AOPA Action

GA Fares Well in Congressional Elections

GA is well-positioned with friends in high places as the 108th Congress is called into session.

Ninety percent of the candidates supported by the AOPA Political Action Committee were elected. In the House, 75 of 81 AOPA-supported candidates were elected, while in the Senate, 14 of 18 supported candidates won election.

"Several key friends who are pilots, such as Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Rep. Robin Hayes (R-N.C.), and Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa), are returning to Congress," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "And several newly elected members of Congress are pilots, including four AOPA members."

Those newly elected representatives are Republicans Steve Pearce of New Mexico, John Kline of Minnesota, Michael Burgess of Texas, and Chris Chocola of Indiana. All were strongly supported by the AOPA PAC.

Republicans will resume control of the Senate, holding at least 51 seats. A run-off election in Louisiana that will determine the final makeup of the Senate had not taken place by press time. Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) again becomes Senate majority leader. Lott won AOPA's Hartranft Award in 2000 for his leadership in securing passage of the AIR-21 legislation that unlocked the aviation trust fund.

One strong GA supporter was not returned to the Senate. Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.) lost his seat to Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.). Of all the candidates supported by AOPA PAC, Cleland was the most controversial, drawing the ire of many Georgia members. AOPA PAC bases its backing for candidates on their support for GA, and relies on the voters to weigh that along with other factors they consider important.

The changes most likely to affect the aviation community are the flips in key Senate committee leadership. Most notably, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) resumes the chair of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, while the Senate Appropriations Committee chair reverts to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), a longtime AOPA member.

McCain, who has not always agreed with AOPA positions, will take over the gavel from Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.). Hollings has been a longtime supporter of GA.

The Senate Appropriations Committee, to be chaired by Stevens, is equally important to the aviation community. This committee provides the funding for the Department of Transportation and the FAA — essentially, it is responsible for "depositing the money in the bank" and making sure that initiatives important to GA, such as graphical notams and modernization of flight service stations, are funded.

Several issues, including a GA relief bill, remain unfinished from the 107th Congress, and will have to be reintroduced in the new Congress. In addition, aviation in general, and GA in particular, is likely to face continued economic and security pressures. AOPA will continue to make sure that the voices of our more than 388,000 members are heard on the Hill.

NATIONAL ACTION

AOPA Heads Off Renewed N.J. Attempt at Pilot Background-Check Law, for Now

AOPA spoke out again in November against a renewed and even more onerous pilot background-check proposal being considered by a New Jersey state Senate committee.

AOPA Senior Vice President of Government and Technical Affairs Andy Cebula met with the bill's sponsor, N.J. State Sen. Peter Inverso (R-14th District), in the state capital the day the Transportation Committee was to have considered the measure. "We talked at length about the measures the federal government has taken since September 11 to address aviation security nationwide," said Cebula. As a result, Inverso took the bill off the committee's agenda, saying he would continue to monitor the efforts of the federal government and the aviation industry to assure that New Jersey citizens are being adequately protected.

"The federal government has taken numerous actions during 2002 to address aviation security concerns, making [New Jersey] Senate Bill 1438 unnecessary," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "And it would create an administrative and financial burden on the state to provide photo identification cards for student pilots and aircraft renters. This bill is potentially very costly while providing no effective aviation security enhancement."

Under the proposal, anyone seeking flight training or to rent an aircraft would be required not only to undergo fingerprinting and a criminal background check by both the New Jersey State Police and the FBI, but also to pay all background-check costs and carry a state-issued pilot ID card. FBOs would be required to maintain a permanent record of every student and every renter, and make it available for inspection by state examiners at any time.

In addition to Cebula's testimony, AOPA provided state officials with a copy of a letter ( www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2002/021017letter.pdf) from the FAA filed in support of an AOPA lawsuit against a similar law in Michigan. In that letter, the FAA's deputy chief legal counsel said that the FAA believes the Michigan law usurps authority that belongs solely to the federal government under the "supremacy clause" (Article VI, paragraph 2) of the United States Constitution.

AOPA asked a federal judge in late October for a preliminary injunction preventing Michigan from enforcing its law until the court can decide whether the law is constitutional. As of press time, there was no ruling.

AOPA Continues Push for Return to 'Normal'

When the FAA created the 15-nm "no fly" zone around Washington, D.C., last February by issuing Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) 94, the agency said it planned to review the procedures within 60 days. To date, that review has not taken place.

More recently, the U.S. Secret Service has asked for 30-nm temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) when President Bush travels to any location for an extended stay.

As 2002 drew to a close, there were still more than a dozen other national security TFRs affecting airspace from Washington State to Florida.

While recognizing the need for heightened security ever since the 2001 terrorist attacks, AOPA continues to urge a return to as close to pre-September 11 "normal" as possible.

In mid-October, AOPA petitioned the FAA to allow GA traffic back into the nation's capital by creating a waiver system to allow transient traffic into the so-called "DC3" airports: College Park Airport, Washington Executive/Hyde Field, and Potomac Airfield. "Restoring GA access to the nation's capital is one of the last major post-September 11 airspace hurdles remaining," said Andy Cebula, AOPA senior vice president of government and technical affairs.

In November, AOPA President Phil Boyer sent a letter to FAA Administrator Marion Blakey asking her to step in and make sure the Secret Service understands the impact when it requests more than 3,700 square miles of restricted airspace around the president's destination.

And throughout 2002, AOPA met and corresponded with Defense Department officials, seeking a review of the other national security TFRs to see if they were still truly necessary.

In her speech at AOPA Expo in October, Blakey said that aviation has probably changed forever after the September 11 terrorist attacks. AOPA remains committed to returning to as close to normal as security concerns will allow.

MEMBERSHIP ACTION

AOPA and Certified Partner MBNA Offer Nome Equity Loans

AOPA and MBNA now offer a home equity loan program, allowing homeowners to finance aviation purchases not covered by traditional aircraft financing programs, such as acquiring a homebuilt or experimental aircraft, upgrading a current aircraft, or paying flight school tuition.

Funds from an AOPA home equity loan may be used for virtually any reason:

• Buying a hangar.
• Financing the tuition for your child to attend an aeronautical university.
• Consolidating debt.
• Completing home improvements.

For more information on the AOPA home equity loan program, visit the Web site ( www.aopa.org/info/certified/).

AOPA Members Can Now Pick and Choose Their News With Customized AOPA ePilot

AOPA's popular ePilot electronic newsletter has gotten personal.

The weekly publication was already regionalized, sending news based on a subscriber's address. Now subscribers can select more of what they want. By going to AOPA's Web site ( https://www.aopa.org/apps/epilot/) and checking boxes to select their type of flying and category of aircraft, members will receive newsletters that include additional information on the subjects that interest them.

For more than a year, AOPA ePilot has included a calendar of aviation-related events in a subscriber's region, and since this past spring, it has included a regionalized weekend weather outlook. With the enhancements, members will be able to select more than one region (or even no regions) to be included in their weekly newsletter.

AOPA ePilot and the AOPA ePilot Flight Training edition, tailored to student pilots, now have a combined circulation of 240,000, allowing AOPA to communicate with more than a third of the nation's pilots every week.

AOPA's Political Action Committee — A Force for GA on Capitol Hill

AOPA Legislative Affairs staff works closely with members of Congress to identify and champion issues critical to GA. Our powerful friends in Congress are what make AOPA effective in promoting a legislative agenda that supports the future of GA.

The mission of AOPA's Political Action Committee is to support pro-GA candidates. Many who receive support, both Republican and Democrat, incumbent and challenger, are pilots and AOPA members. AOPA PAC also supports others who recognize the vital role GA plays in the economy and have used their power and influence in Congress to fight for GA.

Federal law prohibits AOPA from using your membership dues as contributions to political campaigns. So AOPA PAC uses other voluntary funding sources to allow AOPA to contribute to political leaders who support GA.

AOPA PAC support helps to ensure GA has a strong voice in Congress.

AOPA Post-September 11 Efforts Continue to Draw Praise, Honors

More than a year after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, AOPA and association President Phil Boyer continue to receive honors for efforts to protect GA.

Both the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) praised Boyer for leading a vigorous defense when GA came under harsh scrutiny after the terrorist attacks.

At AOPA Expo 2002, National Civil Air Patrol Commander Brig. Gen. Richard L. Bowling presented Boyer with a statue of a flying eagle clutching an American flag in its talons. "AOPA played a key role in keeping nonmilitary pilots informed following the attacks," Bowling said. "We believe CAP could not have done its job as effectively without AOPA's leadership."

CAP is the civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. Its 61,000 volunteer members conduct 85 percent of the search-and-rescue missions launched annually in the United States.

Earlier, Boyer received a Paul Tissandier Diploma from the FAI during a National Aeronautic Association awards banquet. In presenting the award, NAA President Donald J. Koranda cited Boyer's "years of service as an advocate on behalf of the GA community." Tissandier diplomas are awarded annually by the FAI "to those who have served the cause of Aviation in general, and Sporting Aviation in particular, by their work, initiative, and devotion." Previous recipients include famed pilots, such as Jackie Cochran and Bob Hoover, and former FAA Administrator and AOPA Air Safety Foundation President Donald Engen.

AOPA Insists on Role in Flight Service Station Study

AOPA told the FAA in mid-November that the association must be part of a study to revamp the flight service station (FSS) system if the needs of GA are to be adequately addressed. The FSS system provides weather, notams, search-and-rescue coordination, and other aviation services.

"Flight service stations are used almost exclusively by GA pilots. And with more than 388,000 GA pilot members, AOPA should play a key role in identifying requirements for safety functions performed by FSSs," said AOPA President Phil Boyer.

The FAA has started an 18-month study of the FSS system, comparing the cost and value of the FAA continuing to provide FSS services versus contracting some services to outside sources.

"Aviation weather services are a critical safety function that must be provided by the government without fees to pilots," said Cebula. "AOPA will vigorously fight any action that would take that responsibility away from the government or 'privatize' FSS functions."

But that doesn't preclude the possibility that private contractors supervised by the FAA might provide some services more efficiently. For example, in the 1980s the FAA implemented the Direct User Access Terminal System (DUATS), with private contractors providing aviation weather services directly to pilots via computer.

The current FSS system is in a state of decline and disrepair, through no fault of the hardworking FSS specialists. Without significant changes, pilots will experience a degradation of FSS-provided services while the cost of providing the services will continue to rise. AOPA is committed to seeing that all pilots benefit from this effort to identify the needs of a more modern flight service station system.

AOPA AIRPORT SUPPORT NETWORK

Volunteer of the Month: JON LANE SMITH

Sometimes small investments made at just the right time can pay big dividends. For Jon Lane Smith, the AOPA Airport Support Network volunteer at Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Tennessee, that certainly has been the case.

Smith was faced with a number of issues immediately upon being appointed as the ASN volunteer. He acted quickly to strike up good working relationships with the airport manager, tenants, and fellow pilots.

One of the first issues Smith faced was a long-simmering dispute with an airport neighbor who periodically complains about noise from the run-up area. Smith arranged for the airport manager to receive a copy of AOPA's Guide to Land Use and Airport Noise. Smith says the manager has successfully dealt with the issue for now and doesn't see it "getting out of hand" in the near future.

The airport is also facing possible incompatible land use near the airport. Smith has been attending airport board meetings to monitor developments.

Smith visited with the major airport tenant, Moody Aviation, to offer his assistance as ASN volunteer on issues, and has also reached out to nearby airports without ASN volunteers, letting managers at those facilities know that AOPA stands ready to support GA at their airports.

In the business of supporting GA airports, Jon Lane Smith has shown — as did Aesop's fabled tortoise — that steady progress is the key to victory.

Public-use airports in the United States are closing at the rate of about one every two weeks. The AOPA Airport Support Network designates one volunteer per airport to watch for threats and encourage favorable public perception of general aviation. For more information on how you can help support your airport, visit AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org/asn/).

Action in the States

Georgia. Savannah: New GA security measures at Savannah International Airport are running smoothly, according to ASN volunteer Kent Crenshaw, thanks to efforts by the Savannah Pilots' Association, airport management, and the local FBOs. Crenshaw also reports that the Savannah Airport Commission is now allowing individuals to construct T-hangars or group hangars on airport property. In addition, relocation of the SAV VOR to the field is under way.

Maryland. Clinton: ASN volunteer Gary Bielstein is helping to organize an airport support group for Washington Executive/Hyde Field, which was allowed to reopen only at the end of September, more than a year after most other GA airports had resumed business following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. AOPA has petitioned the FAA to allow transient pilots to use Hyde Field as well as the other two "DC3" airports — Potomac Airfield and College Park Airport — under a waiver program. (See " AOPA Continues Push for Return to 'Normal'," page 16).

Utah. Heber City: ASN volunteer Timothy Quinn is working to build support for a proposal to improve Heber City Municipal-Russ McDonald Field. Many residents oppose the improvement, believing that it will bring increased corporate jet traffic with little or no economic benefit to the city. Quinn reports that the resistance includes an "anti-celebrity" element, since many celebrities use the airport as an entry point to their vacation homes in nearby Park City.

Wyoming. Gillette: ASN volunteer Stanley Hunter and Gillette-Campbell County Airport Manager Jay Lundell are working with both the Wyoming Department of Transportation and the governor's office to protect the airport from surface-mining activities. Blasting just under the traffic pattern at the airport is raising what Hunter describes as "significant safety of flight issues."

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR AIRPORT IS DOING?

By Mark Lowdermilk, AOPA ASN program manager

At the heart of AOPA's Airport Support Network are ASN volunteers, now numbering more than 1,400. Many volunteered after the September 11 terrorist attacks, when it became obvious that GA airports had become easy targets for public fear and ignorance.

Supporting those volunteers is a small, dedicated crew at AOPA headquarters, including (left to right) AOPA government analysts John Collins and Kim Johnson and Administrative Assistant Linda Milburn. Collins is a U.S. Army veteran who served in the Gulf War, leaving active duty as a first lieutenant. His aviation degree is from the University of Dubuque in Iowa, and he was a full-time flight instructor before joining AOPA.

Johnson has served AOPA members in a variety of positions during her 18-year career here, the past three with the ASN program. Her memory and knowledge have been invaluable in helping to find solutions to sticky airport problems. Both work with ASN volunteers daily, responding to e-mail inquiries and reports, researching issues, and providing needed resources.

Milburn handles the nomination and appointment process, assists with research, and maintains the ASN database. She also handles administrative duties for the AOPA airports department.

These talented people, coordinating with ASN volunteers throughout the country, help ensure that AOPA never loses sight of the "little picture" while dealing with "big picture" issues in Washington.

AOPA AIR SAFETY FOUNDATION

Air Safety Foundation, FAA Study Spatial Disorientation

Spatial disorientation can be a killer. But a new study conducted jointly by the AOPA Air Safety Foundation and the FAA's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) shows that it doesn't have to be.

The ASF/CAMI study builds on earlier testing done using visual simulators. Participants in those studies suffered high "crash" rates, leading researchers to wonder if pilots in actual aircraft, rather than simulators, received more clues about their situation.

In the ASF/CAMI study, instrument-rated pilots flying specially modified aircraft were subjected to vacuum instrument failure while in simulated instrument meteorological conditions. The study results indicate that pilots with proper training and who are current in instrument and emergency procedures are better able to recognize and deal with instrument failures that could lead to spatial disorientation.

A copy of the report, number 02/19, is available online ( www.faa.gov/library/reports/medical/oamtechreports/2000s/media/0219.pdf).

ASF Updates Airspace, GPS Safety Advisors

ASF has rewritten and updated two critical Safety Advisors, one on airspace, the other on GPS navigation.

Airspace for Everyone now draws special attention to temporary flight restrictions (TFRs). "Prior to the September 11 attacks, TFRs were less frequent and usually much smaller than today," said ASF Executive Director Bruce Landsberg. "The consequences of violating TFRs, especially national security-related TFRs, are now far more severe, including military interception and the possibility of being shot down." The new advisor also draws attention to other special-use airspace, such as prohibited areas and military training routes. Prohibited-area boundaries are subject to change, and may be larger than depicted on aeronautical charts.

The second revised Safety Advisor, GPS Technology, has been completely updated because of changing technology. The new full-color publication reflects the growing use of color moving maps on GPS displays. Enhancements to the GPS system, including WAAS and LAAS (wide area and local area augmentation systems), are explained, and a "Tricks and Traps" section helps pilots avoid common mistakes. There is also a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section.

"The FAA plans to scale back ground-based navigation aids and rely more heavily on GPS for all phases of flight navigation," said Landsberg. "It is imperative that pilots not only understand the unit in their aircraft, but the system as a whole. With the increasing use of GPS for routine IFR operation, pilots must learn it as well as they know VOR."

Airspace for Everyone and GPS Technology are available online ( www.aopa.org/asf/publications/sa02.pdf and www.aopa.org/asf/publications/sa01.pdf, respectively). Free individually printed copies may be requested online ( www.aopa.org/asf/publications/advisors.html) or by calling 800/USA-AOPA (872-2672).

New 'Ups and Downs' Seminar is Back on the Road

After a holiday break, ASF's exciting new safety seminar, "Ups and Downs of Takeoffs and Landings," is again touring the country.

The seminar is built around a 60-minute videotape of pilots arriving at and departing from a large fly-in. A streaming video clip from the tape is available online ( www.aopa.org/asf/seminars/) by selecting a format and speed in the blue square on the right of the screen.