After several bad portrayals on television over recent months, like ABC's Primetime story on vacuum pumps, "Aunt Bee's Big Moment" portrays general aviation in a good light. Aunt Bee learns to fly with a friendly, well-qualified flight instructor and eventually solos a well-kept 1956 Cessna 182A.
At the end of the show, as Aunt Bee steps out of the airplane after her "big moment" alone in the sky, she is surrounded by her family and friends sharing her joy. The camera zooms in on Aunt Bee, who is convincingly glowing with accomplishment. "I did it," she says, almost more to herself than those sharing the moment with her. "I soloed!"
But then one cast member asks Aunt Bee if she'll continue on to get her pilot certificate. She says, "Well, maybe I will. But I've had my big moment. That's all I really cared about."
Perhaps if Aunt Bee had been an AOPA member with access to all of the resources that help make flying a joy, she would have been more sure about completing her training. Two resources would have been particularly valuable: AOPA's Airport Directory and the Online version. Both list literally thousands and thousands of interesting, fun destinations.
For instance, Aunt Bee "the pilot" might have wanted to take Andy and Opie to Gastons Airport (3M0), located in Lakeview, Arkansas, to get in the world's best rainbow trout fishing on the White River, which runs adjacent to the airport. Opie might have insisted on a flight to Ohio's Griffing Sandusky Airport (SKY), so he could ride Cedar Point's world-class roller coasters located only three miles from the field.
Today's pilots have it even easier than Aunt Bee would have, with the brand-new AOPA's Airport eDirectory. It's a free software program that contains even more information than is in the print edition, including those exciting destinations and preflight information on more than 5,200 public-use landing facilities and more than 6,000 FBOs and aviation service companies.
For modern-day pilots, the new AOPA's Airport eDirectory can be easily loaded into any personal digital assistant (PDA) using the Palm 3.5 operating system. You can now take AOPA's airport data with you in the palm of your hand. Of course, the new eDirectory can also be loaded onto a laptop or desktop computer.
One feature of AOPA's Airport eDirectory is a powerful search engine and data filters allowing display of all the airports on a sectional or en route chart, all of the airports in a state, or all airports within a selected radius of a particular airport. Since today's PDAs don't usually carry nearly as much memory as laptop or desktop computers, these filters also offer a practical means to select which data will be sent to the pilot's PDA. Pilots can also choose to load only selected information about an airport to further conserve PDA memory.
AOPA regularly updates the airport and FBO databases and posts the updates on the Web site. To minimize download times, pilots can choose to update the records for specific states.
The new AOPA's Airport eDirectory is just one example of what AOPA is doing today to help members enjoy the privileges of their pilot certificates. We're making it easily available; the entire program, with the airport and FBO database, can be downloaded from AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org/members/airports/edirectory.cfm ).
Members who don't want to download the 19-MB package can order AOPA's Airport eDirectory on CD-ROM by calling 800-USA-AOPA. There is a $7 charge for production and mailing costs. However, if you don't mind waiting, the eDirectory is included free on the Membership Guidebook CD-ROM, which will be mailed to all members when they renew their membership over the course of the next year.
AOPA benefits have come a long way since the first AOPA Airport Directory was issued in 1960 and Aunt Bee soloed in 1968. But AOPA's underlying purpose remains exactly the same as it has since our founding in 1939 - to keep your general aviation flying fun, safe, and affordable.
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