Dan Carroll - Minnesota Pilots Association

Summary notes from the Metropolitan Airport Commission meeting on July 15, 2013
By
Vivian Starr, July 17,2013

At the Full Commission meeting, Hamilton Bell of the Farnsworth Aerospace PreK-8 Magnet School/Johnson High School in East St. Paul announced that Fed Ex will deliver a Boeing 727 to St. Paul Downtown Airport on Tuesday, July 30, at 10 AM. This plane is being donated by Fed Ex and will be converted to a “Learning Jet.” After conversion, the plane will contain a series of classrooms and a number of flight simulators.

Farnsworth Aerospace has two school buildings south of Lake Phalen, PreK through 4^th grade is in one building and 5^th through 8^th grade in another. The nearby Johnson High School continues the Aerospace learning experience through 12^th grade.

These are STEM schools having a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. The big plus at Farnsworth is that they have added another letter to create a STEAM program—Science, Technology, Engineering, Aerospace, and Math. The motivation of having Aerospace woven through all of the subjects being taught really inspires young people.

The Learning Jet will be another campus where students can have classes in a real jet aircraft amid the action of a real tower-controlled airport. The jet will be parked near Signature Aviation’s building nearest the river.

For more information on Farnsworth, please visit their website: http://farnsworth.spps.org/

Another topic of interest to Reliever tenants was a discussion of the MSP Airport Watch Program. MAC is working to establish a similar volunteer watch program at the Anoka County Blaine Airport.

Blogger and pilot Dale Smith writes about his journey back into the cockpit after a 12-year hiatus from flying. He says that finding the right instructor is a key part of getting back in the left seat. Flying online (7/10), Source: AOPA Aviation eBrief

The Small Airplane Revitalization Act, which calls for the Federal Aviation Administration to streamline the approval process for safety advancements, was sent to the House of Representatives after a unanimous vote by the Transportation Infrastructure Committee. Supporters say the bill would encourage new innovation and investment, double safety and cut the cost of certification for light general aviation aircraft. The Wichita Eagle (Kan.) (7/11), AOPA Online (7/10)

Federal agency silent so far

June 19, 2013

By Jim Moore

Customs and Border Protection agents have been operating well within U.S. borders in recent years. Department of Homeland Security photo.

With a growing number of reports from law-abiding pilots stopped by armed federal agents on the ramp, their aircraft searched by federal agents, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection remains silent, and outrage is building.

AOPA is questioning CBP’s authority to conduct the searches, and demanding a response from officials at the highest level. There has been no meaningful response to date from CBP to Freedom of Information Act requests filed months ago by AOPA and affected pilots.

The complete article can be read online. See the following AOPA web link. http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2013/June/19/AOPA-demands-answers-on-aircraft-searches.aspx?tid=QyTJGK1ZaU2N7dNnpR4y2g

June 10, 2013

Extremely Unpopular and (Potentially Illegal) FAA Plans Could Create Serious trouble For Huerta and Senior Staff

For the few weeks that recent FAA financial demands have been part of the aero-public discussion, its obvious that Administrator Huerta’s Administration has struck a nerve. But… according to sources within the FAA, the current efforts may be but the tip of the iceberg.

ANN has learned that there are, reportedly, extensive discussions within the FAA, as well as outright intent to seek fees for a great number of events and activities that the FAA now deems to be outside of “normal operations.” With the Lakeland Fly-In sacked for well over a quarter-million dollars and setting something of a precedent (which has alienated the Sun ‘n Fun organization, somewhat, from others in the fly-in/event community who think that Lakeland should have fought it more aggressively), the FAA has shown how serious it is in this ‘cost-recovery’ program. Senior staffers within the FAA, led in part by FAA COO J David Grizzle, seem to be looking to recoup tens of millions of dollars in fees by targeting aviation intensive events… and not just those associated closely with the aviation community — but those that result in incresed demands on “FAA resources.”

Read the complete article: http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=ec7fffbc-8739-4256-bf01-1db6aaea7981

If a VFR pilot’s worst nightmare is to blunder into solid clouds, armed only with basic instrument flying skills, a similarly scary scenario awaits the instrument pilot who bets on sneaking through a stormy sector, and loses.

Some pilots, flying aircraft fortified with information technology and systems, have become emboldened to push into conditions they wouldn’t challenge in a less-capable aircraft, completely missing the point that their new equipment was not intended as a dare.

Others taunt the tiger by flying uninformed into areas where convective activity is developing, figuring on squeezing between the most diminutive-looking cells.

Secret program to stop pilots with no probable cause needs to stop.

By Robert Goye /Published: Jun 04, 2013

Photo by James Tourtellotte via Customs and Border Patrol

Enlarge Photo

You’ve probably read reports about innocent pilots arriving at their destinations after long cross-country flights only to be greeted by squadrons of police agents — from local cops to Homeland Security and who knows what other agencies — to search and question them as though they were under arrest. Reports we have heard of this program are that the agents do not answer questions about why they made the “traffic stop.” The story has been reported by AOPA and in The Atlantic by fellow pilot James Fallows. As the story comes out, we’re getting more reports of pilots being similarly detained and searched.

See the following AOPA link for the full story: http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video.aspx

EAA Members – Act Now!
Less Than 24 Hours to Support Senate Letter to FAA

June 3, 2013

For the past two weeks, we’ve been telling you that there may be a point where you can add your voice to those opposing FAA’s effort to charge air traffic fees at aviation events, including AirVenture.

That time is now and time is short – less than 24 hours.

At this moment, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators is asking their colleagues to sign a letter to the FAA Administrator in support of GA and opposed to putting a price tag on GA safety. The best way to help convince lawmakers to join their colleagues is hearing from their state’s constituents. That’s what we need you to do right now.

Go to EAA’s Rally Congress site and click the “Sign the Petition” button to send a letter to both of your state’s Senators, urging them to sign the letter. Don’t wait – do it now. GA needs your support!

Sincerely,

Jack J. Pelton
EAA Chairman of the Board

By AOPA Communications staff

AOPA on May 22 denounced an FAA plan to charge the Experimental Aircraft Association for the travel costs, per diem expenses, and overtime pay of the air traffic controllers it deploys to staff EAA AirVenture, the association’s annual aviation fly-in, expo, and airshow, which is also the largest gathering of civil aircraft in the world.

“This is extremely troubling news,” said AOPA President Craig Fuller. “We’ve warned that the Obama administration wants to hit general aviation with user fees, and that’s exactly what it’s doing to the EAA and AirVenture. To depart from previous practice suggests that the FAA has entered a new, pay-as-you-go era with little regard for safety. General aviation already pays for FAA services through substantial fuel taxes. These user fees—there is no other word for them—are a double taxation.”

By Bruce Landsberg, March, 2012

Sorry to say that at this late date, we’re still occasionally attempting to stay aloft on low-octane air—and just about the time you think you’ve heard it all, there’s a different twist. This winter there was a news story about westbound United/Continental Airlines Boeing 757s stopping off in Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, and Canada to take on fuel. As a passenger on what was billed as a nonstop flight, would you be irritated, amused, or reassured?

The London Daily Mail reported, “Carriers like Continental Airlines have been making unscheduled pit stops as they fly west—in fact, every 43 out of 1,100 flights were diverted in December in Boeing 757 aircraft, reports say. A year ago, that number was only 12”.