Paul Poberezny

Paul Poberezny was the oldest of three children born to Peter Poberezny and Jettie Dowdy. His father was a Ukrainian immigrant and his mother from the southern United States. Paul grew up poor in a tar paper shack in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and never experienced indoor plumbing until he went to school. He became interested in aviation at an early age and built model airplanes as his first educational experience into aircraft design. He then learned how to fly and repair aircraft in high school, starting with a WACO Primary Glider and followed by an American Eagle biplane after high school. Having never attended college, Poberezny once described learning to fly and maintain the Eagle as the closest thing he had to a college education experience.[4]

Poberezny driving "Red One" at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2010

Grounds of AirVenture 2011

Poberezny founded the Experimental Aircraft Association out of his Hales Corners, Wisconsin home in 1953. It started as predominately an aircraft 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 2017, the organization had approximately 200,000 members in more than 100 countries.[5][6]

In 1953, the EAA released a two-page newsletter named The Experimenter (later renamed Sport Aviation). The newsletter was first published and written by Paul and his wife Audrey Poberezny along with other volunteers. The now-monthly magazine focuses on experimental homebuilding and other general aviation topics, including antique, war, and classic aircraft.

EAA's annual convention and fly-in (now known as EAA AirVenture Oshkosh) in Oshkosh, Wisconsin attracts a total attendance in excess of 600,000 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 (now Chicago Rockford International Airport).[7] 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 EAA AirVenture Convention from 1977 to August 2011, and was president of EAA from 1989 to September 2010. In March 2009, Paul stepped down as Chairman of EAA and his son took on these duties as well. Tom had a large impact on the expansive growth of the organization and convention over the more than two decades that he led them with his father.[8]

Poberezny served for 30 years in the Wisconsin Air National Guard and United States Air Force, including active duty during World War II and the Korean War. He retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and attained all seven aviation wings offered by the military: glider pilot, service pilot, rated pilot, liaison pilot, senior pilot, Army aviator, and command pilot.

The Acro Sport II home-built biplane, designed by Paul Poberezny

The Pober Jr Ace

Poberezny flew over 500 aircraft types, including over 170 home-built planes throughout his life.[9][10] He was introduced to aviation in 1936 at the age of 16 with the gift of a donated damaged WACO Primary Glider that he rebuilt and taught himself to fly.[11] A high school teacher owned the glider and offered to pay Poberezny to repair it. He hauled it to his father's garage, borrowed books on building/repairing airplanes, and completed the restoration soon after. A friend used his car to tow the glider into the air with Poberezny at the controls; it rose to around a hundred feet when he released the tow rope and coasted to a gentle landing in a bed of alfalfa.[12] A year later, Poberezny soloed at age 17 in a 1935 Porterfield and soon co-owned an American Eagle biplane.[13]

In 1955, Poberezny wrote a series of articles for the publication Mechanix Illustrated, where he described how an individual could buy a set of plans and build his or her own airplane at home. In the magazine were also photos of himself fabricating the Baby Ace, an amateur-built aircraft (and the first to be marketed as a "homebuilt") that he bought the rights to for US$200 a few years prior. The articles became extremely popular and gave the concept of homebuilding worldwide acclaim.[2][3]

He designed, modified, and built several home-built aircraft, and had more than 30,000 hours of flight time in his career. Aircraft that he designed and built include:

• Acro Sport I & II
• "Little Audrey"
• Poberezny P-5 Pober Sport
• Pober Jr Ace
• Pober Pixie
• Pober Super Ace

Poberezny made the first test flight of the EAA Biplane example Parkside Eagle in 1971, which was constructed by students of Parkside High School in Michigan.[14]

His 1944 North American F-51D Mustang, dubbed Paul I, which he flew at air shows and air races from 1977–2003, is on display at the EAA Aviation Museum in Oshkosh.[15]

Paul was born to Petro Poberezny, a Ukrainian-immigrant father, and Jetty Dowdy, an American mother.[16] In 1996 Poberezny teamed with his daughter Bonnie, her husband Chuck Parnall, and Bill Blake to write Poberezny: The Story Begins, a recounting of the early years of Paul and Audrey, including the founding of EAA.[17] Audrey died on November 1, 2020, at age 95.[18]

Poberezny died of cancer on August 22, 2013, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, at age 91.[19][20] His estate in Oshkosh is preserved by Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Co. and was opened to public tours beginning in the summer of 2017.[21]

In 1971 Poberezny was the first recipient of the Duane and Judy Cole Award, presented to individuals that promote sport aviation.[22] In 1986 he was inducted into the Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame[23] and in 1987, the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) awarded him the Elder Statesman of Aviation. In 1997 he was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame[24] and in 1999, the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio.[25] He received the NBAA's 2001 Award for Meritorious Service to Aviation and the 2002 Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy. In 2008 the Wisconsin Historical Society named him as a "Wisconsin History Maker", recognizing his unique contributions to the state's history.[26] Flying Magazine ranked Poberezny at number 4 on their 2013 list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation, putting him ahead of figures like Bob Hoover, Amelia Earhart, Jimmy Doolittle, and even Chuck Yeager.[3] At the time of its release, just one month before his death, Poberezny was the highest-ranked living person on the list.

Many prominent aviation figures have praised Poberezny's legacy as being crucial to the maturation of the general aviation industry. Radio newscaster and pilot Paul Harvey said that Poberezny "militantly manned the ramparts against those who would fence off the sky", and airshow pilot Julie Clark noted Poberezny as inspiring her and "countless thousands of others to get involved in the promotion of aviation."[27] The two brothers behind the founding of Cirrus Aircraft have also credited Poberezny and the EAA as essential to their success:

The EAA has [been] the driving force for preserving and fostering the enthusiasm of aviation. Without the enthusiasm and passion for this industry, we would not have seen the great development of GA through the 60s and 70s and, I believe, GA may not have even survived the late 80s and 90s. Paul created an organization that allowed, fostered and promoted creativity and perseverance for aviation. EAA allowed [Alan and me] to dream of something different, and then showed us a path forward for that dream.

— Dale Klapmeier[27]

• EAA - The Spirit of Aviation official website
• Paul Poberezny official EAA biography
• Biography in the National Aviation Hall of Fame
• Biography at FirstFlight.org (verified 3/2006)
• Biography at aviationhalloffamewisconsin.com (verified 3/2006)
• Wright Award announcement (verified 3/2006)
• Poberezny obituary in The New York Times