Seven decades ago, on this very day, a group of aviation enthusiasts met for the first time in the basement of a private home in Wisconsin. Today, that organization is home to more than 270,000 members across 900 different chapters and from 100 different countries around the world.

Please join us in wishing the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) a very happy 70th birthday.

An organization formed 70 years ago

The EAA came from humble beginnings when a group of around 35 Milwaukee area aircraft enthusiasts met together on January 26th, 1953. Founder Paul Poberezny had no grander idea for the group than to simply ‘organize a local airplane club.’ But the love of aviation was growing around the US, and it wasn’t long before the idea caught on further afield.

The first chapter of EAA was founded in Riverside, California, just a year later. As enthusiasm for the organization grew, more chapters were launched, populated mainly by those who built or restored their own planes. However, membership was open to all, and anyone getting involved with the EAA was sure of a warm and supportive welcome.

By the ‘70s, the organization had grown so big that it began creating divisions for specialist interests. These included warbirds, antique or vintage aircraft, and aerobatic planes. The ‘80s brought the new ultralights into EAA’s family, and by the end of that decade, membership had…