2011 will be an amazing year for General Aviation. The following is one of a series of absurd (unless they come to fruition) predictions. The quotes are manufactured (by me) and the only thing standing in the way of making these a reality is the cajones to make it so.
Commenting goes viral
Heeding the suggestion made in General Aviation News and here on our website, 99% of ALL U.S.-certificated pilots will comment (via the United States Postal Service) to all aviation-related NPRMs posted to the Federal Register in 2011, and carbon copy their senators and representative. Noting how quickly and aggressively Congress and the FAA respond to the flood of comments, a pilot will be overheard at AirVenture 2011, “I wish someone had suggested we pilots write to Congress and the FAA before. I’ll bet they would’ve found my comments on LASP and through-the-fence useful.”
Agree? Disagree? Have your own absurd prediction? Post your comments below.
Al – you make a good point on Notams, pilots often forget to check these or simply ignore them. Perhaps one problem is the difficulty in obtaining them. Dealing with FAA generally means a long phone call these days. Notams are online, but one is not always near an Internet connection. Perhaps Notams should be added to AWOS/ATIS recordings, since these are popular and can be obtained by phone or when airborne.
Judging how well our elected representatives have reacted to widespread opposition to government bailouts/buyouts, Obama-Care, ethanol ruining our Mogas, and a myriad of other Big Government Power-Grabs in the past few years, I am not holding my breath that pilots’ voices will be heard by those whose ears are closed to taxpayers. No matter, as the recent election showed, we’re rapidly replacing the Good Old Boys in D.C. and our state capitals with grass roots folks. While we have a long way to go, this is one of the most encouraging developments in American politics since the nation’s foundation.
As an airport manager, I am able to run a safe, efficent and secure airfield knowing that all pilots religiously read thier Notams during thier preflight briefing.
What we need for this to happen and for it to be effective is leadership. The kind of leadership we currently do not have from the existing aviation advocacy groups.