AOPA Action

Bill to Reform FAA Within Government Continues to Gain Support

Iowa Representative Jim Lightfoot's bill to restructure the FAA as an independent federal agency and exempt it from standard personnel and procurement red tape continues to garner support in Washington. Key to the bill's appeal is avoiding the risks inherent in the administration's proposal to create a corporate ATC system.

AOPA Legislative Action is generating support for the measure and helping to round up prospective co-sponsors in Congress. Pilots who want to add their support should write their representatives. The Lightfoot bill is H.R.1392.

In a speech at the National Association of State Aviation Officials conference in late April, AOPA President Phil Boyer urged state aviation directors to lend their support to the Lightfoot bill. Because of their direct involvement with all categories of aviation, Boyer pointed out, state aviation directors can be helpful in influencing Congress on the future of the FAA and the air traffic control system.

Boyer told the state directors that H.R.1441, the bill that proposes a government corporation to run the ATC system, raises grave concerns about aviation safety. Furthermore, H.R.1441 corporatization would not achieve its primary aim of improving efficiency and economy of operations — witness the examples of the U.S. Postal Service and Amtrak.

Boyer urged the state directors, and pilots everywhere, to oppose H.R.1441, while supporting the forward-looking Lightfoot bill.

AOPALA Urges Indiana Senate to Match AIP Grants for State Airports

Citing Indiana's two unfunded airport development programs as forward-looking legislation whose promise has never been realized, AOPA Legislative Action has urged the Indiana Senate's finance committee to retain a provision in the current budget bill for $3 million to match federal airport grant funds. AOPALA also asked that funding be appropriated for Indiana's Airport Development Loan Program and its Airport Development State-Local Grant Fund. Those programs were established in 1990, but no money has been appropriated to activate them.

New York Legislature Passes AOPALA-Backed Bill Requiring Insurance Disclosure for Aircraft Renters

A bill that would require full disclosure of insurance in force on rental aircraft, strongly supported by AOPA Legislative Action, has passed both houses of the New York legislature. In written comments and in meetings with legislative representatives, AOPALA made the point that often, even the FBO itself does not know how much coverage it is providing the renter, thus possibly exposing the pilot to serious liability claims. Under the new measure, pilots will know just how far they are covered by the renting company's insurance.

Encouraging New York legislators to vote for the bill, AOPALA Director of State Legislative Affairs Cindy Jackson pointed to the precedent of similar laws in 10 other states (Arizona, California, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin).

Oregon Airports May Benefit from State Lottery Revenue

AOPALA is supporting a bill in the Oregon legislature that would provide $7 million in state lottery revenue for maintenance and improvement of the state's 100 public-use airports. With this income, the Oregon Department of Transportation could qualify for additional federal Airport Improvement Program (AIP) matching funds, with an estimated potential total benefit of nearly $63 million.

AOPA NATIONAL ACTION

AOPA Supports Certification of Insulin-Treated Diabetics

AOPA has registered its approval of a proposal by the Federal Air Surgeon's consultant panel that pilots with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus be evaluated for special issuance of airman medical certificates, as are pilots with other "specifically disqualifying" conditions under FAR Part 67.

Convinced that, with proper evaluation, many diabetic pilots treated with insulin can fly safely under special issuance medical certificates, AOPA has long favored this step. The FAA already grants certificates on a case-by-case basis to pilots who take oral hypoglycemic agents.

In a letter to the docket, AOPA Director of Aviation Standards Douglas Macnair urged that applicants "be considered for certification on the basis of their individual medical condition and not on the type of flying activities in which they will be engaged. It is our recommendation that airmen be granted any class of medical certificate for which they are otherwise qualified based on their medical history."

The AOPA Medical Advisory Panel considers the FAA's guidelines for initial evaluation and follow-up adequate and reasonable. However, the panel suggested that proposed three-month intervals for follow-up examinations could be extended after the first year if no significant changes occur.

In a broad bipartisan expression of support, more than 30 members of Congress have asked FAA Administrator David R. Hinson to adopt the proposed change in diabetic certification.

AOPA REGIONAL ACTION

New AOPA Region to Serve Western Pilots

To strengthen AOPA's regional representation programs in the West, AOPA has created a new region comprising Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. This frees former Western Regional Representative Jack Kemmerly to concentrate on California issues exclusively.

As the California regional representative, Kemmerly will serve the state with the highest pilot population in the country — about 85,000. Some 47,000, or 55 percent, are AOPA members.

The revised Western Region will be served by Carl E. Smith, a veteran California Division of Aeronautics official with 25 years of experience in planning, development, and operation of airports and heliports. He also coordinated California's aviation education programs.

Smith holds an aeronautical engineering degree from the Northrop Aeronautical Institute. His varied aviation experience includes a stint operating a missionary aviation service in the Bahamas.

Both Kemmerly and Smith report to Bill Dunn, vice president for regional affairs at AOPA headquarters. "We're pleased to have Carl join our regional representative team," said Dunn, "and we're proud to be able to let Jack Kemmerly devote his entire effort to California."

AOPA's regional representatives are the association's on-the-spot field representatives, monitoring local issues and working with local pilot groups, airport managers, and state and local governments.

AOPA Seeks Enforcement of New Jersey Zoning Law at Somerset Airport

AOPA has demanded that a local township reverse its restrictive new zoning ordinances on central New Jersey's controversy-dogged Somerset Airport and comply with the state's landmark airport zoning law.

"This zoning not only violates the state's strong airport zoning law, it's also blocking installation of critical safety equipment by the federal government," said AOPA's vice president for regional affairs, Bill Dunn.

New Jersey's Air Safety and Zoning Act specifically prohibits local ordinances limiting the ability of airports to make routine improvements. The law was intended to protect the state's small airports, which are plagued by residential encroachment and development pressures. But when the measure was challenged as a "taking" of property rights, some municipalities either failed to enact enabling local ordinances or adopted local zoning contrary to the state act.

Local Bedminster Township officials rezoned Somerset Airport from "permitted" to "conditional" use, requiring Somerset's owners to request approval for almost any improvement. Planned are National Weather Service installation of AWOS equipment, replacement of old wooden hangars with 42 new ones, and relocation of tiedown spaces and taxiways.

The legal challenge was defeated last fall when New Jersey's supreme court declined to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling upholding the act. State officials expect more local compliance now that the legal challenge has been dismissed. Among 63 municipalities with local zoning affecting 45 New Jersey airports, only two-thirds comply with state airport zoning laws.

"If Bedminster Township refuses to comply," said Dunn, "we will insist that the state enforce its legal authority immediately."

Dunn and AOPA President Phil Boyer were scheduled to take part in a late May press conference on the zoning question, organized at Somerset Airport by the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Coalition. The coalition includes virtually all pilot associations in New Jersey.

AOPA INTERNATIONAL ACTION

IAOPA World Assembly Acts on MLS, Airport Access, General Aviation in Economic Development

The International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations has issued a global call for withdrawal of the Microwave Landing System (MLS) in favor of the Global Positioning System (GPS). At its thirty-third World Assembly, held in Tokyo during April, the 37 national AOPAs also demanded free and fair access for all aircraft to public airports worldwide.

The council invited representatives of East European states and the Commonwealth of Independent States to attend next year's World Assembly in Thun, Switzerland, to promote the use of general aviation in the economic restructuring of developing states in Europe and Asia.

The assembly expressed appreciation for the assistance given the meeting by AOPA-Japan, the governor and vice governor of Tokyo, and a number of Japanese government and private organizations. These included the Japanese Civil Aviation Board, Aeronautical Engineers Association, National Tourist Organization, National Association of Travel Agents, Japan Radio Company, Ltd., Japan Business Jet Company, and All Nippon Airways.

AOPA SAFETY ACTION

AOPA Air Safety Foundation Offers Mountain Flying and Pinch-Hitter Courses in Colorado

The AOPA Air Safety Foundation's two most popular flight training courses, Mountain Flying and the Pinch-Hitter, will be held in Colorado Springs, Colorado, June 16 to 18 and September 8 to 10.

"The ASF Mountain Flying course gives pilots the essential knowledge and skills to safely navigate the most rugged terrain," says ASF Executive Director Bruce Landsberg. "It prepares pilots to cope with the higher risks of flying the high country."

Course topics include mountain weather, flying in valleys and canyons, improving high altitude aircraft performance, operating out of mountain airstrips, and mountain accident causes and prevention.

Lead instructor will be Tarryall Air Service owner Kent Eckhart, a veteran of 6,500 hours of flight instruction specializing in mountain flying and high performance aircraft training.

ASF's popular Pinch-Hitter Course, now in its thirty-first year, is designed to put flying companions at ease in the cockpit. Students become more familiar with general aviation flying and even learn to take over and land if the pilot becomes incapacitated.

Tuition for the three-day Mountain Flying course is $495, which covers four hours of ground school and five hours of flight training. Flight instruction is usually given in the pilot's own aircraft, but rental airplanes are available.

The Pinch-Hitter Course includes four hours of ground school and four hours of flight instruction. The tuition is $395. Registration is available by calling 800/638-3101. Both courses are open to AOPA members and non-members alike.

ASF Publishes Beech Baron Safety Review

The AOPA Air Safety Foundation has issued its newest Safety Review, covering the popular Beech Baron light twin.

The sixth in a continuing series of type-specific aircraft safety reviews, the Baron study is a product of ASF's Emil Buehler Center for Aviation Safety, which maintains the largest general aviation accident database outside government.

"The Baron is among the most successful light twin designs," said AOPA Air Safety Foundation Executive Director Bruce Landsberg. "Its safety record compares favorably with the other light twins in the study, but in the Baron more accidents are attributable to the pilot than is the case with other twins. The review looks at some of the reasons."

The review examined 278 Baron accidents between 1982 and 1993. The Baron BE-55, -56, and -58 were compared to the Cessna 300 series; the Piper Aztec, Seneca, and Aerostar; and Beech's Twin Bonanza and Travel Air. The comparison group had 837 accidents over the same time period. The study showed that:

• The Baron's total accident rate of 4.7 per 100,000 hours is somewhat lower than the 5.4 rate for the comparison group;
• Nearly 80 percent of Baron accidents are attributed to the pilot, compared to 68 percent of other light twin accidents;
• Half of pilot-related accidents in the Baron occur during landing, compared to 33 percent for the other aircraft.

Of 221 pilot-related Baron accidents, 29.4 percent involved failure to extend landing gear or inadvertent gear retraction. Hard landings, overshoots, and improper emergency extension accounted for other Baron landing accidents.

Included in the review are more than 50 instructive accident briefs. During the study period, there were eight stall/spin accidents, causing 15 fatalities, all during emergency procedures practice or one-engine-inoperative minimum controllable airspeed demonstrations. Training in simulators is highly recommended for certain maneuvers.

ASF's Safety Review offers pilots and instructors a complete Baron training course outline, with a suggested syllabus for 14 hours of ground and flight instruction for either initial or recurrent training.

The new Beech Baron Safety Review may be ordered by calling 800/SPORTYS (800/776-7897).

AOPA MEMBERSHIP ACTION

Annual AOPA Headquarters Fly-In This Month: June 17 at Frederick, Maryland

The annual AOPA Fly-in is close at hand: Saturday, June 17, at AOPA's home base at Frederick (Maryland) Municipal Airport (FDK). Breakfast on the field starts at 8 a.m. and exhibits open at 10 a.m. No reservations are needed. If you're flying in, be sure to follow the special fly-in/fly-out procedures that will be in effect that day.

A temporary control tower will be in operation; frequencies are published in the procedure document.

The AOPA Air Safety Foundation will offer safety seminars, including "Using GPS," "Is Your Aircraft Safe?" and the acclaimed "Pinch-Hitter" course for non-pilots. Advance registration is suggested for the Pinch-Hitter ground school. The ASF "Airspace Doctor" will be available for consultation on the new airspace categories, which many pilots still find confusing.

AOPA General Counsel John S. Yodice will conduct an FAR Refresher seminar to help pilots and instructors understand everything that should be covered in the biennial flight review ground instruction.

There will be plenty to see, with new, antique, unusual, and military aircraft on static display. Some 50 vendors will exhibit new products.

All AOPA offices will be open and AOPA staff will be on hand to answer questions about AOPA operations, furnish aviation technical information, and explain the hot policy issues affecting pilots and aircraft owners.

The Fly-in coincides with Frederick Airport Appreciation Day, one of the events celebrating Frederick's 250th anniversary.

AOPA's Aviation USA Now in CD-ROM Format

The 1995 edition of AOPA's Aviation USA, the only comprehensive guide to airports, heliports, seaplane bases, and their associated flight and ground facilities, is now available on CD-ROM. Flight planning is greatly speeded by this fully indexed, field-searchable version, which runs on MS-Windows in IBM-compatible PCs. It allows searching, selecting, sorting, viewing, printing, and exporting data. Indexed fields include airport state, city, name, identifier, and waypoint; runway length, surface, and lighting type; FBO name and fuel type; and others. Pilots can use the product to locate, in a particular state, all the airports that have restaurants on the field, for example. Or all the runways of a specified length in any state or states.

The system requirements are at least 4MB of RAM, 2 MB of free hard disk space, DOS 3.31 and Windows 3.1 or greater, and an ISO 9660-compliant CD-ROM drive. Runway diagrams are not included. The CD-ROM version of AOPA's Aviation USA is available to members at an introductory price of $19.95 (list $39.95). To order, call 800/USA-AOPA.

AOPA Plans Major Attractions at Oshkosh '95

In the big AOPA tent at the EAA International Fly-in Convention in Oshkosh July 27 to August 2, pilots will be able to talk in person with factory representatives about the next-generation Cessna 172 and the new Lycoming IO-360 engine that will power it.

Pilots who join AOPA or renew their membership will be automatically entered in the 1995 sweepstakes, with a chance to win the first new Cessna 172 off the assembly line.

Visitors can enter daily drawings at the AOPA tent for special Oshkosh prizes and learn more about AOPA Project Pilot, including the new AOPA Project Pilot Instructor program. Representatives will be on hand for quotes from the AOPA Insurance Agency and to provide information on AOPA Certified programs like the AOPA Airpower Loan Program and the AOPA no-annual-fee credit card.

Pilots can also experiment with PC-based flight simulators displayed by the AOPA Air Safety Foundation.

The AOPA tent will be at its usual spot two rows from the flight line, south of the Warbird Cafe, between Stone Road and Eide Avenue. Stop by and meet the AOPA staff, including scheduled appearances by President Phil Boyer.

AOPA Travelers Club Enhances Member Benefits

AOPA has recently enhanced the benefits members enjoy when they book travel through the AOPA Travelers Club, an AOPA Certified program. Advantages of using the club now include:

• Two-percent cash rebates to members on ticket prices (excluding taxes, port charges, and other fees, with a maximum of $10 per domestic air ticket).
• Specially discounted rates at more than 17,000 hotels.
• Discounts to members' family, friends, and employees.
• Discounts of up to 50 percent on certain cruises to popular destinations.
• Free $150,000 travel insurance with Travelers Club-issued airline tickets.
• A 24-hour toll-free emergency service number.

AOPA has selected Camelot Travel Services, a specialized agency serving associations and affinity groups, to manage bookings and reservations for the club.

Camelot's 35 full-time agents average eight years of travel industry experience. Building on the professional knowledge gained while serving more than 50 associations, Camelot will design special tours, vacation packages, and cruises that center around the common interests of AOPA members.

Camelot guarantees to offer members the lowest available published airfare at the time of booking or the member will be refunded the difference. Every ticket issued to an AOPA Travelers Club member carries a survey card, so the level of service and satisfaction can be monitored by AOPA.

As an AOPA Certified program, the AOPA Travelers Club returns a small sales royalty to AOPA. This keeps dues low and helps fund AOPA programs for the defense of general aviation.

Call the Travelers Club at 800/888-AOPA to make travel arrangements and reservations.

AOPA's Annual Convention Returns to Northeast After 30 Years

This year, for the first time in three decades, AOPA's annual convention will take place in the Northeast. Expo '95 will enliven Atlantic City October 19 to 21 with aviation exhibits and seminars in the Boardwalk Convention Center, where the Miss America pageant is held.

The Expo '95 brochure, now available, contains all the information needed to plan your attendance at the convention — travel and hotel information, exhibit times and locations, seminar topics, and social events for AOPA members, family, and friends.

From student pilots to ATPs, everybody in aviation will find Expo '95 an interesting and worthwhile experience. For the informative Expo '95 brochure, call 800/942-4269.