Amen to both sides of this coin.
AOPA has long lost sight of our world within GA.
AOPA is an absolute necessity to fight Washington.
Kind of like hiring a lawyer...he's money hungry and you don't have to like the guy, but when you need him, you need him.
...and the extras like insurance, and online tools are downright handy.
In an ironic twist, I know many in the field of Experimental aviation feel the same way about EAA. They have also "main streamed" much of their focus. Why would GA pilots be attracted to EAA? Well many reasons really, and they are all warranted, but not "experimental" IMHO. Why is EAA slogan on thier home page "The Leader in RECREATIONAL Aviation", rather than "Experimental" (in fact you won't find reference to experimental stuff on the web site. The answer is that they also wanted to appeal to a broad market...war birds, antiques, etc.. Heck even many of today's kit planes leave little to "experiment" with. Chapter meetings do not typically involve discussions about anything truly "new", though they are valuable groups to know.
EAA may very well serve as the meeting place for those alienated by AOPA, but I think the name EAA is probably a misnomer at this point.
