Is AOPA asleep again?

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iflyatiger

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iflyatiger
For your consideration..

AOPA is an organization created and tasked with promoting and protecting Aviation / General Aviation.. It collects your money (to complete this mission?).

Why didn't AOPA take advantage of the incredible outpouring of generosity and the benefits provided by Operation Air Drop? Here we have pilots using their planes at their own expense to help the people of the Carolinas affected by Hurricane Florence and by all accounts it was an incredible success.

They should have gone nationwide with this story and keyed in on a few facts.

- The generosity of private pilots.

- The usefulness of small planes in emergencies as well as everyday

- The usefulness of small and local airports even to people that don't have any use for an airport on a day-to-day basis! For instance tell the public that when an airport is closed the community looses the access by air to that community. The people that where helped by Operation Air Drop would certainly vouch for this fact. Think Santa Monica airport, under attack right now..

This would not be asking for a thank you or a pat on the back for the people that volunteered but it is well within the rights and duty of AOPA to get the word out.

And yes I did a Google search for " AOPA Florence " and sure a few links are returned but they are links to the AOPA website or news articles on the AOPA domain. This search should yield results from all forms of national media and other sites.

Why is it that I have to think of the obvious here? Doesn't AOPA have employees that are paid to think of this type of thing?
 
iflyatiger said:
Why is it that I have to think of the obvious here? Doesn't AOPA have employees that are paid to think of this type of thing?
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Not quite. The AOPA has employees that are paid to think of ways to solicity money from members. I have emails where they directly and deliberately lied to me in order to secure a donation. While I'm keeping my membership, I will not donate another dime to them for any of their political or other activities.
 
I think part of it is that op airdrop is probably more a feel good than do good thing. One semi probably does more than 50 ga aircraft. In senarios where trucks couldnt get to cause of remote or blocked roads then helos are doing the heavy lifting.

Good on people for wanting to help but its not exactly efficient.
 
AOPA spends too much time producing glowing human interest stories about people on their payroll. By the way, did you know Mark Baker has a Cub?
 
I can never get on board with public AOPA bashing. Who else is going to look out for our ability to fly except a large national organization? Just sounds to me like more of the same pilot v pilot unproductive anger that we hear on these forums. If you don't like the direction an organization is going, tell them directly. Or better yet, get involved with it and move it the way you think it should go.
 
There were people at RDU when I was there (Thursday), wearing black AOPA shirts with cameras (still and video), interviewing people, photographing airplane loading, etc. There may be something out soon. But as Airdrop's mission timeframe was about a week (last Sunday was the last day flying), there really wasn't time for anyone to create much publicity. Although the local Raleigh media did a good job getting the word out and attracting donations to the airport collection site. Over 550 flights, 280,000 lb cargo delivered!
 
Cluemeister said:
AOPA spends too much time producing glowing human interest stories about people on their payroll. By the way, did you know Mark Baker has a Cub?
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there are lots of planes owned by those people....I'm two doors up from the community center.o_O
 
There was coverage of the GA flights on the news here in Atlanta.



Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
Feel good stories don't get news channels their ratings, tragedy and pictures of destruction do. I don't fault AOPA for anything related to Florence that is for sure. While I am not a member and would rather put my dollars to EAA, I still think AOPA is a benefit to GA.
 
Same AOPA who just bent over for the ADSB nonsense?

There is a reason I have never been a member.
 
James331 said:
Same AOPA who just bent over for the ADSB nonsense?

There is a reason I have never been a member.
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ADS-B is a good thing. The expensive implementation requirements are not (since you can build one for two hundred bucks, but it's dozens of times more expensive for an approved system.)
 
still waiting for my complimentary membership for being an insurance and cfi renewal patron..*crickets rickets*. Thats how i know these cats arent into aviation. It's just their chosen schtick within the lobby complex in DC.

Kenny Phillips said:
ADS-B is a good thing. The expensive implementation requirements are not (since you can build one for two hundred bucks, but it's dozens of times more expensive for an approved system.)
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A distinction without difference to me.
 
hindsight2020 said:
still waiting for my complimentary membership for being an insurance and cfi renewal patron..*crickets rickets*. Thats how i know these cats arent into aviation. It's just their chosen schtick within the lobby complex in DC.



A distinction without difference to me.
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So if they allowed the $200 eBay items, it would be different?
 
hindsight2020 said:
still waiting for my complimentary membership for being an insurance and cfi renewal patron..*crickets rickets*. Thats how i know these cats arent into aviation. It's just their chosen schtick within the lobby complex in DC.



A distinction without difference to me.
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pay the dam membership fee....it ain't all that much....the cost is not even 0.5 hrs of flying time. :cool:
 
Kenny Phillips said:
ADS-B is a good thing. The expensive implementation requirements are not (since you can build one for two hundred bucks, but it's dozens of times more expensive for an approved system.)
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Well if it’s great let the free market get it into every plane, not forced on me by the federal government.

Cell phones are great, nearly everyone has one, government didn’t have to force it on anyone, and the prices have gotten lower and offer more as time went on.
 
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James331 said:
Well if it’s great let the free market get it into every plane, not forced on me by the federal government.

Cell phones are great, nearly everyone has one, government didn’t have to force it on anyone, and the prices have gotten lower for more as time went on.
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It isn't forced, you don't have to equip. At first I was sour about it because of the price, now the price is so cheap it's hard to complain. I rarely go places I would have needed ADS-B but my old transponder died so it made sense to upgrade.
 
Grum.Man said:
It isn't forced, you don't have to equip. At first I was sour about it because of the price, now the price is so cheap it's hard to complain. I rarely go places I would have needed ADS-B but my old transponder died so it made sense to upgrade.
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Sure you have to, otherwise you’re limited as to where you can fly, even though people were doing just fine flying into those places before ADSB.

Also why on earth does it send the N number, the S in ADSB doesn’t stand for safety.
 
James331 said:
Sure you have to, otherwise you’re limited as to where you can fly, even though people were doing just fine flying into those places before ADSB.

Also why on earth does it send the N number, the S in ADSB doesn’t stand for safety.
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With all of the TFR and Restricted airspace you are limited anyway. Either equip or avoid the areas that require it. If you are that anti authority get an airplane with no electrical system.
 
Grum.Man said:
With all of the TFR and Restricted airspace you are limited anyway. Either equip or avoid the areas that require it. If you are that anti authority get an airplane with no electrical system.
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It’s not anti authority, it’s anti BS
 
falconkidding said:
I think part of it is that op airdrop is probably more a feel good than do good thing. One semi probably does more than 50 ga aircraft. In senarios where trucks couldnt get to cause of remote or blocked roads then helos are doing the heavy lifting.

Good on people for wanting to help but its not exactly efficient.
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I have a colleague who spent the bulk of his post-Florence weekend and into the next week flying a King Air 200 from Raleigh into Cherry Point (the only runway in the area available) filled with water and supplies going in, and flying medical patients out. Something like 30 trips. The roads were impassable due to flooding. All NAVAIDs were out except for one VOR, and the ceilings were 400 feet.

I dare say that work was more than simply feel good.
 
Grum.Man said:
It isn't forced, you don't have to equip. At first I was sour about it because of the price, now the price is so cheap it's hard to complain. I rarely go places I would have needed ADS-B but my old transponder died so it made sense to upgrade.
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I'm too young to have been privy to it, but I wonder if the implementation of mode C Xponders nationwide went through similar dynamics. This is essentially the same thing, an additional transponder requirement. FWIW, I consider 2k all in cheap, but if garmin has its way, that will be removed from the table. At that point, 4-5k is the going rate, which i no longer consider cheap. I suspect the lower the hull value goes, the lower that number goes as well.
 
hindsight2020 said:
I'm too young to have been privy to it, but I wonder if the implementation of mode C Xponders nationwide went through similar dynamics. This is essentially the same thing, an additional transponder requirement. FWIW, I consider 2k all in cheap, but if garmin has its way, that will be removed from the table. At that point, 4-5k is the going rate, which i no longer consider cheap. I suspect the lower the hull value goes, the lower that number goes as well.
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I wasn't around then either but the stories I have heard from the old timmers is yes, there was just as much complaining. We have had what 6 years or more notice by the time the deadline arrives. That's only setting aside 1k a year to equip, if we can't swing that we probably shouldn't own an airplane. If it was truly mandatory or they only gave us a year to comply I would have been up in arms too.
 
Maybe AOPA is doing something on the back end to "help GA" but frankly I'm not aware or conscious of any of it.. and mind you, I'm not just someone who flies once a year, etc., and is "outside the loop." I'm very active in the aviation community, just about as active as someone can be while still having a full time non aviation job. I will say that local clubs and FB groups, EAA, even CAP, appear to be doing more for GA than AOPA. What I get from AOPA is some spam email occasionally or the letter telling me my "registration is about to expire" .. wtf? I haven't paid to be a member in over a decade

When I WAS a member, it seemed more like just another "club" to be a part of. I'm not saying we don't need a lobbying organization to keep the skies GA friendly (we absolutely do!), but what I am saying is that for their purported mission AOPA seems to spend a lot more time scratching each others backs than actually working to grow GA and involve more people in it. Just because they are the lobbying party doesn't mean they're free from critique.. (it's a non sequitur when someone says "I'm a member because we need a lobbying party")

..and frankly, how much lobbying power do they actually have..? there simply aren't that many GA ops and there is no real benefit or incentive to commercial ops, airliners, corporations, communities, etc., from GA. If our government, or the airliners, or someone else, wanted to make GA flying so difficult that it would effectively die, well there is nothing AOPA could do about it... they don't have any real leverage or bargaining power. Someone decides to ban AVGAS because of the lead.. what is AOPA going to do? Tell them "don't ban avgas.. if you do then we'll stop flying Cessna's over your house" ? AARP does, NRA does, many organizations do... but AOPA?

The best way to lobby for GA's rights (whatever that may mean) is to grow the active pilot community, that would also reduce costs overall. To that end, I see EAA, and like I said even CAP, doing much more to achieve that. My opinions on CAP are well known here, but many people grew up in the cadets and had their first few flights and got the taste of GA from CAP... so to that end CAP is getting people involved in aviation.. so I can't really figure out what it is that AOPA *actually* does
 
I just renewed my membership. If for no other reason than I think it is important for members of government to be able to see a bigger number in that organization and to realize that there are indeed pilots out there and we do indeed vote.
 
LoLPilot said:
If for no other reason than I think it is important for members of government to be able to see a bigger number in that organization and to realize that there are indeed pilots out there and we do indeed vote.
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But they already know how many pilots are out there, how many GA operations exist, revenue collected from various aircraft movements at airports, tax revenues, etc,.. the pilots and the numbers are the real people who vote and sway elections. I think seeing over 600,000 people OSH does a lot more to show the government that the GA community is big and active.

Case and point.. you go to AOPA's home page, and it took me 5 clicks to get to the "California Advocacy" section.. the last update, for the most active aviation state in the country, was on Aug 1 and discusses the SFO Bravo redesign.. AOPA's most noteworthy contributions to that were raising one Bravo floor from 1,400 to 1,500 and another from 2,100 to 2,300. The actual TRACON guys I've talked to have never mentioned AOPA as being even remotely considered when air space redesign comes into play.. they look at actual traffic data and consult with the local tower controllers, etc. Those Bravo floors were probably raised so that the approach controllers wouldn't have to keep warning planes they were busting their air space. I highly doubt this was some big act of generosity by the gov in response to AOPA's pressure to add 100-200 ft to some of the B floors, I think it actually makes the controller's jobs easier, and AOPA gets to take some credit for it

Anyway, if people enjoy spending money on it and get value from it that's awesome, with GA being a small community it's refreshing to see any kind of business entity survive and do well. So I hope they live on, and succeed
 
Tantalum said:
But they already know how many pilots are out there, how many GA operations exist, revenue collected from various aircraft movements at airports, tax revenues, etc,.. the pilots and the numbers are the real people who vote and sway elections. I think seeing over 600,000 people OSH does a lot more to show the government that the GA community is big and active.

Case and point.. you go to AOPA's home page, and it took me 5 clicks to get to the "California Advocacy" section.. the last update, for the most active aviation state in the country, was on Aug 1 and discusses the SFO Bravo redesign.. AOPA's most noteworthy contributions to that were raising one Bravo floor from 1,400 to 1,500 and another from 2,100 to 2,300. The actual TRACON guys I've talked to have never mentioned AOPA as being even remotely considered when air space redesign comes into play.. they look at actual traffic data and consult with the local tower controllers, etc. Those Bravo floors were probably raised so that the approach controllers wouldn't have to keep warning planes they were busting their air space. I highly doubt this was some big act of generosity by the gov in response to AOPA's pressure to add 100-200 ft to some of the B floors, I think it actually makes the controller's jobs easier, and AOPA gets to take some credit for it

Anyway, if people enjoy spending money on it and get value from it that's awesome, with GA being a small community it's refreshing to see any kind of business entity survive and do well. So I hope they live on, and succeed
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So you eat what you like and I’ll eat what I like. But OSH isn’t a GA advocacy group by its mission statement. AOPA is. It is probably not as effective as it should be, but for $50 a year it’s cheap to throw my lot in with an organization whose mission is to represent GA in the political arena. YMMV.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I can never get on board with public AOPA bashing. Who else is going to look out for our ability to fly except a large national organization? Just sounds to me like more of the same pilot v pilot unproductive anger that we hear on these forums. If you don't like the direction an organization is going, tell them directly. Or better yet, get involved with it and move it the way you think it should go.
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But that sounds like actual work! Waaaaaah!

James331 said:
Also why on earth does it send the N number, the S in ADSB doesn’t stand for safety.
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There is an anonymous mode on 978 if you're so inclined. But I actually like the N number thing. I can look up nearby N numbers to see what type they are, which is fun... But even more so, I can talk to people! When I was on a trip this summer, I was flying along on autopilot at altitude in the vast west, when I noticed a plane appear on my screen having just taken off from a small airport. I looked it up, and it turned out to be a plane that was owned by an acquaintance of mine, so I popped over to the CTAF to see if he was still there and we switched over to air-to-air and had a nice chat.

Now, the big drawback to the N number thing - Every time our plane flies, my mom texts me to ask if it's me or my partner flying, where I'm going, etc... :rofl:
 
LoLPilot said:
So you eat what you like and I’ll eat what I like. But OSH isn’t a GA advocacy group by its mission statement. AOPA is. It is probably not as effective as it should be, but for $50 a year it’s cheap to throw my lot in with an organization whose mission is to represent GA in the political arena. YMMV.
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$50!? My AOPA membership will lapse after 25 years at the end of the month mainly because I think the $69 they want from me to renew is too much. I'm now an EAA member...
 
Tantalum said:
I think seeing over 600,000 people OSH does a lot more to show the government that the GA community is big and active.
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How many of that number are "GA community" vs people who show up to see airplanes and eat bad food?

Not bashing EAA in the least, but let's be realistic about the real number of stakeholders.
 
$49-with-Gift-hat.png


The most recent offer I got to renew was an aircraft grade aluminum flashlight.
Probably would have got me but I got one from my daughter last Christmas.
 
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What the heck.I got the hat offer but not the $20 discount. Got the redemption code for that deal? Haven't renewed just yet.
 
I often questioned my membership to AOPA, but have kept it so far. I can tell you from being on the politico government side, it is important to have actual lobby power. It isn't enough to say there are 200,000 pilots in this country. The politicians need to have someone in their office, in their face, reminding them of the issues and keeping them informed. I have heard countless times from politicians, that they have been swayed by who is talking to them, because they don't have the time to research every issue themselves. It does make an impact. Without AOPA and other organizations, the airline lobbies would have already taken over the airspace through their attempts at privatization. Users fees would have massacred an already weak GA segment. We need representation on the hill, and for better or worse, AOPA does it for GA.
 
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