Is EOC Fading away?

Brooks, I was 43 when I came into EOC. My first airplane too me was 3 months in my ownership. Had been around A/C since birth. First flight was at 2yrs 3 mo. Dad had Cessna 140. At 14 dad had me flying in a '47 7AC Champ with him in the back seat. Then came my own family did not solo until '69.age 25 PPL '82 38yrs old. So now I am 80+ cannot fly any more. With 3 coupe projects to play with... It was so much fun Couping, Friends, Fly-ins It is really sad so many changes in 25 yrs, I just can't see any way out of this hole!

I understand that things have slowed down, but I would hate to see the EOC fade away. As a new pilot and 'coupe owner at age 51, I'm not exactly young but I hope that I have many years of flying and Ercoupe tinkering in my future.

I try to contribute to discussions here - even though sometimes I'm not certain if anyone is interested. But, I'll keep it up until they make me stop!

It's really difficult to convince friends and family to even come along for a flight, not to mention actually taking any steps towards becoming a pilot... even when they say that they'd "love to do it" there's always a "but" that follows. I spent many years as a SCUBA instructor which was a little bit easier to bring in new people, but it's also a faster, much less rigorous certification process.

I've made lots of new friends in aviation, but I haven't been able to bring anyone besides myself into the fold. Gonna keep working at it though because I have a few friends who would really enjoy it.

Nowadays, at my job I have a decent-sized staff (dozens, not hundreds) of people ranging from 19-55 years old. They're a great crew and everyone is at least very good at something. Still, there aren't many who could afford to toss $10,000 at a pilot certificate unless they *really* wanted it the way I really wanted it - it's a big sacrifice for most people in our income range.

An interesting phenomenon comes into it with younger people. Anyone younger than 35 pretty much grew up with cell phones and the internet. Even the brightest people of that age have a completely different way that they pay attention and process information. It seems like the skills needed to become a pilot - seeking out information, evaluating sources of information to determine what's true and reliable, poring through plain written text to find a reference leading you to another document which references a relevant regulation... these are skills they never really learned - at least not the same way I did. For me it's fascinating, and sometimes frustrating, learning to connect with them. It's no surprise to me that to younger people, aviation seems opaque and inaccessible.

I'm in the end stages of planning a new home which means ALMOST at the beginning stages of actually having it built. Instead of a garage (which would inevitably turn into storage+workshop - I know my own weaknesses) my plan includes a detached workshop big enough to build a plane. I'll never give up the coupe, but I did my primary training in an RV12 and it's a fantastic aircraft - I'd be delighted to own one. My flight school of course needs factory-built SLSA RV12's to be legal for rent, but if I build one as ELSA, I could work out the ownership to allow a cheap buy-in for friends who want to use it for flight training. Because this local school trains in RV12's there are quite a few RV12-current CFIs around here. The RV12 would be a major expense for me, but I should be able to make it happen if nothing crazy happens for the next few years.

I got so much help from the aviation community in the restoration of my Ercoupe from pilots who wanted to help out "the new guy" that I'd love to find a way to pay it forward to a whole bunch of "new people."

For now and for the future, if the EOC needs anything from me - please ask! I don't have the historical or technical knowledge of many people here, but whenever I can contribute, I will happily do it.

Finally, I think that type clubs like the EOC are, int the internet age, utilized very differently than they were decades ago. At one point Cope Capers showed up full of information few had seen before. Nowadays, tons of information is available online. Wondering about re-covering your wings? Area Fly-ins? Wondering why your C-85 is dripping oil? It's all already out there. I think it's natural that the EOC is "quieter" now because of this, but there is real and continuing value in maintaining connection with people who love 'coupes and having a place to discuss Ercoupe-specific topics.  Often those discussions may be brief (You asked about an impulse coupling repair? here's a link to a video that helped me repair mine.") but as we look outside of EOC for some of our answers, others will be looking into the EOC for theirs.   

Sad but I have to agree Larry. There are just too much to see out there. When I got on yesterday there was so little new. Not so even 2 years ago. Yet so many people like or even love Coupes. Just look at the numbers for Matt's Groupe. I will renew this year. However, I am not sure why. One factor. the cost of renewing is not. It is just disheartening.

I thing so ! Time  change and so do people.