Mhm. Well hey everybody, well we told you this was
likely to happen last month and now it's official the White House is nominating Phillip
Washington to be the new FAA boss. Of course you'll need to be confirmed by the
Senate. Now Washington right now is the Denver
International Airport CEO.
He's also run the Los Angeles and Denver transit agencies and he's an army veteran.
He was a command sergeant major. Okay. And joining me now is our boss,
Mark baker, president and CEO. Of A O. P. A.
So Mark, what's your thought on Phillip Washington?
Well my thought is first off welcome to the aviation community and we're looking forward to
working with him. Uh We'll get to know him as soon as he gets the
role confirmed. I like the idea of having a permanent leader
rather than having somebody in the acting role. It's very difficult for them to make decisions
very hard long term strategic direction to go. So I'm pleased that we were finally moving to a
full time leader in that in a very important role.
So after he's confirmed, I know that you'll be one of the first people who will be able to go
meet with him. So what's going to be on your list of items
that that you want to present to him as our priorities?
Well clearly you know we want to get this uh low lead fuel initiative and the EAGLE program
supported, understood and the commitment to keep our airports open maintaining low lead
availability until we have the switch over date. Complete something that really counted in the
FAA to stand up for and that will be on the very top of our list for certain.
Okay. You know, a lot of members are always get
concerned when it's not a pilot who's the FAA administrator.
Now, the last few administrators have been pilots.
Does that concern you well? You know um here's what I'd say is that one of
the best guys I worked with over the last nine years Michael Huerta.
Michael was not a pilot. Michael and I still maintain a good friendship.
He was a good leader. Let's start with having a good leader and he
was very curious about aviation and very accessible to AOPA myself at any time anywhere
and that's what I think is the most important piece and we can teach them all about things
about aviation that he needs to know. Uh and I'm sure he'll be surrounded by people
that know a lot as well. So it's not a critical factor,
certainly hurt to be a pilot for sure. And the last couple of folks have been pilots
but Michael and I did a lot of good things together and he was not a pilot.
So as long as you're a good leader and apparently and Phil is a good leader,
he's got a very successful career, we can work with that well.
And as a former army command sergeant major, we do know that he knows how to take names and
kick rears. I think he certainly understands accountability
and being decisive and that's one of the things that the leadership of the FAA needs any leader
of any large 50,000 people organization needs to be a decisive leader.
And I'm looking forward to working with him.
Great, Well, thank you. Mark. And Phillip Washington is going to have
his hands full the moment he walks through the doors at 800 Independence Avenue.
You know, such things like aircraft certification in the wake of the Boeing 737 Max
Max Fiasco.
Airline delays, the cancelation mess, air traffic control issues,
finger pointing is still going on there. By the way.
United continues to blame the F. A. A. F. A. A. says not their fault,
but the airline trade organization Airlines for America sent a letter to the guy who will be
Washington's boss, that's Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg.
And they indirectly blamed unscheduled operations as being part of the delay problem.
Well, we know what they mean by unscheduled operations.
It means they're pointing the finger at general aviation.
So, a group of general aviation organizations including us at AOPA
Well, we sent our own letter to Secretary Pete and the group wants to meet with him to quote
address the challenges of this moment and ensure that our aviation system as a public
asset overseen by the government and Congress best serves all Americans in cities and towns
across the USA.
So what we're indirectly saying is we're not to blame.
And of course, you know, there's a history there.
The airlines have been blaming G. A. for decades about delays at major airports.
That's one of the reasons why we had the development of the reliever airports and you
might remember back in the PATCO strike that G. A.
was prohibited from using the I. F. R. system. Back in the day
some controllers referred to us as FLIBs. You can look that up.
But Mark is going to testify on the delay issue next week before Congress and you can be
sure he's going to make it clear that G. A. isn't the reason why mom and dad are
sitting in an airport terminal someplace.
Now without a doubt, some of the nation's finest air traffic controllers work the
arrivals and departures at AirVenture in Oshkosh.
So here's something that's really fun.
It's a chance to practice flying into Oshkosh with real live controllers in your ear. PilotEdge
Is running SimVenture Oshkosh 2022.
Now, this is a live interactive event. You fly your simulator to Whitman Airport using
the procedures in the notice and talking to live air traffic controllers,
You're clear to land at or beyond the blue. one. Right start your turn now right now when you're
flying a brown step, the wing, upright base tighter and tighter and all the way around to
the green. I need you to point out that
the environment is extraordinarily realistic. You can even visit the AOPA
tent near the brown arch.
Well that's virtually of course. You can visit pilot edge.net to see what equipment you will
need to participate. The Sim sessions will run from July 14 through
the 17th and by the way, every time you land or take off virtually from Oshkosh you get a
prize entry and there's some pretty neat prizes there that you could win.
Now if you're flying to Oshkosh for real you can check out our website for some things that
you can do along the way.
Now when you get to Oshkosh this year you're likely to see,
you know a bunch of new things. You know, most of the manufacturers like to
debut their newest offerings there at Oshkosh so something new from France will be there.
Elixir aircraft says it's setting up a U. S. Assembly base and service center that to
support what they call 4th generation aircraft. The two seater is
EASA CS 23 certified. Now that's equivalent to FAA part 23
certification for small aircraft and usually EASA certification is recognized in the U.S.
construction. What that really means is that there are a lot
fewer rivets and seams that have to be glued or connected.
For example the wing is made without ribs or spars. Rotax power and a bit
under 300,000 bucks. And if you want to go a little faster Sonex says it's making major
progress on its two seat variant of the Subsonex personal jet.
They started taking deposits for the kit and the prototype will be on display at AirVenture.
Now they expect to ship the first kits late next year and they estimate it will cost you
something north of $150,000 to build one.
Of course. You know, we all dream of having a perfect
airplane. One that flies just right, looks cool and has
every feature we can want few of us get so lucky.
But one pilot in Pennsylvania certainly did.
Professor H. Paul Shuck or doctor SETI as many know him.
He's a noted radio astronomer.
Well in his retirement he started a flight school for at Lockhaven and he
specializes in light sport and serves as a DPE.
And when he's not giving dual or check rights, he's in this hot rod.
It's one of just two Bristell TDOs in North America.
Beautiful example was once a sales demonstrator Paul jumped at the chance to have it when I
bought the plane. I didn't have a lot of tail dragger experience.
I had maybe under 100 hours and tail draggers but most of that was 40 years ago so I
considered myself a beginner. When I bought the plane.
I also bought an instructor for a week and I'm still learning the plane,
it's a little squirrely it's very, very responsive.
This short wing gives it a fantastic roll rate but it's not an aerobatic airplane.
It just is a nimble aircraft that is an absolute pleasure to fly.
And if you're curious, no, it's not on the line at his flight school.
He says this one is all his. And the big just get bigger
Signature Flight Support announced this week that they have finalized their acquisition of
some 14 TAC Air FBOs.
Now, most of those locations have already been rebranded as Signature.
The new signature locations include Denver, Dallas, Lexington,
Salt Lake City, my hometown and Knoxville signature is the world's largest FBO
chain. And we'll be back in a moment. Your plane is a valuable tool with the genesis,
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Well, welcome back to California startup is out to compete with Zeppelin in the airship
business. H2 Clipper says it's making progress towards a
hydrogen and solar powered airship.
They've done some simulated wind testing using computational fluid dynamics.
Now, their proposed airship would have a 6000 mile range at 175 mph,
pretty dang fast for an airship And it could carry up to 245 tons.
An interesting part of this is that the company has a patent on how to deliver hydrogen to
airports and other facilities using existing infrastructure.
They call it a pipe within a pipe.
They say they'll have a full scale model flying in 2028.
I don't think they're using hydrogen for lift. I suspect that will be helium.
Ah some sad news from the air show world Chris Darnell, the longtime airshow entertainer and
driver of the Shockwave jet truck, died in a high speed accident. That was at the Battle
Creek Field of Flight air show on July 2nd. Now the custom
race truck had three J34-48 Pratt and Whitney jet engine strapped to
it and it could hit speeds of over 300 MPH.
Now, as part of the air show, the truck was racing to aircraft down the runway when a tire
blew, the truck skidded and rolled and a fuel tank burst into flames.
Our condolences to the Darnell family.
Now, the AOPA Air Safety Institute has just released a couple of new safety products. First
is an accident case study that follows assessment of 414 that departs on a VFR flight
that turns ugly really fast. By now, the 4 14 is in IMC
turbulence and rain showers.
The aircraft begins a descending right turn losing altitude rapidly,
Witnesses watched the aircraft exit the clouds at a nose down pitch of about 60° and remain in
that attitude for 4-5 seconds before beginning what appears to be a dive recovery. And a new
entry in their popular podcast series "There I Was." This one is another VFR into the instrument
conditions and you can find both of those on our website.
Now how about a home built eVTOL? Axe by SkyFly.
It was unveiled just recently. The two seater can operate as a helicopter or a fixed wing
aircraft or so says the British developer. It will be certified in the U.K.
As a home built light personal aircraft. And
they say there may also be a commercial application for the Axe since
eVTOLs are being developed for the air taxi business, they're going to need a pilot
initially because they won't be able to fly autonomously when they first go into service.
So they say the Axe could be used for training. And speaking of air taxis,
the European Union Aviation Safety Agency - EASA - has published rules for the operation of air
taxis in cities.
Now they say they are the first issue such regulations in the world has already developed
other regulations related to tv tall air taxis including recommendations on the design of
Vertiports or the places where the eVTOL will land.
Well you know there's nothing quite like flying over the crystal blue waters of the Bahamas in
a GA airplane.
But access to the Bahamas was limited until just recently.
COVID-19 travel restrictions made logistics more challenging.
And in 2019, Hurricane Dorian pummeled the area causing widespread damage.
Well now the Bahamas are ready for you to visit again.
Travel restrictions are lifted and hurricane recovery is well underway.
We have a full video about flying to the Bahamas again and you can find the link up
there in the corner of your screen. And finally with great sadness,
we note the passing of longtime AOPA trustee Andy Pew. Robert.
Anderson Pew served some 44 years on the
AOPA Board of Trustees, helping guide this organization to the becoming the preeminent
defender of general aviation that it is today. Four AOPA
presidents counted on Andy for his sage
counsel and advice.
And and he truly loved general aviation. He flew his Piper Comanche for 50 years before
he donated it to the AOPA Foundation.
He died June 25th just outside of Philadelphia, not far away from Wings Field where
AOPA was founded, Godspeed Andy Pugh.
And that's our show for this week. We'll see you next Friday.