Government Affairs: We are your team

AOPA’s government affairs staff protects many of the flying freedoms you enjoy. Thanks to the efforts of this team, AOPA is repeatedly named a top-50 lobbying trade association by D.C.-based publication The Hill. This is significant as there are thousands of trade associations in Washington, and it is a testament to the outstanding and experienced team in the nation’s capital. AOPA’s government affairs team ensures that GA is represented and involved at the federal, state, and local levels. Top-of-mind initiatives include:

• Ramp and pricing transparency at airports and FBOs.
• Real-time special-use airspace into the cockpit.
• Support of the National Center for Advancement of Aviation.
• Improved special issuance medical certification.
• Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certificates (MOSIAC).
• Non-TSOed avionics.

These initiatives are a fraction of what your association’s government affairs team does each day. AOPA is an effective leader in promoting and protecting general aviation, fueled by support from you, our members, who all share the passion of flight.

[email protected]

aopa.org/advocacy

State advocacy

Through its network of seven regional managers, and a corps of 2,500 Airport Support Network volunteers, AOPA advocates for its members at the state and local level to:

• Promote, protect, and defend America’s community airports.
• Maintain sufficient state and local funding for GA airports and infrastructure.
• Prevent excess state taxation on flying.
• Protect general aviation from unnecessary state and local regulation.

Your regional managers

Alaska
[email protected]

Central Southwest
[email protected]

Eastern
[email protected]

Great Lakes
[email protected]

Northwest Mountain
[email protected]

Southern
[email protected]

Western Pacific
[email protected]

aopa.org/advocacy/state-advocacy

ASI TipS

Eyes outside

Go beyond see and avoid

By Alicia Herron

Midair collisions: potentially disastrous events with a probability that’s low but never zero. Most midairs occur in day visual meteorological conditions on warm weekends within five miles of an airport, aka the most popular time of year to fly and with the best visibility.

The rules for maintaining separation from other aircraft during VFR operations are spelled out in FAR 91.113(b): “When weather conditions permit, regardless of whether an operation is conducted under instrument flight rules or visual flight rules, vigilance shall be maintained by each person operating an aircraft so as to see and avoid other aircraft.” But just looking out the window to see and avoid might not be enough; relying solely on in-flight traffic displays might not be enough, either.

Here are some steps you can take beyond see-and-avoid and flight displays to help minimize the possibility of a collision.

• Proper altitude. Adhere to the VFR and IFR cruising altitudes that correspond with your magnetic course. East is odd; west is even. Observe traffic pattern procedures. Announce your position at nontowered airports and remember that not everyone makes calls or even has a radio onboard.
• Anticipate where you may find high-traffic/high-workload areas. Find out which special-use airspace along your route is active. Avoid these areas or maintain extra vigilance during those phases of the flight. Be mindful of the local sightseeing landmarks and practice areas, and where to find the frequencies used there.
• Lights. Even during the day, external lights make the aircraft more visible. Recognition lights increase the aircraft’s visibility to others by a factor of 10. Turn on the landing light during final approach and departure and in busier areas.
• VFR flight following. While only offered on a workload-permitting basis, ATC may provide another set of watchful eyes especially in busy radar environments.
• Know your route, frequencies needed, and key takeoff and landing data for your departure and destination. Fold charts, prepare your electronic flight bag, preset navigational aids, and program avionics on the ground to minimize head-down time in the air.
• Educate passengers during the preflight briefing—explain basic scanning procedures and have them assist in spotting traffic.
• Observe a sterile cockpit and limit idle conversation during the first and last 10 minutes of each flight in order to concentrate on aircraft operations and scanning for traffic.
• Improve your traffic scan by cleaning bugs or other contaminants off the windshield that can block an aircraft from view and make it more difficult to focus properly. At a safe altitude, use cruise-climb airspeeds to get a better view over the nose.

[email protected]

airsafetyinstitute.org/spotlight/collisionavoidance

Medically Speaking

Remembering Jack Hastings

One of the giants of the aviation medical community

By Gary Crump

The aerospace medicine community said goodbye to one of the true pioneer advocates for general aviation with the death of Dr. John Hastings of Jacksonville, Florida. Jack was for decades the “go-to” international specialist in aviation neurology. He was a tireless advocate for medical certification reform and battled with the FAA for more flexibility and relaxation of medical certification policy for general aviation pilots.

I first met Jack at an Aerospace Medical Association scientific meeting in New Orleans in 1988. I had just moved from Florida and assumed my current role in AOPA’s medical certification section, and the AsMA meeting was my first introduction to the aviation medicine community. Jack was giving a lecture to aviation medical examiners on office neurological exams, and I volunteered to be his “patient” for the lecture. From that point on, anytime Jack gave a lecture at any meeting I was attending, I was there. He was patient, soft-spoken, extremely generous in sharing his knowledge, had a great sense of humor, and was an active pilot who flew his Beechcraft Bonanza A36 from one end of the country to the other.

He obtained his medical degree from St. Louis University School of Medicine in 1965 and served an internship at Los Angeles County General Hospital and residency in neurology at Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education in Rochester, Minnesota, from 1966 to 1969.

He served in the U.S. Army at the 95th Evacuation Hospital in Da Nang, South Vietnam, from 1969 to 1971 and, after leaving the Army, entered private practice first in Park Ridge, Illinois, and later in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was a neurology consultant to the FAA federal air surgeon since 1992 and served as a private consultant for thousands of airmen over more than 30 years he was actively involved in aviation neurology.

Jack Hastings was one of the giants on whose shoulders we stood in the quest for knowledge and learning, and he will be missed for a long time to come.

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

Notice of annual meeting of members
The annual meeting of the members of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association will be held at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, at the headquarters of AOPA, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, Maryland, 21701, located on the Frederick Municipal Airport (FDK), for the purpose of receiving reports and transacting such other business as may properly come before the meeting, specifically including the election of trustees. If you are not able to attend, but would like to appoint your voting proxy, please visit aopa.org/myaccount or call 800-872-2672. —Justine A. Harrison, Secretary