If you like your EAA you can keep your EAA...

I did not like the Jenner article either. No one can convince me that his new notoriety was not the impetus for the article even though that was not mentioned in the article. Even so, it to me is not reason enough to cancel my membership.
 
SkyDog58 said:
I did not like the Jenner article either. No one can convince me that his new notoriety was not the impetus for the article even though that was not mentioned in the article. Even so, it to me is not reason enough to cancel my membership.
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Perfectly reasonable assumption. I think the timing of the article is what gives most people pause, not the subject so much. I don't base my membership in an organization off of the subject of a single article. It may have been the straw that broke the camel's back for MSCard88.


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Actually, I enjoyed the AOPA article about Jenner, which begins with a statement that reminded me of my early interest in flying:

An athlete’s renewed passion for flying
As a young boy, Bruce Jenner, now Caitlyn Jenner, used to ride his bicycle to the Westchester County Airport in White Plains, New York. Each visit increased his desire to fly. Becoming a pilot, however, . . . .

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2016/april/pilot/pilots
 
SoonerAviator said:
Perfectly reasonable assumption. I think the timing of the article is what gives most people pause, not the subject so much. I don't base my membership in an organization off of the subject of a single article. It may have been the straw that broke the camel's back for MSCard88.


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I can understand that. If one is at their limit, that could possibly push one over it. It rarely is just one thing with most people. I quit a job one time over a relatively minor issue that most would laugh at but it was just the last of many issues running from minor to major.
 
Meh, ... I belong to EAA, AOPA, and NRA. I send my dues in each year, and I ignore the junk mail, read only the articles in their rags that interest me, and choose not to read the ones that don't. I'm not easily offended. <sarcasm on> But, the level of moral narcissism now prevalent in this country really ticks me off!</sarcasm off> ;-)
 
So like others that have already posted, I'm a member of both EAA and AOPA and have been for a long time. I've never experienced an us vs. them attitude at the Chapter level or amongst individual pilots and I'd guess aircraft ownership in my Chapter us roughly 50/50 (standard/E-AB ).

What many of us objected to under Hightower's term was the perceived move by EAA's leadership to marginalize the core membership, the E-AB builders and owners, in a move to make EAA into something more AOPAish. That didn't sit well and a rising tide of vocal anti-Hightower sentiment arose and contributed to his ouster.

Personally I don't care what you own or if you don't own at all; All are welcome. For example, I have absolutely no issues with YE events where most if not all if the supporting aircraft are not E-AB. But at the National level I firmly believe that EAA's focus should be on E-AB first and GA at large second, especially since we also have AOPA. The first word of the name is "Experimental" after all,
 
SoonerAviator said:
Well, AOPA ran a net loss last year, financially-speaking. I'm not sure how much that falls in line with padding the bank account as it did for prior years.
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And yet their execs are pulling down 6 digits/year each. And the organization is begging for me to send them $$$ above and beyond the annual dues. I make less than a third of what they (the execs) are paid, and have an airplane to feed. I simply cannot afford to donate money to a non-profit, whose employees earn more than I do.
 
The PC stuff is out of control and it's pathetic our organizations subscribe to the need!
 
bluerooster said:
And yet their execs are pulling down 6 digits/year each. And the organization is begging for me to send them $$$ above and beyond the annual dues. I make less than a third of what they (the execs) are paid, and have an airplane to feed. I simply cannot afford to donate money to a non-profit, whose employees earn more than I do.
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What multimillion dollar corporation are you aware of which doesn't have top level execs making six figures? I mean, I understand it's technically a non-profit advocacy group, but making six-figures isn't exactly eyebrow raising these days for anyone worth their salt as a CEO/CFO/etc. You'll have to find some better examples of egregious expenditures to justify that it's being abused.


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SoonerAviator said:
Well, AOPA ran a net loss last year, financially-speaking. I'm not sure how much that falls in line with padding the bank account as it did for prior years.
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I'm too lazy to do it, and their transparency isn't the greatest, but I'd love to do a little forensic accounting around AOPA's net loss. There are lots of ways to "suffer" a net loss while piling cash into the vault. Bonus depreciation comes to mind.
 
kyleb said:
I'm too lazy to do it, and their transparency isn't the greatest, but I'd love to do a little forensic accounting around AOPA's net loss. There are lots of ways to "suffer" a net loss while piling cash into the vault. Bonus depreciation comes to mind.
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Well, sure, there could be a myriad of reasons why a net loss can occur when it isn't necessarily due to any sort of mismanagement or failed business practice. I would hope that those with "six-figure salaries" would be well aware of that. Even if they invested heavily in projects that won't pay off for a year or two, it can drive a net loss.

The problem most people seemed to have with AOPA is this supposed "lack of transparency". However, I don't know too many people who can listen to the numerous lobbying and government advocacy efforts in detail without their eyes glossing over after 2 minutes. Almost everything is available to be researched if you wanted, but most people just like to complain that they have too much cash sitting in the coffers and aren't doing anything to help GA without really having any reasoning behind it. It very well could be a situation that when we see nothing happening to GA (negatively), it's proof that they are doing their job well.


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OkieAviator said:
The constant barrage of donation requests.
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If a member just asks AOPA to stop it, they will do as requested, and they will apologize.

I discovered this when I nearly quit, for this reason, after a year of student membership.

So, just send them one easy email, and your life will get better.
 
The only requests that I get from the AOPA that bother me are requests to join when I am already a member. But I also understand that such oversights are routine. All of the other solicitations are okay with me even if I choose not to partake in that particular service.
 
I wonder if the net loss is related to the expense of putting on the GA events around the country? I think this was a brilliant step by AOPA/Mark Baker to get back to aviation roots, and give them credit for doing so. The gala event in Cali each year was for the privileged few. At Indy a year ago Mark walked up wearing cowboy boots to a group of us and shot the **** for several minutes. It was only after he left that I told the others who he was, otherwise they had no idea. He gets points in my book for being chill and hanging out with us bottom feeders who pay the same dues as the big boys.

As for EAB -vs- certified, I got no sense of 'us versus them' from anyone I talked to during my first OSH trip this year. Had a fantastic conversation with 2 strangers over breakfast: one who bought an RV-9A by a Grand Champion builder and another a young man from Argentina building an RV-6. We fly spamcans but they didn't care. To those of us at the table, it was all about airplanes.
 
SkyDog58 said:
The only requests that I get from the AOPA that bother me are requests to join when I am already a member. But I also understand that such oversights are routine. All of the other solicitations are okay with me even if I choose not to partake in that particular service.
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I have been a member of AAA for many years. I still get a "new member" package a few times a year. I just toss it. Worse is the friend of mine that passed away with an outstanding membership to AARP. I called and cancelled it noting she had passed. They sent a check for the remainder of the membership. I now get AARP mailings once or twice a month in her name.
They are all alike. My money is on them hoping you didn't realize your membership is all paid up and will "re-up". I had it happen with a type club. I had 6 years to go before it expired.
 
SoonerAviator said:
What multimillion dollar corporation are you aware of which doesn't have top level execs making six figures? I mean, I understand it's technically a non-profit advocacy group, but making six-figures isn't exactly eyebrow raising these days for anyone worth their salt as a CEO/CFO/etc. You'll have to find some better examples of egregious expenditures to justify that it's being abused.


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It kinda falls under the idea of a Televangelist asking me for $10 when he has $10k on his wrist.
 
bluerooster said:
It kinda falls under the idea of a Televangelist asking me for $10 when he has $10k on his wrist.
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So, if you earn your living out of a tool box, does that mean you'll work for peanuts if your employer is a non-profit corporation? The going rate for chief executives is what it is. Just like A&P mechanics or journeyman plumbers.
 
Lets see - Mark Baker is pulling in $750k, Ken Mead the "general counsel" is pulling in $489k, Tim Fortune, the HR guy, is bringing in $293k. So, of the top three guys you've got $1.5 million a year. That leaves out a few other heavy hitters.

I met Tim Fortune once. Knows nothing about aviation, nothing about what the organization does, but pulled up in a nice sports car rental car to one of the fly ins and sat around drinking coffee by himself.
 
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