.aviation.homebuilt: See:

http://WrightFlight.org/
http://EAA288.org/

for a description of the interaction between EAA and Wright Flight.

--
Remove _'s from email address to talk to me.

RST Engineering wrote:

MyÂ*thoughtÂ*wouldÂ*beÂ*toÂ*haveÂ*aÂ*passiveÂ*prog ramÂ*geared
to the K-8 system that would involve aviation materials integrated into
the basic curriculum.

My son is starting, at the pre-k level, in a pre-k through 7 (with 8 to be
added shortly) this year. It's a coop, which means that parents are
involved at various levels.

I'm going to see what I can steal from your ideas for use w/in the school.

More, I think you've finally pushed this AOPA member over the edge of also
joining the EAA. I've always been a little put out by the E part, even
though I know plenty of EAA members that fly FAA certified. But you've
reminded me of the emphasis on education the EAA places, and that's enough.

Thanks...

Andrew

My first read on this when you said it was a coop was that you converted an
old chicken coop for a school. Cooperative. Got it the third time through
{;-)

I hope I've PULLED you over the edge. I found out a long time ago it is a
hell of a lot easier to get a rope to move by getting out in front and
pulling than pushing from the other end {;-)

Congrats on making the aviation thing happen in your classroom.

Jim



My son is starting, at the pre-k level, in a pre-k through 7 (with 8 to be
added shortly) this year. It's a coop, which means that parents are
involved at various levels.

I'm going to see what I can steal from your ideas for use w/in the school.

More, I think you've finally pushed this AOPA member over the edge of also
joining the EAA. I've always been a little put out by the E part, even
though I know plenty of EAA members that fly FAA certified. But you've
reminded me of the emphasis on education the EAA places, and that's
enough.

RST Engineering wrote:

My first read on this when you said it was a coop was that you converted
an
old chicken coop for a school. Cooperative. Got it the third time
through
{;-)

I'm not sure that there's *that* much of a distinction, but yes.

laugh

I hope I've PULLED you over the edge. I found out a long time ago it is a
hell of a lot easier to get a rope to move by getting out in front and
pulling than pushing from the other end {;-)

You mean "pull" like the rudder or elevator? I was thinking "push" like the
flaps.


Congrats on making the aviation thing happen in your classroom.

That's premature. You should be wishing me luck...and providing any
suggestions you might have as to how this should be done. Materials I can
either give to teachers or use to develop a little mini program I can embed
would be quite welcome.

I'm starting from scratch. For example, what about a contest for the
construction of paper airplanes? Winners (multiple metrics including
longest duration and greatest distance) get a flight. Would parents go
along (in either sense of the word {8^)?

If not, perhaps I can convince a local aviation museum, at which a friend
works, to donate some time on their F-something simulator.

I do have a fair collection of "age appropriate" books on aviation for my
son. I expect that this will continue. One of my favorites at the moment
is "I love planes". It gets one little detail *very* right: the boy
"speaking" in the story is at a ball game with his family. The audience in
few on that page is watching the game...all except the boy and his Mom (the
pilot in the family) who are looking at a nearby blimp.

- Andrew

I did that contest at Oshkosh about twenty years ago. A very brilliant
aeronautical engineer (who is the owner of Aero-Trim, Norm Smith) got the
award for best distance for wadding up the paper into a spitball and
launching it at a 45d for best distance and taking the same spitball and
launching it at near 90d for best time. Try it. Spitballs at low mach are
very efficient.

{;-)

Jim



I'm starting from scratch. For example, what about a contest for the
construction of paper airplanes? Winners (multiple metrics including
longest duration and greatest distance) get a flight. Would parents go
along (in either sense of the word {8^)?