Hiding from the heat at the EAA Aviation Museum this week, we noticed an exhibit about a guy who designed and built a small plane then flew it nonstop across the U.S. at a takeoff weight of less than 500 kg. The punchline? Arnold Egneter was 82 years old on the day of the flight.
A Smithsonian article about the achievement says that the airplane had “a crude autopilot”.
EAA keeps saying that their mission is to inspire young people, but if you look at the ages of the airshow performers, the round-the-world and over-the-poles pilots, and achievers such as Ebneter, maybe what EAA is actually doing is inspiring the elderly!
(Separately, if Joe Biden fails to win reelection (the horror!), perhaps he will design, build, and fly his own airplane across the U.S. at age 82!)
Speaking of old age and Oshkosh… here’s the jam that we found in the fridge in the $4400/week $420,000 (Zestimate) house that friends rented:
It’s free of toxic added sugar and expired less than 10 years ago (September 2014). Can “EAA week” pay for the homeowner’s expenses? Zillow shows that property taxes were $6,000/year in pre-Biden money (latest data available are from 2019).
Related:
- 38 hours nonstop from Guam to Florida… (achievements by the old and the young, from Oshkosh 2019)
Speaking of old age at Oshkosh… the leader of our group is 88 years old. He successfully flew his Beechcraft Baron there with his 80 year old girlfriend who is not a pilot. He was the first to arrive and set up our camp and probably the last to leave. All quite amazing. It was a pleasure to host you at our annual Princess Di celebrity golf tournament and hope to see you back there next year. You are welcome anytime!
Begs the question of if you really wanted to beat the airlines in speed & cost, could something experimental & affordable really go across the country non stop. It really depends on getting lucky with the weather.
Most attempts to inspire the young will fall on stoney ground until the elephant in the room is addressed: the cost of a flying education.
Virtually no young people can fly without the direct support of rich old people. Nobody in their teens-early 20’s can self-make enough money and still have enough time to do aviation.