I can only contribute opinions to this discussion, not constructive
suggestions, but here they are anyway.
I was a member of EOC when I first bought my Alon in 2001, but quit renewing
a year or two ago. When it switched to an online newsletter I quit noticing
it and got the information I needed from these email lists. Basically if
I'm going to pay money for something there has to be a value returned! I'm
a member of AOPA, for instance, for one reason: their lobbying and advocacy
in Washington. I don't read their magazine much these days.
I certainly agree that we Coupers could be more effective in dealing with
the FAA. How that is to be achieved I leave to wiser heads than mine.
I look at the Coupes as I do aging parents: with great affection and the
wistful knowledge they are static or declining as the world moves on.
Whereas RVs and their kind are like children: chaotic, energetic, and the
future. Therefore next month--January--I'm going to start building an
RV-9A, and in a couple of years when it's time to put on an engine I'll sell
my Alon to purchase the engine. Not because I don't like the Coupe, but
because I'm ready for something almost twice as fast that I can put things
on, like an autopilot or solid state gyros, that are both better and cheaper
than the TSO's/certificated stuff.
Ralph Finch
