Working with EAA on Young Eagle events

[RiverAux]

Has anyone had any experience about working with the EAA to set up CAP recruiting booths or speaking opportunities at EAA Young Eagle events?  Obviously, for the EAA's own purposes they probably wouldn't want to have CAP as an official co-sponsor (they're doing the flying, they deserve the "credit"), but I would hope that they would see the CAP cadet program as a great logical next step for their Young Eagles to take and wouldn't mind having CAP there as well. 

On the other hand, I know that local CAP units and local EAA units are sort of seen as competitors and that there are occasssionally hard feelings between the two.  But, in areas where there aren't any past problems, has the EAA been open to this sort of thing?

[rjacobs]

Cadets from our squadron have helped at Young Eagle events several times.  We don't set up a booth.  The cadets wear their BDUs and help escort the kids from ground school to the pilots and planes.  That alone seems to generate enough questions about who the cadets are and about CAP.  The cadets generally have fun because they get some responsibility and get to be around airplanes.  The local EAA chapter has always treated us well and been thankful for the help.

[jeders]

For the past several years the Abilene Comp. Squadron has helped EAA with its annual fly-in. Cadets and seniors will marshal the aircraft and escort Young Eagles to and from the planes while another couple of people do recruiting either at a booth or at a static display of the CAP plane. Every year that I've helped with it we've had a lot of fun and it generated interest among the public about CAP. Plus at the end of the day some of the EAA guys that have an RV will take our cadets up for a ride.

In fact, in Abilene the EAA guys were wanting us to have a somewhat closer relationship I always felt. We would've except the guy that was our main connection to EAA got transferred. But we still do the Fly-in and have a great time.

[RiverAux]

Was this something CAP approached EAA about or the other way around?

[jeders]

Was this something CAP approached EAA about or the other way around?

Honestly, I can't remember. The first year we did it I sorted out all the details, but I'm not sure who approached who first. But when in doubt, find out when the local EAA chapter meets and go there and get to know people there and let them get to know you and CAP. In Abilene the local chapter has a monthly pancake breakfast, perhaps other chapters do too.

[Eclipse]

We've had good luck on this as well - recruiting table next to the EAA sign-in table, cadets in BDU's helping
run the event, etc.

I believe in our case the connection was made internally with someone who is involved with both organizations.  Certainly in my mind the organizations do not "compete" - they are complimentary.

Get a kid in the air young and they may become an instant aviator - sign up for CAP on the way home and they
will get to fly even more.  Part of the EAA's mission is increasing the number of people involved in GA overall.

A side benefit is that most of these EAA days have people slotted and scheduled to fly.  If they people are no shows, our cadets have been able to take these rides (within the EAA's rules for participation).

Big smiles all around.

[jeders]

One thing to keep in mind though, if you do as we did and do marshaling for them, make sure that there pilots understand the signals and the importance of looking at your marshaler. Over the years there was one EAA pilot who nearly ran me and other cadets over and nearly caused a couple of taxiway incursions because he didn't want to listen to the safety briefings. Obviously we made sure that this pilot was grounded each time it happened.