AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2012 - 20

AOPAACTION

BY JULIE SUMMERS WALKER

We’re fighting for you
Get in the air and fly, Fuller says
severe recession. A dwindling pilot population. Numerous legislative threats. What can you do? Get in the air and fly. That’s the message AOPA President Craig Fuller will be advocating throughout 2012. “The best action we can take to keep general aviation healthy is to get in the air and fly,” Fuller told attendees at the Northwest Aviation Conference and Trade Show recently. “Keep ’em flying” will be the theme for association initiatives throughout the year. It is based on activities of another time when GA faced tough times: People wanted to ground GA during World War II. “The Army Air Corps was struggling to recruit pilots,” Fuller said. “They came up with a great slogan that eventually turned into a hit song and even the title of a hit movie, Keep ’Em Flying. The idea is still relevant today.” Fuller outlined numerous steps the association is taking to protect GA and help keep pilots in the air. First is growing the pilot population. AOPA’s study of the flight training industry, which took place in 2010, indicated that as many as 80 percent of those who start flight training do not complete it to earn a pilot certificate. In the study, key criteria emerged that play a role in student retention. AOPA is sharing that information with the flight training community “to help schools and instructors recognize what works and put that knowledge to use in their own businesses,” Fuller said. A new program that will recognize flight schools and instructors who “do it right” has been launched. The AOPA Flight Training Excellence Awards, brought to you by Flight Training magazine, will be given annually to flight schools and individual flight training professionals. Nominations are being accepted (http:ft.aopa.org/awards) and will be viewed by a panel of judges assembled by the magazine. Winners of the award will be recognized at AOPA Summit in Palm Springs, California, this October. Those who nominate will receive an AOPA Flight Training Excellence Award challenge coin. The MyFlightTraining website also has been launched. This site is specifically designed to help student pilots through the training process. Students can use the site to log milestones, receive customized information for their point in training, and ask questions of the experienced flight instructors in AOPA’s Pilot Information Center. A second step in the Keep ’Em Flying initiative is getting pilots back into the air. In conjunction with EAA, AOPA is working to extend to all pilots the ability to fly 180-horsepower or less, single-engine, four-seat aircraft without a third class medical certificate. An estimated 56,000 aircraft would be eligible to be flown under the request. “Our proposal would give pilots who fly recreationally in certain
AOPA PILOT •

types of aircraft the option of getting a third class medical or participating in recurrent online training that will teach pilots how to self-certify their fitness to fly,” Fuller said. Another aspect of increasing the number of active pilots is getting those who have stopped flying back in the left seat. Last year, the association launched the AOPA Aircraft Partnership Program to match co-owners, making owning an aircraft a reasonable proposition for more pilots. So far, more than 10,000 participants have signed up for the program. Step three is fighting for pilots in Washington, D.C. This means preventing the $100-per-flight user fee for turbine general aviation and commercial operations. “Our friends in Congress have repeatedly said the user fees are dead on arrival and we will work closely with them again to try to put a stop to this latest user fee plan,” Fuller said. “These efforts will take time, but I believe they will make a difference with your help. When people choose to focus on the most successful and positive practices in any kind of endeavor, things improve,” said Fuller.

AOPA President Craig Fuller speaking in Washington state.

Plus— View the video.

20 • APRIL 2012

AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2012