In Flight USA Article Categories
In Flight USA Articles
Avid Pilot Wins AOPA Rv-10 Sweepstakes Airplane
Aaron Benedetti, a 10-year AOPA member from Livermore, California, is the winner of AOPA Sweepstakes RV-10 airplane.
New AOPA Weather Available Online And Via AOPA App
AOPA members can access the new mobile-friendly AOPA Weather and iFlightPlanner for AOPA via the AOPA app as long as you are connected to the internet.
This Year's NBAA BACE Made Me 100,000 Times Happier
By Paul T. Glessner, M.S.
Tuesday (Oct. 10) morning speech participants. (Paul T. Glessner)This year’s NBAA-BACE held in Las Vegas last month marks the 70th anniversary of the organization and just nine days after the horrific shooting, was the first major convention since the nightmare. Extra security was present in the form of added staff to check IDs and plenty of K-9s. I have luckily attended a handful of these conventions over the last 20 years, including last year’s Orlando location, and I must say, if you have any business in aviation, you must attend! If not for the educational seminars and the tactile touch and display of products and aircraft, the social aspect where new acquaintances today mean more profits and avenues tomorrow. While I will do my best to give my personal overview in this short article, NBAA did a more extensive and detailed summary that can be found at www.nbaa.org/events/bace/2017/newsroom.
The event featured about 1,100 exhibitors, including more than 100 new exhibitors. Attendees, estimated at 27,000, represented all 50 U.S. states and dozens of countries, according to NBAA. Approximately 100 aircraft were on static display, both at Henderson Executive Airport and inside the convention center.
Tuesday kicked off with the leaders of six influential general aviation (GA) advocacy groups delivering a powerful and coherent message of united opposition against ATC privatization during the “No Plane No Gain” Media Kick-Off Breakfast. All the acronyms were represented: NBAA, EAA, GAMA, HAI, NATA, and AOPA.
“This year, we mark NBAA’s 70th anniversary,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. “Starting at our first convention in 1950, 19 companies came together in a hotel to work together and pool their resources. They realized we could do more together than any company can do by itself. And today, we’ve grown to more than 11,000 members.
AOPA Keeps Pressure on as CBP Moves to Keep Records Secret
By Elizabeth A Tennyson (AOPA)
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has filed a request to change its record keeping system to remove some air and marine records from public disclosure under the Privacy Act. But AOPA is asking for a 90-day extension to the comment period on the request to give Congress time to investigate recent incidents in which CBP has stopped and searched general aviation flights operating entirely within U.S. borders. The extension also would allow time for interested parties to understand exactly what the record-keeping changes would mean.
In the meantime, members of AOPA’s government affairs team are meeting with members of Congress to seek support for ending stops and searches on purely domestic general aviation flights. Although the number of stops has decreased dramatically since AOPA began filing Freedom of Information Act requests, the question remains why CBP was conducting such stops in the first place and whether the agency, which is responsible for border protection, has the authority to conduct such stops on flights that never leave the United States.
Mark Baker Named President And CEO Of The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
Mark R. Baker has been named the new president and chief executive officer of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. (aopa.org)Mark R. Baker, a longtime general aviation (GA) pilot, has been named president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), the world’s largest aviation association. Baker is only the fifth AOPA president since the association’s founding nearly 75 years ago.
“We are pleased to announce that Mark Baker has been selected as the next president and chief executive officer of AOPA,” said Bill Trimble, chairman of the AOPA Board of Trustees. “He has all the tools this job demands. Mark brings 35 years of involvement in the GA community as a pilot and decades of experience in leadership positions in the home improvement industry, such as Scotts Miracle-Gro Company and The Home Depot. He has an extraordinary understanding of the importance of serving our membership and advancing their needs. He is well-suited to build on the foundation established by his predecessors and move AOPA forward.
AOPA Applauds as 223 Members of Congress Send Letter Opposing User Fees
Editorial: It Must be February...Again!
By Ed Downs
I doubt there is a single reader who has not heard about the impending “sequester,” the sword being held over the heads of every citizen by both our executive and legislative branches of government as a means of gaining the “sound bite” upper hand on America’s ailing economy. Regrettably, this writer has yet to see a “sound bite” solve problems.