My day flying with AOPA President Mark Baker !

airdale said:
Well the cash hoard would suffice to put fifteen or twenty new airplanes in members' hangars. Or maybe 70-100 good used ones. Or $200 in every member's pocket. Jes sayin'
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Not exactly the best argument against the cash stock. You can make that same argument about tons of government stimulus programs that cost so much money to provide growth that it could make a generous pay-out to every American instead. However, it doesn't really fix anything.


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SoonerAviator said:
Not exactly the best argument against the cash stock. ...
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I agree completely and am not making that argument. @iflyvfr's comment just made me laugh, realizing that AOPA could actually afford to give away quite a few airplanes. Super Sweepstakes, anyone?

The argument against the hoard is simply that it is completely unnecessary to the business and represents systematic overcharging of members, a practice that they continue with successive and unneeded dues increases. Greed, in other words.
 
airdale said:
I agree completely and am not making that argument. @iflyvfr's comment just made me laugh, realizing that AOPA could actually afford to give away quite a few airplanes. Super Sweepstakes, anyone?

The argument against the hoard is simply that it is completely unnecessary to the business and represents systematic overcharging of members, a practice that they continue with successive and unneeded dues increases. Greed, in other words.
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Rainy day fund? :eek:
 
mscard88 said:
Rainy day fund? :eek:
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Well, that's their excuse. Businesses do need some rainy day money, but businesses with revenue that can be predicted accurately by a third grade arithmetic class and who are not prone to surprises or emergencies of any significant size do not need much. Maybe 25% of revenue on the high side. Two years of revenue is ridiculous. FWIW a few years ago I spent an evening on guidestar.org and found only one organization with a similar % hoard. It was a tiny society of specialty doctors and it looked like they were planning to buy a building. Even the American Red Cross, which does have legitimate need for funds to deal with large emergencies, only holds around 1X revenue.
 
I guess the hoard just doesn't bother me; maybe it would if the dues were two or three times as much. $200K salaries aren't extravagant in the DC area; housing prices and cost of living here are in the top two or three in the country, and Maryland is a very high tax state, income, property, sales taxes, fees, hidden taxes in services that are passed along, etc.

AOPA or an equivalent is a necessity; some advocacy has to exist. . .the FAA is basically unaccountable, and the waste and abuse there makes any AOPA inefficiency trivial - you can, of course, opt out of AOPA, unlike the $$$ the FAA ****es away. I guess I'm saying you can vote with your wallet, directly, concerning AOPA. We're at multiple removes from getting accountability from the FAA, except when they step in dramatically, like with Bob Hoover or the incident that precipatated the PBOR. They (AOPA) must be aligned with pilot interests well enough, to have 350K members paying dues by choice. . .
 
Sundancer said:
They (AOPA) must be aligned with pilot interests well enough, to have 350K members paying dues by choice. . .
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They have no real competition, they have the momentum of history, and most people don't know any better.

I'm not saying they're bad or good, but they're kinda the only game in town, until you've been around a while and find out EAA does most of what they do, and more.

(No, EAA is not AOPA's competition. Don't read into that. I didn't say that. Ha.)

But then you see some of the "interesting" stuff EAA does to maintain various dubious interests and you're kinda left thinking, "I'm not sure I want my name associated with either one, but what choice do I have?"

LOL. Can't really say I'm "proud" to be a member of either, although my AOPA has been lapsed long enough I think they'll probably offer me a free house or something in the next paper mail. We're way past the hat thing now. Haha.

I'm pretty sure the last time I was proud to be an AOPA member was back when Boyer was still there. I mean seriously, you'd see that guy on the mainstream media in the days when GA was LITERALLY shut down and nobody was even making airplanes anymore.

I thought later about how hard that would be, and realized it was somewhat amazing. Seeing an AOPA person in front of a mainstream TV camera today is non-existent.

Always been proud to support ASF though. No matter how dumb the main organization can be, ASF seems to consistently do good things.
 
denverpilot said:
although my AOPA has been lapsed long enough I think they'll probably offer me a free house or something in the next paper mail. We're way past the hat thing now. Haha.

.
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I seem to be stuck on the 'free hat' deal. That's all they've offered 5-6 times now. Funny when I first became a member in the 70s one received a hat, sticker, plotter, and the airport guide. Now you 're-up' and get nothing, not that I actually need anything.

It's a good organization and I like the training stuff on their web site. The magazine was ok and had some good articles and columns. I guess I just became uninterested and let it lapse. Might give EAA a go though.
 
I read where each time a new administration comes in they put a temporary freeze on all new regulations so they can be reviewed - even those that have been signed into law but not yet enacted. I haven't seen EAA or AOPA mention this yet, but if true I expect one or both (likely AOPA) will be there to fight to ensure the new 3rd class medical doesn't get unwound.
 
In addition to expanding non certified items in certified aircraft, Jack Pelton also said the other key issue for 2017 is getting the LSA limit pushed up to 1700 lbs.
 
GLMS_NC said:
Have you called a broker to get a competitive insurance quote? After you do this curious if you stay with your current aopa broker.
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Yes ... two (Avemco was the last one). I pay 700 per year for 65000 hull (currently at 700 hours total but IFR not completed yet). I doubt anyone is going much lower than 700
 
danhagan said:
Yes ... two (Avemco was the last one). I pay 700 per year for 65000 hull (currently at 700 hours total but IFR not completed yet). I doubt anyone is going much lower than 700
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Glad you are happy.

So you know, AVEMCO is a carrier and not a broker. A broker represents multiple carriers. Without knowing a lot more I can't comment on your price. But you are happy and that is all that counts.
 
GLMS_NC said:
Read this and see if you see AOPA anywhere?

What is a bigger deal than getting non-certified items into certified airplanes? We get cool technology and more affordable prices.

Gotta love EAA.
http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/More-Experimental-PMAs-Likely-228365-1.html
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I bet Century, Genesis, and a few other autopilot companies are watching this closely. TRuTrack gets approved and when it costs me $$$ to fix my current autopilot, I'll sell the working components and buy a new TRuTrack, then buy scotch with the savings. I can't wait for this and other advancements. The Garmin G5 was cool itself. Keep up the great work EAA.
 
iflyvfr said:
I read where each time a new administration comes in they put a temporary freeze on all new regulations so they can be reviewed - even those that have been signed into law but not yet enacted. I haven't seen EAA or AOPA mention this yet, but if true I expect one or both (likely AOPA) will be there to fight to ensure the new 3rd class medical doesn't get unwound.
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Medical reform is set in stone, no worries there.
 
I'm a huge fan of getting experimental avionics into certified aircraft. I hope the new administration's push for deregulation helps.
 
GLMS_NC said:
Sure about that? Per ABS it is currently held up.
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http://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000159-be8f-da97-a9dd-becf15ae0001

"With respect to regulations that have been published in the OFR but have not taken effect, as permitted by applicable law, temporarily postpone their effective date for 60 days from the date of this memorandum..." [emphasis added]​

The memo was dated January 20, 2017, so it's held up until March 21, 2017, which is well ahead of the May 1st effective date.

Hopefully, they won't find anything they can't live with, since it represents at least partial relief of a regulatory burden.
 
This is the article I read that gave me pause: http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/20/politics/reince-priebus-regulations-memo/
I've quoted some of the relevant parts:

"Federal regulations go through a multi-step process in order to take full effect. The President cannot halt any regulations that have gone into effect already, but lays out steps for any that are not fully in action. For any regulations that have yet to be sent for publishing in the Federal Register, the memo asks the agency to not send any regulation to the Federal Register until reviewed by someone selected by the President. For those that have been sent but not published, the White House ordered the regulations withdrawn.

There are regulations have been published but have not reached their effective date. The memo instructs those regulations to be delayed for 60 days for review -- with a potential that a new notice for reopening the regulation could occur."

edit: Palmpilot beat me to it...
 
Palmpilot said:
http://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000159-be8f-da97-a9dd-becf15ae0001

"With respect to regulations that have been published in the OFR but have not taken effect, as permitted by applicable law, temporarily postpone their effective date for 60 days from the date of this memorandum..." [emphasis added]​

The memo was dated January 20, 2017, so it's held up until March 21, 2017, which is well ahead of the May 1st effective date.

Hopefully, they won't find anything they can't live with, since it represents at least partial relief of a regulatory burden.
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Thanks, I had seen the discussion on the Red Board and was wondering about the exact wording of the memo... that clears it up. 60 days from now, not from the effective date. Makes a big difference.

And yes, I would be very surprised if they found anything they wanted to undo there.
 
You know, reading part of this thread is just damned embarrassing. I am sure any newcomer to POA is wondering what they have got themselves into. The OP is happy and excited to spend some time with Mark Baker and tells us about the experience and he gets slammed to the pavement for it. Regardless of your views of Mark Baker and AOPA can't you just be excited for the guy? Childish crap in my humble but honest opinion. Flack Jacket is on!!!
 
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Palmpilot said:
"With respect to regulations that have been published in the OFR but have not taken effect, as permitted by applicable law,
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Since Pub. Law 114-190 mandated that the FAA issue these regulations, I don't see how any kind of moratorium could be "permitted by applicable law." The executive branch does not have the power to stop this. Do you people not know how the government works?
 
dmspilot said:
Since Pub. Law 114-190 mandated that the FAA issue these regulations, I don't see how any kind of moratorium could be "permitted by applicable law." The executive branch does not have the power to stop this. Do you people not know how the government works?
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I thought about that, but it seemed like a moot point, since the 60 days will be up well before May 1st anyway.
 
You all are right that the new administration has the ability to change new regulations made in the last 6 months, like the 3rd class reform. However since the regs are in reaction to a law passed by congress, if the regs were changed at all (likely will not be) the changes would have to be minor and not fundamental.

I think some of the anti-AOPA sentiment was warranted in the past, but 3rd class medical reform is a big deal, AOPA was a part of it and I feel better about sending in my $60 every year.

I don't know how much AOPA is involved with the recent push we have seen to get experimental avionics available in certified airplanes, but that is welcome change to me.
 
dell30rb said:
You all are right that the new administration has the ability to change new regulations made in the last 6 months, like the 3rd class reform. However since the regs are in reaction to a law passed by congress, if the regs were changed at all (likely will not be) the changes would have to be minor and not fundamental.

I think some of the anti-AOPA sentiment was warranted in the past, but 3rd class medical reform is a big deal, AOPA was a part of it and I feel better about sending in my $60 every year.

I don't know how much AOPA is involved with the recent push we have seen to get experimental avionics available in certified airplanes, but that is welcome change to me.
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What was reformed?
 
azure said:
"The service is unavailable".

But, I'm guessing from the link that this is the story about the AOA indicator guy and his product that was in e-Pilot this morning. I can't see this as a bad thing and I, too, am a little confused by the negative reactions to this guy's postings here.
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Link works for me, but just go to aopa.org and it's right on the home page.
 
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