Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.
Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/142883
E- M a il More About Rights Versus Privileges In the June Experimenter, Wayne Schneider objected to Rick Weiss' comment that the right to fly is not in the Constitution and that flying is a privilege granted by the government. I didn't see Mr. Weiss' original comment. [See Homebuilder's Corner, page 2, in the April issue.] I am not a lawyer, but I believe that courts have ruled on a related question, which is whether driving is a "right" or … a "privilege" granted by the government. The answer will probably satisfy neither side of the debate: Citizens have a right to travel the public highways, but the government may regulate drivers, and may regulate how vehicles are driven (e.g., with regard to stop signs, one-way streets, etc.), as long as the regulations serve a legitimate government purpose…. It's semantics in the end, but we could say that traveling by car is a right that can be reasonably regulated, while driving the car can be more heavily regulated and is perhaps closer to a privilege, but one the government still cannot unreasonably deny. By analogy, air travel would be a right that can be reasonably regulated, but piloting could be more heavily regulated and would perhaps be closer to a privilege, but one the government still could not unreasonably deny. If you understand "right" to be absolute and immune to regulation, piloting is not this kind of a "right." If you understand "privilege" to mean something the government can deny arbitrarily for any reason or no reason, piloting is not this kind of a "privilege." I'm not sure this will satisfy either Mr. Weiss or Mr. Schneider. Finbar Sheehy EAA 766795 Editor's Note: Aviation Lawyer John Yodice wrote an interesting column on this subject recently that offers further insight into this discussion. Homebuilders Will Build Anywhere What's the craziest place you ever worked on your homebuilding project? The late homebuilding guru Tony Bingelis once wrote about how he started one of his airplane projects by building wing ribs on a fold-down ironing board while stationed in Japan. When Joe Norris was EAA's homebuilding community manager, he received this photo of a plane being assembled across two rooms in someone's home. It brought quite a chuckle to the EAA staff. We invite you to share yours photos of unusual places you've worked on your projects. Let's see how inventive homebuilders really are! Send your photos to experimenter@eaa.org. 6 Vol.2 No.7 / July 2013 PUBLICATIONS STAFF Founder: Paul H. Poberezny Publisher: Jack J. Pelton, EAA Chairman of the Board Vice President of Marketing: Rick Larsen Editor-in-Chief: J. Mac McClellan Homebuilding Community Manager: Charlie Becker Editor: Mary Jones/EditEtc. LLC Graphic Designer: Chris Livieri News Editor: Ric Reynolds Copy Editor: Colleen Walsh Multimedia Journalist: Brady Lane Visual Properties Administrator: Jason Toney Contributing Writers: Gary Baker, Hal Bryan, Budd Davisson, Dan Grunloh, Randy Hooper, Tim Kern, Ed Kolano, Peter Lert European Correspondent: Marino Boric ADVERTISING Display Sue Anderson Jeff Kaufman Mailing Address: P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086 Phone: 920-426-4800 Fax: 920-426-4828 E-mail: experimenter@eaa.org Website: www.EAA.org Need to change your address or have other membership questions? Call 800-564-6322 (800-JOIN EAA). EAA® and SPORT AVIATION®, the EAA Logo® and AERONAUTICATM are registered trademarks, trademarks, and service marks of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. The use of these trademarks and service marks without the permission of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. is strictly prohibited.