..And Here, Darn it, Are The Heartbreakers

Final Compilations/Analysis by ANN Editor-In-Chief/Corporate Insomniac, Jim Campbell

It is both the most "fun," and most difficult task, facing the ANN staff at the end of every year -- determining who, or what, did the most to promote the cause of aviation in the past 365 days... while also chastising those people or entities that did all they could to undermine the many successes the aerospace community has managed to accomplish.
 
Alas, 2009 saw more than its fair share of downers, aviation-wise. Sure, "stuff" happens... but a few folks, issues, or entities seemed to go out of their way to create problems for the world of aviation.

So... it is ANN's annual obligation to recognize Ten of our Aero-Heartbreakers for 2009... in something of an informal order, starting from the 10th to the 1st.

Let us know what you think of our selections... whom YOU would have liked be included, or omitted, from such a list. In the meantime, we hope those who had something to do with this year's selections think a little more positively about the welfare of this industry, so that future lists become harder and harder to catalog.

Be it ignorance, arrogance or just plain incompetence, these were the folks or topics that made our lot a whole lot more difficult and immeasurably injured the aviation world in the past year.

Shame on those issues, folks, or groups that made our lot so much tougher in 2009...

Aero-Heartbreaker #10: Rick Schrameck and Epic Aircraft

The Epic Aircraft mess was one of the low points of 2009... but for those of us who did the slightest bit of research, it was obvious (early on) that something was amiss and was unlikely to improve. Grandiose plans, exorbitant promises and wild claims were the order of the day while a number of expected milestones came and went... especially the promise of megabucks in corporate financing to set the company on a powerful path to certification.

In both the Amateur-Built/Experimental community as well as the BizAv world, 'Schrameck's folly' left a wake of damaged and aggrieved parties that may never be fully quantified. Much of the FAA's fervor over its revisiting of the 51% Rule came as a result of Schrameck's pushing the rules so hard that the result was nearly comical... and for those who dared to question him about any of that, they were met, at least, with a refusal to answer basic questions or, worse, threats of legal action (even threatening members of the FAA!). We can not say whether there was an actual intent to try to succeed or whether it was a scam from the start but recent court records (in our analysis) showed that Schrameck did what was good for Schrameck and not what was good for his customers and the company.

On the BizAv side, Schrameck pulled off some amazing shows of bravado and conned more than a few folks into believing that he was going to confound everyone and turn the business aviation community on its ear. Claims of a major investment program were broadcast widely but when the money never quite materialized, Schrameck relied on evasion and obfuscation to evade the reality of what was happening... Epic was failing fast.

Overall; it was not a good moment for aviation and while other failures (some that we believe REALLY did try to succeed... a concept that we do NOT believe applies to the Epic effort) got a lot more attention and fingers were pointed far and wide, few truly looked at the house of cards that seemed to make up Epic and tried to alert the public to the problems that were clearly evident several years back (as noted in ANN coverage that brought up critical issues nearly FIVE years ago). What a crying shame...

Aviat Emptor -- let the flyer beware...

FMI: Comments/Criticism?