I think both organizations have sort of lost touch with their constituency. Not that they don't do significant good; it's just that, like most aging organizations, they've started to become an end in themselves where the organization has become bigger than the goals it sought to achieve.
The AOPA seems to represent owners in proportion to what they can afford to invest in aircraft. That means that two guys with Lear-Jets outweigh 50 with Ercoupes and 172s. Still, us mere financial mortals can enjoy the leavings and table scraps of the rest. The EAA seems to suffer from 'I've been doing this for 25 years and I know what's best for *you*' syndrome, at least at the upper levels. Again, it's not that they don't do significant good. But I'm not so fond of either org that I join with my heart and not with my head. It's a cold, hard, business decision. Therefore, I'm a member of the AOPA for the services, and I pay my dues yearly (skipping the 'voluntary donation to the ASF' which they try to sneak in under the radar). And I'm not a member of the EAA because I don't see any tangible benefits and because certain of their management have alienated any feelings of affection I might have had for the organization. Greg
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