Communist Chinese government at Oshkosh

Homebuilders:

One of the things that I dislike about our aviation industry is the fact that many people in the management of US companies have sold them to the AVIC, the aviation front company that is wholly owned by the communist government of the people’s republic of China.  Haven’t heard about this? I can make a very good case that the aviation journalists and many of the officers of US aviation organizations have gone out of their way to keep quiet about this sell out of US manufacturing, simply because there are perks for those that “get along to go along”.  There is far more personal reward for those that talk about imaginary things like “China’s need for private GA aircraft” and very little reward for people who are speaking of defending the US aviation manufacturing base that was carefully built over 100 years.

For those that think I am being dramatic: Above, a picture of a Continental Data plate from a C-85. If you look closely, you will see that the center of the design is a picture of the US Capitol building, with the creed “As Powerful as the Nation.” Do you recall reading in your aviation magazines that this American company was sold to the government of the people’s Republic of China?  Think I am making this up? Below is the Wikipedia page for the company:

.

“Continental Motors, Inc. is an aircraft engine manufacturer located at the Brookley Aeroplex in Mobile, Alabama. Originally spun off from Continental Motors Company in 1929 and owned by Teledyne Technologies until December 2010, the company is part of AVIC International, which is owned by the government of the People’s Republic of China.”

.

They are not alone: Do you recall reading that Cirrus, an aviation company with it’s roots in homebuilding, who’s designers are in the EAA hall of fame, sold the company to the communist Chinese Government? Lets look at the Wikipedia page:

.

“The Cirrus Aircraft Corporation is an aircraft manufacturer that was founded in 1984 by Alan and Dale Klapmeier to produce the VK-30 kit aircraft. The company headquarters is located in Duluth, Minnesota, United States.

The company is owned by China Aviation Industry General Aircraft (CAIGA), itself majority owned by Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), which is in turn wholly owned by the Government of the People’s Republic of China.”

.

Maybe you like Lycoming style engines? Superior has always been one of the best known names in aircraft engines. What is not been reported is that they are now owned by the Chinese. Again, lets look at the Wikipedia page:

.

Superior Air Parts, Inc. is a manufacturer of aviation piston engine replacement parts, headquartered in Coppell, Texas, United States and owned by the Chinese company Superior Aviation Beijing. Superior air parts started as a manufacturer of valve guides in 1967. The company branched out into FAA/PMA approved parts for general aviation aircraft. The company manufactures replacement parts for Lycoming and Continental aircraft engines. The cylinder assemblies use newer cylinder head alloys and fully hardened cylinder liners.^[1] Most of the company’s production is outsourced, with Superior ensuring that the parts meet their engineering and testing standards.^[2] In 2008, Superior Air Parts parent company Thielert declared bankruptcy. Superior was sold to Superior Aviation Beijing (Qingdao Brantly Investment Group and Beijing Suyoupeirui Company).\.

I could go on like this for a long time. Some of these investments are disguised. For example, many US companies are said to be owned by the Brantly helicopter company. This is true. But what is not said is that Brantly functions as a holding company, and it is in turn owned by the Chinese. Again, the Wikipedia page:

.

Brantly International Inc. is a helicopter company with its engineering and administrative offices based in Brantlyin Coppell, Texas, United States. Manufacturing of Brantly-designed helicopters is now carried out by Qingdao Haili Helicopters of China.

.

What you may not know is that the EAA actually welcomes “The China Pavilion” at Oshkosh. Keep in mind that Oshkosh was started as the annual membership meeting of the Experimental Aviation Association. Yes, this is your meeting. Do you recall if anyone asked the membership how they felt about inviting the government of Communist China? I don’t. Keep in mind, the president of the EAA, Jack Pelton was the CEO of Cessna when the decided to move the production of the Cessna 162 to China, so I suspect he is just fine with US jobs being shipped to communist countries. If you would like to learn a little more about the EAA presidents background Google search the terms “Jack Pelton, CBS 60 Minutes, Fake engineering degree”. Let me assist: http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500164_162-654319.html

.

The China pavilion is hosted by a very slick guy. He sent out the red letter below to every business owner who is renting space at Oshkosh. You can go to the man’s website, and it will directly tell you that private aviation in China is a myth:

” China’s  aviation is built from the ground up from the military, and it is owned and  operated by government.”

His goal is to get US companies to sell to China, or at the very least, transfer their jobs to mainland China, giving away US manufacturing information to the Chinese, who are notorious for having zero respect for patents and intellectual property. They actually send delegates to nearly every booth. Last year we caught one of their reps trying to steal a set of manuals and DVD’s from our display.

I became an EAA member in 1989. I have met Paul Poberesney in person many times. I am hugely appreciative of the work he did started the EAA. I didn’t always see eye to eye with everything he did or said. But I would like to say that in hindsight, I think the EAA under his leadership would never have engaged in things like quietly accepting the presence and money of the Peoples Republic of China.  Paul had faults, but he understood that the EAA was made largely of people who came from middle class manufacturing jobs, and if you sat by while their jobs were sold out, the core of the EAA would decline.

What is the moral of this story? You have to be your own hero, make your own way, there is no knight in a shining affordable airplane showing up for you. Traditional US GA companies long ago gave up on marketing products to people who worked for a living.  The Chinese people they sold the company to are not interested in it either. If you work for a living, the airplane you own will come from your own shop. If the EAA management inside the “Oshkosh bubble” has forgotten what made the EAA great, don’t let this concern you. Airventure is one week of the year. It is worth going to at least once.  There will be a small number of companies there, us included, who still care about affordable planes for people who work for a living. Come and learn something.

When you head home, you can leave the illusion of “the Mecca of Aviation” behind. The center of your world of homebuilding belongs to where ever your small workshop is located, and you represent 100% of the membership there. Focus on your actual goals, not the ones you are told to have. The first 10 years of the EAA were 1953-63. Virtually every plane was the craftsmanship of a middle class individual. everyone was to be a builder or an aviator, the organization was founded on the principle of “Learn build and fly”, nowhere in there is it saying you should be a spectator while wealthy people fly things built in police states. Aerodynamics have not changed since 1953. Physics Chemistry and gravity are all the same. Grass strips on sunny days are the same. there are more than 10,000 small airports in the US, and thankfully, most of them are unchanged since 1953. Air, clouds and weather are all the same. The fundamental human desire to create with your own hands, and master with your brain and skills an aircraft that moves your heart is absolutely the same as it was in 1953. This weekend, at countless airports all over America, you can go out and experience the exact great moments that aviators did in 1953.

The major thing that has changed the most in the last 60 years is the one that matters the least: The management of the aviation organizations and the journalists they own. Those people would tell you that you desperately need them in your life to experience aviation, that they are there to protect it for you, interpret it for you, provide you with opinions and perspectives they want you to have. It’s a joke, they need you and your money, but you don’t need them at all.  The sooner you see this is the sooner you understand that you are 100% in charge of your destiny in homebuilding, and that you can experience the same great moments in flight that others who came before you did.

Today, one person could decide to quit every aviation organization that fails to represent him, never read a book or magazine printed after 1980, never attend a fly in with more than 250 people again, and get his information directly from other experienced builders. Another person could keep on going to airshows that highlighted things he can look at but never afford. He can read about “his” organization defending flying rights, rights they offer him no affordable option of exercising. One path is about taking charge of your life, the other is about drifting, daydreaming and hoping. Choose carefully, it’s your life we are speaking of. -ww.