Mark Baker to step down at AOPA

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OneCharlieTango said:
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You people are idiots.
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Difference of opinion. I’ve flown GA in Europe and in Turkey, whatever continent that’s on, as well as been involved with natioanl CAAs regarding GA in several countries in Africa.

Just because the tea is sweet doesn’t mean it’s good.
 
Tusayan said:
I don't think US pilots are idiots, often quite the contrary, but they are often remarkably naive about their good fortune and how it is preserved.
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I don’t think US pilots are naive; often quite the contrary.

They don’t consider their rights and privileges to be mere “good fortune.” Those things are the result of hard work and demands and battles, and pilots demand that the organizations they fund become better fighters and better stewards of their money.
 
TBH, though, I am a little disappointed to see Baker stepping down; I was sorta looking forward to seeing him pushed down a flight of stairs....

(I keed, I keed!)
 
SoonerAviator said:
I don't care if that person is a pilot or not. I would want someone who actually gets something done and proves their worth. AOPA has very little to hang their hat on anymore. In just the tenure of Baker, they could have been instrumental at dealing with the 100UL stuff, removing any ADS-B requirements, and working on a solution to the certified owner-maintained category. However, we got none of that. Only more airports shut down, more mandates, and now Eagle, lol.
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Actually GAMI and multiple others said the GAMI STC would not have happened with Baker and AOPA.
BasicMed also passed, largely because of AOPA.
There are plenty more.

Tim
 
Easy to complain, not so easy to step up and do a better job. I've had an opportunity to work directly with AOPA reps on local airport issues. They have been a big help in some cases, and a disappointment in others. Nothing is perfect. Until I see some other organization doing what they do better, I'll keep sending my money. FYI, I'm also a member of EAA, RAF and my local airport association.

C.
 
Half Fast said:
I don’t think US pilots are naive; often quite the contrary.

They don’t consider their rights and privileges to be mere “good fortune.” Those things are the result of hard work and demands and battles, and pilots demand that the organizations they fund become better fighters and better stewards of their money.
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The current US situation in GA was not the result of hard work and demands and battles by lobbying organizations, it was the result of 20th century Federal Government policy that considered aviation to be valuable to everyman, not just to airlines and government/military. That view was not how aviation was or is seen by other national governments and for the American pilot of today, the legacy of that former Federal Government leadership is nothing but good fortune. What the GA representative organizations do is stop opportunist 21st century politicians and regulators from removing what their predecessors put in place, but those organizations didn't even exist when it was created.

The one historical example of where a representative organization had a meaningful effect on fundamentally creating US aviation policy is the EAA and predecessor organization's activity of the early 1950s that helped create the US Experimental Amateur Built regime. This doesn't exist in most other countries, where the design configuration of something like an RV has to be reviewed and approved before it can be flown, and maintained without change unless further approval is granted. Also no IFR.
 
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jbarrass said:
Yup, that was Inhofe's work.

AOPA was pushing a competing proposal to limit the expansion of SP to the recreational pilot level. They came around at the end though and that did help, but they weren't leading..
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Inhofe's was instrumental. But he had tried for a very long time and got nowhere until he teamed up with AOPA and NBAA ( maybe EAA and couple others were involved ). Same thing for the multiple pilot bills of rights laws.
The grass roots pushing and advocacy the organizations like AOPA only work when combined with lobbying efforts. From an acquaintance who is a lobbyist, as a general rule. Lobbyists can provide information, and can help provide messaging material. However, unless the issue catches the eye of multiple senior members of congress. The effort will go nowhere. The constituents have to advocate also. On the flip side, if the constituents advocate, and there are no lobbyists to provide messaging and information, someone will attack the effort and turn it into a partisan cluster f*** and then it becomes significantly harder for it to come to fruition.

Tim
 
Without AOPA, there would've been no Melissa Rudinger. She was the only non-FAA employee in the building in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. At the time, there was a serious proposal to eliminate GA entirely, forever. Tom Haines told her to stay there until we got promises of resumed GA. I can't remember how long it took, but I think she was there for days.
 
Racerx said:
How many of those 80,000 could pass a 3rd class?
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I suspect a large percentage are like me; they could pass a 3rd class again today, but see no need to jump through the FAA's expensive and onerous SI hoops, not to mention the delays. My SI medical took 3 months from time of application (would take longer now) and was only good for 1 year from date of application. So essentially it was only good for 9 months. What would I get now if I tried for a fresh 3rd class, maybe 4-6 months of having a valid medical?

Basic Med is good for four years between physician visits and requires no unneccessary testing or reports, plus nothing goes to OKC and there's no delay at all. Why would any of us stick with 3rd class if we don't need it?
 
tspear said:
Actually GAMI and multiple others said the GAMI STC would not have happened with Baker and AOPA.
BasicMed also passed, largely because of AOPA.
There are plenty more.

Tim
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The GAMI comment was almost certainly a platitude to thank them for their minimal impact. GAMI was working on that fuel for a decade and AOPA came in at the end to tag onto it after all of the hard work was done. BasicMed was led by Senator Imhoff. AOPA may have had a part in it, but it still wasn't their idea nor were they the ones doing the leg work.
 
OneCharlieTango said:
Without AOPA, there would've been no Melissa Rudinger. She was the only non-FAA employee in the building in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. At the time, there was a serious proposal to eliminate GA entirely, forever. Tom Haines told her to stay there until we got promises of resumed GA. I can't remember how long it took, but I think she was there for days.
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She is exceptional for sure.
 
SoonerAviator said:
The GAMI comment was almost certainly a platitude to thank them for their minimal impact. GAMI was working on that fuel for a decade and AOPA came in at the end to tag onto it after all of the hard work was done. BasicMed was led by Senator Imhoff. AOPA may have had a part in it, but it still wasn't their idea nor were they the ones doing the leg work.
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Based on the number of times, and others who were involved, I believe you are wrong.

Tim
 
I see from this thread that AOPA has had some successes, but I felt that the organization's effectiveness in general started going down when Phil Boyer left.
 
Half Fast said:
Why would any of us stick with 3rd class if we don't need it?
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It was an honest question, of the 80,000 on basic med how many would have a special issuance vs just not want to deal with an AME every 2 years? I'm with you as far as going to basic med if you can get by without it. Im 34 and being borderline 20/40 corrected in my lazy eye, do I go basic med or just get a soda next time around? Maybe by then Canada will accept it, but until then that sways my decision.
 
MauleSkinner said:
you’re assuming that if Canada accepts BasicMed, they won’t have an equivalent for Canadian pilots?
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Canada already has a simplified medical. They are unlikely to accept Basic Med unless the FAA also accepts the Canadian medical.

The better and more universal solution wold be to get IACRA acceptance of Basic or something similar.
 
I was unhappy with AOPA for a long time. Prices kept going up. Services went down. Other than Dickie McSpadden, I wouldn't give them a plug nickel. The canning of the red board was the last straw.
 
I do miss the red board a smidge. Why on earth did they get rid of that? It had to cost them peanuts. Like 1/10,000th of a Baker per year. Plus I could at least assume participants were not only pilots, but cared enough about GA to foot the $50 membership fee to enable their yelling past one another about FAR/AIM minutia.
 
Does AOPA have a signature event like airventure or sun n fun? Or do they just show up to those events and ask you to donate everything to them when you kick off?
 
Racerx said:
Does AOPA have a signature event like airventure or sun n fun? Or do they just show up to those events and ask you to donate everything to them when you kick off?
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They used to have the expo/summit, which was a big, long event, then sometime around 2013 they changed the format to multiple regional weekend flyi ns. That hasn’t seemed to have survived COVID though.

Since the departure of Haynes, AOPA’s public efforts have seemed stalled and rudderless; the loss of McSpadden and Baker’s pending departure, is really accelerating that perception I think.

AOPA needs to figure out a way ahead to regain relevance, and hope is not a plan.
 
Todd82 said:
Hey a bunch of kids all around Atlanta have gotten to fly the pimped out sweepstakes 170 for months now thanks to AOPA. By the time they give it away it will be due an overhaul again.
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If you get tired of that you can watch videos of them flying the Extra 300 ... :rolleyes:
 
People resenting how much Baker gets paid, the use of the 170, the Citation, the Extra. . . . .you sound just like those who resent “those rich guys in their little airplanes,” who build houses under approach paths and then lobby to have the airport closed.

Envy is ugly. In this case, you might even call it maladaptive. It’s certainly ironic.
 
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