AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2017 - 106

DETAILS

13,257

The number of guests
at the National Aviation
Community Center in 2016.

News & Notes
MEMBERSHIP

Your place at the airport
AOPA invites the community past the fences
B Y I A N J. T W O M B LY

ON ONE OF AOPA PRESIDENT and CEO
Mark Baker's first days on the job he
made it clear that one of his priorities was
to work to make airports more inviting.
Although most people would assume that's
by breaking down fences that are both virtual and physical, there are other ways to
ensure the community understands the
treasures a local airport can hold.
A mostly forgotten 50-year-old hangar
at the south end of Frederick Municipal
Airport turned out to be AOPA's tool for
bringing in the local community. Built for
a long-shuttered aviation maintenance program at the local community college, the
hangar had for years housed emergency
equipment and other nonaviation assets.
AOPA jumped at the chance to prove the
hangar's value to the airport when it came
up for lease more than two years ago.
Throw in some maintenance upgrades,
a sound system, two combination classrooms/meeting rooms, and a few coats
of paint and today you have the National
Aviation Community Center, a model for
how the public can easily access an airport.
The NACC functions primarily as a corporate hangar, housing training airplanes
and corporate aircraft. This makes it similar
to the many thousands of hangars around the
country that serve the same purpose. But by

adding a Redbird FMX simulator and just a
little signage, the hangar becomes a gateway.
In the past few years hundreds of community events have been held at the hangar,
from weddings and graduation parties to
Boy Scout camps and local business leader
meetings. It's also housed events during
AOPA Fly-Ins, and Wings and Wheels, an
AOPA-sponsored car and airplane show.
Michael Woods is responsible for making sure these events run smoothly. "The
NACC is your place at the airport," he says.
Woods thinks the NACC can be a model
for other airports, in part because it's the
same type of working bulk hangar found all
over the country, with a few key elements
added. "We've put a lot of thought into the
equipment and the space," he says. "Plus
you can't beat the location."

MEET MICHAEL WOODS, AVIATION EVENT PLANNER AND MANAGER,
NATIONAL AVIATION COMMUNITY CENTER
It can be difficult to find the right person to run an active hangar that pulls
triple duty as an event space and public
access point to the airport. Michael
Woods perfectly fits the job. Woods is a
private pilot working on his instrument
rating and rotorcraft add-on. He's also a
Part 107 certificated drone operator and
an FAASTEAM representative.
His aviation background includes
owning and operating an aircraft sal106 | AOPA PILOT April 2017

vage company. "We
used to have the market on Piper Cherokee
parts," he says.
Woods switches
from happy host for
a diverse group of
events, to meeting
with city planners, to facility manager.
He spent approximately 40 weekends
last year at the community center.

BY THE NUMBERS
The flight school is an airport gateway for student pilots. The FBO is
a gateway for certificated pilots.
But aside from one or two events
a year, the airport was largely offlimits for Frederick, Maryland-area
residents before AOPA opened
the National Aviation Community
Center. The numbers from 2016's
events show things have changed
radically.
* More than 13,000 people came
through the NACC during scheduled events, many of them community based and nonaviation
focused.
* The NACC houses one Redbird
FMX and five AOPA Jay flight
simulators. The desktop Jays are
available for kids, while the FMX is
open for adults to use during most
events.
* More than 150 events were held
last year at the NACC, including a
few weddings, some graduation
and birthday parties, and one Boy
Scout and one Cub Scout camp.
* The biggest event was Wings
and Wheels, which attracted almost
2,500 attendees in its first year.
* Although creating pilots isn't the
NACC's primary purpose, Woods
estimates he spoke with more than
150 prospective students at events
throughout the year.



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2017

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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202212
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202211
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202210
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202209
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202208
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202207
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202206
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202205
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202203
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202201
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202111
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202110
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202109
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202108
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202107
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202106
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202105
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202103
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202101
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202012
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202003
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_201912
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_201911
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