AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2020 - 18

WAYPOINTS

Fly. Don't fly.

BY THOMAS B. HAINES
Editor in Chief

Should I stay, or should I go?

Editor in Chief
TOM HAINES has
seen many ups and
downs in 35 years
of covering
general aviation.
This one certainly
is the cloudiest.

18 | AOPA PILOT June 2020

THE ROAR OF THE HARLEY-DAVIDSON motorcycle split
the silence along our country road, the rider rumbling by
my front porch where I sat burning through a never-ending stream of emails. Access to a laptop computer allowed
me to escape my home office for an hour to enjoy the view
of Catoctin Mountain-a beautiful sight on this spring
day, but I missed my real office view of Runway 12/30 at
Maryland's Frederick Municipal Airport.
Week Four of working remotely, thanks to
COVID-19.
Silence soon chased away the din of the Harley.
Few cars passing today because everyone is supposed
to stay home. More likely it's a feed or milk truck trundling by. In that silence I notice what's missing-the
sound of airliners and general aviation aircraft. We
live under the airliners' approach paths to Washington
Dulles and Baltimore Washington airports. On any
given afternoon a number of wide-body airliners will
be descending overhead to Dulles from Europe and
places beyond, their high-bypass engines creating that
strange whistling noise in the descent.
Located just north of the Frederick Class D airspace, we often hear light airplanes exiting the area or
doing a few maneuvers-steep turns or stalls. The busy
helicopter flight school at Frederick means Robinson
R22s are a common sight for us.
But not these days. All three flight schools at
Frederick have closed.
I am reminded of another day when a crisp blue
sky also was devoid of contrails and airplane noise-
September 11, 2001. We lived a few miles closer to town
then. Neighbors gathered in the cul de sac that evening to
comfort one another and to try to make sense of the day's
events. As I stepped outside, I was struck by the silence.
Any other beautiful fall evening, the sky would be filled
with airliners up high and people in little airplanes poking around the region, enjoying their freedom to fly. But
there were no freedoms that night. The skies had been
drained earlier in the day as aviation came to a halt.
In this latest crisis, we're trying to understand what
freedoms we still have. The Harley rider was probably
not on his way to the grocery store-a permitted reason
to travel. More likely he was simply recreating, a permitted activity without a lot of definition. He was solo on the
bike, so practicing appropriate social distancing. His face
shield might qualify as a mask. He was probably enjoying himself-seems like a good definition of recreating.

One could draw comparisons to flying, an analogy
that would be especially appropriate for those who live
in airparks. Pull your airplane out of the garage and go
fly around. Land back at home.
For those of us who must drive to the airport,
there's the question of whether that trip is acceptable
in a state when we are told that nonessential travel is
not permitted. Yet many people are still out and about,
going to the gas station, and maybe even taking a drive
for relaxation purposes.
Unlike the motorcycle rider, we pilots have federal regulations that require us to maintain a certain
minimum level of proficiency-at least three takeoffs
and landings every 90 days to carry passengers, flight
reviews, instrument currency or proficiency checks-
some of which can't be done solo, so another pilot must
be sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with you. For some of
us, flying is a part of our job. We may not be paid to fly,
but our pay comes in part because we can fly. For others, flying is simply a recreation-but one with federal
oversight and requirements.
I've heard pilots argue all sides of this conundrum
in person and on social media. Some hold that flying in
this environment is irresponsible because if you have an
accident, you will take first responders and other health
care providers away from dealing with the virus. That
unnecessary drive to the airport and airplanes out just
for fun gives general aviation a black eye in the public
perception, some say.
Others argue that an accident resulting from a pilot
flying with rusty skills also gives GA a black eye. If you
fly for fun-solo or with someone you live with-how
is that different than the guy on the Harley, or the couple strolling hand-in-hand down the sidewalk, or taking
that drive just to get out of the house?
And then there are the local variances. While
Maryland has clamped down aggressively on local
travel, some states have no restrictions at all-yet.
Others have checkpoints at state borders stopping
anyone coming in with out-of-state license plates and
insisting on two-week quarantines.
As this is written in April, there's a lot of gray out
there. How about you? Where do you fall in the fly/
don't fly spectrum? Send me an email. I'll be on the
porch with the laptop.
AOPA
EMAIL thomas.haines@aopa.org

AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2020

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