AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2014 - 20

FOUNDATION FOCUS

BY BRUCE LANDSBERG
AOPA Foundation President

Ecosystem II
Plankton and whales both need to flourish

BRUCE LANDSBERG

retires from
the AOPA
Foundation this
month after
serving AOPA
members for more
than 20 years.

ABOUT A YEAR AGO we discussed how general aviation is an ecosystem and that our phenomenal airport
system would begin to collapse if the number of pilots
didn't increase. If the plankton (light aircraft) die off,
the whales (turbine aircraft) will have far fewer places
to go, and their value equation diminishes greatly. The
industry spends way too much effort focused on aircraft
and equipment the majority of pilots or aspiring pilots
will never be able to afford.
Legend has it that bank robber Willy Sutton said he
robbed banks because that's where the money was.
That would seem to be a great business strategy and,
in the short term, it's true. But if a business only chases
dollars, it eventually will decline, because the true purpose of any business is to serve customers-not just
make money. It's a subtle and vitally important difference. The money naturally follows, but too often
management's emphasis is misplaced to feed the
shareholders.
Most will agree that we generally pay too much
for aircraft and associated items, but there are some
solutions-and I'm so proud that AOPA and the AOPA
Foundation have arrived in the right place. For example:
Multiple fly-ins all over the country allow pilots
who never could come to just one big annual extravaganza (Summit/Expo) to experience a great aviation
event. The numbers speak for themselves, with more
than 15,000 attendees this year-many who had never
been to a national AOPA gathering.
You Can Fly program (Cessna 150/152 Reimagined).
The yellow aircraft that are being remanufactured from
the wheels up and sold by Aviat Aircraft serve as a new
alternative for clubs and flight schools ("Meet Your New
152," page 58). The numbers are compelling: Base cost
under $100,000. Spread between 10 or so owners and
burning about five gallons an hour, the hourly operating
cost is about $65. The 150 and 152 taught generations of
pilots to fly, and they do the job extremely well. AOPA
will offer special financing and insurance packages to
keep acquisition and operating costs low.
Government rollback. Will Rogers said that it's
good we don't get all the government we pay for. In far
too many places we're paying for regulation and oversight that adds little or nothing to safety or efficiency. In
the quest for the perfect solution to make GA as safe as
the airlines, new technology and cost-effective solutions

20 | AOPA PILOT December 2014

are blocked. AOPA is leading industry efforts on the
medical reform program and on the Part 23 rewrite.
Safe pilots, safe skies. Accidents are extremely
expensive to all of us in terms of litigation, regulation,
negative public perception, and insurance. Severe injury
and the loss of life are beyond calculation. Fact: GA, as
a group, cannot get to the air carrier safety level, for a
variety of reasons that I've written about before. But,
over the past 20-plus years that I've had the honor to
lead the AOPA Air Safety Foundation and now the Air
Safety Institute, we've invested tens of millions of donor
dollars, conducted thousands of free safety seminars,
trained tens of thousands of CFIs, and produced countless publications. The accident numbers are gradually
getting better, and the educational materials and programs are constantly improving. Your flight operation
is as safe as you chose to make it.
All this has significant potential, but it doesn't just
happen. It takes time and resources to fight these battles. It bears repeating that our AOPA dues alone do not
begin to cover all the expense of protecting your freedom to fly-but that's exactly what's at stake. Fewer than
six percent of AOPA members make a tax-deductible
contribution to the AOPA Foundation to help in the various areas listed above to preserve our ecosystem.
In my final request as president of the AOPA
Foundation, I ask that you join me-this year, right
now-to make a contribution at whatever level you can
reasonably afford. If every member made an annual gift
of just $50, it would make a huge difference in our ability to start taking back the skies. In my semi-retirement
I look forward to working in several of these areas. As
a new first-time aircraft owner it's absurd to me that a
static wick should cost somewhere between $40 and
$130. Don't even ask about batteries!
Jim Minow, who is capably taking the position as the
executive director of the AOPA Foundation, is tasked
with funding the operation and moving us to the flight
levels. Please help him. I will look forward to enjoying your company at various aviation events to discuss
safety and operations. General aviation has been a huge
part of my life and if we're going to enjoy it going forward, the ecosystem has to be preserved so plankton
and whales alike can flourish.
AOPA
WEB www.aopafoundation.org

http://www.aopafoundation.org

AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2014