Organization Celebrates 51st Anniversary
On Monday, the EAA
celebrated its 51st anniversary, recalling its first meeting in a
wintry night in Milwaukee, Wis., in 1953. The
organization says its success would not be possible without
the support and involvement of its hundreds of thousands of members
through the years, and the 170,000 aviation enthusiasts who are
current EAA members.
On it's website, the organization revisited its founding
over a half-century ago.
EAA had its start next to a half-built airplane in a garage in
the Milwaukee area. In the years after World War II, Paul
Poberezny was continually working on airplane projects in his
garage. While he was in the process of rebuilding an old
Taylorcraft, former members of the defunct Milwaukee Lightplane
Club stopped by to help or just visit. The garage became a
place to chat about airplanes, and talk turned to forming a local
club for amateur airplane designers and builders. When
Poberezny was called up for active duty in the Korean War, however,
such talk went onto the back burner.
When Poberezny returned to his home in 1952, the talk turned to
action. On Jan. 26, 1953, fewer than three dozen aviation
enthusiasts met at Curtiss-Wright Airport to discuss forming the
club. Those attending saw two great possibilities for such a
club: While some looked for a local club as a social group as much
as anything else, others saw the possibilities in uniting aviation
enthusiasts who focused on design and construction of
airplanes.
Eventually, the group’s name emerged as the
“Experimental Aircraft Association,” pointing toward
the Experimental classification used for homebuilt and modified
airplanes by the Civil Aeronautics Administration (forerunner of
today’s Federal Aviation Administration). A newsletter
called “The Experimenter” was published, although it
was little more than a one-page mimeographed sheet. It would
eventually evolve into today’s full-color “Sport
Aviation” magazine.
In September 1953, EAA
held its first fly-in convention, in conjunction with the Wisconsin
Air Pageant in Milwaukee. Fewer than two dozen airplanes
attended that first event and only about 150 people attended
EAA’s banquet held as part of the fly-in. Throughout
the 1950s, membership grew from dozens to hundreds to several
thousand as people found an aviation gathering place within the
organization. Several local EAA Chapters founded throughout
the nation added support to the group.
There had also been changes as membership grew. The annual
fly-in had grown bigger than its Milwaukee site and had moved to
Rockford, Ill., in 1959, where it would spend the next
decade. In 1964, the EAA office finally moved out of the
Poberezny basement and into a new building in Franklin, Wis.,
another suburb of Milwaukee. An adjacent structure, complete
with the first EAA Air Museum, was added two years later.
While this new facility offered a truly professional office setting
and support staff, the volunteer efforts of EAA members and their
families continued to provide the bulk of the manpower that got
things done.
That volunteer “can-do” attitude established in
EAA’s early years have continued to be a hallmark of the
organization, as those in EAA are active participants as well as
members. During the 1960s, programs such as “Project
Schoolflight,” which brought aircraft building into high
school vocational programs, and the “Designee” program,
which provided no-cost advice from experienced airplane builders
(and preceded today’s Technical Counselor program), allowed
EAA members to be directly involved with opening the world of
flight to others.
As EAA membership soared past 100,000 in the late 1980s, the
organization found itself at unprecedented levels. Government
officials and industry leaders looked to EAA and its members for
resources and guidance on a variety of issues. The
association that represented the individual’s access to the
sky was now regarded as a major player in the aviation
community.
I n 1989, Paul Poberezny
retired as EAA President, succeeded by his son, Tom. As the
1990s dawned, EAA members also began looking at what the future of
recreational aviation would be as time and technology rolled
on.
EAA has continued to grow, with a 70 percent increase in
membership over the past 15 years. The association continues
to provide the information and support necessary for individuals to
fulfill their own dreams of flight.
“Although there are literally thousands of individual
interests within our membership, EAA remains dedicated to some
simple tenets that apply to everyone who wishes to
participate,” EAA President Tom Poberezny said.
“EAA will protect the right to fly; promote access to flight;
preserve the heritage of aviation; and prepare for those who will
carry the dream forward.
“For more than 50 years, EAA has represented the
individual who wants to discover and explore aviation. As
individuals bonded by this common passion, EAA has been able to
provide the support needed to fulfill thousands of dreams of
flight. It is that vision that will continue to carry us into
the future.”