Paul Poberezny was the founding president of the Experimental Aircraft Association from its creation in 1953, until he resigned in 1989. He then became Chairman of the Board, until 2010. Though he wasn’t the first person to build and fly his own airplane, he inspired tens of thousands of others to do what he had done: buy a set of plans, seek out the right kind of aircraft grade materials, build the airplane and then fly it. He made it look easy. Today there are over 30,000 Experimental Amateur-Built aircraft in the FAA Registry and there may be another 30,000 under construction.
Paul is now 90 years old, and though he’s fully retired from EAA, he still spends 5 to 6 hours a day, working as a volunteer for the organization. His most recent project: to build another copy of the aircraft that put the EAA on the map, the Baby Ace. And sure enough, just like it was in the good old days, he’s drawn in a group of friends who have taken an active role in helping him build it. There’s no substitute for charisma. We should all be so lucky.
