Fueling aviation’s future

Have you taken an AOPA Air Safety Institute (ASI) course and improved your flying skills? Have you joined a flying club in your area and made a cadre of great friends? Have you returned to the skies after years of being grounded? These and many other important initiatives to make general aviation stronger are all part of ASI and You Can Fly, AOPA’s groundbreaking approach to address the declining pilot population. But these programs and initiatives are not funded by AOPA member dues. Surprised? Your member dues fund advocacy, publications, and other services, but they cannot cover the extensive efforts needed to keep the skies safe and get more pilots flying.

“AOPA can offer these programs because of generous donor contributions to the AOPA Foundation,” said Jennifer Storm, vice president of the AOPA Foundation.

Through tax-deductible donations, the AOPA Foundation provides critical support for the programs that make pilots safer, strengthen our pilot community, and ensure future generations can share our dream.

“These programs are directly suporting current, future, and even lapsed pilots. Funding their expansion is a simple and effective way to give back to the aviation community,” Storm said.

The AOPA Foundation offers several ways to contribute (see “Ways to Give,” at right) and donors can select the best fit for their financial situation.

“At events, donors tell me they give but ‘it’s not much.’ It’s an opportunity for me to tell them that every dollar adds up,” she said.

Ways to Give

• Friends of General Aviation
  Donors at this level are dedicated to supporting general aviation through monthly gifts to the AOPA Foundation.
• Hat in the Ring Society
  Donors at this level help shape and build a stronger future for general aviation with annual gifts of $1,000 to $5,000.
• President’s Council
  Donors at this high level of commitment to aviation philanthropy contribute annual gifts between $10,000 and $19,999.
• Legacy Society
  The most committed AOPA Foundation donors who provide future gifts through their wills, trusts, retirement accounts, or other arrangement. A powerful way to make a truly significant impact on the future of general aviation (their names are included on the Legacy Wall at AOPA headquarters, above).

There are many levels of giving and every dollar is critical and contributes to the future of general aviation.

Web: www.aopafoundation.org/donate

AOPA Fly-Ins

The news from Carbondale

ADS-B rebate returning; Light Sport changes sought

By Mike Collins

Sometimes the biggest news to come out of an AOPA regional fly-in is the event’s attendance numbers, but the audience at AOPA President Mark Baker’s Pilot Town Hall presentation during AOPA’s 2018 Carbondale, Illinois, Fly-In on October 6 may have been the first to hear some much bigger developments.

“I talked with the FAA administrator yesterday. He was comfortable with me telling you there’s going to be another $500 rebate” for installing Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Out, Baker said (see “P&E: ADS-B Rebate Returns,” p. 88). The FAA has mandated ADS-B for flights after January 1, 2020, generally in airspace where a Mode C transponder is required today. “Now is the time to get it done,” he said.

Baker invited Jack Pelton, EAA chairman and CEO, onto the stage. On January 19, 2019, Pelton said, the FAA will publish a notice of proposed rulemaking that seeks to expand the definition of Light Sport aircraft, making more and heavier aircraft qualify.

With a future revision to the definition, LSA limits may become performance-based. With any change to the definition, additional aircraft would be expected to become eligible for sport pilot operation.

Baker also addressed funding for the FAA. “The Senate has approved a five-year reauthorization that doesn’t include privatization. You have made a difference!” he said. “And now the FAA has five years of certainty” in its funding.

Of course, the industry news didn’t make the event’s attendance figures any less significant. The two-day totals for the fly-in were 179 aircraft and nearly 7,000 people. Saturday’s attendance was boosted by the third annual Southern Illinois Plane Pull, held at Southern Illinois Airport during the fly-in. Saturday’s crowd also included many families.

Some attendees checked out the Embraer ERJ145 regional jet Trans States Airlines flew in from St. Louis for pilot recruitment purposes. “We had a lot of interest yesterday,” a recruiter said. “It’s more families today,” she added.

Sophie LeGore, a senior aviation technologies student at Southern Illinois University who works at the airport’s FBO, and Kyle Stuhrenberg—a student pilot who also works at the FBO—hopped a ride Friday afternoon in Cliff McSpadden’s 1941 Waco UPF-7. “It was awesome,” said LeGore, whose smile could be seen from the ground as the bright red biplane lifted off. “It was unlike any other flight experience I’ve ever had. It’s probably the coolest flight I’ve ever had.”

Stuhrenberg agreed. “It’s definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” he said.

Email [email protected]

Plane pull raises $10,000 for Special Olympics Illinois

More than $10,000 was raised to benefit Special Olympics Illinois during the Third Annual Southern Illinois Plane Pull, held at Southern Illinois Airport during the AOPA Carbondale Fly-In. The event was hosted by Special Olympics Illinois, the Law Enforcement Torch Run, and the Southern Illinois University School of Aviation—which provided a Boeing 737.

Ten-member teams of local law enforcement agencies, SIU students and alumni, the general public—and AOPA employees—participated. “We worked in conjunction with the AOPA” to hold the plane pull during the fly-in, said Gina Fasolo, manager of communications and media relations for Special Olympics Illinois.

Monsta Squad, the two-time reigning champions, won the trophy for the third straight year. Monsta Squad is comprised of correctional officers and sergeants. Organizers said it’s the only team to practice before the Southern Illinois Plane Pull—gathering several times before the event to pull a tractor-trailer. —MC

MEMBER SERVICES

Tips from PIC

Just ask

We are pilots helping pilots

By Ferdi Mack

Have you ever contacted AOPA with your aviation-related question? Imagine being able to tap the collective aviation experience of more than 90,000 hours of flight time. That is what you do when you contact AOPA’s Pilot Information Center with your aviation question, concern, or idea. We have 20 experienced aviation professionals available to answer aviation queries on topics including flight training, aircraft sale and purchase, airport and airspace issues, regulations, aircraft maintenance, and more. We also have specialists who focus on medical certification. Perhaps you have a new medical condition or medication and you are unsure whether your ability to fly will be affected. We can help guide you through the often unclear FAA policy related to your condition or medication in order to get you back in the air safely and legally.

Our digital products support team provides training and troubleshooting with our online digital products such as the AOPA Flight Planner, weather tools, mobile apps, and our online airport directory. If you haven’t tried the flight planner yet, give us a call and we can get you started with setting up your pilot and aircraft profiles.

Members can contact us by phone, email, and chat, as well as in person at large airshows and AOPA Fly-Ins. We help more than 150,000 members each year through direct contact and hundreds of thousands more through other resources, such as our online subject reports, webinars, podcasts, magazine and website articles, ePilot weekly quizzes, and educational YouTube videos. To find out what we can do for you, call us at 800-USA-AOPA (872-2672) or email [email protected].

Ferdi Mack is senior manager of the AOPA Pilot Information Center.

AOPA insurance

Make it just right

Understanding your aircraft’s value

By Jim Pinegar

Overinsuring can cost you, under-insuring can cost you—make sure your insured value is just right. Insuring your aircraft for an appropriate value is probably one of the most important aspects of aviation insurance.

Insuring for too little. Underinsuring is more common than overinsuring. Let’s use the example of an airplane worth $70,000 insured for $50,000. With that aircraft insured for $50,000, if there’s a claim for damage that reaches $35,000 to $40,000, there’s a chance that the airplane will be determined to be a total loss. If this happens, the insurance company writes you a check for $50,000 (the insured value) and it owns the airplane. But now what happens? How can you replace a $70,000 airplane with $50,000? If you underinsure, you run the risk of not being able to replace your aircraft in the event of a total loss. Make sure that at a minimum, you insure your aircraft for what it would take to replace it.

Insuring for too much. When compared to other forms of property insurance (home, auto, boat), aircraft insurance remains competitively affordable. So, the cost to insure a $50,000 airplane for $70,000 is likely not cost prohibitive. But while it’s not costly with insurance premiums, it can be very costly in the event of a significant damage claim. In this example, because the aircraft was insured for $70,000, an insurance company could spend $45,000 to $50,000 in repairs. In this case, you are left with an aircraft that was once worth $50,000, but has had $45,000 in repairs and now has significant damage history. Damage history, especially significant damage history, can negatively impact an airplane resell value.

Whether you own or rent, AOPA has the right insurance coverage to fit your budget and needs. AOPA Insurance Agency offers knowledgeable agents who can talk your language and understand your unique flying and insurance requirements.

Jim Pinegar is vice president and director of operations of AOPA Insurance Agency.
Web: www.aopainsurance.org

AOPA AIR SAFETY INSTITUTE

Traffic pattern tragedy

Don’t forget to aviate in challenging conditions

By Bob Knill

Aviate, navigate, communicate. It’s a simple mantra, one pilots need to remember, and the order of the wording is important. When our workload increases, the “aviate” portion of that phrase becomes even more paramount. As pilot in command, we all know we are the ultimate authority as to the safety of each and every flight, yet often we relinquish that authority. Sometimes we give that control to our passengers (when we want to get them to their destination despite poor weather). Sometimes we give that authority away to our past experience, knowing that we’ve toed a line and came out in the clear (when we don’t actually check to see if the aircraft was fueled before our long flight). And sometimes we hand over that responsibility to air traffic control (when we accept their direction to perform an action that is not the best course to take). But exercising our right to the PIC title sometimes means saying no. It’s not always easy. But in busy airspace surrounded by heavy metal coming in fast, when the go-arounds start adding up in challenging wind conditions, and ATC is just trying to squeeze us in, the aviate part of our mantra can be forgotten.

That’s what happened to one pilot trying to land at a busy airport. In this new Accident Case Study from the AOPA Air Safety Institute, you’ll see how one pilot’s inability, or unwillingness, to take a step back and take back control of the flight cost her and her passengers dearly. When we fail to aviate, we are giving up our PIC responsibilities—and that’s not a good place to be.

Bob Knill is a writer on assignment with the AOPA Air Safety Institute.
Web: www.airsafetyinstitute.org/ACS/patterntragedy

Nall Report findings

While individual statistics can be great for comparing pieces of information, without proper context they don’t always tell the whole truth. This is where statistical trend information shines, and when it comes to general aviation safety, the trends are moving favorably. The GA accident data is in for calendar year 2015, and for the third year in a row the accident rate—the number of accidents per hour flown—has decreased. While the number of accidents had increased that year, the number of hours flown increased more, lowering the overall accident rate. The AOPA Air Safety Institute has dissected the accident statistics and broken them out by causes to help us become better, safer pilots. By understanding where pilots are continually having problems, we all can be more cognizant of these areas and not let ourselves become one of the statistics. Read the 27th annual Joseph T. Nall Report and accompanying GA Accident Scorecard to see how 2016 and 2017 are shaping up.

Web: www.airsafetyinstitute.org/nall

PILOT PROTECTION SERVICES

Medically Speaking

Your first FAA medical exam

Take it step by step

By Gary Crump

The FAA online medical application can be confusing and a little intimidating, especially for a first-time applicant. To start the process, you will need to go online (www.faa.gov) to Licenses and Certificates, and click on Medical Certification. Under the Medical heading, click FAA MedXpress to Request an Account.

1. General section. You are applying as a non-FAA pilot so select that, click on Airman Medical Certificate, and the class of medical. Student pilots only need a third class medical. Complete the demographic information—name, address, phone, date of birth. Your social security number is optional.
2. Prior Certification. This asks about your pilot certificates, prior medical applications, and total flight time.
3. Item 17a. This is the “clinical” part of the application and asks if you are “currently” using any medications. Medications that you are no longer taking are not reportable; only the ones you are taking at the time of the application.
4. Item 17b. This references the use of contact lenses that correct for “near vision.” That is, you need the lenses to see up close. FAA regulations require that you be able to see at least 20/40 for distance in “each eye, separately,” so contact lenses that correct for distance need to be worn in each eye.
5. Item 18. The drop-down boxes provide examples of medical conditions in each category that the FAA expects you to report. Any “yes” response will prompt a comment. In many cases, an affirmative response will require a report from the treating doctor to help your AME determine if the medical can be issued at the time of the exam.
6. Section 19. This asks about visits to health professionals in the past three years. Click on the drop-down box to see how the FAA defines reportable health care providers. Multiple visits to the same doctor such as your family physician for “routine office visits” or annual physical exams can be combined in one report on the application.
7. National Driver Register and Certifying Declarations. This allows the FAA to conduct a one-time query concerning driver’s license actions such as suspension, revocation, or cancellation and serious convictions such as alcohol-related driving offenses.

The form is now transmitted to an electronic “holding area” and is retrieved from the system when you visit an AME for your physical exam. Print a copy of the form and confirmation number. The medical examiner’s office will use that number to pull the record from the FAA system. If you are found eligible for the issuance of the medical, the AME will print it and give it to you before you leave the office. Sign it, and you are ready to go.

Questions? Call the Pilot Information Center medical certification staff at 800-872-2672.

Gary Crump is the senior director of the AOPA Medical Certification staff.