FAA Acting Administrator Sturgell Recognizes EAA Milestone
by ANN Correspondent Larry Stencel
Yuma, AZ homebuilder Bob Noll's RV-9A airplane was recognized as
the honorary 30,000th US-registered homebuilt at a ceremony
Thursday morning at AirVenture 2008. Standing on stage with his
daughter Katrina who came to AirVenture with him, acting FAA
Administrator Bobby Sturgell, FAA Associate Administrator for
Aviation Safety Nick Sabatini, EAA President Tom Poberezny and EAA
Founder Paul Poberezny were on hand to recognize the milestone of
30,000 homebuilt airplanes registered.
On Tuesday, EAA homebuilders' community manager Joe Norris
tracked Bob and his daughter Katrina down in the homebuilt camping
area, and notified them that their name had been picked from among
the 20 who applied for the honor. Because the FAA aircraft
certification system has no way to exactly identify the 30,000th
homebuilt, the EAA established criteria to pick one airplane to
claim the honorary title. The requirements were that the airplane
had to have received its certification in 2008 and had to be in
attendance at AirVenture 2008.
Registering when they arrived, Bob had no forewarning that he
would be an instant celebrity. When asked how he reacted to the
honor, Bob replied, "I smiled from ear to ear." He was still
smiling during the ceremony. So was his daughter Katrina.
As he drove up in "Red One," Paul Poberezny was asked how he
felt about the milestone after 55 years since he founded EAA. His
answer, "unbelievable, simply unbelievable." to which he gave a
thumbs up.
With Bob's beautiful RV-9A N94BN sitting on an adjacent raised
stage, when it was finally Bob's turn to talk, he stated that it
"humbles you" to be chosen to represent that milestone number. He
started building the airplane in October 2004 and said that the
earliest picture of the project was of a younger Katrina in pajamas
taking inventory of the parts they received. "Building the airplane
was a family project," he said. Now 17 years of age, Katrina is
also a licensed private pilot.
Sturgell commented the first homebuilders were the Wright
Brothers. He went on to say that the FAA is a willing participant
in the homebuilt movement which supports homebuilding as
recreational, educational as well as fun. He cited the example of
winglets and Wittman-style landing gear as being technology which
flowed from the homebuilt airplane. (At the subsequent "Meet the
Boss" forum, Administrator Sturgell additionally commented that the
number 30,000 represents 10 percent of the registered airplanes in
the US.)
EAA Founder Paul Poberezny commented that he came along at the
"right time" back in 1953, that the (then) CAA supported the
movement. Now, 55 years later, the work was "worthwhile."
EAA President Tom Poberezny commented that the homebuilt
movement was, "a living partnership between industry, community and
the CAA then FAA. The freedom to fly in the US fosters the movement
and allows ingenious builders to craft machines which hardly could
be envisioned back in 1953," said Poberezny.
Joe Noll said that he was an accountant by trade and had no
building experience. Armed only with a "lifelong dream" to build an
airplane, he said he received much help from his local EAA Chapter
590 in Yuma. His choice of an RV-9A was, in fact, an outgrowth of
flying in one of that Chapter members RV-9's. He estimates that
1,500 hours of building time was logged but that much unlogged time
beyond that was spent. The airplane now has 100 hours of time on it
and performs exactly as expected.
Bob's RV-9A, N94BN, can be seen in AeroShell Square.