Lincoln Electric Supports Aviation As An Official Sponsor Of The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)

As an Official Sponsor of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), The Lincoln Electric Company is an active participant at EAA events across the country. This includes hosting TIG training courses, providing equipment for hand-on welding, and participating as exhibitors in both national and regional shows for the association’s 170,000 members.

AirVenture
By far the most visible event held by the association annually is the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh held in Wisconsin. AirVenture attracts more than 700,000 people, including those who build, repair and fly aircraft. At the last AirVenture 2,800 aircraft were on display, including homebuilts, antiques, classics, warbirds, ultralights and rotorcraft.

During this week-long event, more than 500 workshops are presented on a variety of topics by aviation leaders, NASA researchers, FAA personnel, and aircraft designers. For seven years, Lincoln Electric personnel have taught TIG welding workshops emphasizing gas selection and polarity, tungsten selection, and welding techniques on metal such as chrome moly, aluminum, titanium and inconels.

“Lincoln Electric is committed to educating our members about TIG welding,” said Charlie Becker, Director of Aviation Information Services for EAA. “The company wants to ensure that aircraft are built and maintained using proper techniques. In this sport, it is critical to have sound welds and a safe aircraft.”

The workshops offer the widest variety of aviation welding knowledge available in one place. For the hobbyist who may be more familiar with oxyacetylene, or oxy-fuel, techniques, this is a great opportunity to receive personalized instruction in TIG, which offers the cleanest, highest quality weld for this type of application. TIG welding has several other advantages for aircraft welding. It allows precise control of heat and has better penetration and fewer problems with cracking and stressing than MIG welding. Finally, TIG welding is especially well suited for welding on the light materials used on many aircraft frames.

Another highlight of AirVenture is the exhibits area where more than 700 exhibitors display everything from instruments to avionics to aircraft parts. Lincoln Electric also has a strong presence in this area as it provides live demonstrations of the latest welding equipment, such as the new Precision TIG 185. At a typical AirVenture, 10,000 people will visit Lincoln’s booth.

Regional Fly-Ins
Five times per year, Lincoln is involved in regional fly-in events at airports around the country which offer the same workshops, exhibits and other attractions as does the AirVenture event, just on a smaller scale for a regional audience.

SportAir
Held throughout the year, EAA offers SportAir weekend instructional courses where recreational aviation enthusiasts can attend hand-on instruction in technical aspects of building aircraft. One of the essential components of these workshops is the TIG welding course staffed by the experts at Lincoln Electric. Held six times per year, the SportAir workshops are almost always full to capacity.

“Not only is Lincoln Electric an Official Sponsor of EAA and intimately involved in the events we hold, the company also provides technical support throughout the year. When members have a technical welding question, we know who to call,” said Becker.

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