Tom Poberezny and the Maturing of EAA by David Gustafson
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Tom Poberezny and the Maturing of EAA By David Gustafson When Tom Poberezny assumed the leadership of EAA as its second president in 1989, he brought a new set of skills, a fresh perspective and a determination to expand the EAA culture. As a result of what Tom brought to the table, EAA entered a new era. It matured. Tom’s professionalism slowly transformed the activities and the magazines to a broader mission, one that expanded on the concept of sport aviation, winning respect from pilots, the government, other organizations and the general public. Tom worked hard to create an environment in which homebuilding would be preserved. He sort of wrapped the movement into the larger cocoon of sport aviation, concurrently assuring that the essential freedoms for innovation, sharing, building and enjoying the tremendous sense of accomplishment that comes with parking a homebuilt on the flightline would be preserved and flourish. He enlarged the showcase for homebuilts, adding every year to the attractions at Oshkosh. What Paul Poberezny had accomplished in creating the homebuilt movement, Tom took to the next level, imbuing the culture with unimpeachable integrity. He did that by maintaining and fusing Paul’s exacting standards for cleanliness, neatness, family values and safety. He was well trained. Tom had grown up in the EAA/homebuilding environment. With the exception of five years at Northwestern University, Tom’s life, from the cradle up to his retirement last year, was surrounded by aviation, homebuilders, fly-ins and an endless stream of visitors in his home who rarely discussed anything that didn’t have some kind of connection to aviation, usually homebuilding. While living in his parents’ home, the basement of his house was the regional social center of homebuilding. That soon expanded into the national and then the international communications hub of the Experimental Amateur Built Aircraft movement. Though Tom cultivated a keen interest in sports, whenever he came home from baseball, basketball or football practice, he found himself returning to all things aviation. His father was gone a lot with military assignments and EAA travel and his mother was working full time with EAA. There were endless meetings at the home and it seemed like there was always a project in progress. It was the world he knew and he just assumed that was what life was all about. In the mid-70’s, Tom moved up to take over the position of Director of the EAA’s annual Fly-In Convention which had relocated from Timmerman Field in Milwaukee to Rockford Airport in Illinois in 1960 and then in 1970, it settled in Oshkosh. Tom not only planned all of the activities and logistics for what was becoming the world’s largest aviation event, but he planned and participated in the afternoon airshows every day. He had developed an intense interest in aerobatics. Tom, and his dad, Paul, built a Pitts Special to allow Tom to develop his skills. He went to the World Aerobatic Championships in 1972, where he, Charlie Hillard and Gene Soucy won the World Team Trophy. At the conclusion of that event, Tom, Charlie and Gene put on a three-man aerobatic routine and with that, the genesis of The Red Devils Aerobatic Team came into being. The following year Tom went off to the Nationals where he won the title of U.S. National Aerobatic Champion. In 1979, Frank Christensen presented the three pilots with new hybrid copies of Frank’s Christen Eagle biplane and the Christen Eagles were formed. That changed the texture of airshows. They quickly became the most popular civilian aerobatic team in the world, developing an aerial gymnastics routine that was a stand out for precision and fast action, peppered with feats that drew gasps and squeals of exhilaration from the huge audiences that came to see them. It lasted for 25 years. Up through their retirement as a team, the Eagles became synonymous with the EAA Fly-In. Tom considers the time he spent with the Eagles, and especially the time that overlapped with his Presidency at EAA, extremely valuable. “It gave me a whole different perspective and it also provided me credibility with the membership.” He was always running into EAA members while he was out on the airshow circuit. Understandably, Tom considers his work with the Eagles Aerobatic Team, one of the major accomplishments in his life. Charlie, Gene and he brought the thrill of flight to millions of people. That gave Tom a level of confidence and a perception that had a transformative effect on his work as an administrator of EAA. In taking over the Fly-In, Tom gave up his summers. It was practically a year-round job, putting it together and then putting it away. Once that was accomplished and the debriefings were finished, the challenge began anew: scheduling exhibitors, forums, airshows, potties, food vendors, passes, programs, museum activities, site improvements, media arrangements, housing, transportation, air traffic controllers, safety issues, security, divisions activity, VIPs, first visits by military and foreign aircraft, campground logistics, Theatre in the Woods, communications, parking, electrical connections, lawn mowers, tie downs, trash barrels…and a thousand other details that arose during the annual countdown. He had help, of course. Dozens of staff people and thousands of volunteers…all of whom needed leadership, encouragement and the occasional pat on the back. In the month before the start of the Convention, the site went into a 24/7 mode. The days were long, but exhilarating, especially as the display aircraft began to arrive. During the week of the Fly-In, Tom’s day began at 6:00 a.m. and often went past 11:00 at night. His days at the convention were filled with crisis management and finding solutions to hundreds of issues that arose, usually because something had gone wrong or popped up spontaneously. Yet, toward the end of every afternoon, until 1996, he would get out of his Red Three Volkswagen to fly one of the most demanding aerobatic team routines in the world. After 1996, when the Eagles hung it up, the Fly-In grew to such proportions that his decision-making talents were pushed into a realm reserved for people handling the Olympics or Superbowl. Through all of the years that Tom led the Convention, the number, diversity and sophistication of homebuilts continued to grow along with all the other activities. In the process, the EAA Fly-In Convention gained global recognition. Charter flights began coming in from Australia and Europe. In 1985 British Airways sent a copy of the Concorde, four years later the Russians sent an AN-124. More recently, Airbus brought their new 380, Jet Blue came in with an Embraer 190 and then an Airbus 320, and the world’s finest airshow pilots came back again and again, volunteering their services for crowds that grew with every passing year. The Warbirds seemed to increase in numbers each year, staging the largest flying assemblage of military aircraft anywhere in the world. The flightline changed dramatically, when the editor of Sport Aviation, Jack Cox, suggested honoring “classic” aircraft (airplanes over 50 years old) by parking them among the display aircraft. They now take up nearly half of the space in the display aircraft area. The ultralights and rotorcraft operate their own airport within the boundaries of the main airport. Pioneer Airpark is kept busy with KidVenture, helicopters, and the growing number of dirigibles that turn up at what has become known as AirVenture. Every year Tom added to the activities. The number of exhibitors grew tremendously, with more and more kit manufacturers turning people’s dreams into realities. Through it all, the EAA continued to add to its membership roll. In Tom’s tenure the number of EAA members doubled. Sport Aviation magazine slowly expanded its purview from its near total focus on homebuilts to a broader reach that encompassed all forms of recreational flight. The idea of using an aircraft for fun, for adventure and for enriching a weekend experience gained in recognition and respect. Warbirds, antiques, classics and ultralights all took on greater meaning as more and more people came into the EAA fold. Tom spearheaded the movement to create the Sport Pilot license along with an entirely new category of Light Sport Aircraft. That brought over a hundred new designs into the world of sport aviation, broadening the meaning of the term. Recreational flying spawned an industry that came together annually at the world’s largest and busiest aviation event. Though Tom never had his father’s passion for homebuilding, he never lost sight of the importance and value of homebuilding. He just approached it in a different way. He is a Poberezny and he is his father’s son, but he is also a very different individual. Paul is emotional. Tom is controlled. Paul is gregarious. Tom seems almost shy at times. Paul has a passion for homebuilts. Tom has a passion for aviation. Paul is spontaneous. Tom is organized. Their strengths cover the other’s weaknesses. They complement each other. They’re like yin and yang. The one thing they have in common has been their desire to keep homebuilding free of over-regulation, and make EAA an example of the very highest standards in everything they pursue. Tom has certainly left his mark. Looking back, he is proud of the growth of AirVenture both from the standpoint of numbers and values. “It’s grown from a fairly small event with a lot of heart in it, to the world’s premiere aviation event,” he said. “It’s totally unique and there’s not another event like Oshkosh in the world.” He also harbors a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction over the development and status of the EAA Aviation Center in Oshkosh.