Most of us enjoy wandering the rows of airplanes at airshows and fly-ins, intrigued to see often the brightly colored “Judge This Plane” placard hanging on a propellor. Roughly 20% of the attendees at Oshkosh and Sun-n-Fun register their planes for judging, hoping to win an honor or two. Some of the planes are amazing, with pedigrees and workmanship far beyond the ordinary. But it turns out, getting judged is hard, and becoming a judge is almost impossible. Most are pilots and many are A&P mechanics with IA authorizations. The majority are male, many have gray hair, and all are hyper-experts in their own fields. This reporter set out to find out more about the aeronautical unicorns.
