From The CO’s Cockpit
by Michael Schloss, President of EAA Warbirds of America
With Sun ‘n Fun behind us, we can now look back and ask ourselves how we did. We registered a total of 297 Warbirds with 18 new "first timers." Considering a number of factors that were against us this year, such as the timing (conflicts with Easter and Passover), the economy and the weather, we did pretty well. Below is a comparison of this year, to the years 1998-2000 for aircraft registered by Wednesday, the fourth day of the fly-in:
Year:
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
Number of Aircraft:
|
266
|
340
|
311
|
297
|
We also did well from a safety point of view, with only a few minor mishaps and no injuries at the show. Unfortunately, we lost a T-34, with one fatality and one serious injury, in Georgia on its way home from Lakeland. The cause of the accident is still being investigated.
The Holiday Inn at Winter Haven was a big improvement over our previous hotel in Lakeland. The ride to the hotel was tolerable, the staff was gracious and accommodating, and we even received a "warbird" discount at the bar. The food at the Monday night barbecue was excellent, but our attendance was very low. Part of that may have been due to our not adequately advertising the event; we will try to do better on that next year.
The Leeward Air Ranch fly-out was a great success (as it always is). We are really fortunate that Jimmy Leeward does a lot of work and goes to great expense to make it happen.
From my perspective, the biggest disappointment was the attendance at the awards banquet where, although the food was good and the audiovisual presentation was the best we have ever had, we had fewer than 100 members. I have heard a number of theories as to why that was the case. Many members left directly from the Leeward fly out the day before (over 100 warbird aircraft departed that day). Some of the departures may have been due to incoming weather and some, because they were already heading north to Leeward's, and since it was on the way home, kept going. Are our members losing interest in the awards program, or was it the change in venue, and should we consider going back to Fantasy of Flight next year? Should we move the awards banquet to the day before the Leeward fly out? I would welcome input from our members on this issue in trying to plan next year's event.
We did well on our merchandise sales at Sun ‘n Fun, and we will expand our selection of items next year.
We tried to initiate a forums program this year; Mike Hudon, from Precision Engines, give a seminar entitled "Care of Round Engines" on Wednesday morning. There was very minimal attendance at the forum as well. We are not sure if this was due to our members not being aware of the program or lack of interest. Feedback from our members on whether we should try to expand the forums program at Sun ‘n Fun would also be appreciated
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is coming up and we are looking forward to a great convention. Plans are moving ahead to change the “landscape.” We will have an expanded display of re-enactors, revetments, aircraft, antiaircraft gun emplacements and military vehicles in our area, particularly located where visitors enter through the "fightertown" gate. On one side we hope to set up a WW II area and on the other, a Vietnam area. EAA is lending us their two Skyraiders to put on display. We are looking for other volunteer aircraft (fighters, L-birds, and an O-2) to be on display. I would also urge any of our members with Korean War-era aircraft to bring them this year, as we will feature a tribute to Korean War veterans during our air show on Saturday and Sunday and we will be hosting surviving members of VA 195 as our guests.
Officially, Oshkosh starts on Tuesday, July 24. Charlie Nogle is hosting the picnic (as he does every year) at the Nature Center. We have also rented the Pioneer Princess for "Warbird Dinner Cruises" on Lake Winnebago; these will be available on Tuesday and Wednesday nights (July 25 and 26). Dinner will be provided at a reasonable cost -- it should be a fun evening. The boat can only accommodate 49 people on each cruise, so you need to get your reservation in early (see the notice in the AirVenture Preview section and call Warbird headquarters at 920/426-4874 to reserve your seats).
In order to deal with our rising costs and continue to provide our membership services, we will be raising our membership dues by $5 a year as of October 2001.
In an effort to increase our membership, we are sending copies of our magazine out to major FBOs and flight schools. If any of our members have a specific FBO or flight school that they feel would be a good source of new members, send me the name and address and we will put them on our list.
For membership feedback on these important issues, my E-mail address is Warbirdpres@aol.com. I believe more input from our members will help us make our programs more successful and "keep em flying".
Mike Schloss
President
Warbirds of America
