AOPA helps you get the most out of your flying
No matter where you are in general aviation's broad spectrum — student pilot or airline transport pilot, renter or aircraft owner, VFR-only or instrument-rated — it is difficult to keep up in today's rapidly changing environment. With seemingly constant regulatory change, the need to increase student pilot starts, new technologies such as GPS, threats to our nation's airports, and the ever-present specter of user fees, general aviation pilots need more information and services than ever before. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association provides you with that "pilot's edge."
Your association ended 1997 with 341,108 members, an historic year-end high for AOPA. Although that is a tremendous affirmation of our current efforts, we are not content to rest on our laurels. AOPA continues to add powerful new tools to our flight bag — which, by virtue of your membership, is your flight bag.
AOPA's record membership includes 2,522 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students who joined as part of a new partnership between the university and your association. Part of AOPA's ongoing effort to help young people aspiring to aviation careers, the relationship benefits both organizations and allows them to share resources.
Surveys conducted by AOPA last year told us that protection for local airports is one of the greatest concerns among pilots of all experience levels. In the United States, we have for some time been losing public-use airports at a rate of almost one per week. Many of these are privately owned airports, but there has been an alarming increase in efforts to close public facilities. One prominent example is Meigs Field, Chicago's lakefront general aviation reliever only minutes from the downtown business district. Mayor Richard M. Daley ordered the airport closed so that a $28 million park could be constructed on the site. But the airport reopened on February 10, 1997, after a major effort by AOPA, local airport support group Friends of Meigs Field, and the State of Illinois. That battle may not be over, however; Daley says that he will again seek to close the airport when an agreement with the state expires in five years.
The city of Willoughby, Ohio, just east of Cleveland, sought to close Lost Nation Airport — despite some $14 million in recent Airport Improvement Program grants. Although Lost Nation's control tower was closed, the airport remains open and prospects for its survival are optimistic. But Bader Field in Atlantic City, New Jersey; Robert Mueller Municipal in Austin, Texas; Richards-Gebaur Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, and other public airports are operating under threat of closure.
To further increase our effectiveness in local airport issues, at AOPA Expo in Orlando last year we launched the Airport Support Network. The goal of this very important program is to identify one volunteer representative at every public-use airport in the country. These individuals will serve two primary roles, informing your association of potential threats to the airport and, when necessary, rallying the support of local pilots. ASN will leverage one of AOPA's best resources in the battle to protect airports — you, our members.
Also high on every pilot's list of needed information were proficiency and weather. Your association's monthly publication, AOPA Pilot — which now has a larger circulation than any other general aviation magazine in the world — introduced "Measure of Skill," a 12-part series that addressed proficiency issues, primarily for VFR pilots. In addition, the June issue contained a special package of articles on summer weather flying, which supplemented the AOPA Air Safety Foundation's ongoing weather education efforts.
Two other areas of concern to all pilots are representation, at both the state and national levels, and the cost of flying. I see those becoming more closely linked as the government increasingly seeks to get its hands into pilots' wallets.
Our legislative affiliate, AOPA Legislative Action, evaluated more than 600 pieces of state legislation last year, and actively worked on 189 bills. Among the more onerous measures are a proposed aviation fuel tax increase in Texas and airport user fees in Alaska. Eleven regional representatives, AOPA's eyes and ears in the field, were an invaluable part of this process.
Nationally, the Clinton administration again proposed user fees for Federal Aviation Administration services. Its 1997 iteration was through the guise of the National Civil Aviation Review Commission (NCARC). Congress had intended for NCARC to bring together all parties to examine FAA funding needs and offer some constructive suggestions, but President Clinton didn't appoint a general aviation representative to the panel — instead, it was dominated by airline and big-airport interests. Most airline representatives weren't even CEOs — many were actually paid lobbyists!
We know from our active participation in the International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations that one of the biggest problems with user fees is the cost of collecting them. User fees have been a way of life for general aviation in many countries for years. The new accounting bureaucracy required to collect user fees could cost 100 times the cost of collecting today's aviation fuel and ticket taxes.
NCARC's recommendations include converting the FAA to a "performance-based" organization, but the commission stopped short of calling for general aviation user fees. Meanwhile, the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 extended the current aviation excise taxes for 10 years. Yet the administration — which appointed most of NCARC — continues to press for user fees. AOPA Legislative Action, working closely with AOPA, is determined to prevent them.
"Linked financing," Legislative Action's reasoned alternative to the FAA's so-called funding crisis, was introduced as legislation by Rep. Ron Packard (R-CA). This method for funding the FAA keeps the current excise taxes on aviation fuel, airline tickets, and air cargo but allows Congress to raise or lower the taxes, as needed, within a predetermined range.
A proposed change to Federal Aviation Regulations Part 21 could have a devastating effect on aircraft owners. Supplemental type certificates (STCs) and other modifications are currently approved based on an aircraft's original certification (Civil Aeronautical Regulations Part 3 for most general aviation aircraft). Under a proposal announced last year, any modifications — and all associated aircraft structure and systems — would have to comply with the latest revisions to FAR Part 23. Such a rule would devastate the STC industry and deprive aircraft owners of the benefits that STCs offer; affect the maintainability of the existing GA fleet; delay (if not prevent) the reintroduction of older models such as the Luscombe, Meyers, and Swift; and greatly increase the cost of installing future communication, navigation, and surveillance technologies. The AOPA staff is working with the GA industry to formulate an alternative that would exempt aircraft less than 12,500 pounds, but consensus will be a challenge.
Other federal initiatives were much less onerous, however. Student pilots were among the beneficiaries of the long-awaited FAR Part 61 revision, which became effective in August; changes in the rule shortened the solo long cross-country and reduced the minimum solo flight time requirements for the private pilot certificate, which could lead to lower flight training costs for some students. Private pilots can now begin training for the instrument rating before they have accumulated 125 hours of flight time, and instrument pilots benefit from streamlined instrument currency requirements.
The new FAR Part 61 includes nine of the 10 proposals that your association considered most beneficial to GA, and the FAA modified or eliminated the 32 suggested changes that we believed would have been most detrimental to GA. We were unsuccessful in our efforts to include medical self-certification for recreational pilots, a privilege that sailplane and balloon pilots have safely enjoyed for years. Indications are that it was the Department of Transportation, and not the FAA, that thwarted this endeavor, reinforcing AOPA's contention that the FAA should be an independent agency outside the reach of DOT. Work continues, however, on medical initiatives we proposed last year that would reduce delays and costs to pilots for special-issuance medical certificates.
AOPA continued its outreach to the general-circulation media. Despite the fact that he was flying an experimental aircraft, John Denver's fatal crash caused the national media to call AOPA for background information and comment on the medical certification issues raised. Your association acted aggressively to present the facts about pilot certification, and I made a live appearance on NBC's Today show, heading off public concern while advancing AOPA's reputation as the responsible voice of general aviation.
Pilots of all experience levels expressed concern about the ongoing decline in student pilot starts. We are continuing our successful AOPA Project Pilot Program, in which volunteer member mentors provide guidance and encouragement to potential new pilots. In 1997, 3,634 new mentors enrolled 5,269 new students in the program. New automated procedures mean that program materials are now on their way to new mentors and students within one working day, compared to a previous turnaround time of six weeks. Your association also continued to play a key leadership role in GA Team 2000, the industry-wide coalition of 120 manufacturers, businesses, and associations working to reverse the decline in student pilot starts.
Certificated flight instructors face special challenges. More than 8,000 of these key individuals have enrolled in the AOPA Project Pilot Instructor program, an extension of our successful Project Pilot, which provides CFIs with information they need to attract and retain students. With more than 50,000 CFIs as members — some 70 percent of the total flight instructor population — AOPA is the world's largest organization of CFIs. Perhaps it was appropriate, then, that a Massachusetts flight instructor and Project Pilot Instructor participant won AOPA's 1997 sweepstakes airplane, the Ultimate Arrow.
Available to serve CFIs and any other member, in 1997 AOPA's Pilot Information Center staff provided information to 21 percent more members than during the previous year — via telephone, AOPA's AvFax fax-on-demand service, e-mail, and the Internet — and did so with a smaller staff. Telephone calls for technical information alone were up 12 percent, to more than 121,000. Medical certification issues were the subject of 26,000 inquiries. Another 214,741 calls ranged from address changes to chart orders and requests for title and escrow services. The AOPA Title and Escrow Service completed 10,308 title searches, closed 309 sales, and handled $120 million in escrow deposits during 1997.
Total attendance at AOPA Expo '97 in Orlando was 7,538, five percent higher than the last time Expo was held in Central Florida — despite bad weather to the north that reduced VFR arrivals. Exhibit space sales were up 30 percent; some 78 aircraft were on static display at Orlando Executive Airport, and manufacturers reported an impressive 40 aircraft sold during the convention.
How can your association continue to raise the level of service without raising your dues? After all, it has been eight years since the last dues increase — and, no, your dues won't be going up this year, either. Our solution has been to offer a variety of products and services that we believe offer good value and that return a small royalty to the association, at no additional cost to you. Without those royalties from products and services, and AOPA Pilot advertising revenues, your annual membership cost would double.
Aircraft owners and renters alike will benefit from a long-term agreement signed late last year between the AOPA Insurance Agency and Great American Insurance Company. Great American, an A-rated underwriter, is now the exclusive underwriter of the AOPA Aircraft Insurance Program. This relationship should bring long-term stability and strong financial underpinnings to your association's very successful insurance program, which has become the largest GA insurance agency in the country.
Certificated flight instructors benefited from new AOPA Aircraft Insurance Program policies introduced in 1997. CFIs can purchase basic liability insurance that covers them while giving instruction aboard an aircraft owned or rented by either the student or the CFI; optional professional coverage protects against liability arising from recent flight instruction. AOPA developed these policies because traditional insurance purchased by the student or aircraft owner usually doesn't cover the CFI while giving instruction.
Aircraft owners — and aspiring owners — will be pleased to know that under new lender MBNA, approval rates for the AOPA Aircraft Financing Program have increased from 50 percent to more than 80 percent. Terms have been extended from 15 years to 20 years, the longest in the industry for used aircraft, and down payments have been lowered to just 10 percent. The program's recently reduced rates are among the industry's lowest, and it's still the only aircraft loan with no points or fees. A unique new FBO rebate program (see p. 49) has dramatically increased requests for AOPA MasterCard and Visa credit cards. The AOPA Installment Loan Program (including loans for engine overhauls, aircraft refurbishment, and avionics) was launched in January.
The AOPA Money Market program for accounts with balances of $15,000 or more outperformed 99 percent of all taxable money funds, according to IBC's Money Fund Report. The AOPA Certificate of Deposit Program with a 12-month maturity was rated as the highest yield for 43 of 52 weeks and was in the top five every week, according to 100 Highest Yields.
Student pilots and any airman who plans to pursue an additional rating or certificate will enjoy AOPA's new agreement with Sylvan Learning Centers. Members can receive a $10 discount on all FAA knowledge testing.
More than one in four of you have enrolled in automatic annual renewal, saving $2 on your dues the first year — and every year thereafter, if you charge your dues to an AOPA Visa or MasterCard. This program eliminates the mailing of renewal notices, which saves your association money.
Your continued support of these products and services will help to keep that "pilot's edge" honed, your dues low, and ensure the necessary resources to fight the next threatened airport closure, ill-conceived user-fee scheme, and Draconian regulatory proposal — all of which we know are coming. (Some are already here.) Ultimately, however, it's your continued support of your association that is the key to its continued success.
AOPA on the Road
To help maintain your association's strong service orientation and communicate one-on-one with my fellow members, I spend a lot of time on the road. Last year I logged more than 400 hours flying AOPA's Cessna Conquest to a variety of functions, including 29 Pilot Town Meetings and 14 speeches in 25 states, during which I addressed some 9,000 people. One trip alone — for a series of Pilot Town Meetings in Alaska — accounted for 32 of those flight hours.
The Pilot Town Meetings still follow the same multimedia format, combining videotape with projected slides and audience questions. But the meetings became even more interactive and exciting this year with the addition of real-time polling devices (shown at right) that are distributed among the crowd. I can ask the audience a question, and answers from each participant holding a polling unit are transmitted by radio to a computer. The computer tabulates the answers and displays them immediately on a projection screen. Not only does this new technology give pilots a chance to participate more actively in the meeting, but it also allows us to sample pilot opinions on any subject.
Through the end of 1997, some 28,521 people attended 129 Pilot Town Meetings.
AOPA's FBO Rebate Program
Renters and aircraft owners alike are benefiting from AOPA's FBO Rebate Program, which was launched in August. Under the program, MBNA America — the bank that issues AOPA MasterCard and Visa credit cards — rebates to the member a full three percent of any purchase made with an AOPA credit card at any fixed-base operator that sells fuel or rents aircraft in the United States. The rebate is fully funded by MBNA and does not cost FBOs or AOPA a cent. Your association's large membership base gave us the strength to negotiate this unique arrangement.
Within a week of the program's announcement, member Eric Gertz of New Jersey claimed the first rebate: $11.82. From its August launch through the end of the year, the FBO Rebate Program returned more than $100,000 to some 4,300 members. The average rebate was $23.44, which is $281 on an annualized basis — more than seven times the cost of AOPA membership.
AOPA Online
AOPA Online, your association's online information service on the Internet's World Wide Web, experienced explosive growth during 1997. By the end of December, 64,706 of you had registered to access the Web site's exclusive members-only section — and new registrations continue to average 1,000 per week.
Activity on the site is measured by the number of pages served; that measure has increased an average of 20 percent per month to a level at year's end of 20,000 pages per day. A total of 4.8 million pages of information was downloaded last year.
The convenience of around-the-clock access and a growing resource base have helped to fuel AOPA Online's success. The number of available files grew from 2,000 in January to more than 17,000 by the end of the year.
Free aviation weather graphics, introduced midyear and available in the members-only section, are among the most frequently requested information. Available graphics include surface forecasts, weather depictions, Nexrad Doppler radar images, infrared satellite imagery, and winds-aloft depictions.
Other popular features include the message area, AOPA information and services, aviation databases, and links to other Web sites. The extremely popular message area was upgraded with state-of-the-art messaging software. By the end of the year, some 2,100 new members had joined AOPA through the Web site, and another 472 had renewed.
1997 Annual Report of the AOPA Legislative Action
The Legislative Edge
Excise taxes are extended, but user fees still threaten
AOPA Legislative Action scored a lasting victory in 1997 by convincing Congress to extend for 10 years the aviation excise taxes, including the fuel taxes paid by general aviation, with no increases. The taxes, which provide revenue to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, had expired twice in two years. Reinstating the taxes for 10 years restored the stable, reliable source of revenue that the FAA has enjoyed for three decades, making user fees or other alternative financing less likely. The taxes were extended in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, which President Clinton signed into law on August 5, 1997. Thousands of AOPA members in key states helped to pass this legislation by responding to our Western Union appeal to contact their representatives about this issue.
Along with restoring the aviation excise taxes, AOPA Legislative Action fended off attempts on several fronts by the Clinton administration to impose new FAA user fees.
In the process of adopting a record $9.1 billion in funding for the FAA, Congress rejected the administration's request for $300 million in new user fees in the FAA's fiscal year 1998 budget. In the report accompanying the Department of Transportation Appropriations bill, lawmakers wrote, "The significant increases in this bill for the FAA's budget prove that Congress can provide adequately for the agency without augmenting appropriations with user fees." To assure that the administration got the message, Congress included in the bill a provision that explicitly forbids the FAA from acting on its own to charge or even study user fees.
One of the most important issues to general aviation pilots in the transportation spending bill was a provision contained in the Senate's version that would have allowed two general aviation airports to close, despite grant assurances that they had made to remain open in exchange for accepting Airport Improvement Program funds. Allowing any airport sponsor with political clout to secure releases from its grant obligations would have set a terrible precedent. With the help of pilots in the affected states who wrote in protest, AOPA Legislative Action successfully convinced the House conferees not to accept the Senate provision, and it was dropped from the final bill. The overall AIP funding level in the bill was $1.7 billion, a 17-percent increase over the fiscal year 1997 level.
Despite these victories, 1997 brought a new threat. With the best of intentions, Congress established the National Civil Aviation Review Commission (NCARC) to examine the FAA's funding situation and study possible changes. Unfortunately, in violation of the law, the Clinton administration failed to appoint a general aviation representative to the commission, and the commission's work for the most part benefits only the interests represented.
Although its report contains some positive aspects, NCARC recommended the replacement of most aviation excise taxes with user fees. The recommendation would exempt GA from user fees, but it called for a tax increase instead — the only aviation segment singled out for such treatment.
From the first sign that the NCARC report would penalize GA, AOPA Legislative Action worked to expose the shortcomings of the report to members of Congress, who will consider enacting its recommendations into law. The report enjoyed a chilly reception on Capitol Hill. Nevertheless, AOPA Legislative Action remains vigilant in its opposition to NCARC recommendations that negatively affect general aviation.
1997 Annual Report of the AOPA Air Safety Foundation
The Safety Edge
Working to reduce the risks of flying for all GA pilots
BY BRUCE LANDSBERG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
General aviation and the AOPA Air Safety Foundation both had an excellent year when it comes to safety and the communication of that vital message. ASF's job is to provide safety education, training, and research for general aviation. The mission statement is simple, but the execution can be complex. Organizationally and financially, the foundation is a separate entity from AOPA, and its activities encompass both long- and short-range goals. This annual report presents the "big picture" on how we invested your donations to make flying safer and more enjoyable.
First, some good news. According to National Transportation Safety Board reports, general aviation celebrated a record year in 1997, with fewer fatal accidents than ever. Fatal accidents were down slightly compared to 1996. The ASF is capturing data in hopes of showing that pilots who attend ASF seminars have a better safety record than those who do not, although it will be a number of years before such a case can be made. Our annual Nall Report, named after a former NTSB board member, gave a preliminary look at GA fixed-wing accidents for the preceding year. In 1997 it received wider distribution than ever, including a version that could be downloaded from the Internet.
Free safety seminars were offered in 46 states and were attended by some 39,443 pilots. Topics covered everything from airspace to low-level maneuvering flight. The former is a leading cause of FAA enforcement actions, while the latter causes many fatalities. Several more states joined ASF in a matching grant program that leveraged private and public dollars to provide high-quality, low-cost programs. The dollar-for-dollar match allows ASF to reach more pilots and provides turnkey safety programs to states that might not otherwise have safety programs. Florida received a special recognition award for sponsoring the largest number of ASF seminars in the country. Other participating states included Iowa, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Last summer personal computer-based aviation training devices (PCATDs) were approved by the FAA for up to 10 hours of flight experience toward an instrument rating. The ASF was involved in the evaluation and discussions with the FAA that led to this approval. Pilots must use an approved device with instructor supervision. The ASF also published a curriculum to guide CFIs on how to use the new technology. We established a PC simulation lab to look at new software programs for VFR instruction and developed a project to study pilot work load while using IFR GPS receivers, employing PCATDs as the "aircraft."
In conjunction with the FAA, the ASF participated in a major GPS human factors evaluation in the flight simulation lab at Patuxent River Naval Air Station. More than 30 pilot volunteers got an early look at a possible prototype that the FAA had developed for the next generation of GPS receivers. The ASF's position, after looking at the first generation of IFR units, was that better engineering was needed on the pilot interface. The systems are labor-intensive, and there is little commonality. The ASF, GPS manufacturers, and the FAA are discussing ways to make the new units friendlier.
Your foundation, with the help of the leading GPS manufacturers, conducted 52 courses to familiarize pilots with specific makes and models of receivers. This was a short-term, experimental hands-on program to learn more about the human factors of the various units. It provided invaluable operational guidance to the ASF on where improvements should be made in the next generation of GPS receivers.
Late in 1996 a ground collision between a regional airliner and a Beech King Air at Quincy, Illinois, sparked a flurry of potential rulemaking regarding GA operations. The ASF, working in coordination with the FAA's Aviation Safety Program, developed an ongoing campaign to help pilots review the basics of operations at nontowered airports. Some 5,000 posters were mailed out to flight schools and FBOs, a videotape was distributed to FAA Safety Program managers, and a Safety Advisor publication outlining operations was given away by the tens of thousands.
The focus shifted from nontowered to towered airports when the FAA reported that runway incursions were up significantly — and that general aviation pilots were at least partially at fault. The ASF was asked to chair an industry/FAA subcommittee to identify the problem and the solution. In the last quarter of 1997 a group of operationally qualified representatives of the airlines, airports, GA pilots, controllers, the FAA, the NTSB, and the ASF worked together to develop a 13-point plan that focused on clarifying the regulations on taxi clearances. Low-technology (and low-cost) suggestions were offered to make runway entrances highly conspicuous. A full-scale education program will be mounted this year to prevent a GA-air carrier collision resulting from an incursion.
The ASF continued to offer one of the country's leading flight instructor refresher programs, with a constantly changing lineup of topics that included new presentations on teaching safety and an introduction to the use of GPS in IFR operations. This program is the longest-running CFI course in the country and has provided a convenient, professional way for a generation of flight instructors to renew their certificates.
The renowned Pinch-Hitter Program ground school for nonflying companions continues after more than 30 years. This course has saved a few lives and countless marriages by explaining basic aircraft operations and teaching what to do in the event of pilot incapacitation. The course, available on videotape, is an annual bestseller for the foundation.
The ASF provided more information on the Internet to more pilots and enjoyed an outstanding online auction to raise money for safety seminars. More than 145,218 people visited the site to bid on everything from pilot accessories to artwork and vacation packages. Some 65 sponsors made this possible.
Several new Safety Advisors were published both on the World Wide Web and in print, covering such topics as icing, single-pilot IFR, and automated surface observing systems. Another Safety Review, sponsored by the International Comanche Society, was added to the ASF's line of 12 aircraft-specific reports.
A significant gift from Paul E. Burger, AOPA 255136, an original member of the ASF's elite Hat in the Ring Society, endowed our new General Aviation Safety Fund. It will be used to support new safety research and education projects. For the first time in ASF history we have the ability to make small grants to selected worthy projects that will enhance GA safety. This exciting new fund is now open for other pilots to make a major contribution to safety and develop the endowment into a significant part of ASF activities.
The foundation's good work requires funding to pay the expenses of producing the products, developing the courses, and conducting the seminars. As the only national nonprofit GA safety organization in the United States, we look to a variety of sources to fund this vital activity. Many pilots are not aware that less than 10 percent of the ASF's operating budget comes from the $1 voluntary contribution that is paid with AOPA membership dues. The majority of our funding comes from individual pilots, with some income from corporate grants, contracts, and course tuition. Your tax-deductible contributions allowed us to conduct safety research, education, and training activities for all pilots, not just fellow AOPA members.
To our donors, we extend a hearty "thank you" for your generosity. For all the other pilots who have not yet become a member of the ASF family, you have the wonderful opportunity to help make flying safer for all. From the staff and our volunteers, many thanks for making 1997 a great year for safety.
To learn more about ASF products and projects, visit the Web site ( www.aopa.org/asf/), e-mail [email protected], or call 301/695-2000.
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