As 2008 Fades

Much has transpired in the last few weeks. Plum Island Aerodrome while enjoying another good flying season has at the same time continued to reach out to the community. We enjoyed the summer concert, cookouts,a wedding and a wonderful day hosting the young friends of the farm.
We made a promise to share our historic airfield with the community and we will continue to honor that promise. We also solicit any help we can get from the public by way of donations to our 501(C)3 organization or by volunteer help.
Charlotte and I went out to AOPA Expo in San Jose representing Plum Island Airfield and combined it with some much needed away time. After three years of caregiving for her mother and administering her estate, Charlie more than earned the trip. We visited her niece Monique in San Francisco and then we went up to Santa Rosa to do some wineries in the Sonoma region. While there, we got a chance to meet with Lee and Pat Beery who ran the Varga Squadron for many years. We spent time at their home and airport checking out his Varga and a lot of Varga history in the VG21 room at their home. Through Lee I was introduced to Frank Gulick(a former owner of my Varga) and we got together on a beautiful day at the Charles Schulz Santa Rosa Airport. Photos and stories were exchanged along with some great ribs at a local restaurant.Photos show Lee and Frank and then Frank and yours truly in front of Lee's Varga.
At the AOPA meetings,Charlotte took extensive notes and her report follows and should be of interst to us all as it impacts the future of general aviation.


AOPA EXPO – Nov 6-8, 2008

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) held its annual Exposition (Expo) Conference on November 6-8, 2008 in San Jose, California. 2B2 was once again well represented at this year’s Expo. Al Hasapis attended in his role as 2B2’s representative within AOPA’s volunteer Airport Support Network (ASN). Charlotte (“Charlie”) Vincent tagged along as the newest addition to 2B2’s blog reporter network (also volunteer). Al won the award for the ASN volunteer who traveled the furthest to attend the event! ASN management was clearly impressed by Al’s commitment to ensure that two way lines of communication are kept open between the national organization and our local airport. As an AOPA ASN representative, Al keeps 2B2 informed of what’s happening at the national and regional levels to threaten or support General Aviation (GA). Al, in turn, leverages his ASN channel to make AOPA aware of the impact of these national and regional developments on 2B2, as well as to keep AOPA abreast of the developments and needs of our GA airport on Plum Island. (Charlie is still eagerly awaiting her award)

The exposition came on the heels of the November 4 general election which set the stage for this year’s Expo. From the general opening session on, the impact of the election on General Aviation was the primary recurring theme. In general, the overall sentiments were cautiously optimistic and encouraging from AOPA President, Phil Boyer and the panel of guest speakers he assembled for the opening session. A few key headlines were emphasized in the opening session and carried into the ASN Meeting and various seminars. We thought the following were particularly worth noting.

• AOPA is generally non-partisan in gathering support for General Aviation from the national aviation policy makers; In fact, the strength of AOPA is its non-partisan and diverse membership.

• GA lost two key supporters with the election losses of Representative Hayes and Senator Sununu; Senator Sununu had been particularly instrumental in advocating for and sponsoring the amendment to stop GA user fees.

• The new administration & congressional members are more centric than left in their views; Therefore the shift in GA policy may not be as dramatic as GA may think and fear.

• Based on his campaign, the Obama administration is likely to insert discipline on congress and to insist on change; It is believed that the new administration will signal transition and drive change in policy for GA.

The panel saw both opportunities and challenges for AOPA as result of the 2008 Election. We highlighted those which we believe AOPA is intent to act on, and for which 2B2 might consider taking action at the local government and community level, as well as with our Landlord, Historic New England (HNE).

• Get the attention of the new administration and congress on the issues of General Aviation, i.e., despite the overriding issues with the economy.

• Educate/Advise the key players on the issues and role of General Aviation, e.g., existing congressional members who take on new committee roles, new congressional members, as well as the new president and his administration.

Speakers in both the general opening session, as well as in the ASN sponsored meetings and seminars, cited specific targets for the awareness building and educational campaigns which AOPA is planning to launch with the new administration and congress. We took note of those target areas which were repeatedly emphasized and which may apply with appropriate selection and adjustments to a 2B2 sponsored awareness building/educational campaign with HNE and the local community/government.

• Raise awareness on what General Aviation does for everyone and what it brings to the community, e.g., GA is key to the economy because it moves packages/people in all aspects of economy.

• Educate/advise on the key opportunities and challenges facing GA:
o Why GA infrastructure must be modernized and transformed, i.e., air traffic control, cockpits, etc.
o How environmental issues and changes impact the need to modernize aviation and how we can approach modernizing general aviation, e.g.,
 Need for lead based fuel alternative with supporting lead controls
 How to address the cost burden for small airports to have two types of fuel
o How to bring the next generation of technology to General Aviation, e.g., new satellite based technology to replace radar technology
o How to fund these modernization needs
Finally there was much discussion and speculation on who the new administration will appoint to head the FAA and Department of Transportation (DOT). Potential candidate names included Jane Garvey, the former head of the FAA and AOPA President, Phil Boyer who is retiring after 18 years. There was general agreement that the following qualifications for both these appointments must be met, i.e.
• Proven leadership and management ability
• Proven interpersonal skills to deal with congress, air traffic controllers, etc.
• Personal background and interest in aviation.
We left AOPA Expo 2008 convinced and optimistic that AOPA is committed to work collaboratively and quickly with the new Obama administration and congress to protect the rights of General Aviation and to lobby for action and policy change which address the critical issues and challenges facing General Aviation.
And finally Charlie got a picture of me and an old hockey buddy.