AOPA Action: AOPA efforts to bring real-time SUA to the cockpit
Provision included in national defense bill
Led by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), the top Republican on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, a provision in the act was included that requires the FAA and the Department of Defense to establish an automated real-time broadcast, similar to temporary flight restriction dissemination, on the real-time status of MOAs and restricted areas.
The goal to improve operational safety and efficiency by transmitting, directly into the cockpit, the real-time status of military training and other SUA will result in enormous savings and environmental benefits for operators of private, commercial, and military aircraft.
“As a pilot myself, I know how important up-to-date and real-time communication is when you are flying,” Inhofe said. “This is crucial information for all pilots—military, commercial, and recreational. I am proud we were able to include a provision in the NDAA that will provide, in real time, information related to the status of special-use airspace. I am proud to ensure the training needs of our military pilots while giving recreational pilots the opportunity to more safely and efficiently use our national airspace. I appreciate Mark Baker and AOPA for their strong advocacy on this issue for general aviation pilots.”
Different SUA areas have different restrictions, but each has an impact on aviation. There is an increase in fuel costs, flight duration, and aircraft emissions in order to circumnavigate these areas. There also are safety implications for large SUA complexes that cannot be avoided and must be transited in order to access underlying airports. The military itself incurs cost for its own aircraft having to avoid these areas. Today, these military training and restricted areas comprise nearly one-fifth of the airspace within the continental United States.
Update private airport listings, AOPA says
AOPA encourages owners of private-use airports to confirm with the FAA that the information the agency has on file about their airports is no more than three years old, as the agency works to update its data on the airfields.
Currently 163 private-use airports may be subject to removal from aeronautical charts because they have not had information updates for more than 20 years.
Even if an airport is removed from charts, it remains in the FAA’s database. Removal from a chart has no impact on state or local approvals, but if the owner wants the airport to appear again on charts, it would be necessary to inform the FAA that the airport is still active. In that case, the airport would be restored to the chart during the next 56-day chart publication cycle.
AOPA supports work to create new alternatives foraircraft propulsion
A new report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine calls on the FAA and the aviation industry to continue to work toward reducing lead emissions from avgas-powered aircraft. AOPA welcomes innovation in the manufacturing of the next generation of aircraft and the development of new alternative fuels and new power sources. AOPA backs emerging technologies and alternative fuels to help make aviation greener. AOPA’s efforts have centered on several key initiatives:
Piston Aviation Fuels Initiative. AOPA continues to serve as a member of the PAFI Steering Group, an industry-government collaboration evaluating options for an unleaded avgas that can achieve fleetwide approval.
Real-time special-use airspace notification. AOPA championed legislation to have real-time status of military operations areas and other types of special-use airspace pushed into aircraft cockpits included in the National Defense Authorization Act.
Urban air mobility/eVTOL. AOPA strongly supports efforts to develop a new generation of electric aircraft with short-field or vertical-takeoff-and-landing capability. AOPA has been immersed in several aspects of this development, including a push to use the nation’s existing 5,000 public-use airports as an ideal base for many of these aircraft.
New aircraft technology and design. AOPA is among the stakeholders working with the FAA on the Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certificates (MOSAIC) project to encourage the development of new aircraft designs that are more compatible with emerging propulsion systems.
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