All Hail The Aero-Heroes of 2007!
It is both the most "fun," and most difficult, task facing the
ANN staff at the end of every year -- determining who, or what, did
the most to promote the cause of aviation in the past 365 days...
while also chastising those people or entities that did all they
could to undermine the many successes the aviation/aerospace
community has managed to accomplish.
Thankfully, 2007 was a year in which we saw the best and
brightest among us step forward and work tirelessly on behalf of us
all. No doubt about it... the challenges we faced in 2007 were
numerous, and ongoing... so was the quality of expertise and
passion brought to our defense by those who heroically demonstrated
to the world the very best side of aviation... via their deeds,
words and actions.
It is ANN's honor to recognize a solid dozen of our Aero-Heroes
for 2007... in something of an informal order, starting from 12th
to the 1st. Let us know what you think of our selections... whom
YOU would have liked be included or omitted from such a list. In
the meantime, we thank the folks who made this year's list. Thank
you, folks... we really needed you this year, and you didn't let us
down.
From the Hero's List #5: Club Columbia
2007 was a pivotal year
for the owners and fans of Columbia (once known as Lancair)
Aircraft, and an almost tragic one, at that. Poor management and
financial mistakes by Columbia Aircraft's Malaysian owners
turned a potentially prosperous company into the disaster of the
year. Despite the fact that the company was selling all the planes
it could build, not nearly enough effort was put into making the
company and its products the success that few doubted it could
(eventually) be... and then the bottom fell out from under
them.
Columbia went "Tango-Uniform" over the summer, filed for
bankruptcy (despite offers on the table and buyers in the wings),
and started a feeding frenzy over who might or might not feast
on the bones of the once-speedy plane builder. In all the hub-bub
and high finance, the hundreds of orphaned aircraft owners realized
that they stood to lose the most of any entity... and that when you
added up their collective investments and what was owed them for
things that were yet to be delivered, as well as the potential loss
in value over the company's failure, that they (collectively) stood
to lose more than anyone... even Garmin (which got toasted for tens
of millions of dollars).
Rather than sit back, and bitch and moan, they banded
together. Several members of Club Columbia took the initiative and
organized with a vengeance. They took on the proper legal talent
(some of whom came from within their own membership), pursued the
necessary info/background and resources to improve their position,
and not only communicated it amongst themselves with great
frequency, but later found a way to make their concerns known to
all those who were bidding on Columbia's assets.
Everyone with a possible stake in the outcome of this bankruptcy
soon became aware that they they needed to consult with Club
Columbia in order to cover all their bases. The plan, the
organization and the overall communications were exceedingly
well-done and proof positive that GA DOES know how to band together
when the chips are down. Now, if we could only apply that kind of
expertise and organization to a number of other problems that we
face, THEN we'd be on to something!
Bravo to Club Columbia... on a job (exceedingly) well done!
ANN's Daily Aero-Term (04.20.24): Light Gun
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