Jack Pelton‘s Remarks on Saturation, His Plans for the Van‘s RV-15 and the Current State of the FAA

"We tippy-toed back into AirVenture 2021. We weren't sure what to expect with the pandemic still out there and how comfortable people would be and what we should be doing so far as numbers of events and numbers of gatherings! this year we came on full bore, and all 5,000 plus volunteers were here early getting everything set up, and to help you put it into perspective to how we're back full bore, [as far as] forums and workshops, we had 30% more of them, so we went from 800 plus forums last year to over 1,300."

"With our youth admission policy, where we're letting anyone from 18 years and under in free, think about this week, where an individual who's interested in aviation in any form or fashion, ’I want to learn to weld, I want to understand homebuilding, I want to learn about the NTSB, I want to get more proficient,' there is a forum or workshop to handle every one of those questions!and that's very remarkable, and I think that's something that's sometimes very understated [in explaining] what we do here and what we provide here at AirVenture."

"As far as aircraft movements and landings, getting in here on Friday was a record day in terms of airplanes that landed. I think they looked at the forecast and they said, ’Let's get in here,' and they beat [the previous Friday record] by about 25%! I don't know what the number for today is yet, but I can tell you that even yesterday we had to shut down due to saturation. Air traffic control could not handle it, four different times. And I think that today [Monday] will be very similar!I think we'll be completely full before the day's over."

"Another milestone for aviation history, and I look at this from the manufacturing and engineering side, it's Van's Aircraft's 50^th anniversary. When you look at what that man has done over 50 years. He took the homebuilt industry into a refined engineered well produced kit designed to provide transportation and fun, and 50 years later he's looking at growth that we've never seen in this industry even when looking at certified manufacturers' production rates, and he's introducing a new airplane, the RV-15, which is out at the booth, and it's one that I think I might build, not because it looks like a Cessna, just ! it's a tailwheel airplane with too much horsepower and big tires, you gotta have one, and knowing what his kits are like, and I know it's a prototype---he continues to remind us of that, but it still looks like you might be able to take the wings off!it will be exciting to see where that ends up."

"For us as an organization, membership for us is at an historic high---we've never had as many members in this organization as we have as of today. We're very proud of that. We think it's an indicator that people think we're providing value, that we're focused on the right kinds of programs and initiatives, and we did this year even include a price increase, from a ridiculously low $40 a year to $48 a year."

"With advocacy, it seems there's always some pressing need that you have to fight for!.we've established our priorities, and the first one is to get Mosaic finished! it's important but we're getting concerned because of all the changes at the FAA. If you look at the FAA org chart, you wouldn't recognize anyone that's in a leadership position, and the ones [you would], most of them are ’acting,' which makes it even more difficult because it means they don't have an agenda or priority system. But we want to make sure that Mosaic, which is an initiative to expand the category of Light Sport Aircraft and Sport Pilot privilege, and along with that, also to enhance the ability for Experimental Amateur-Built Aircraft to be used for commercial operations, like flight training, so you could finally get a low-cost flight trainer. The working team, the people from the FAA, are fantastic and have the language for the regulatory change almost ready. Now it's a matter of getting it released so it becomes a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, when it then goes out for comment. We'll be talking to the current acting FAA administrator about that this week. The prior administrator was very supportive and had it on his priority list. Now we're kind of in a wait-and-see [position]."