Oshkosh Forums 2013, Flycorvair / Wm. Wynne

Builders:

Below are my 2013 Oshkosh forums. Lest anyone think that I do not appreciate the good people who make up the bulk of the work force at Headquarters, let me directly say that I worked for EAA publications as a staff writer from 2002-2006, and rank and file staff members are outstanding people who take their jobs very seriously. They earn modest salaries and work very long hours.  Every single one of them I worked with expressed that they considered it a privilege to serve the membership. These people are in charge of the day-to-day work. The only people at headquarters I have an issue with is the upper management that sets the direction of our membership association. This is an important distinction I would like to be very clear about. Unfortunately, the membership gets very little if any real contact with the elite management to express concerns about our organization. We do have acess to the people who work at headquarters, and I want to remind members that these are not the people making the decisions you don’t like. You can not hold the workers personally accountable for the decisions of the board, and I suspect they have as little input on policy decisions as you and I do.

2013 marks my 17th year of giving forums on the Corvair engine. They are very well attended, but due to time limitations, often the really detailed information is covered in follow up at our regular display. If you would like more follow on information, come see me in our booth, #612 across from Zenith in the north display area. -ww

Blast from the Past: Below, Oshkosh 2003. I stand just after my forum with EAA legend Marv Hoppenworth. (He is best known for designing all the pedal powered planes for kids, but he did a lot of other stuff in the EAA.) He is a long time Corvair fan. We met him by knowing his son Jay. At Brodhead, Jay had often  shared pictures and stories of his parents, who had met and gone flying in an L-4 on one of their first dates. Marv is truly old school EAA, and it was an honor and pleasure to meet the father who was so obviously  his son’s hero.