"AOPA's Airport Directory" Is Your Flying Companion

February is here — only one more month and the official spring season arrives in the Northern Hemisphere. Time to dust off your flight jacket, don shades, grab your flight bag, and head for the airport. Wait! Don't forget to bring an old trusted friend — your personal copy of the spanking-new AOPA's Airport Directory. This month, the 2005-2006 edition will be delivered to mailboxes throughout the United States — yes, even the world. AOPA members who requested the directory with their membership renewal will once again be able to go through their biennial rite of swapping out earlier editions at home, at the office, and in the airplane.

What makes this airport/facility directory-on-steroids stand out far above the others? Straightforward, stick-to-your-ribs airport and fixed-base-operator (FBO) listings served up in a simple and time-tested format. With more than 5,300 public-use airports and more than 5,400 aviation businesses, such as FBOs, flight schools, and repair facilities, the volume of data found in these listings alone is by any measure comprehensive and should not leave you feeling hungry for more information. Just let your eyes wander over the airport pages; you will find 2,600 airport diagrams, names and telephone numbers for 28,000 restaurants and hotels, 10,000 car rental and taxi service companies, and to top it off, a hefty sprinkling of local attractions and general notes for almost every airport in the book.

And, new this year are discrete toll-free flight service station (FSS) telephone numbers included for almost 5,000 public-use airports. What does this mean for you? It allows you to use your cell phone to reach an individual FSS without having your call default to your home-base FSS, as would be the case if you called 800/992-7433 (WX-BRIEF). You will also find icons next to FBO listings indicating whether they qualify for AOPA's 5% FBO Rebate Program, have a Meteorlogix weather station, or are an AvFuel dealer. And should you need avionics repairs or installation, check for the small symbol that indicates if a repair facility is a member of the Aircraft Electronics Association.

AOPA's Real-Time Flight Planner (RTFP) — All Fired Up

Introduced at AOPA Expo 2003 just more than a year ago, this powerful but simple tool has already revolutionized flight planning for more than 112,000 AOPA members who have taken advantage of this exclusive member benefit. You, too, can download the small application, powered by Jeppesen, on AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org/flight_planner/). It only takes seconds to install itself. Not sure how it works? AOPA developed a tutorial with a step-by-step demonstration of how to get the most out of the RTFP ( www.aopa.org/flight_planner/tutorial.html).

• Real-time temporary flight restriction graphical overlay with current notams
• Real-time weather map overlay
• Rubber-band route function to avoid airspace and weather
• Store up to five aircraft and 10 routes
• Integrated with online airport directory and current instrument approach charts — MAS

Airport information, and lots of it, crammed into one book is nice. But volume alone does not make a good directory; even more critical for a dependable information source are update frequency and data quality. Enter the AOPA staff that processes some 10,000 mailed questionnaires annually. As if that were not enough fodder to satisfy most data-hungry junkies, the staff also sifts through hefty chunks of information obtained from received daily directory-related e-mail and telephone messages to update the database. New this year will be the ability for FBOs and airports to update their own listings via the Internet whenever a change to their information occurs, making this tome in print and online even more useful than ever before.

Speaking of numbers, during a two-year span some 475,000 directories will find their way into flight bags to assist their owners with preflight planning and to help lay the groundwork for that special $100-hamburger run or an unusual vacation destination. And with some 700 pages chock-full of sometimes hard-to-find flight-planning information, there is just no excuse to be grounded. You will see for yourself that this single directory provides more preflight data for the entire United States than can be found anywhere else. Yes, you should consult the FAA's airport/facility directory regional publications to obtain official government-issued data before a trip. But AOPA's Airport Directory rounds out your careful preparation with easy-to-understand listings and a whole store of ancillary information.

Used with its companion version on AOPA Online, and the integrated AOPA's Real-Time Flight Planner (RTFP) and online weather programs, you will experience comprehensive and easy flight planning, be it a quick hop to a close-by airport, a complex business trip, or a faraway vacation destination.

So how do you get the most out of your directory?

Step one: Pick up your 2005-2006 AOPA's Airport Directory print edition. Look up basic information to begin building your flight plan. For example, find your departure and destination listings, jot down relevant FBO and fuel information, note runway lengths, lighting systems, and nonstandard pattern entries, and take a careful look at airport obstructions and other important airport notes including noise-abatement procedures. Also, check out local attractions and on-field amenities at airports along your route. The book follows a simple state-by-state listing format arranged in alphabetical order by city and airport. At the end of the directory is an index of airports by their commonly known names in case you are unfamiliar with the FAA's city designation for an airport.

Take particular note of airports with small runway sketches as these indicate you'd be able to fly an IFR approach to that airport. And, if you are curious about the 2,000 private-use landing facilities published in this edition, flip through those listings toward the end of the book — you will find telephone numbers to obtain prior permission from the owners to touch down at one of these gems sprinkled across the United States. If your travel crosses international borders you will also find it worthwhile to consult the unique directory of U.S. Customs airports and airports of entry for Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean included at the beginning of the directory, just before the "U.S. Landing Facilities" tab.

Step two: Pay a visit to AOPA's aviation weather online ( www.aopa.org/members/wx/). Get the advance weather picture and assess weather patterns well before your departure. VFR or IFR, you can easily project your trip vis-à-vis the weather by monitoring surface forecast graphics as many as five days out. And get hourly satellite images and U.S. and regional radar at any time you go online, but make a point of this especially before you depart.

Step three: Go to AOPA's Airport Directory online ( www.aopa.org/members/airports/) to scout for information stored in AOPA's Airport Directory database, including the latest digital instrument approach charts and most up-to-date airport and FBO information. Confirm current telephone numbers, area codes, and airport and FBO frequencies for your departure, destination, and en route stops. Conduct various searches that will enable you to find information on lodging, restaurants on the field, and local attractions before you make final decisions about your trip. Print kneeboard-formatted airport sheets for your departure, arrival, and en route airports, including the airport diagrams, runway layouts, and all necessary frequencies and telephone numbers. Store instrument approach procedures for your favorite airports and add any new ones in My Procedures ( www.aopa.org/members/airports/ustprocs.cfm?SA=ShowFavorites) so you can retrieve and print the most up-to-date charts on your day of departure.

Step four: Fire up AOPA's Real-Time Flight Planner. The flight planner, powered by Jeppesen, takes your flight-planning exercise to the next level. If you have not done so already, take a moment to download the small application from AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org/flight_planner/). With just your password and user ID you can enter the members-only section on AOPA's Web site, and have full access to the planner from any location at any time you are connected to the Internet. Check weather and plan your flight. On the day of departure, retrieve your flight plan, overlay current weather on your route, check on active temporary flight restrictions, print your navigation log, and electronically submit your flight plan. ( See page 96 for more details on the RTFP.)

Step five: Pick up your 2005-2006 AOPA's Airport Directory print edition and take along this loyal friend to consult anytime, anywhere, on the ground and in the air.

Machteld A. Smith is the director of AOPA's Airport Directory.