Avionics News September 2012 - 14

In this monthly column, Ric Peri of the AEA’s Washington, D.C., office, informs members of the latest regulatory updates.

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P E R I A EA V I C E P R ES I D E N T O F G OV E R N M E N T & I N D U ST RY A F FA I RS

The Country is Normal
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imply put, I am happy to report that the country adding new and better communications, and developing is normal. Let me explain. and introducing new goods and services. So, as I was As I write this month’s column, I sit in a hotel cruising along the Interstate heading west, it reminded room in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Yes, the fall AEA Regional me how the AEA does what normal companies do when Meetings are underway in Latin America. To date, I the economy is tight. We tighten our belt, refresh our have had the opportunity to visit one AEA member products and examine ways to better serve our customer company in Sao Paulo and had a very productive four– you. hour meeting with the Brazilian Aviation Authority, This year, AirVenture was anti-climatic for me. ANAC. Those discussions were normal and predictable. Yes, the show was cleaner, more organized and more You see, AEA members, as well as the international sophisticated. The food courts and personal facilities aviation authorities, face the same issues of advancing technologies and declining resources. We, the men and women who build, maintain and fly Typically, I write these articles continuously throughout the month, today’s aircraft, have made aviation the safest form and this one in particular started on of transportation, not the bureaucracy. the road to Oshkosh, Wis. As many of you know, I travel to Oshkosh each year on my trusted motorcycle, a 10-year-old BMW, to attend the EAA AirVenture. It’s have expanded. Some of the dependable stalwarts of the usually a two-day trip each way, so I get lots of time to show were disappointingly displaced. I’m not sure of see Middle America. It also is a great time to perform a the politics or financial arrangements (or lack of) and mid-year review of where we have been and where we wouldn’t want to venture into that morass. But, overall, are going for the rest of the year. the week of AirVenture was, well, normal. Some of the This year’s departure was delayed a bit because of my show stayed the same, some was freshened up and some schedule in Washington, D.C. The week of my departure was simply new. There seemed to be a few more open included testifying before the National Transportation spaces than in good years, but then again, that would Safety Board regarding emergency locator transmitter be normal given the overall lack of new and novel in installation and maintenance issues, followed by a threegeneral aviation. The press releases and new products day Part 23 ARC meeting. The hustle of my departure this year seemed a bit more evolutionary and lacked the week meant I had to adjust my routing to keep weekend excitement of revolutionary products of years past. This schedules and commitments. For the AEA, this year isn’t a complaint, and we need evolutionary change. has been unbelievably busy; revising current products, Looking back through the history of AirVenture, the
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Avionics News September 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News September 2012