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United States Pilots Association |
Date June 15, 2006
Time 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Metro Tech Aviation Career Campus
McNickle Room
5600 S. MacArthur
Oklahoma City, OK
The location is 1/4 mile North of the FAA Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center on the Northwest Corner of the Will Rogers World Airport at the intersection of SW 56th Street and MacArthur Blvd. Members who are so inclined may taxi their aircraft up to the facility from their position on the OKC airport.
Pete Lee, Director of the Aviation Career Campus, will have opening remarks.
The program will be conducted by OKC, FSDO representative, Jeff Jennings, who will present a program "Aeronautical Decision Making."
Refreshments will be served courtesy of the United States Pilots Association who are sponsoring this event.
Jan Hoynacki, Executive Director
United States Pilots Association
The Transportation Safety Administration is alerting all pilots to be aware of suspicious activity around their airplanes and at airports after the discovery of a message on an extremist Muslim Web site. The message, posted in Arabic on April 13, urged “all Muslims” to destroy American jets and light aircraft, listed the tail number of a plane believed to be used by the CIA, and told readers how to identify U.S.-registered aircraft. The TSA did not indicate that any specific threats or planned attacks had been intercepted, but stressed that pilots should be on guard for anything unusual.
Keep your eyes and ears open, folks.
Jan Hoynacki, Executive Director
United States Pilots Association
As time seems to slip by, and our summer calendars get filled up quickly, if you haven’t already registered for our USPA Flyout/Meeting in OKC in June, today would be a good day to do just that.
See the attached .pdf file for complete details. You can also register on line at www.uspilots.org.
See you in OKC!
Jan Hoynacki, Executive Director
United States Pilots Association
Those of you awaiting the final results of the refurbishment of my new Hawk XP II will have to wait one more month for the end product. Although the plane was flown to Tunica for the last USPA meeting, we are still in the process of installing modern radios in the bird. I promise to follow up next month with photos and a complete description of what has been done. You will be surprised. By the way, I am thinking of naming the plane Miss E-Bay in honor of my primary parts supplier.
Thursday's 4/20/06 Staten Island Advance (New York City) ran an article titled "FAA rejects call by Molinaro for airspace hearing.” This tempest in a teapot resulted from the FAA refusing to change the departure routes from Newark Airport, which presently fly over the North shore of Staten Island. This is essentially a noise abatement issue, and I believe this time the FAA got it right. If they did agree to change the routes, the airliners would still have to fly over heavily populated areas, causing complaints from those residents. Mr. Molinaro, the Borough President of Staten Island, could not muster any turnout for meetings held in several communities in his borough. Having flown into Linden, NJ, airport several times, I am aware that currently the approach course into Newark from the South overflys the West shore of Staten Island. When going into Linden, you are constantly looking for airliner traffic in front of you. If the Feds were to restablish new routes for departure, then the approach paths into Newark would also have to change. Essentially this is/was a case of NIMBY (Not In My Backyard), and I think the good guys won.
Next on my list of airspace attacks concerns Central New Mexico. The New Mexico Pilots Association has advised us that the F-117 Stealth fighters currently based at Holloman AFB in Alamogordo, NM, will be phased out of service. They are being replaced by the new F-22 supersonic stealth fighter now beginning to enter service. The AF believes that more SUA (read that as MOAs) are necessary because of the speed and altitude requirements of the new aircraft. Hence we have just finished three "Scope" meetings concerning the environmental impact these planes will have operating in the new airspace. I believe it is inevitable that once approved the AF will look to expand the requested airspace into almost duplicating the former request to create a JDAMS bombing range across the East/Central part of the state. I will not belabor all of the deficiencies
enumerated in our protest of the Cannon AFB F-16 JDAMS proposal. Suffice it to say USPA will be watching these developments closely, and we will be entering comments to the proper individual. If any of you have concerns, please request more information from Ms. Linda DeVine HQ ACC/ATZP c/o SAIC, 22 Enterprise Parkway, Suite #200, Hampton, VA 23666.
Many of you may be aware that the next generation aircraft, the F-35 known as a joint strikefighter is presently undergoing evaluation and funding. This bird is designed to meet the needs of both the AF and the Navy and will be operated from land bases and aircraft carriers. Maybe the Navy will install an aircraft carrier in Elephant Butte Lake in NM just to keep all of the operations under the same airspace. Currently the primary airspace proposed for the F-22 is the White Sands Missile Range which is already off limits for all aviation traffic.
Fuel Prices. Today oil hit $72 a barrel, and the investing community is going bonkers. I have no solution to the fear-driven rise in gasoline and avgas prices, except this. Oil is a commodity and thus has supply and demand driven pricing. Currently supplies are adequate and demand is increasing. Countries such as China, Japan and India are consuming much more of the world's reserves every day. One way to counter the excessive pricing is to reduce demand. If our supplies are not being consumed and lay stagnant in the storage tanks, we should expect a reduction in prices. I for one have cut back my usage of both the airplane and vehicles. If all of us practice selective consumption, reducing our volume of fuels used, hopefully a reduction in prices will occur.
Parts prices. I have noticed a huge increase in parts’ pricing for aircraft in the past few years. Non-mechanical parts are a particular gripe of mine. When Cessna charges three times the price that an aftermarket supplier does for the same strut fairing or brake cover, I have to wonder. I am considering adding a data base to the USPA website to give members and readers the names and contact points of various suppliers that offer an alternative to the aircraft manufacturers’ high prices. Two suppliers that come to mind are Wag-Aero and Texas Aeroplastics. There are numerous others I have used over the years that give excellent service and reasonable pricing. If the idea of a USPA database accessible to all interests you, please contact USPA at jan@uspilots.org. If you have found or used an aftermarket supplier and were very satisfied with their product or service, please let us know that as well.
Fly safe!
Steve Uslan, President
United States Pilots Association
Among the many interesting and educational possibilities to see and do while attending the USPA Flyout to Oklahoma City, June 15-18, many have recommended seeing the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial site, which I am told is both beautiful and moving. As stated in its website http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/, “The Oklahoma City National Memorial is unique. There is nothing like it anywhere. It is a haven for all those seeking comfort and serenity. It is an enriching educational experience for all those trying to understand why. The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum is a place of education for the generations.”
Eleven years after the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history, survivors, terrorism experts, and law enforcement authorities fear that lessons learned from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing are being forgotten as the nation focuses on international threats.
If you haven’t already visited the site, perhaps this would be a good opportunity for you to do so while attending the USPA flyout in June.
Jan Hoynacki, Executive Director
United States Pilots Association
Kevin Psutka, head of the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) says Nav Canada’s unilateral decision to impose daily fees on GA aircraft using the country’s seven largest airports is an example of what privatization can lead to in the hands of a monopoly. “Everybody in the country should be writing their member of parliament about this,” he said, and further stated that U.S. Aviators would be wise to consider what’s happening north of the border as user fees hang over our heads.
USPA feels that airspace system management is a government function, already paid for by taxes. Once again we see the airlines targeting GA to ease their financial woes.
WRITE YOUR CONGRESSMEN AND SENATORS TODAY. And if you’ve already written them, DO IT AGAIN! They need to know how we feel, or the airline lobbyists will earn their money, and we will pay dearly.
Jan Hoynacki, Executive Director
United States Pilots Association
USPA is proud to announce that Dr. Melchor J. Antunano, Director of the FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, will be our Saturday evening banquet speaker at the Oklahoma City Flyout on June 17.
Being well qualified to speak on many topics, Dr. Antunano will address issues of particular interest to general aviation pilots, as well as space medicine research.
Go to www.uspilots.org TODAY and register for the OKC flyout. You won’t want to miss this interesting presentation by Dr. Antunano.
Jan Hoynacki, Executive Director
United States Pilots Association
The USPA Website Manager has made improvements to our website before, but this time he upgraded HIMSELF. Last Thursday Private Pilot JC Zalog became Commercial Pilot Zalog (complete with Instrument Rating). After many scheduling setbacks and annoying delays of one type or another, JC took his Commercial checkride out of Clark Airport (PLK), acing it, of course.
No, I’m not proud (I think you all know JC is my son-in-law). I just thought fellow USPA members would like to know of your Website Manager’s increased credentials.
Jan Hoynacki, Executive Director
United States Pilots Association
United States Pilots Association
SPRING FLY-OUT, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – JUNE 15 – 18, 2006
Just a little more than a century ago, the site of Oklahoma City was a grass and timbered land of gently rolling hills flattening out into
prairie in the west. Today, Oklahoma City sprawls across 625 square miles of America's heartland. It's metro population numbers over a million - one third of the entire state. During the 1800s, the US government was forcibly relocating Indian tribes from all over the country into the area known as Oklahoma Territory. There was one parcel of land that was never given over to any Indian tribe - the Unassigned Lands. In the 1880s, many frontier Americans wanted to move into this land. Soon, landless pioneers began slipping over into this area without authorization. These were the "Boomers," who were trying to force the government into opening the territory up to homesteaders. On March 2, 1889, President Benjamin Harrison signed legislation that opened up the Unassigned Lands. So, on April 22, 1889, about 50,000 homesteaders gathered at the boundaries. Some people snuck over at night to stake out prime land early, hiding from the army patrols. These were known as "Sooners." When statehood came for Oklahoma on November 16, 1907, Oklahoma City was a center of commerce. The Chamber attracted industry and a number of packing plants in what is now Stockyards City. Back then it was known as Packing Town. In 1910, with a population of 64,000, there was a petition to move the state capitol from Guthrie to Oklahoma City. With enough signatures, there was a popular vote, which Oklahoma City won. On December 4, 1928, oil was discovered on the corner of SE 59th and Bryant in Oklahoma City. In the 27 days before the great gusher could be capped, it spewed 110,496 barrels of oil. The Oklahoma City Field had been discovered, creating the city's most important financial source and making Oklahoma City the world's newest boom town. Oil continues to be one the most important players in the city's economy.
With the same spirit of the pioneers who settled this city and created one of the most dynamic young towns of the early century, today’s Oklahoma City has been reinvented to offer visitors a fun-filled combination of attractions, events, restaurants and amenities. Nowhere will you find a greater concentration of Oklahoma City’s modern-day urban vitality than in Bricktown, an early-day warehouse district transformed in the last decade to become the fastest growing entertainment district in the Southwest. Just east of downtown, the area is home to a mile-long riverwalk-style canal, AAA baseball stadium, shopping and some of the city’s best restaurants and most active night clubs. Bricktown has something for everyone. And right next door? The Ford Center, a new Arena that plays host to the NBA’s New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, top concerts and minor league hockey.
Bricktown isn’t the only thing to see in Oklahoma City. Some other things to enjoy are: Ninety Nines Museum of Women Pilots, the FAA Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, Tinker AFB and Air Park, Omniplex including the Kirkpatrick Science and Air Space Museum, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Memorial Museum. Make plans now to be with us to enjoy the many attractions offered here.
Hotel: Clarion Meridian Hotel, 737 So. Meridian, Oklahoma City, OK 73108. It has 312 guest rooms and suites and all the other amenities expected in a first class facility. A complimentary deluxe continental breakfast is provided seven days a week and complimentary cocktails and hors d’oeuvres are provided Monday – Thursday from 5:30 to 7:00. The rate is $64 plus tax. Call 405-942-8511 or fax 405-946-7126. To obtain our special rate, you must tell them that you are with the United States Pilots Association. The cut-off date is May 31, 2006. The hotel can’t guarantee the availability or the special rate if reservations are not made by then. The hotel offers a free shuttle to and from both PWA and OKC airports and is conveniently located near a trolley stop, making it easy to go to Bricktown and many of the other downtown attractions. There will be a hospitality suite in the hotel. Check for the location on arrival.
Airport and FBO: Wiley Post Airport (PWA) is the airport of arrival. Runways are 17L-35R (7,198x150), 17R-35L (5,000x75) and 13-31 (4,213x100). ILS, VOR, ASR and GPS RNAV approaches are available. Tower frequency is 126.9. Host FBO is The ServiCenter, a full service FBO open daily from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. They have offered us a locally competitive price on fuel and free tie-down. Phone 1-800-299-8546, 405-709-1550 or fax 405-709-1558. If you are arriving commercial, Will Rogers World Airport (OKC) is your destination.
Transportation: If you need a rental car to visit all the many attractions in the area, why not plan to share it with other USPA attendees? The FBO ServiCenter will coordinate rental car requests with two rental agencies nearby to provide us with the best prices available. So that they will have a car available for you at ServiCenter, it is suggested that you make your auto rental reservation early.
Schedule of Activities:
Thursday, June 15 – 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. - Wings Safety Seminar-Location to be announced. Hospitality and registration are available at the hotel in the afternoon from 4:00 p.m. and into the evening. All day is open for you to relax and enjoy Oklahoma City.
Friday, June 16 – 8:30 a.m. to noon. - General Members’ meeting in the hotel. Lunch is on your own. 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. - Tour of the FAA Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center. Hospitality suite will be open in the evening after dinner.
Saturday, June 17 – 8:30 a.m. to noon. - USPA Board meeting in the hotel. All members are welcome. Lunch is on your own. Afternoon. - A tour of Tinker AFB and Air Park is tentatively planned or otherwise we will be free to enjoy visiting the many other attractions in the area. 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. - Banquet in the hotel. We are honored to have Melchor J. Antuñano, M.D. Director, FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute MMAC, CAMI, AAM-3 as the speaker at our dinner. Hospitality suite will be open after dinner.
Sunday, June 18 – Depart at your leisure or stay over a few more days and do some of the things you didn't have time to
do in our short weekend.
USPA Registration Form
Name(s)___________________________________________________________________________________________
Address___________________________________________________________________________________________
City_____________________________________________________________ State ______Zip___________________
Phone_____________________ Fax______________________ E-mail________________________________________
Number Amount
Basic Registration: $ 90.00 (Wings seminar, hospitality suite, meetings and Saturday evening banquet.) ______ @ $ 90.00 $______
Send registration form with check or form below to: United States Pilots Association, 483 S. Kirkwood Rd., Suite 10, St. Louis, MO 63122. If paying by credit card, the registration form may be faxed to: (314) 843-5155. Or, if you would like to register at a secure site on the internet, go to www.uspilots.org.
Charge it! M/C______ or VISA______
Card No._________________________________ Exp.______
Signature___________________________________________
For additional information, please call Arnold Zimmerman at (314) 843-2766, email at zimjr@earthlink.net or USPA at (314) 849-USPA.
To obtain a printed plastic reusable name tag with
lanyard, send order with $6.00 for each indicating,
first name, last name and home state to Candy
Stewart, 10239 Hartshill Lane, St. Louis, MO
63128.
Allow 10 days for the order to be processed.
The following communication was forwarded to me by Don Smith, a member of the Denton, TX airport board. The letter came from the company that manages the control towers in Denton, San Angelo, Texarkana etc. Essentially April 20th Position and Hold clearances cease at airports without three persons on duty in the tower. Here we once again have the FAA applying a one size fits all fix to a problem that primarily exists at large metropolitan airports (LAX).
Once again we at the general aviation level will be affected at tower controlled airports, burning more expensive fuel on the ground, and generally being delayed, with no benefit to safety. If one were to use the FAA's reasoning, the best solution is to cease aircraft operations entirely at these airports.
When are we going to get knowledgeable people into positions of authority within the FAA to stop this kind of "Feel good mentality." Sometimes I think there is not a great deal of difference
among the FAA management, the Transportation (In)Security Administration and Homeland (In)Security. Lets just all feel good about how our government is taking such great care of us. We need to protest this absurd ruling to the highest levels of the FAA.
Steve Uslan, President
United States Pilots Association
Members: The following message was sent from the head of the company that manages the contract towers in the southwest district.
*********
Hello All Area II-W ATMs,
On March 31, 2006, I wrote a letter to our Service Area stating that we could not meet the requirements to request a permanent waiver to conduct TIPH and therefore, we would cancel TIPH after April 20, 2006. The facilities that would terminate TIPH after April 20 are: ASG, CLL, FMN,
GLS, HRL, MFE, SGR, SWO, TKI, TXK, XNA, TYR, SSF, ROG, PWA, FYV, DTO, and SJT.
Please ensure all personnel are briefed and cancel your TIPH procedures stated in your SOP as of April 21, 2006.
*********
TPA president Terry Jarog and I are working on a plan of action to try to get this inappropriate move by the FAA revised. The one size fits all nature of the directive does more harm than good, and we must find a way to get the message to FAA officers in Washington.
We will ask help from USPA, and perhaps from other aviation groups as well. Right now, we need to figure out exactly what would constitute a good mechanism to convince the FAA that this approach is counterproductive.
Remember the monthly meeting, Thursday, April 20, an interesting coincidence
of dates.
Don
Think you’re paying dues to too many pilot/aviation organizations? Do you question if it’s worthwhile to continue to support them? What good is it doing you? Aviation is expensive enough! And, besides that, if they have regular meetings, you don’t have the time to go anyway!
Sound familiar? Is that what you’ve been saying? Is that what you’ve heard your friends say?
Well, if you haven’t already done so, it’s time you took a stand to help those organizations help you. Those few dollars spent in dues each year could mean the difference between continuing GA as we have it today in the U.S. and having our skies totally controlled by the commercial airlines and military. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re fighting a battle for our GA lives right now. The costs of personal pleasure/business flying have been escalating for a long time (I’m sure you HAVE noticed that), but the FAA and commercial airlines are about to drive a stake in the heart of GA with a user fee/pay-for-service system.
Aviation is already paying its way with fuel taxes. Adding user fees is double taxation, to say the least. How many of you like paying so much that you’re happy to pay TWICE? Speaking for myself, I simply cannot afford to do that. That will end my flying career pretty fast. And since that likely will be the case with many others, what will happen to your plane’s value?
The United States Pilots Association is one of several aviation organizations fighting to help you keep flying. There aren’t enough of us in aviation for any one organization to do it all. It’s necessary that we multiply ourselves with multiple organizations. Surely you understand the strength of numbers. Visualize a room full of pilots. One pilot stands up and shouts loudly, “Hip, hip, hooray, USPA!” Not very effective. The first row then gets up and all shout it out together. That’s some better. But when the entire room stands and shouts in unison, it shakes the rafters!
Be a part of the solution. Shake the rafters. If we go down, we go down swinging and giving it our best effort. But our best chance to succeed (and keep flying) is to stand together and support USPA and other pilot groups. And also get off a quick email to your Senators and Congressmen yourself. Your voice counts, too.
Jan Hoynacki, Executive Director
United States Pilots Association
FAA.gov Home
NOTAM Number : FDC 6/4863
Issue Date : April 06, 2006 at 11:26 UTC
Location : Springfield, Missouri
Beginning Date and Time : April 10, 2006 at 19:30 UTC
Ending Date and Time : April 11, 2006 at 0:15 UTC
Reason for NOTAM : Temporary flight restrictions for VIP (Very Important Person) Movement
Type : VIP
Replaced NOTAM(s) : N/A
Affected Area(s)
Area A
Airspace Definition:
TFR Center: 7 nautical miles from SPRINGFIELD VORTAC(SGF) on the 193 radial (Latitude: 37º14'38"N, Longitude: 93º22'37"W)
Radius: 3 nautical miles
Altitude: From the surface up to but not including 3000 feet AGL
Effective Date(s):
April 10, 2006 at 19:30 UTC (April 10, 2006 at 14:30 CDT) - April 10, 2006 at 20:20 UTC (April 10, 2006 at 15:20 CDT)
Area B
Airspace Definition:
TFR Center: 9.1 nautical miles from SPRINGFIELD VORTAC(SGF) on the 160 radial (Latitude: 37º12'37"N, Longitude: 93º16'53"W)
Radius: 3 nautical miles
Altitude: From the surface up to but not including 3000 feet AGL
Effective Date(s):
April 10, 2006 at 20:00 UTC (April 10, 2006 at 15:00 CDT) - April 10, 2006 at 23:45 UTC (April 10, 2006 at 18:45 CDT)
Area C
Airspace Definition:
TFR Center: 7 nautical miles from SPRINGFIELD VORTAC(SGF) on the 193 radial (Latitude: 37º14'38"N, Longitude: 93º22'37"W)
Radius: 3 nautical miles
Altitude: From the surface up to but not including 3000 feet AGL
Effective Date(s):
April 10, 2006 at 23:25 UTC (April 10, 2006 at 18:25 CDT) - April 11, 2006 at 0:15 UTC (April 10, 2006 at 19:15 CDT)
Operating Restrictions and Requirements
No pilots may operate an aircraft in the areas covered by this NOTAM (except as described).
Unless otherwise authorized by ATC in consultation with the Domestic Events Network (DEN).
Other Information:
ARTCC: ZKC - Kansas City Center
Authority: Title 14 CFR section 91.141
Depicted TFR data may not be a complete listing. Pilots should not use the information on this website for flight planning purposes. For the latest information, call your local Flight Service Station at 1-800-WX-BRIEF.
Federal Aviation Administration | 800 Independence Avenue, SW | Washington DC, 20591
Jan Hoynacki, Executive Director
United States Pilots Association
The FAA is expected to issue a notam for sometime on Tuesday, April 11, in Jefferson City, MO, in conjunction with President Bush’s planned visit there.
Remember to check for TFRs before every flight.
Jan Hoynacki, Executive Director
United States Pilots Association
From information provided by Scott Vazzana, Aviation Operations Manager, MO DOT, pilots who use the Kansas City or St. Louis terminal area charts will need to purchase new editions earlier than the current charts indicate. The new editions will take effect April 13, rather than early summer, in order to coincide with the effective date of the FAA’s revisions to the St. Louis Class B airspace.
For further information, you may contact:
Scott Vazzana
Aviation Operations Manager
(573) 526-5571 phone
(573) 526-4709 fax
2217 St. Marys Blvd.
P.O. Box 270
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Scott.Vazzana@modot.mo.gov
Jan Hoynacki, Executive Director
United States Pilots Association
The second meeting of the new Cactus Grande Chapter of USPA will be held at 4:00 p.m. at the Deer Valley Airport restaurant in Arizona on Sunday, April 9, according to Chapter President Jeff Griffiths. All USPA members and friends are invited.
Jan Hoynacki, Executive Director
United States Pilots Association