Brandon's post is most interesting.
The revelations by the EAA on how HR 4205 came about are consistent with my
supposition that the potential damage to those interested in collecting
historic vehicles (land, sea , or air) was unintentional on the part of
politicians. The Form 6 fiasco also probably represents an unintentional
consequence of attempts to restrain international arms movements (like
keeping the Iranians from getting spare parts for their F14's). At present
the "Former-LST Sailor Association" is trying to get a WW2 LST back to the
US from Greece as a Memorial. They have had a terrible time with the State
Departmant and ATF......because of the unintended consequences of
"laws/policies. There has even been a House Resolution introduced to allow
them to bring it back. Ignorance of the consequences of these
"laws/policies" on those who preserve historic vehicles is not surprising.
Recently the Texas legislature passed a law that directly contradicted the
laws already on the books as the "Texas Family Code". The politicians who
passed the new law had no idea what was already in the "Texas Family Code".
I believe that the acts in the 1979/80 period that resulted in
therequirement of "Re-transfer Authorizations" from the State Department to
accompany Form 6 applications to BATF and the HR 4205 controversy are
similar cases. The Form 6 case also illustrates the overzealous propensity
of administrators to "expand" their "spheres of influence" into areas
unintended by the original "law/policy". We can anticipate similar
ignorant oversights in the future. We would be wise to take preventative
action now in concert with EAA.
Doug Greville proposed ideas that EAA and old car clubs (like MVPA) should
form alliances. This idea is a good one. As I mentioned above, I suspect
that the originators of things like HR 4205 or the Form 6 controversy had
no idea that groups like EAA or a little group of fewer than 9000 eccentric
collectors like MVPA could be impacted by these proposals of laws/policies.
Again...the form 6 issue actually started in the 1980's with the intent to
restrain the flow of US military gear around the world....but this was only
applied to historic MV'S recently....causing us all the problems. The HR
4205 issue seems to have developed in response to a 'home-built" military
helo (as per list)....again a response to a problem that had unintended
consequences. There is a wide variety of this "unintended consequences
stuff" including the increased pressure for "scrappage" of old cars. The
idea is that old cars pollute so get them off the road by paying $500 for
them and crushing them....the old car buffs screamed...there go our parts
cars. These scrappage laws show up frequently in the state legislatures
and cause loads of stress for local car collector clubs. SEMA is a big
group (Specialty Equipment Maunfactureers Assoc) that helps fight this type
of law as they are in the "aftermarket business" that sells stuff to old
car buffs....like hot rodders. My father gets a publication from the
Thunderbird club. They even have a section in their magazine entitled
"legislative alerts". This section details the legislative threats to the
old car hobby on a staate by state basis.
SO...my point....Doug is totally correct that large allies like EAA will
help a minor player like MVPA and the MV collector in general. There
should be alliences formed as there is power in numbers. EAA, collector
clubs, Veterans Groups (LST Sailor Assn, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American
Legion)....they all can be enlisted to get some form of definition of
"historic vehicle" put into law.....aricraft.....jeeps...trucks....and of
course TANKS....etc. I think that this is the only long term solution.
It will not be easily accomplished. It will require cooperation of groups
of hobbyists.
What would be a good definition to use for a "historic" or "collectable"
vehicle (air, sea, or land)? I suppose the easiest definition would be
based on age. In Texas, a vehicle can be registered as a classic when it
is 25 years old. States seem to use age to define "historic" land
vehicles, but what about sea and air. Maybe someone on the list can
educate me. Is there any similar mecchanism to register older aircraft?
What is the definition of a "classic" or "historic" aricraft? And what
about sea? Is PT-3 defined as a historic boat by a legal definition?
If the leadership of MVPA contacts the other groups and works with them
maybe we can have a real long-term solution. I hope Lee Holland is one who
can do so.
*****************************************************************************
Dean L. Kellogg, Jr., MD, PhD
Department of Medicine
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
7703 Floyd Curl Drive
San Antonio, Texas 78229-3900
(210) 617-5311 FAX (210) 617-5312 e-mail:kelloggd@uthscsa.edu
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