AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2014 - 102

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of a UHF-based system of TACANs (tactical air navigation systems) pushed by the
military. If it got its way, VORs would have
been decommissioned by 1965. But AOPA
championed a winning alternative: collocating certain existing VORs with TACAN
in a network of VORTACs.
With the debut of the Air Safety
Foundation (known today as the Air Safety
Institute) in 1950, training programs escalated. The "180-degree" and "360-degree"
courses, designed to help noninstrumentrated pilots safely exit clouds, became
popular-and saved lives. ASI continues this work today, with its many online
courses and videos. The ASI also began
its popular Flight Instructor Refresher
Courses (FIRCs), which empowered the
organization to recertify flight instructors by taking a three-day course; later, the
course was shortened to two days.
In 1952, AOPA came up with the idea
for a common radio frequency pilots could
use to share airport and weather information. No such capability had existed, but
government and industry agreed it was
a good idea, so AOPA's "universal communications" frequency (quickly dubbed
"unicom") came alive. Where would we be

today if nontowered airports didn't have
unicoms on which to announce our positions and intentions?
Until AOPA initiated informationsharing meetings with President John F.
Kennedy's newly appointed FAA administrator, Najeeb Halaby, there was no way
for pilots to appeal charges of violating the
federal aviation regulations. The administrator acted as judge and jury, with no
questions asked. It was AOPA, drawing on
support cultivated from sympathetic senators and representatives in the late 1950s,
which was instrumental in ensuring a
pilot's right to question his questioners.
When Terminal Control Areas (TCAs,
now known as Class B airspace) went into
effect in late 1969, it was the culmination
of more than 10 years of governmental
efforts aimed at keeping general aviation
aircraft flying under visual flight rules
(VFR) away from high-density traffic.
But AOPA succeeded in establishing VFR
transition, climb, and descent corridors at
some locations.
Confusion surrounding the nature
and terminology used in an approach
clearance became an issue after the 1974
crash of a TWA airliner flying into the

Washington-Dulles International Airport.
AOPA asked for a pilot/controller glossary
so that future misunderstandings could be
avoided. The request was granted.
Other initiatives were equally successful, thanks to AOPA. Fees for pilot
examinations and certificates were
dropped from consideration. National
Ocean Survey approach chart binders
were scrapped in favor of disposable,
bound volumes. Flight Watch services
were brought to the eastern United States.
Money in the Airport and Airways Trust
Fund was spent on developing America's
aviation infrastructure, and not on the
FAA's day-to-day expenses.
A plan to expand the number of TCAs
to 65 was rejected after a midair collision between an airliner and a Cessna
172 (the airliner was at fault, and both
airplanes were within a TCA) near San
Diego caused near hysteria about small
airplanes flying in busy airspace. The epithet "If you ride a bicycle, don't drive on
the beltway" increasingly summed up public attitudes toward general aviation. A bill
supported by one congressman even proposed shooting down general aviation
airplanes entering the United States from

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2014