Membership News & Notes

With AOPA, exploring the world has never been easier

It’s summertime and the world beckons—where are you flying this year? Get inspired to take your next general aviation trip with tips and suggestions from AOPA Travel. From travel-related stories written by pilots, for pilots to exclusive discounts on car rentals and hotels, AOPA members now have a range of travel resources at their fingertips. Go online to get help planning your trip with an interactive map showing suggested destinations, which you can view by region. Going farther afield? Check the AOPA travel guides for the Bahamas, the Caribbean, and for international travel. Explore this country’s GA airports with the AOPA Airport Directory—find and determine fuel stops and the best $100 hamburger on your route. Receive even more help with AOPA’s Flight Planner and Weather apps. For inspiration, sign up for AOPA’s free, biweekly travel newsletter, AOPA Travel Pilot. And if you ever find yourself out and about, but needing help, AOPA Emergency Assistance Plus can help.

Web: www.aopa.org/travel

DETAILS: Around 10,000 Members have signed up for the AOPA Travel Pilot newsletter.

ANSWERS FOR PILOTS

Three routes to Alaska

By Kathy Dondzila King

Snow-capped mountains, winding rivers, wilderness stretching beyond the horizon. Alaska! Many pilots have had this trip on their bucket lists for years. AOPA recently held a webinar on the three most popular routes to Alaska.

The Coastal Route (also known as the Inside Passage) offers stunning scenery and may eliminate the need to deal with customs. That said, the weather along the coast is renowned for low visibility, rain, and cold temperatures. It’s possible to have a rare string of sunny days, but be prepared to sit out the weather. Terrain fit for emergency landings can be hard to find for long stretches of the flight.

The Alcan Highway is generally considered the safest route because it offers many landing spots and airports along the way. Although it doesn’t have the stunning scenery of the coastal route, it is protected from the marine influence, giving pilots a greater chance of finding VFR weather. It starts in the Canadian prairie, crosses some higher terrain, and then settles into a route along open valleys, with a highway to follow, if needed.

The Trench is a scenic shortcut through wilderness that runs from Prince George, British Columbia, to the Yukon Territory, intersecting with the Alcan Highway at Watson Lake. It’s a visual feast of snow-capped peaks with flat solid ground below. But since it covers isolated terrain with few towns or airports along the way, plan fuel stops wisely.

For more details, view the webinar on YouTube (search “AOPA routes to Alaska”). If you have questions, please call AOPA Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 6 pm Eastern time, 800-USA-AOPA (872-2672). AOPA

Kathy Dondzila King is AOPA technical communications manager and an instrument-rated private pilot.

AOPA AIR SAFETY INSTITUTE

What’s up with cockpit weather?

‘Datalink Weather: Choices and Capabilities’ video explains

By Machteld Smith

The 2020 Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out equipment mandate is just around the corner (see “P&E: Mandate inches closer,” p. 93). But there’s often confusion about what needs to be installed to comply. Although the directive does not require ADS-B In services, aircraft owners have the option to add features such as in-cockpit traffic and weather. Cockpit datalink weather, one of general aviation’s great technological advances, makes weather flying safer than ever before.

As an aircraft owner you may elect to add ADS-B In weather services through the FAA’s Flight Information System-Broadcast (FIS-B) data system, or you may opt for satellite weather services offered by commercial providers—or to equip with both. Understanding the intricacies of how these weather sources work and what they can do for you can be complex, whether you’re an owner or renter pilot.

As a renter, consider this when you select an airplane at your local FBO: Does the fleet have identical equipment in each aircraft? Or will you encounter different cockpit weather system displays and data feeds—some of which rely on satellites and others on ground-based systems? You should understand the subtle differences between these systems, especially if you depend on weather radar during flight in instrument meteorological conditions.

The AOPA Air Safety Institute Datalink Weather: Choices and Capabilities video reviews the SiriusXM satellite-based system and ADS-B In/FIS-B weather products. Watch the video to get answers to questions you may have on how weather delivery modes affect what you see on the screen, and how they can help you avoid convective weather in flight.

This video is brought to you by SiriusXM Aviation.

Machteld Smith is an aviation technical writer for the AOPA Air Safety Institute.

Member Products: AOPA Finance

After the fact

Can you get a loan after a cash purchase?

You are on vacation and happen to see exactly the aircraft you were searching for. The owner is looking for a buyer. He thinks he has a prospect but no commitment yet, so he makes this offer: Buy it now (close within two to three days) and it’s yours.

The prebuy inspection indicates the aircraft is a great value, and a deal is struck. You transfer the money. Now it is time to find a lender who will reimburse the already completed deal.

In general, you should be able to find financing after the fact. However, make sure you still close through an escrow company. Most lenders will allow a reimbursement transaction only if the airplane originally went through an escrow company. Most lenders would prefer that the seller of the aircraft had background verification, which would happen if closing through escrow. Also, by going through escrow and having a title search, you can verify there are no unresolved clouds or liens on the title.

When buyers seek financing after the fact, they believe that if they don’t buy the aircraft immediately, they are going to lose it. I understand that concern, and it is legitimate. A better thing to do would be to get preapproved, before you start looking. You’ll feel better knowing the financing will be there.

Moving too fast can lead to problems later. A proper title search may reveal that the aircraft had severe damage 10 years ago. Or you may hear from the lender that you paid too much for the aircraft. In that case, the lender won’t be able to loan as much money as you have paid.

Considering aircraft ownership? AOPA Aviation Finance will make your purchase experience as smooth as possible. For information about aircraft financing, please visit the website or call 1-800-62-PLANE (75263).

Adam Meredith is president of AOPA Aviation Finance.

Traps of the speedy deal

1. You may pay too much.
2. There may not be time for a good damage history review.
3. The seller may have had problems in the past.

AOPA Insurance

Premium adjustments

What goes down must go up

By Jim Pinegar

For the past several years, aircraft owners buying insurance have benefitted from a steady drop in what they paid for insurance. It’s been nearly 15 years of lowering premiums, primarily because insurance companies and their reinsurers needed a place to invest their resources.

Unfortunately, those days now appear to be over. In the fourth quarter of 2017, it’s almost as if a switch was thrown and premiums started to rise.

We are seeing premiums increase on many different makes and models of aircraft. Models such as tailwheels, higher-horsepower airplanes, and retractable-gear aircraft were the first to see increases. Now carriers are communicating that other increases are likely to occur. Some increases are marginal, while others may be substantial. The reason? Every insurance carrier, across all lines—home, auto, life, and aircraft—uses reinsurers, and they have sustained sizable losses in the past several years. It could be the two major hurricanes that caused extensive damage, or any combination of natural disasters that have caused losses—losses not only to aircraft but to homes, cars, and everything else that is insured. In the noncommercial aircraft insurance market, for the past few years, most companies have paid $1.06 for every dollar of premium received. That alone causes a difficult financial model.

Now, more than ever, you need to use an insurance broker to find the best deal available in the marketplace. Brokers have access to markets and coverages that you can’t get to on your own. At AOPA, we shop the market on your behalf, finding the coverage you need to fit your budget.

Web: www.aopainsurance.com

Jim Pinegar is vice president of finance and administration for AOPA Insurance.

Pilot Protection Services

Separate pathways

BasicMed versusthird class medical

By Gary Crump

more than 30,000 pilots are now qualified under BasicMed, which provides pilots an alternative to an FAA-issued third class medical certificate, allowing them to operate any aircraft with a certificated maximum takeoff weight up to 6,000 pounds and authorized to carry up to six occupants under certain flight condition limitations.

BasicMed and the existing third class medical certificate are separate pathways toward the goal of safety in the national airspace. BasicMed hasn’t replaced the third class medical; it’s an alternative to the established medical certification process. While the medical certification process is codified in Part 67, “Medical Standards and Certification,” BasicMed is a new regulation: FAR Part 68, “Requirements for Operating Certain Small Aircraft Without a Medical Certificate.” To exercise the BasicMed alternative, you do not need to complete an online medical application, MedXpress, nor do you need to schedule a flight physical with an aviation medical examiner (AME).

BasicMed hasn’t replaced the third class medical; it’s an alternative to the established medical certification process.The FAA’s informative advisory circular, AC 68-1, says it is OK to hold both BasicMed qualification and an FAA-issued medical certificate. However, holding both BasicMed and a medical certificate may be of limited use since a pilot can’t simultaneously exercise the privileges of both. The AC makes clear that the flight must be operated under either BasicMed or the medical certificate for the entire duration. You can’t legally depart while operating under BasicMed and decide mid-flight to change to your medical certificate privileges. The flight operations limitation under BasicMed caps the privilege at 18,000 feet msl; up to 250 knots indicated airspeed, within the United States (or as authorized), carrying no more than the pilot and five passengers, and not for compensation or hire.

If you are BasicMed-qualified but also possess a current and valid medical certificate, you’ll still be subject to certain Part 67 requirements until your medical certificate expires. For example, FAR 67.413 allows the FAA, at any time, to request additional medical history or information deemed necessary to determine your eligibility to hold a medical certificate. So, the FAA can require you to comply with this rule as long as you hold a medical certificate, even if you choose to exercise only your BasicMed privileges.

Gary Crump is senior director of medical certification for the AOPA Pilot Information Center.