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The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of
aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...
enthusiasts based in
Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the western shore of Lake Winnebago and had a population of 66,816 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List o ...
. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 300,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapters worldwide. It hosts the largest aviation gathering of its kind in the world,
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (formerly the EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In), or just Oshkosh, is an annual air show and gathering of aviation enthusiasts held each summer at the Wittman Regional Airport and adjacent Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wiscon ...
.


History

The EAA was founded in 1953 by veteran aviator
Paul Poberezny Paul Howard Poberezny (September 14, 1921 – August 22, 2013) was an American aviator, entrepreneur, and aircraft designer. He founded the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) in 1953, and spent the greater part of his life promoting hom ...
along with other aviation enthusiasts. The organization began as more or less a
flying club A flying club or aero club is a non-profit organization, not-for-profit, member-run organization that provides its members with affordable access to aircraft. Many clubs also provide flight training, flight planning facilities, pilot supplies and ...
. Poberezny explains the nature of the organization's name, "Because the planes we flew were modified or built from scratch, they were required to display an EXPERIMENTAL placard where it could be seen on the door or cockpit, so it was quite natural that we call ourselves the "Experimental Aircraft Association". The EAA was incorporated in Wisconsin on 22 March 1955. Homebuilding is still a large part of EAA, but the organization has grown over the years to include almost every aspect of aviation and aeronautics. EAA's first location was in the basement of Poberezny's
Hales Corners, Wisconsin Hales Corners is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A suburb of Milwaukee, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. History The land in the are ...
home. In the early 1960s, the association's first headquarters was built in the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin. That was the headquarters for the organization until 1983, when EAA combined its headquarters and fly-in site in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The EAA Aviation Center also includes the EAA Aviation Museum, with more than 200 aircraft, approximately 130 of which are on display at any given time. In 1953, the Experimental Aircraft Association released a two-page newsletter named ''The Experimenter''. The newsletter was written and published by founding members Paul and Audrey Poberezny along with other volunteers. The newsletter transitioned to a magazine format and was renamed ''Sport Aviation'' and became a membership benefit. The ''Experimenter'' name lives on, however, in an online magazine specifically for amateur-built and light plane enthusiasts that debuted in 2012. It was folded into the monthly Sport Aviation print magazine in 2015. In 2010, the United States' national aeromodeling organization, the Academy of Model Aeronautics, was involved in negotiations with the EAA homebuilt aviation organization, that resulted in a "memorandum of understanding" that is intended to encourage collaboration between the two American-based sport aviation organizations, in developing, in the words of the AMA's then-President Dave Mathewson, "the creation of new concepts that will promote aviation, both full-scale and modeling, as a perfect family recreational and educational activity". This link with the AMA has further strengthened in the face of unprecedented FAA concern of aeromodeling as a form of UAS activity they now have a reason to regulate, and are now tasked with regulating - the EAA, in late November 2019, stated that "We see model aviation as an important pathway to manned flight," adding that "Our goal in this risk assessment process is to represent the safety concerns of our members while allowing the highest degree of freedom for legacy model aircraft, which have flown alongside us in the airspace for decades." In 2015, the EAA and EAA Young Eagles were inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the
San Diego Air & Space Museum The San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM) is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California. It is located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park and is housed in the former Ford Building (San Diego), Ford Building, which is li ...
.


Museum

First opened in 1983 and located adjacent to EAA's headquarters in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the
EAA Aviation Museum The EAA Aviation Museum, formerly the EAA AirVenture Museum (or Air Adventure Museum), is a museum dedicated to the preservation and display of historic and experimental aircraft as well as antiques, classics, and warbirds. The museum is lo ...
is an extensive collection of aircraft and aviation displays. The Museum is home to EAA's collection of more than 200 aircraft, of which more than 90 are on display inside the museum at any time. The museum's
Pioneer Airport Pioneer Airport is a privately owned airport located two nautical miles (4  km) south of the central business district of Oshkosh, a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. The airport is located on the northwest edge ...
is a re-creation of a vintage aerodrome, with more than 40 additional airplanes on display. From May through mid-October (daily Memorial Day through Labor Day), flights are offered in vintage aircraft.


Programs and activities


Technical Counselor program

To help ensure that all amateur-built aircraft are well-constructed, safe aircraft, the EAA organizes a group of volunteers, known as Technical Counselors, who will visit the construction project to identify any areas of concern. Technical Counselors are EAA members who volunteer their time and who have met at least one of the following criteria: * Have built an experimental category aircraft * Have restored an antique/classic aircraft * Hold an A&P, IA, DAR, DER or Aerospace Engineer rating in the United States, an equivalent international rating or have the qualifications for those ratings. There is no charge for this on-site review. The program is strictly voluntary. The recommendations of the Technical Counselor are advisory only. The EAA recommends a minimum of three Technical Counselor visits over the course of construction.


Flight Advisor program

The Flight Advisor Program is designed to increase
homebuilt aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...
safety by developing a corps of volunteers who have demonstrated expertise in specific areas of flying and making them available to EAA members who may be preparing to fly an unfamiliar aircraft. A Flight Advisor helps the pilot conduct a self-evaluation as well as evaluate the flying characteristics of the aircraft. Pilots use that evaluation to decide whether they are capable of flying that airplane. If not capable, the Flight Advisor explains where and how the pilot can get the proper instruction, or alternatively find someone to make the initial flights. Under the EAA Flight Advisor Program, the Advisor does not fly or decide whether or not the pilot is capable of flying the airplane to be tested. The Advisor provides the pilot with the pros and cons as they relate to this specific combination of pilot and airplane. The pilot makes the final decision on how to proceed with the flight testing program.


EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

Each summer EAA presents the largest annual
general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...
event in the world,
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (formerly the EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In), or just Oshkosh, is an annual air show and gathering of aviation enthusiasts held each summer at the Wittman Regional Airport and adjacent Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wiscon ...
, also commonly known as the "Oshkosh Airshow". During the event, the city's airport, Wittman Regional Airport, named after Steve Wittman, is the busiest airport in the world (in terms of traffic movements). The week-long event annually attracts around 10,000-12,000 planes and a total attendance of more than 500,000. The event also attracts more than 800 exhibitors, hosts nearly 1,000 forums, seminars and workshops, and welcomes more than 700 journalists each year. The annual fly-in was first held in 1953 at what is now Timmerman Field in Milwaukee. In 1959, the growing event moved to the
Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...
airport. Attendance at the fly-in continued to grow until the Rockford airport (now Chicago Rockford International Airport) was too small to accommodate the crowds, and so it was moved to Oshkosh in 1970. A study conducted in 2008 by the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh determined that the 500,000 annual fly-in attendance generates $110 million of tourist income for the three counties surrounding the airport. In 2017, that economic impact was estimated at over $170 million and a total attendance of nearly 600,000 people.


Young Eagles

The EAA also sponsors the Young Eagles program, which was started in 1992 by Tom Poberezny and others, with the aim of giving one million children an airplane ride by 17 December 2003, the Centennial of Flight (''see
Wright brothers The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...
and
Wright Flyer The ''Wright Flyer'' (also known as the ''Kitty Hawk'', ''Flyer'' I or the 1903 ''Flyer'') made the first sustained flight by a manned heavier-than-air powered and controlled aircraft on December 17, 1903. Invented and flown by brothers Wrigh ...
''). The program reached that goal, and has continued, with more than 2 million young people flown as of July 2016 and more introduced to and educated around the benefits of general aviation. The Young Eagles program has been overseen by a series of nationally famous chairmen: *
Cliff Robertson Clifford Parker Robertson III (September 9, 1923 – September 10, 2011) was an American actor whose career in film and television spanned over six decades. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film ''PT 109 (film), PT 109'', a ...
- founding chairman, film and stage actor (1992–1994) * Chuck Yeager - USAF General and first man to fly faster than the
speed of sound The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit of time by a sound wave as it propagates through an elasticity (solid mechanics), elastic medium. More simply, the speed of sound is how fast vibrations travel. At , the speed of sound in a ...
(1994–2004) *
Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. Regarded as a cinematic cultural icon, he has starred in Harrison Ford filmography, many notable films over seven decades, and is one of List of highest-grossing actors, the highest-gr ...
- film and stage actor (2004–2009) * Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey B. Skiles - pilots of US Airways Flight 1549 (2009–2013) * Sean D. Tucker - aerobatic pilot (2013–present) *
Jimmy Graham Jimmy Graham (born November 24, 1986) is an American professional American football, football tight end. He was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the third round of the 2010 NFL draft. Graham has also been a member of the Seattle Seahawks, G ...
- NFL tight end (2018–present)


Sun 'N Fun Airshow

The other major yearly airshow attended by EAA members and staff is Sun 'n Fun, held every April in
Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Located along Interstate 4, I-4 east of Tampa and southwest of Orlando, Florida, Orlando, it is the List of municipalities in Florida, most populous city in Polk County. As of the 2020 ...
. Sun 'n Fun has been an independent organization from the EAA since its first show in 1975, although the event has always involved significant EAA participation. The two organizations signed an agreement in January 1989 recognizing their independence. On 30 March 2005 Sun 'n Fun issued a press release affirming the independence of the two organizations but assuring the aviation public that they would continue to work together. As such Sun 'n Fun remains a show with participation from EAA chapters and a presence from the national EAA staff, but it is not an EAA event.


Organizational structure

The organization is overseen by a chairman, a president, a CEO and a board of directors.
Paul Poberezny Paul Howard Poberezny (September 14, 1921 – August 22, 2013) was an American aviator, entrepreneur, and aircraft designer. He founded the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) in 1953, and spent the greater part of his life promoting hom ...
assumed the duties of president and CEO at the 1953 founding. In 1989 he assumed the (newly created) position of chairman of the board, and his son, aerobatic pilot Tom Poberezny, became president and CEO. In March 2009, Paul Poberezny resigned, and the board voted to elevate Tom Poberezny to chairman of the board. At AirVenture 2010, it was announced that businessman Rod Hightower would succeed Tom Poberezny as president of the organization, effective September 2010. Hightower resigned on 22 October 2012 "effective immediately", directly after a board of directors meeting during which former
Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufactu ...
chairman, president and CEO Jack J. Pelton was elected chairman. Hightower indicated he was resigning to spend more time with his family and would not relocate from St. Louis to Oshkosh. Pelton was named acting CEO and will oversee the hiring process for Hightower's permanent replacement. In response to questions about Hightower's resignation, Mac McClellan, EAA vice president of publications, stated that it was due to Hightower failing to relocate himself from his home in St. Louis to EAA headquarters in Oshkosh, as the board had expected him to. McClellan said, "I know there's all kinds of complaints, but that's not it. he residencywas the unsolvable requirement. The board sees the president/CEO living in the Fox Valley as essential to the mission." Local chapters may be formed whenever ten or more EAA members reside in a given area. Chapters are encouraged to meet monthly. The first chapter meeting occurred at Flabob Airport in California, with noted aircraft designer and builder Ray Stits presiding.


EAA Freedom of Flight Award

In addition to the Dr. August Raspet Memorial Award, EAA also presents the Freedom of Flight Award, which the organization considers its highest honor. The award is "bestowed annually to recognize contributions to aviation who closely mirror the integrity, entrepreneurship, and innovativeness of EAA members."Freedom of Flight Award - EAA
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List of Recipients

*2024 – Pete Bunce *2023 – Jim Irwin and Aircraft Spruce *2022 – James Inhofe *2021 – Jerry Gregoire *2020 – (no recipient, AirVenture canceled) *2019 – the Brown family and
Hartzell Propeller Hartzell Propeller is an American manufacturer that was founded in 1917 by Robert N. Hartzell as the Hartzell Walnut Propeller Company. It produces composite and aluminum propellers for certified, homebuilt, and ultralight aircraft. The co ...
*2018 – Andrew Barker and Robert Hamilton *2017 – Sebastien Heintz *2016 – Mark Van Tine *2015 – Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and Jeff Skiles *2014 – Audrey Poberezny *2013 – John Monnett *2012 – Charles McGee *2011 – Bob Hoover *2010 – Sean D. Tucker *2009 –
Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. Regarded as a cinematic cultural icon, he has starred in Harrison Ford filmography, many notable films over seven decades, and is one of List of highest-grossing actors, the highest-gr ...
*2008 – Jack J. Pelton *2007 – Dale and Alan Klapmeier *2006 – Scott Crossfield *2005 – Mike Melvill *2004 – Dick VanGrunsven *2003 – Jeanie MacPherson *2002 – Steven J. Brown *2001 – Dick Rutan *2000 – Dick Hansen *1999 – Dan Goldin *1998 – Ed Stimpson *1997 – Sam Johnson *1996 – Burt Rutan *1995 – (no recipient) *1994 – Barron Hilton *1993 –
John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American Country music, country and Folk music, folk singer, songwriter, and actor. He was one of the most popular acoustic m ...
*1992 – James C. Ray *1991 – Ray Scholler *1990 –
Paul Poberezny Paul Howard Poberezny (September 14, 1921 – August 22, 2013) was an American aviator, entrepreneur, and aircraft designer. He founded the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) in 1953, and spent the greater part of his life promoting hom ...
*1989 – Robert "Hoot" Gibson *1988 –
Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations, first person to walk on the Moon. He was al ...
*1987 –
Cliff Robertson Clifford Parker Robertson III (September 9, 1923 – September 10, 2011) was an American actor whose career in film and television spanned over six decades. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film ''PT 109 (film), PT 109'', a ...
*1986 – Steve Wittman


Aircraft

* EAA Biplane * EAA ''Spirit of St. Louis'' replica * EAA Wright Flyer Model B replica


See also

* Aircraft Kit Industry Association * Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association * Tannkosh


References


Further reading

* Povletich, William.
The Little Fly-in That Could: How Oshkosh Landed the Largest Annual Aviation Event in the World
. ''Wisconsin Magazine of History'', vol. 105, no. 4 (Summer 2022), pp. 24-37.


External links

*
EAA AirVenture OshkoshEAA Aviation MuseumEAA Young Eagles program
{{Authority control Aviation organizations based in the United States 1953 establishments in Wisconsin Organizations based in Wisconsin Organizations established in 1953 Non-profit organizations based in Wisconsin