Type Club Coalition meeting at Oshkosh - summary

[Sonex Foundation]

Hi everyone

This past Tuesday, I attended the EAA Type Club Coalition meeting at Oshkosh. The meeting brings together leaders of many different type clubs, the EAA, the NTSB, and the FAA. As an outgoing BOD member, I asked Michael Radtke (BOD candidate) and Jason Flint (incoming SBPF President) to join me and I think they got a good look at the bigger picture in aviation, and why we need a seat at this table.

Quick summary -

Fatal accident numbers are up. There does not seem to be a specific, identifiable root cause.

The NTSB is looking for type club contacts to reach out to when needed. When they need type-specific information, they recognize they do not have the expertise that we do as owners, builders and pilots.

The NTSB also was looking to interact socially with us - in fact, there was a discussion of inviting them to member BBQs, etc. We decided not to invite them to the Sonex BBQ at Oshkosh this year pending a community discussion of the idea. Other type clubs made their own decisions.

I presented a summary of a working group I chaired over the winter on how to form a type club. When Michael Farley, myself, and Eric Seber formed the Sonex Builders and Pilots Foundation, we found there were absolutely no resources to do so. Our working group gathered resources, worked with EAA to make them available online, and presented an EAA webinar, forum at Oshkosh, and summary discussion at the meeting. At least two new type clubs appear to be forming as a result.

There was a long discussion among the type clubs about safety, training, and the challenges each type faces, regardless of experimental, type certificated, or manufacturing status (active or orphaned). Across the board, we all face similar challenges and can expect increased insurance costs and more focus from the FAA and NTSB.

One notable item in closing. Since the inception of the additional pilot program for phase one testing, there have been - zero - fatal phase one flight accidents. That program was a direct result of work done by key members of the Type Club Coalition.

Robbie Culver
Outgoing Board of Director member, Sonex Builders and Pilots Foundation.