Preflight

Beyond your local airport

Faced with those costs, what are you going to do when your free introductory membership in the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association expires, or your regular membership comes up for renewal? Eventually, you'll find a solicitation from AOPA in your mailbox, asking you to join the organization for $39 per year. What do you get for that investment?

In my opinion, the most important benefit of AOPA membership isn't the baseball cap, or even this great monthly magazine--it's the fact that somebody is looking after your interests at the federal, state, and frequently even the local levels of government. Here's an example of what I mean:

As you know, a prospective student pilot typically visits his or her local airport, takes an introductory flight, and then--after a quick citizenship validation required by the federal government--begins flight training. However, the New York legislature recently passed Assembly Bill 2122, and Gov. George Pataki signed it into law. It will require student pilots in the state to receive a criminal background check, and then wait to receive written permission, before flight training can begin. Flight schools must request the criminal history information of any new prospective student.

AOPA, representing all general aviation pilots, can respond to this kind of problem much more effectively than any of us could alone, and it is doing so. After all, AOPA can speak with the collective voice of more than 400,000 pilots--a fact that isn't lost on government employees, and especially elected officials. It has more than 14,000 members in New York alone.

Federal law and court rulings preempt the ability of states to require these kinds of checks on pilots--regulating aviation is reserved as a federal responsibility. Can you imagine how complicated learning to fly would be if you had to learn a different set of aviation regulations for each state in which you'd like to fly? (Many students--and some certificated pilots--feel that the current federal aviation regulations are complicated enough, thank you very much.) And the federal government already has security measures in place to perform background checks on non-U.S. citizens who want to learn to fly in the United States and verify their identities.

New York isn't the first state that has attempted to regulate flight training. In May 2002, the Michigan legislature passed a law requiring a criminal background check for anyone seeking a new pilot certificate or rating. To begin flying lessons, or to add a new rating or pilot certificate, you had to complete a felony disclosure form, then stand in line with accused criminals at a local police station or state police post to be fingerprinted--and you were charged $54 for the privilege. You could then fly provisionally until the form was processed, which might take as long as 45 days.

AOPA filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Michigan law. The association also went back to the Michigan legislature and worked behind the scenes with lawmakers like Michigan state Rep. Stephen Ehardt (R-83rd) to find a more reasoned approach. In the end, AOPA helped to craft a bill that repealed the felony background checks and substituted a number of common-sense security requirements for flight schools, including procedures to identify a student pilot or renter, controlling aircraft keys, and displaying signs requesting pilots to report suspicious activities.

Do some of those ideas sound familiar? They became part of AOPA's very successful Airport Watch program, launched in March 2003. Based on the proven neighborhood watch concept, AOPA's Airport Watch includes a Transportation Security Administration hotline (866/GA-SECURE) for pilots to report suspicious activities.

Are you a flight instructor who plans to attend AOPA Expo 2006, which will take place November 9 through 11 in Palm Springs, California? If so, please join us for AOPA Flight Training's annual CFI Roundtable. The meeting will be held from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday, November 11, in the Palm Canyon A meeting room at the Hilton Palm Springs, located one block from the Palm Springs Convention Center.

Topics will include the sport pilot certificate and an update on AOPA's Project Pilot, through which AOPA-member pilots provide encouragement and motivation to students in primary training. If you'd like more information on the meeting, please send me an e-mail.