AOPA Action

When AOPA asks, our members respond--including our student-pilot members. "I can't thank our members enough," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "We asked a very small fraction of our membership to write selected members of the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. AOPA members responded by the thousands with well-reasoned, well-written, and heartfelt letters explaining what a nearly fourfold increase in avgas taxes would do to their flying and to general aviation."

The Bush administration's FAA funding bill would increase avgas taxes from 19.4 to 70.1 cents per gallon, charge GA aircraft fees to fly in Class B airspace, and increase fees for other FAA services. A high school senior and flight student admitted that he would have to stop training if prices increased and said, "General aviation and the source for younger professional pilots would slowly die away." So, Congress: Take note!

New York tries and fails to ground student pilots, again

New York legislators had proposed to prohibit anyone under age 17 from operating an aircraft within the state, but New York pilots made their ire known to state representatives. And the legislators have listened.

During New York Aviation Day in March, AOPA learned that Assembly Bill 3424 had been removed from consideration. The bill would have prohibited anyone under the age of 17 from operating an aircraft or applying for a pilot certificate in New York.

"Vocal New York pilots were the key to preventing this requirement," said Greg Pecoraro, AOPA vice president of regional affairs. "Legislators specifically told me that they were pulling the bill because they had heard from pilots who opposed it." Pecoraro and Craig Dotlo, AOPA's Northeast regional representative, also began discussions with legislators aimed at repealing the student pilot background check law. The association is challenging the constitutionality of the New York law in court.

Young pilot to make inspirational global jaunt

Barrington Irving, an intrepid 23-year-old pilot, is conducting a round-the-world flight in a Columbia 400 to promote aviation as a career to other young people. Irving visited AOPA headquarters in Frederick, Maryland, and discussed his flight plan with AOPA President Phil Boyer.

Irving left Miami on March 23, and his route took him to Ohio and New York before he began the eastern route across the world. Stops were planned in Madrid, Rome, and Athens, and then on to areas such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Alaska. The five-week journey was scheduled to end in Jamaica, where Irving was born.

Weather Wise: Thunderstorms and ATC

You don't have to be a high-time pilot to know that bad things happen when airplanes meet thunderstorms. In a recent year, 25 percent of all fatal weather accidents involved thunderstorms. That's why the AOPA Air Safety Foundation developed the Weather Wise: Thunderstorms and ATC online course. Designed to emphasize the dangers of convective activity and shed light on ATC weather avoidance services, the course includes recreations of real-world thunderstorm accidents and discusses some important changes in the terminology controllers use to describe precipitation.

The self-paced course should take between 45 and 60 minutes, and successful completion can satisfy the ground-training requirement of the FAA Wings program.

Renting an aircraft? Keep AOPA's Insurance Agency on your radar

If you are one of the thousands of pilots who rent an aircraft each time they take to the skies, AOPA's Renter's Insurance is an essential protection you can't afford to fly without. When you rent an aircraft, the coverage that an FBO extends to pilots is rarely adequate. The AOPA Insurance Agency makes it easy to get affordable, comprehensive coverage. And, as an AOPA member, you may qualify for a 5-percent discount! Call 800/622-AOPA or visit the Web site.

Annual AOPA Fly-In set

Want to attend free AOPA Air Safety Foundation seminars, browse through the wares of 100 exhibitors, and see the latest in technology? Plan a trip with your flight instructor to AOPA's seventeenth annual Fly-In and Open House on Saturday, June 2, in Frederick, Maryland (FDK), from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For fly-in procedures, driving directions, or a list of seminars and exhibitors, visit AOPA Online.