AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2016 - 20

LICENSE TO LEARN

Fly-in firsts

BY ROD MACHADO

From fist bumps to medical reform
FIRSTS? They're things that happen to you that haven't
happened before. For me, there were several firsts
at EAA AirVenture 2016. No, I didn't make my first
long cross-country flight from my home in California
to Oshkosh in my Cessna 150. Why? I wanted to be
home by Christmas. Sure, it's fun seeing the Midwest
while flying low and slow. In my little machine, however, a slight headwind slows you down just enough
to become a legal resident of each county over which
you fly.
My first "first" was a first for me. It was a fist bump.
That's right. Until Oshkosh, I've not had an opportunity to engage in a fist-bump ritual. Then again, it never
occurred to me that shaking hands was so last century. Today, bumping knuckles apparently means the

For the first time in all the years I've attended
Oshkosh, there's been a major change in pilot
medical certification. No doubt you've heard about
it, unless you've been hiding in your bomb shelter.

ROD MACHADO

has been a flight
instructor since
1973.

same thing. An AOPA friend of mine had his hands
full of eating utensils when we met at Oshkosh, so he
formed a fist and held it straight out at me. Normally,
the sight of a fist activates my duck-and-weave gland.
This, though, was a friendly greeting and "bump" happened. A first.
Another first for me was this year's EAA Founder's
Innovation Prize competition. The goal of the prize
is to inspire innovative solutions to general aviation's
important problems. This year's prize was offered in
hopes of finding a solution to general aviation's lossof-control accidents. I was honored to be one of five
judges on the panel that reviewed more than 140
entries. It was clear to me that almost everyone who
submitted an entry packet had given a great deal of
thought to solving the LOC problem. Picking five finalists from more than 140 submissions wasn't easy at all.
The five finalists presented their ideas in front of
the judges and audience, and then answered questions
on their presentations. All the finalists had an impressive knowledge of their products, but clearly only one
would win the $25,000 first prize (with $10,000 and
$5,000 going to the second- and third-place winners).
First prize was awarded to Ihab Awad for his
Airball flight display device. The Airball device

20 | AOPA PILOT October 2016

presents symbolic data-airspeed, angle of attack,
and yaw data-on a smartphone located on the airplane's panel. Changes in the size and location of a
blue circular image (ball) on the display provide the
pilot with a single source of symbolic flight information. The inclusion of symbolic yaw data is important
given that coordinated flight reduces the likelihood
of an airplane spinning after it stalls. This is the first
instrument I've seen that allows the pilot to monitor
three types of critical LOC information using a single symbolic image.
Quite frankly, no one knew exactly what to expect
from the entrants-or what to expect from the judges-
this year. This was a first. EAA plans to offer this
competition every year for similar innovations in aviation safety. Are you feeling innovative? Then enter
2017's contest. If you don't win the prize money, you
may at least earn a fist bump from a judge.
My final first is a really big one, and Mark Baker
and his fine staff are primarily responsible for it. For
the first time in all the years I've attended Oshkosh,
there's been a major change in pilot medical certification. No doubt you've heard about it, unless you've
been hiding in your bomb shelter with your headset
on. Once the FAA finalizes the new medical certification rules, you'll need to do only a few things to fly
without needing a current third class medical certificate (please check AOPA's website for details). First,
you'll have to take online aeromedical training every
two years. This might include training in such things
as hypoxia, fatigue, and drug usage. No doubt you'll
also be asked a few simple questions such as, "What
causes that beating noise in your chest?" and "Why is
air our friend?" I'm sure you'll do fine here.
You'll also need to visit a physician every four years
for an examination that's guided by an FAA medical
checklist that you'll print from the FAA website. You
should be fine as long as you hand the doctor the FAA
medical checklist and not the checklist you use to
preflight your airplane. You'll know that you've provided the wrong checklist when the doc asks you to
remove your pitot tube's protective cover for inspection and crawls underneath your belly to check out
your exhaust stack. I wouldn't want to be the first to
experience that "first."
AOPA
WEB

www.rodmachado.com

http://www.rodmachado.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2016