Last night was the Gathering of Eagles dinner/fundraising event for the Young Eagles program. 1,060 people attended including Arnold Palmer, Harrison Ford and John Travolta. Mr Ford also attended the chapter presidents’ reception at the Ford pavilion.
The V-22 Ospry tilt-rotor aircraft arrived and did a demo at the show.
On a sad note, two people died in a Lancair Legacy while on short-final to runway 27.
The changes to the Experimental Aircraft Builder rule is getting a lot of attention this year. While the stated purpose of the change is to ensure that the builder has actually put the plane together, the exact wording includes the separate terms of assembly and fabrication. These aren’t clearly defined. Right now we are in the extremely short 30 day comment period, so we need to comment on this rule now. It doesn’t need to be too technical. Just read the summaries provided by EAA and AOPA. Then put your thoughts into writing and get it out to help preserve your ability to build your own plane.
I’ve been listening to EAA Radio, and Glen and Harrison Martin, developers of the Martin Jetpack have said that they won’t be flying the unit again this week. Initially they said that there were insurance issues, but currently they say they’ve been working very hard this week, and along with the jet lag from traveling from New Zealand, they are quite fatigued. Therefore they won’t be risking an accident at the show.