Paul Poberezny
| Paul Poberezny | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 14, 1921 Leavenworth County, Kansas |
| Died | August 22, 2013 (aged 91) Oshkosh, Wisconsin |
| Cause of death | Cancer |
| Resting place | Oshkosh, Wisconsin |
| Nationality | USA |
| Known for | Founder of the Experimental Aircraft Association, promoter of aircraft amateur-building |
| Spouse(s) | Audrey Poberezny |
| Children | Bonnie Poberezny Tom Poberezny |
| Awards | See below |
Paul Howard Poberezny (September 14, 1921 – August 22, 2013) was an American aviator and aircraft designer. He founded the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) in 1953, and spent the greater part of his life promoting homebuilt aircraft.
Poberezny is widely considered as the first person to have universalized the tradition of aircraft homebuilding. Through his work with EAA, he had the reputation of helping inspire millions of people to get involved in grassroots aviation.
Poberezny founded the EAA out of his Hales Corners, Wisconsin home in 1953. It started as predominately a homebuilding organization in his basement, but later went on to capture all aspects of general aviation internationally. Poberezny retired as EAA President in 1989, remaining as Chairman of the organization until 2009. As of 2014, the organization had approximately 180,000 members in more than 100 countries.
EAA's annual convention and fly-in, known as EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, attracts a total attendance in excess of 500,000 people, 10,000 aircraft and 1,000 different forums & workshops annually, making it the largest of its kind in the world. It was first held in 1953 at what is now Timmerman Field in Milwaukee, and attracted only a handful of airplanes. Towards the late '50s, the event outgrew Timmerman Field and was moved to the Rockford, Illinois Municipal Airport. There, attendance at the fly-in continued to grow until the Rockford airport was too small to accommodate the crowds, and so it was moved to Oshkosh's Wittman Regional Airport in 1970.
Paul's son, aerobatic world champion Tom Poberezny, was the Chairman of the annual Experimental Aircraft Association Fly-In Convention since 1977, and was president of EAA from 1989 to September 7, 2010. In March 2009, Paul Poberezny stepped down as Chairman of EAA and his son took on these duties as well.
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