September 03

On September 9, 2003 AOPA Republic of Korea became the newest affiliate in the IAOPA family. The association's new president, HaeWoon Lee, states, "General aviation in Korea is almost nonexistent. The government bureaucracy and the red tape make the general aviation market unbelievably difficult to launch. I look at the formation of AOPA in South Korea as the beginning of a new GA era in Korea. The fact is that there are so many enthusiastic GA supporters in Korea. These supporters are waiting for someone to lead and begin a new form of association where they can exchange information, learn about flying, and share an experience among the members. I feel that we have an excellent opportunity to launch a new association and make it prosper."

The IAOPA Secretariat recently issued a press release reiterating its opposition to the use of deadly force against civilian aircraft that are not an immediate threat to national security. IAOPA was responding to a 19 August announcement that the United States was resuming the "Airbridge Denial Program," a drug interdiction assistance program, with the Republic of Colombia.

The program provides technical assistance, including surveillance aircraft, to assist in tracking aircraft that might be engaged in illegal drug activity. This is the first of the "Airbridge" programs to resume after the tragic shoot down of a missionary aircraft in Peru in 2001. While the White House said that Colombia now has "appropriate procedures to protect against loss of innocent life," IAOPA still maintains that deadly force against civilian aircraft cannot be justified.

"We support aggressive efforts to stop drug smuggling," said Phil Boyer, IAOPA president, "but as was so tragically demonstrated in Peru, the risks of shooting down an innocent aircraft far outweigh the satisfaction of downing a drug smuggler. The same modern technology and superior intelligence information which makes it possible to identify a suspected aircraft in the first place could just as easily be used to track the aircraft to its landing point where officials could arrest the suspects."

Meanwhile, representatives from AOPA-U.S. plan to meet with the State Department to review the details of the "safeguards" in the Colombian Airbridge Denial Program.

Taking advantage of an aeroclub tradition to organize social meetings during the winter months, AOPA-Netherlands intends to provide them with programs that are of interest to private pilots. Among these programs are VFR navigation, safety, and regulatory subjects. (Editorial note: Sounds like a good way to attract members.)

Massimo Levi, AOPA-Italy President, reports that major changes in the composition of the governing body of ENAC (Italian CAA) should benefit general aviation in that country. The new President of that body will be Captain Silvano Manera, former Alitalia safety/security office chief, is well prepared to work with general aviation interests. The six member Board of Directors, will include (for the first time) three persons familiar with general aviation. They are Fredmano Spairani - former R.A.I. President (Registro Aeronautico Italiano), Andrea Corte - former AOPA Italia President, and A. Zanchetta, a former Alitalia pilot. Mr. Levi feels that real progress can be made for general aviation by working with this group.

The task facing this group is formidable since the entire Italian civil aviation legal code must be revised, last accomplished more than 60 years ago.

A little known recommendation in ICAO Annex 6, Part II (Operation of General Aviation Aeroplanes) that states: "VFR flights which are operated as controlled flights should be equipped in accordance with § 6.6." - 6.6 requires a full panel of gyro instruments and, "such additional instruments or equipment as may be prescribed by the appropriate authority." Therefore, under this recommendation anytime a flight operates in accordance with an ATC clearance it must be equipped as stated.

The Irish Aviation Authority has recently instituted this recommendation as a mandatory regulation in their air law. Unfortunately, all of their controlled aerodromes lie within Class C airspace, in which a clearance is required. Therefore, even though an aircraft is operating under VFR in VMC within the Class C airspace it must be equipped to fly IFR.

AOPA-Ireland appealed the new law, stating that it would have little positive effect on either safety or the quality of air traffic control. The IAOPA Secretariat asked a number of affiliates what their country's regulations required, with the results showing that few States have adopted this rule. As a consequence of these efforts, AOPA-Ireland and the IAA compromised on requiring just a turn and slip indicator for controlled VFR flight, rather than a full gyro panel.

E = Individual flights may be exempted I = IFR instrumentation V = VFR instrumentation

Australia Moving Toward ADS-B Usage

Bill Hamilton of AOPA-Australia reports that Australia is embarking on a major change to its airspace system. The National Airspace System will be based on the North American model and will be compliant with the International Civil Aviation Organization's airspace classifications. "In conjunction with this move I think we will avoid universal mandatory transponder equipage in a quite interesting way. All Australian ATC enroute radars are reaching the end of their lives and replacing them would be prohibitively expensive. Therefore, we are well advanced on trials of ADS-B; all the trials have been giving results beyond expectation, and it is likely that all en-route radars will be withdrawn by about 2008. There will be complete ADS-B coverage by 2005 or 2006 above 20,000' (Class A airspace). Eventually this will be exported to the lower airspace.

"The proposition is that the savings in not having to update the old radar sites (many in World Heritage and otherwise ecologically sensitive areas - very expensive to set up and run) will be so great, that Airservices Australia will pay for the supply and installation of a quasi-Mode S ADS-B enabled transponder, including the GPS receiver, for all aircraft with a electrical system that can generate more than 5 watts of power. Everything else will be exempt." See http://www.airservicesaustralia.com/pilotcentre/projects/adsb/adsb.htm.

General aviation's efforts to secure its airports continues to be strong as pilots embrace AOPA-U.S.'s Airport Watch program. Since it was launched in late 2003, AOPA-U.S. has printed and distributed nearly three-quarters of a million brochures as well as more than 10,000 training videos, 11,000 posters, and 646,000 Airport Watch decals. Every pilot in the United States received an Airport Watch brochure. AOPA-U.S. sent one to every member, now totaling more than 400,000, while the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), AOPA's partner in the program, paid to mail brochures to the approximately 200,000 non-AOPA member pilots.

Airport Watch was developed in conjunction with the TSA to address the fact that the security needs of a GA airport are different from an air carrier airport, and that the needs vary at GA airports. See http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2003/03-3-050x.html.

Dr. Taïeb Chérif (Algeria), appointed by the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as Secretary General of ICAO for a three-year term beginning 1 August 2003, assumed office today. He succeeds Mr. Renato Cláudio Costa Pereira (Brazil) who held the position since 1997.

Dr. Chérif brings over 30 years of civil aviation experience to his new position, most recently serving as Representative of Algeria on the ICAO Council since 1998. In that capacity, he was active in the Air Transport and Finance Committees of the Council as well as various specialized working groups.

Beginning in 1971, Dr. Chérif held various positions of responsibility with the civil aviation authorities of Algeria, where he was involved in the full range of airport, airline and air navigation operations, from regulatory and policy work to government relations and technical projects. He also worked in close cooperation with the aviation industry on a number of technical and commercial initiatives.

IAOPA Secretary General Sheehan and ICAO Representative Hofmann have met with Secretary General Cherif to discuss general aviation and aerial work issues.

ICAO has approved the theme for the 2003 Civil Aviation Day as "ICAO - For 60 Years - Setting the Standards for International Civil Aviation." In 1994, ICAO declared 7 December as International Civil Aviation Day to generate worldwide awareness of the importance of international civil aviation in the society and economic development of States. Aviation organizations are encouraged to incorporate this event into their activities. Further information may be found at http://icao.int.

The U.K. CAA has recently released document CAP 738, Safeguarding of Aerodromes, designed to "offer guidance to those responsible for the safe operation of an aerodrome or a technical site; to help assess what impact a proposed development or construction might have on that operation." While much of it applies to unique regulations within the U.K. it also contains some use perspectives on protecting one of our most valuable resources. See http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP738.pdf.

Register for the World Assembly by 30 September and save 20 percent on the registration fee! Need a registration packet? Contact AOPA-France at WA2004@aopa-fr.org (Fax +33 1 48 35 96 40) or Ruth Moser, IAOPA Administrator, at ruth.moser@aopa.org (Fax +1 301 695 2375).