Sorry, Dean, but I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you on a few points you made.
Firstly, please understand that the root of this idea is based on pulling in new people in wholesale quantities with the least amount of effort and expense involved. All of the other membership boosting efforts that you and others have mentioned are noble gestures. However, the end result isn't going to be any different than parking a couple of gyros at an air show - people are still just going to walk past and make the same superficial analogy that “…those things are dangerous…”, or say "...isn't that a cute contraption". Yeah, there may be a couple of new members gained, but would it be worth the effort? Did we get the best bang for the buck? I don’t think so.
Dean_Dolph said:
...I'm not a pilot but I know those that are enjoy the fact that they don't have to compete with fixed wing traffic and the airport and airspace is theirs! To clutter it up with a lot of other air traffic might not go over to well.
We have fixed wing traffic come in now and it's not a problem. Most, if not all gyros at Mentone have a radio, and if they don't, they should. The airport has a VHF radio in the office, and it wouldn't take much effort to move it to the tower. I'm sure we could find a qualified individual to run tower ops. We have a year to find a person, and I happen to know a few in the area.
The PRA convention should be specifically targeted to the “purpose” of the PRA as spelled out in the By-Laws; A) To encourage, aid and engage in scientific research for the improvement and better understanding of the art of flying by an individual and the science of vertical lift aeronautics, B) To foster, promote, and popularize education in rotorcraft among it's members and the general public, and C) To establish and maintain a rotorcraft museum and air education center to contain exhibits of historical and scientific interest. As I see it, the convention is nothing more than a group of friends that get together each year to go flying, with a little education thrown in. The PRA is not, nor should it be a “flying club”. That’s not to say that you can’t have a club. It’s just not the job of the PRA. The PRA is a mechanism by which to expand rotary wing aviation, and it should stay that way.
Dean_Dolph said:
I believe that promoting the Convention as an Oshkosh stopover has some merit but I'm just not sure it would be worth sacrificing the relaxed atmosphere and possibly taking energy away from the gyro activities. It takes a lot of effort by the local PRA members to stage the Convention and I don't want to see them have to expend any extra in an attempt to expose the fixed wingers to rotorcraft.
The "relaxed atmosphere" that you mentioned is called a lack of participation, which is what most people would like to reverse. In 1997, the convention was PACKED to the fence line. This year looked more like a chapter meeting than a convention. And don't worry about the workload of the locals. It just means a longer vacation for me.
Dean_Dolph said:
The 'circle' you mentioned can be expanded in a number of ways, at any number of venues outside of fly-ins and has the potential of expanding the rotorcraft ranks much more than a 'Oshkosh stopover'. And with these new recruits we wouldn't have to change any perceptions. But it takes individual and chapter initiative to make this happen.
Which "...venues outside of fly-ins..." are you referring to? How do they have "...the potential of expanding the rotorcraft ranks much more than a 'Oshkosh stopover'"? Most everyone outside of the gyro community has a perception problem with gyros. Those from within do not. We can not recruit from within.
Dean_Dolph said:
But lets not change the name of the gathering or the established format which includes the days it is held. Advertising that Mentone is a Oshkosh stopover should be sufficient. In fact, if it isn't being done already, I would suggest that Mentone be advertised as a stopover year 'round. But this still conflicts with what I stated in my first paragraph.
Simply making Mentone a stop over is not enough. Who's going to be there after the weekend? Except for a handful of people doing clean-up from the past weekends convention, NO ONE! Not everyone flies to Oshkosh on the same days that the PRA convention is held. So just doing the “advertisement” and nothing else is going to make the PRA and the rotary wing community look even worse than it already does.
Purely from a visual point of view, the only thing that would change is the way the convention is advertised, the dates on a calendar, and the number of fixed wingers on the field. The way the convention is advertised and/or named shouldn’t matter a hill-o-beans to any one of us, because it’s going to be the same people plus some. And the days that most of us are there (Fri-Sun) won’t change either. I’ll end up being there from Friday till Friday of the following week. So what?!?!?! Did I miss anything. No. Would anyone else miss anything. No. Would we be able to expose non-gyro/non-helo aviation types to our ways and aircraft? You bet! Chance are that once the GA’s land, their going to stick around for awhile. Why wouldn’t they, they’re already there, so they might as well have a look around, right?
Dean_Dolph said:
Since most PRA members can't make but one or two events a year, and some can't make any at all, it makes sense to target and highlight one special event where extra effort and energy is expended. It would be impractical and costly to try and duplicate the 'Conventions' activities at every gathering.
Yes and no. Since Mentone already has showers, a kitchen, etc., the cost isn’t that great. It’s the capital expenses that are the problem.
Dean_Dolph said:
To my simple mind, any PRA growth that happens as a result of one of these events can be considered as frosting on the cake. I believe we should take them for what they are, a place for the rotorcraft family to get together to socialize and share new ideas and technology, and enjoy our time there.
The problem is… We’re not getting any frosting on the cake. Other than the 4 major events that we have, there are no other large collections of gyros for show at any one given time. Again, when only 1 or 2 gyros go to a fly-in, we look like a fringe group of some kind, which maybe we are. At some point, we need to stop acting like a fringe group and act more like the EAA, where indoctrination is more important than socializing. There’s always going to be time for socializing if we have enough people in our ranks.
Dean_Dolph said:
I feel pretty confident in saying that individual efforts like yours and those that make appearances at other fly-ins and venues will have a larger impact on PRA growth than any of our fly-ins.
As our fly-ins are currently designed, you are absolutely correct! And what I’m saying is that since people are already flying over, around, and past Mentone to get to Oshkosh, lets give them a reason to land and check us out. Geographically, Mentone is already in a position to take advantage of the Oshkosh crowd that is transiting the area from the east, south and everywhere in between.
Dean_Dolph said:
There are dozens of venues where rotocraft can be presented to the public starting with mall shows, auto dealerships and etc. And how about approaching schools where science, physics and math departments might find value in real world presentations. Get 'em while they are young and let ole Dad finance it and may be he will get interested too!
But you can’t see a gyro flying at these places. Nor can rides be given. Kids are the easy sell. It’s the parents that need the selling, and you can’t do that through the interpretation of a single event at a school.
Dean, you have some valid concerns, and I value your input. Thanks. But if Mentone were to swing to be more of a fly-in and a Stuckeys for fixed wingers, would you still attend?
