STRAIGHT & LEVEL Geoff Robison EAA #268346, VAA #12606 president, VAA
Legislation and other highlights Pilot’s Bill of Rights Signed Into Law Excellent news was recently announced regarding the Pilot’s Bill of Rights legislation. This very exciting legislation was unanimously passed in the Senate in late June and was then passed in the House of Representatives in late July of this year. Then on August 3 the president signed the legislation into law, providing us all with many new rights designed to put us on a level playing field with any FAA enforcement actions. This proved be a real bipartisan effort by our Congress, which is no small task with any legislation being considered inside the Beltway these days. Special recognition is in order to Sens. James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Mark Begich of Alaska who sponsored this legislation in the Senate as well as Reps. Sam Graves of Missouri and Dan Lipinski of Illinois who sponsored the legislation in the House of Representatives. We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to these gentlemen. This legislation guarantees pilots under investigation by the FAA expanded protection against enforcement actions via access to investigative reports and to air traffic control and flight service recordings, and it also requires the FAA to provide us the evidence it is using against us as the basis of its enforcement action at least 30 days in advance of any action on its part. Having access to all available information, including FAA data, is critical for pilots who find themselves under investigation or whose certificates may be in jeopardy. This bill also establishes an advisory committee to analyze the notice to airmen (NOTAM) procedures,
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as well as a committee to review medical certifications. The bill also now allows pilots the ability to appeal any FAA decisions for enforcement action in our federal courts. Furthermore, the NTSB is empowered with greater oversight in reviewing FAA enforcement actions. This well-written and comprehensive bill puts us all as pilots in a much better position to challenge these enforcement actions. This may well be the best news to positively impact the GA community in more than a decade, but we all need to stay diligent in our personal efforts to avoid the potential for enforcement action in the first place. It is also important here to again recognize the efforts of the EAA and AOPA, who helped compile the legal issues and enforcement procedure background that led to the final bill that now provides us all this important protection of our pilot’s rights, and our freedom of flight.
Hometown Young Eagles Coordinators Recognized Nationally! Phillips 66 Aviation Leadership Award Congratulations to David and Laramie Resler for being awarded the 2012 Phillips 66 Aviation Leadership Award! This award appropriately recognizes their hard work as Young Eagles coordinators for EAA Chapter 2 and Vintage Chapter 37 as well as their dedication to the program outside of our normal rallies. David and Laramie received their award at the annual Young Eagles Awards Dinner in Oshkosh on Wednesday, July 25. We sincerely thank them for all the effort put forth to introduce
kids to aviation and in making sure our Young Eagles rallies are safe and enjoyable for everyone. The personal efforts of these two YE coordinators is greatly appreciated by the local chapters of EAA/VAA in the Fort Wayne, Indiana, area. Their efforts allowed the local chapters to host four local teens’ attendance at the EAA Air Academy in Oshkosh in 2012. Oshkosh 2012 proved to be one of the safest events ever, and I am especially excited to report that all venues of the VAA area of responsibility experienced excellent results. I am particularly excited to report that the Aeromart consignment area at AirVenture was very successful in its inaugural year of being operated by the Vintage Aircraft Association. Aeromart takes in aircraft parts for sale during the fly-in, with the proceeds being split between the seller, VAA, and EAA. The area exceeded its revenue and volunteer goals well beyond expectations for 2012, as it was ably handled by Chairman Paul Kyle, Co-chairman Warren Baier, and key volunteers Matt Krinn and Brad Hartz. Many thanks to the dozens of volunteers who came to help us through our first year of operations. Special thanks to those volunteers from EAA Chapter 252 who stuck with us and showed us the ropes on the operation of this great membership benefit. Your assistance was certainly key to this success. As always, please do us all the favor of inviting a friend to join the VAA, and help keep us the strong association we have all enjoyed for so many years.
