Hey everybody, today we're going to be talking about the latest on how
the invasion of Ukraine is affecting general aviation. And we'll learn more about our push
toward unleaded avgas. Hey plus come along on a beautiful sunrise flight in Hawaii,
a helpful tip for instrument flying, all this and more in just a moment
This is AOPA Live This Week with Tom Haines and Paul Harrop filling in for Alyssa Cobb.
Well hey we have to get the lead out of avgas. That's general aviation's top
priority right now it's going to take all hands on deck to get it done. AOPA hosted
a webinar on Wednesday about the effort. AOPA President Mark Baker GAMA President Pete Bunce,
aviation fuel expert Paul Millner addressed the industry's commitment to that process.
Now during the webinar AOPA announced an avgas coalition, that's a significant part of bringing
the industry together, and more than 100 members have already joined. We wanted all of the thought
leaders in there whether it's a type club, a regional flying group, you know pilots association
um parachutes it doesn't matter. Anybody that's involved in general aviation and using piston
aircraft should be part of this coalition because the more you know the better off you're going to
be. The FAA's effort to bring the industry and government together is called EAGLE or eliminate
aviation gasoline lead emissions. EAGLE builds on the work of another FAA collaboration,
the piston aviation fuel initiative or PAFI which was introduced in 2013. Well certainly it's a it's
a big step forward, you know PAFIs been around and without saying that it worked or didn't work,
we learned a lot as my view on the old process but it was time to reinvigorate with urgency,
with all the stakeholders around moving forward with whatever process. Once we get a fuel that
is acceptable, whatever that is and whoever crosses that finish line first or even second
order, if there's three players we want to find a pathway to get those fuels into the distribution
into the consumer and being fully confident that those fuels are ready to go. So I think that's
a as I view the difference today in EAGLE and having been around PAFI for a number of years,
this is an urgency change. And the time is really now, I mean the goal is by 2030, but that
doesn't mean we have to wait until then. Right yeah, there's actually been a lot of progress
on several fuels, GAMI of course out of Oklahoma has come a long ways, SWIFT is working on a fuel
and we know that there's some others out there percolating along, and so we're probably going
to get there sooner but we needed kind of the runway if you will uh to make sure that
we could get not only the fuels approved but then all the infrastructure in the back end
to get them manufactured and distributed out there as well. And you know the important thing is you
know talking about the urgency of this the EPA is probably going to designate the lead in our fuels
as a as a hazard certainly by next year and probably start the process this year
and when that happens then we really are against a deadline because we're going to start to see
liability concerns crop up for some manufacturers and that sort of thing, so we need to be making
good progress yeah and a lot of deep background in that webinar I would encourage everyone to
to go check it out I learned a ton just working in the control room on it. And you know another
thing I've seen on the internet is um you know people worry that hey is this the industry trying
to take away the success that some of these individual fuel creators have made, really
it's a way to bring them to market and bring them into regulation, is it not? Yeah and it's
it's just another means to make sure that we're kind of identifying all the right candidates and
building on all the other things that need to get done you know. I do compare it a lot to
you know getting an airplane type certification, that's one step in the process, but then you
have to get the production certificate ramp up production, build the training infrastructure,
build the maintenance infrastructure for the fleet that you're about to create, that sort
of thing. So there's a lot of moving parts to get it done and getting the fuel approved is
just one of them. Yeah deep dive into that all in the webinar, check it out on our YouTube channel.
Russian troops continue to invade Ukraine and the conflict is affecting general aviation
companies in that country. Flight Design builds the light sport airplanes in Ukraine they make
the F2 and the CT series and we're joined now by Tom Peghiny, President of Flight Design USA,
so tom we're seeing reports just this morning that Kherson, where the Flight Design factory
is located has been taken by Russian forces. Is the factory still open or was it shut down?
Well it was shut down as of uh as of yesterday, we had a small group of people that were still there,
the guards outside of the facility and some of the engineering managers were still there,
but as of today it's shut down. Wow so what are you hearing from your employees?
Is Flight Design offering opportunities for them outside of Ukraine? Yes in fact we've extended an
invitation for anyone that wants to move to the Czech Republic to come and work there and we're
very busy right now setting up production in Czech Republic. We have a facility there that does
aircraft completions and that's where our R&D facility is located and tooling is made there so
we're planning just to increase staff and and the size of the buildings there. Right so that sounds
like that could have an impact on production rate though I know you've got some airplanes on order
and all the shifting of people and personnel and equipment to the Czech Republic, that sounds like
it might cause some production problems, will it? Oh yes it'll it'll be four to six months
before we're producing airplanes again. Right, you know at any rate we might get a few out
before that but it's going to take a while to get going there. Right and I understand
you also have a very personal connection to Ukraine, your wife's family is there,
how are they what are you hearing? And are you able to stay in touch with them?Strangely we have
been able to keep in touch with everyone including many of the engineers at the factory and uh
and and as an aside another company that manufactures in Ukraine Aeroprakt which also
makes really nice airplanes I was in communication with Yuri Yakovlev the president of Aeroprakt,
his people are all fine as well. So that's all good news, you know you can make new molds and
you can get a new building but you can't replace friends and family and people
that we've worked with for over 20 years. Wow all right Tom well thanks so much for sharing
your information and update with us of course we're thinking of uh all the folks in Ukraine
and we hope that your wife's family all stays safe, and that your employees get out of there
safely and that soon we see airplanes rolling off the production line
at a higher rate in the Czech Republic. Thank you very much for the opportunity.
So Paul astounding you know here we are in the 21st century and we're seeing you know buildings
blowing up being blown up like this and the in the interruption to commerce and lifestyle life
loss and all that sort of thing is it it's a real shame, yeah I know it's it's a horrible impact
on people there and you know that's the that's the thing this war affects individuals, people
this is this is not just some global political thing this is hurting people and sadly it's also
hurting hardware. The world's largest airplane may be gone. Ukraine's official twitter account
reports that the only Antonov AN225 was heavily damaged at an airfield near Kiev by Russian
forces. The airplane was originally designed in the 80s to transport the soviet space shuttle.
After that the AN225 was used for cargo service it was used several times for humanitarian aid.
The six engine behemoth has a max takeoff weight of over 1.3 million pounds that's twice as much as
the 747. The Ukrainians say they will rebuild the airplane. And the west is implementing
crippling sanctions against Russia in response to that invasion, and that includes aviation.
The FAA and the department of transportation have banned Russian aircraft from US domestic airspace
and the Farnborough International Air Show, one of the aviation industries most significant events
also announced that Russia will not be allowed to participate in that show this July. Meanwhile a
long time advocate for general aviation is retiring senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma
announced that he'll retire from the senate at the end of this year Inhofe made numerous
contributions to aviation through his nearly three decade career. Well you know it's really been a
pleasure and an honor working with senator Inhofe and his staff for all these years. They've done so
much and you know Jim Inhofe is best described him as a leader, a gentleman, and a pilot.
You know general aviation is a large part growing and vibrant in the United States today because of
the senator's passion for flying and his years of dedicated public service to help make it so. And I
I just can't thank Senator Inhofe enough for all he's done for general aviation,
I'm gonna miss him. Inhofe was instrumental working alongside AOPA on significant legislation
including the Pilot's Bill of Rights BasicMed and legislation to keep US aviation competitive
in the global markets. Wow it's I can't imagine a world without Jim Inhofe in congress, you know I'm
I'm from Oklahoma. From the time I started paying attention to the news, Jim Inhofe was my senator,
and every job I've ever had as an adult which has all been in television in one capacity another,
I've reported on him, my hometown station, Oklahoma City, Wichita Falls, in Lawton again
and I thought when i came to AOPA 10 years ago I wouldn't be reporting on Jim Inhofe and who do
I meet at Oshkosh, he flew his RV-4 or Harman Rocket in, the guy is a pilot's pilot and uh
yeah it's it's wild to think that he's retiring. Yeah and uh he will be missed he's done a lot
for general aviation for sure. Well the FAA is working to improve air safety in Alaska.
They are installing eight new automated weather stations in remote parts of the state. Weather
information from these stations will give pilots a better preview of the weather to expect before
landing. The rugged terrain and vast remote areas make it difficult to predict the fast changing
weather. Air safety is especially important to the rural and tribal communities in Alaska that are
accessible only by air. The new weather stations should be in operation this October. And general
aviation is also essential for transportation in Hawaii but the Hawaii department of transportation
wanted to close one of the state's most essential airports. Dillingham airfield on Oahu was set to
close until AOPA joined a massive effort by local pilots and business leaders to save
it. AOPA Western Pacific Regional manager Melissa McCaffrey played a major role in that effort and
as a way to thank her for all her hard work, Tom Sanders, owner of Paradise Air at Dillingham gave
Melissa the flight lesson of a lifetime. He took her on a sunrise flight in a light sport weight
shift control aircraft. You ready to have some fun? I am all right cool, let's do it. So this
bar is parallel with the wing, I need to hold the wing level, it's not like an airplane where the
wing is in place with the fuselage, so it moves so I hold it level I pull in that keeps weight
on the nose and keeps us on the ground and when I want to lift off all I do is let the bar out
and there we go. How do you like my office window? Oh I mean this is incredible, try this put your
left hand right here, your right hand here now, it takes a lot more strength to fly from the back
seat, so I'm going to be your power steering for most of the flight. Whenever you, whenever you
want it but I want you to know that if I want to do a left turn I'm going to look for traffic
like you would in a Cessna, now we've got a pretty darn good view. If I pull our weight to the left,
the sail is going to shift on the framework and the hang glider is going to stay in a left turn
and I just want to do a little turn here around Dillingham. How do you like how it flies? Oh it's
great, yeah it's really really bird-like in my opinion because you're connected to the wing,
you're not moving parts that move parts that move parts. You're directly connected to the wing like
a surfer moving a surfboard or a snowboarder or wakeboarder. And that's why I prefer this
aircraft over anything else yeah because it feels birdlike. Look at the view down here unbelievable.
I love my job, I mean I love your job. All right so let's go out over
the water pull your left hand towards my face put us into a little left roll.
And if you see any whales we can always teach turns around a whale. Okay those are some surfers,
yep surfers right there now. We're gonna go down the coast so start bringing it,
the right wing down by pulling your right hand towards my face it's called Pua'ena point.
It's so beautiful it really is. Dillingham traffic paradise one base to final
full stop glider port. Basically I'm landing runway one one zero. Soft landing
was that one of the softest landing in your life? That was like butter, good wow. That looks
awesome. It does, what an amazing flight she had. Well coming up after the break, a new autopilot
option for Bonanzas, and see just how much Amelia Earhart's flight cap is worth...it's a lot
I'm Jeff Auen, I have about 1,300 hours. I have ratings single-engine land, single-engine sea,
multi-engine land, tail wheel endorsement.
I'm halfway through my instrument ratings so my instructor is uh is walking me through. Icing
really important obviously, winds aloft, some of the additional features,
in fact just a week ago we paged through every button on the XM weather, siriusXM weather
page just to find out what's out there. I was actually startled at how much i was missing.
Well I like that it's accessible on the ground, it's great for flight planning
especially in a slower airplane even, in the AirCam, just being able to access and plan
on the ground before you take off is a big plus for me. Hey welcome back, it has to be one of the
world's most expensive hats. A couple of weeks ago we told you that Amelia Earhart's flight
cap was on the auction block. Earhart wore the cap during her first flight across the Atlantic ocean.
The auction house thought it would bring in maybe 80,000 bucks or so. Well not even close it sold
for more than $800,000. I can't even think in those terms, wow. Tell you what, the the shirt
that the t-shirt that I wore when i was 16 years old when i soloed for the first time is hanging
on my office wall at home and I'll let it go for just $80,000. How is that? Anybody interested?
Maybe we'll uh take a collection together or something. Well Southwest airlines is giving high
school students the opportunity to make some cash this summer. They're not buying your shirt just
give it up. They are accepting applications for their internship program. It's for students who
live near one of several designated hub airports. The internship will give students the opportunity
to work alongside Southwest staff to see what it's like to work in the aviation industry.
They're accepting applications until March 13th. Find more on the Southwest website.
If you fly a Bonanza there's a new autopilot option for you. The Dynon 3-axis autopilot
has been certified for the Beechcraft Bonanza 36 series. The autopilot integrates with the
Dynon Skyview HDX. The autopilot can follow a flight plan and with a compatible navigator
will fly any precision or non-precision approach. Yaw control is also an option for some airplanes.
The full kit for a Skyview system and autopilot costs around twenty seven thousand dollars
for 36 series Bonanzas. And glass panels like the Skyview have changed the way we fly especially in
the clouds. AOPA Editor at Large Dave Hirschman has a quick tip for flying an instrument approach
using synthetic vision. IFR pilots have a big mental shift to make when they switch from flying
on the needles during the approach to landing with outside visual references. Today however
GPS derived synthetic vision makes this transition simple. Even when the airplane
is in the clouds during an instrument approach pilots with synthetic vision can control it in
much the same way as they would on a sunny day. They essentially play an elaborate video game
in which they place the green dot or flight path marker on the runway threshold and use
coordinated pitch, power, bank and rudder pressure to keep it there.
Keeping the flight path marker on the image of the runway threshold keeps the airplane properly
aligned and on glide path. The flight director, if the airplane is equipped with one gets demoted
from a primary to a supporting role using this technique, if the flight director is used at all.
My personal preference is to unclutter the screen by getting rid of the flight director entirely,
a suggestion that sounds like heresy to some veteran IFR pilots. The biggest benefit to this
synthetic vision technique is that the mental shift that takes place when pilots go from heads
down in the clouds to heads up in preparation for landing is minimal. They're already using
coordinated controls and flying as they would in visual conditions throughout the approach
and landing. The biggest difference is that on cloudy days, the real world is a lot less colorful
than the screens would seem to indicate. Dave Hirschman, AOPA Live. You can find more instrument
flying videos on our YouTube channel, and i got to tell you the flight path marker is like cheating.
I'm working on my IFR now but i'm doing it in steam gauges so I can't do that but I really
look forward to transitioning to glass and trying that out. It is pretty amazing what's out there
today. That's the show for this week, thanks for spending some time with us. And we would love for
you to take the time to consider joining AOPA if you're not already a member. Find out more
at the link on your screen, we want you as an AOPA pilot, we'll see you back here next week.
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