Jack Cook wrote:
I've heard some stupid/ignorant/shortsighted BS in my time but this is a new one. If someone in a position of responcibility put in some effort here, this could be solved. The idea is to encourage young folks not discourage them. I HOPE THIS WORKS OUT FOR YOU!!
Can't agree with you more Jack. I also think Wolverine is taking this very mature, and I wish you the best of luck whichever group you may join. I wrote a post about the same kind of scenario on a different forum, and will enclose it here as a lesson on how not to do things!
back in time T J Johansen wrote:
I remember back around 1985-86 a friend and I joined the then embryonic Warbirds of Norway (WoN) group. At the first members meet we attended we were met with disbelief from a certain board member. (We were 15 and 16) He was not interested in having us as members as he felt the responsibility of having kids around props too great. Seem to remember that he said something about an accident involving his old archery club where a kid got hit, and bla, bla, bla. There were some discussion amongst the board but he got his way, we got back our membership fee and hasta la vista!
Around the same time we met Anders Sæther at North Weald with the P-51 which had just been ferried across to Norway (He was also on the board at WoN), and he asked if we where members of the WoN. I told him of what had transpired at the infamous meet (he had not been there), and he just replied "we'll see about that". At the next annual meeting the bulls**t was cut through without mercy, and a new junior membership was established. Too late for my friend who felt that old airplanes and those involved with them s**ked to high heaven.
I have to say I agreed with him at that time but kept on, and I'm still interested in aviation today. Point of all this is to actually embrace people who are interested, and especially the young. Something like this will certainly be a make or break factor for a youth with the interest who gets the door shoved in his face! If you are 25 you take it and pursue a different road to uphold your interest. At 15 you feel unappreciated, and that drinking beer and smoking weed is much cooler after all...
T J
We also went to North Weald for the Fighter Meet in 1986. I had been in touch with the guy in charge of the Harvard Formation Team, and when we dropped by his office to say hello he just told us to report to the airfield the next morning. So for the Thursday and Friday prior to the show we were issued clothrags and told to clean the Beech 18 and Harvards. In return we were treated to rides in the Beech each evening, see all the early arrivals, and generally being in the midst of everything. Do you think we felt as though we were 10 ft tall!
My friend is a very resourceful guy and could have done lots of good within the historic aviation fraternity. Instead they lost an interested soul to other venues. And this in a time where parents complain about kids not doing anything constructive, it all sounds just too unreal!
T J
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) so you are ahead of some of the oldies who can't stay working on old aircraft.
