Targets Lucrative Demographic Of Lawyers with Jets

ANN April 1st Special Edition: When the Experimental Aircraft Association revamped Sport Aviation Magazine recently, most observers assumed the overhaul was the last we'd hear from Oshkosh about media initiatives for a while. But EAA announced a completely new magazine dedicated to coverage of aviation lawsuits on Thursday. "EAA Sport Litigation" will debut in June as an extra-cost option for all EAA members, but intended primarily for members who are also practicing personal injury attorneys.

In announcing the new venture, EAA Media and Public Affairs Director Dick Knapinski noted the complete lack to date of media to serve this growing segment of the population. "EAA has offered very focused media to its members on topics as niched as forming wing ribs, but let's face it - how many EAA members actually build their own aircraft anymore? When the idea for this magazine came about in 2008, we all slapped our foreheads," said Knapinski. "We couldn't believe we'd overlooked this opportunity."
 
So, what triggered the idea? ANN had to turn to a mole within EAA, an office worker who asked to remain anonymous for fear of being sued, to get the ANSWER.

Back at AirVenture 2008, when Ed Bolen held that press conference announcing NBAA's new small aircraft show the following year, anyone who was there remembers how mad Tom (EAA Chairman and President Tom Poberezny) got. He saw it as a direct assault on AirVenture.

Tom Poberezny

"But that's just the part everybody saw," continued our source. "About a half-hour later, Tom gets all up in Ed's grille over NBAA splitting the small aircraft market, and started to make noises about retaliation, but couldn't figure out how to finish the sentence. So Ed just points over at a Citation on static display and deadpans, 'Or what? You'll start poaching in my pond?'

"The situation might have escalated, had a helpful EAA parking volunteer, who is a hockey referee at Oshkosh High School, not stepped in. Both Tom and Ed realized how dumb this would look if it made the news, and just walked away mad. But suddenly, there were about 15 lawyers standing around Tom. We couldn't figure it out how they'd picked up the scent of the confrontation, 'cause it happened in the ultralight area, so, you know, there wasn't a witness within a quarter mile. They weren't wearing suits, but they were all holding out business cards. It was kinda creepy."

Ed Bolen

While EAA won't officially acknowledge the account, Knapinski admits, "Due to an event that may or may not have taken place in July of 2008, let's just say we discovered that there were lots of lawyers who'd come to Oshkosh in really expensive jets. We did a quick focus group, and realized that flying lawyers represent a unique and growing demographic of high-net-worth individuals who were underserved. Why wait till NBAA figures it out first?

"At the same time," said Knapinski, "we have to be planning for the day when all the general aviation pilots and manufacturers have been sued out of existence, and the only people who can afford expensive niche magazines are the lawyers."

Specific details of the magazine's first issue are being tightly held, but ANN has learned that among the articles will be techniques for spotting ambulances using Light Sport Aircraft, how to have your assistant use a new national internet database of recent slip-and-falls, and a new study proving that pilot error is actually caused by camshaft metallurgy. The only advertiser known to be onboard for the launch is Accident Tracker, a proprietary hardware/software package which allows the remote tracking of ambulances via a GPS-enabled mobile tracking device already in use by many private ambulance companies who need to be able to quickly locate their vehicles.

FMI: www.eaa.sportlitigation.aero