Monday, July 24, 2017
THE OFFICIAL DAILY NEWSPAPER OF EAA AIRVENTURE OSHKOSH
www.EAA.org/airventure
EAA Engaged in Fight Against ATC Privatization BY MEGAN ESAU
EAA REMAINS ENGAGED in the battle against air traffic control privatization, which poses devastating threats to general aviation, throughout the week of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2017. The House of Representatives’ 21st Century Aviation Innovation, Reform and Reauthorization Act (H.R. 2997), as proposed by Rep. Bill Schuster (RPennsylvania), would establish a private, nonprofit entity run by a board dominated by the airlines and other commercial and financial interests. Not only would such a board favor airlines and others with overwhelming financial power, it would also rely on the flying public to pay for its operations, creating a concentration of funding and resources around high-traffic, urban facilities served by the nation’s air carriers. Although promises have been made to protect general aviation from ATC user fees, a privatized system will inevitably aim to reduce its own expenses by eliminating services, or shifting costs to system users. Funding for rural infrastructure and safety features, such as towers and instrument landing facilities, would be threatened under the proposed arrangement. In addition, though proponents of ATC privatization argue the FAA’s existing modernization program has been slow to implement, the transition to a privatized system would take five to seven years to complete. That timeline would greatly disrupt the current timetable for completion of the FAA’s modernization program. “As we have previously stated, privatizing ATC is a bad solution in search of a nonexistent problem,” said EAA CEO and Chairman Jack J. Pelton. “The unknown costs, transition, and fallout from this plan would be extremely harmful to general aviation.
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PHOTO BY ANDREW ZABACK
What’s Up, Doc? One of two restored, flying B-29s lands at Oshkosh BY TI WINDISCH
FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, B-29 Boeing Superfortress Doc landed in Oshkosh for an EAA AirVenture Oshkosh visit Saturday afternoon. Onlookers gathered in huge crowds up and down the flightline for the historic arrival. EAA’s vice president of advocacy and safety, Sean Elliott, flew Doc into Oshkosh from Wichita, Kansas, and said getting to know Doc’s Friends, the group who rebuilt the B-29, was an incredible experience. “It was phenomenal,” Sean said. “The airplane is such an iconic piece of history, and it was such a beautiful restoration; it’s like a brand new B-29 from the factory. The work the volunteers did over that time frame is amazing. It reminds me of Oshkosh in that the airplane is incredible, but the people make it special.” With its distinctive, reflective aluminum body, Doc looks the part of a historic warbird that originally rolled off an assembly line in 1945. The B-29’s journey has been a long one since then, including stops in California, a stint at a Mojave Desert bombing range where Doc served as a target for bomb training, then back to Wichita where it was initially constructed in ’45. Doc was rebuilt starting in 2000 until 2016, and then made his 2017 journey to Oshkosh for AirVenture. Doc just missed being able to attend EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2016, making its first flight in July 2016, 60 years after its retirement in 1956. The B-29 is finally here, much to the benefit of AirVenture attendees.
Onlookers on Saturday were able to stroll right up to the massive Doc and chat with the crew who flew it in, which is one of those experiences that is very hard to come by outside of Oshkosh. Doc’s name comes from the squadron it flew in, the Seven Dwarfs. The B-29’s nose art reflects the name, as Doc the dwarf points up at the sky that Doc is either currently, or soon to be, breezing through with grace and power. Although B-29s are typically lonely, considering the rarity of a flying model, Doc will not be alone for long. The only other flying B-29, FIFI, owned and operated by the Commemorative Air Force, will soon join Doc at AirVenture 2017. The B-29s will fly together on Tuesday, which will be the first time two such bombers have joined each other in the skies in decades. The duo will make additional AirVenture appearances on Friday and Saturday. “It’s an ‘Only in Oshkosh’ kind of experience,” Sean said, of the two B-29s flying together. “You’re not going to see that in other places, bringing those airplanes together with the hearts and minds that go with them. This is a shining example of the importance of general aviation and why it’s so special to have it here at AirVenture.” Doc will be at AirVenture throughout the convention, so even if attendees missed his arrival, there are plenty of chances to see this newly restored B-29 up close, both on display and during its PHOTO BY SCOTT PELKOWSKI air show flights.