EAA Sport Aviation

ADVOCACY ISSUES ON OUR RADAR

THE RELEASE OF LETTERS OF DEVIATION AUTHORITY (LODA) guidance for experimental aircraft has taken longer than anticipated. EAA recently learned that the guidance will not be out for yet another month. The lack of this guidance results in no experimental aircraft transition training, primary gyroplane training, and/or low-mass/high-drag experimental light-sport aircraft training.

CANADIAN OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION (COPA) President Kevin Psutka reports that Canada’s transport minister reversed a decision and will require all aircraft operating in Canada to be equipped with an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) that broadcasts on both 406 MHz and 121. 5 MHz frequencies. COPA had won an agreement with the minister allowing private aircraft to not comply with the 406 requirement. However, the rule had not been finalized.

Psutka suggests that Canadian defense officials lobbied Canada’s Treasury Board, which is one of the final steps for a Canadian law, to implement the requirement. The transport minister has indicated he will not fight the ruling. The ruling includes all aircraft operating in Canada including foreign-registered aircraft. COPA did win a few concessions including a transition period of two years for aircraft operated commercially and three years for privately owned aircraft.

STANDARDS FOR ELECTRIC PROPULSION units continue to be developed. Industry, through an ASTM International committee, has been hard at work developing the standard, which is a key milestone in the development of electrically powered aircraft. The committee hopes to present the final approved standard to the FAA administrator at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2010. Electric aircraft will allow more pilots to enjoy the freedom of flight at a reduced cost and no longer be dependent on avgas.

EAA IN ACTION

IN CONTINUING EFFORTS TO IMPROVE safety, EAA again hosted accident investigators from several government agencies for a three-day course on experimental, light-sport aircraft, and warbird aircraft. The course is designed to help accident investigators thoroughly understand the complexities and nuances associated with the aircraft EAA members operate.

EFFORTS TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF fatal accidents continue. The Amateur-Built Flight Standardization Board (ABFSB), co-chaired by EAA, met at EAA headquarters in June to draft two advisory circulars (ACs) on the operation of amateur-built aircraft and loss of control. The ABFSB will make formal recommendations to the FAA regarding the establishment of specific pilot training requirements for aircraft with flight characteristics that pose a “moderate” or “high” risk of fatality.

THROUGH THE FENCE (TTF) discussions are ongoing. EAA met with FAA Airports Division in Washington, D.C., to discuss TTF operations. The initial version of FAA Order 5190.6B attempted to prohibit residential through-the-fence operations and apply a national one-size-fits-all policy. EAA and its members voiced opposition to such a policy and offered to craft a more workable solution. The FAA agreed that the policy needed to be tailored to specific site requirements and subsequently visited several airports throughout the country.

FUELS FOR THE FUTURE

By Tom Poberezny, EAA President and Chairman

AN IMPORTANT ISSUE FOR ALL of us who fly is the transition to an unleaded aviation fuel in the not-so-distant future. Eventually, 100LL fuel will cease to exist. Obviously, this change will affect the piston-engine aircraft community. EAA, our fellow aviation organizations, and the industry are already working diligently on managing the transition process.

Along with these collaborative discussions, there is already more than 20 years of research in unleaded aviation fuels. EAA, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), and National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) are leading this effort as a unified coalition because it’s important to all of us. It is also important that each of you have accurate information as to the issues, potential solutions, and the timetable for this transition.

Although there is no one “silver bullet” answer, I want to stress that solutions do exist. It will be a series of solutions integrated into a plan that will ultimately keep us flying! Consistent communications with you that present clear, accurate, and concise information, along with all the options, will help you understand and support the ultimate decisions on this matter.

This is a long process. Nothing will happen in the immediate future, but time will go by very quickly. Therefore, we want you to be aware of this issue now. We will also share the work of the technical group, which is highly qualified to study, evaluate, and develop alternative solutions.