Is AOPA asleep again?

[TomHaines]

ADSB was AOPA's big miss. The airspace limitations are ridiculous. AOPA sat on the sidelines, even cheered, as that disaster unfolded. That was AOPA's opportunity to lay on the proverbial railroad tracks and prevent the mess. Pushing others for a less expensive solution to a problem that AOPA should have prevented is not a win.

The WORLD is changing to ADS-B as its primary surveillance system. Little chance to stop that one. But only in the US do pilots get something for their investment--traffic and weather information, a change AOPA insisted on. We also advocated that we should all be able to get rid of transponders, but lost that one--at least for now. Interesting that people today still gripe that AOPA resisted the transition to transponders in the 1970s, calling AOPA "backward" and "out of touch" for not getting on board with a modern system. Forty years later, people complain that AOPA didn't resist enough the next generation of air traffic modernization.

 

[Cluemeister]

Tom, I would like to thank you for taking the time to answer critics. Replying to POA members has risk, so thank you for engaging. Earlier in this thread I poked fun at AOPA, but in my joke there was some constructive feedback. First, I'll start with the things I like as a member: The fly ins, the magazines, the weekly AOPA live, rusty pilots, all good, thank you. Now the criticism: Too much of AOPA Live is centered on the staff itself. A recent episode had two employees getting a seaplane rating. Another one had an employee using a powered parachute. These episodes come off as self centered, and make AOPA live look like a vanity production. I think it would be much better to profile average pilots achieving these things, although it requires more effort. And in regards to Mark Baker's Cub, I'm glad he flies a cub, but not really interested in hearing about it again and again. Once again, thanks for posting on here, it's no fun taking criticism, but it can be helpful!

 

[kyleb]

The WORLD is changing to ADS-B as its primary surveillance system. Little chance to stop that one. But only in the US do pilots get something for their investment--traffic and weather information, a change AOPA insisted on. We also advocated that we should all be able to get rid of transponders, but lost that one--at least for now. Interesting that people today still gripe that AOPA resisted the transition to transponders in the 1970s, calling AOPA "backward" and "out of touch" for not getting on board with a modern system. Forty years later, people complain that AOPA didn't resist enough the next generation of air traffic modernization.

The reason I complain about ADSB is because the VFR pilot receives no benefit from the mandated equipment. Weather and/or traffic are not part of the mandate. The VFR pilot gets a $2k-$5k bill and another expensive piece of hardware that will eventually need to be repaired/replaced. The government gets another expensive system to upkeep, in addition to all of the RADAR sites which will never be deactivated due to security concerns.

AOPA needed to lie down on the railroad tracks to prevent ADS-B from being required anywhere other than Class A, B, and >10k'. Requiring it to operate below Class B airspace is a waste of resources. There is no positive control there and airliners don't play there. But thousands of owners who live in large metropolitan areas have an expensive mandate because we frequently fly under the Class B.

Does anyone think being more like "the world" with respect to GA is an advantage? "The World" isn't exactly GA friendly.

 

[TomHaines]

Tom, I would like to thank you for taking the time to answer critics. Replying to POA members has risk, so thank you for engaging. Earlier in this thread I poked fun at AOPA, but in my joke there was some constructive feedback. First, I'll start with the things I like as a member: The fly ins, the magazines, the weekly AOPA live, rusty pilots, all good, thank you. Now the criticism: Too much of AOPA Live is centered on the staff itself. A recent episode had two employees getting a seaplane rating. Another one had an employee using a powered parachute. These episodes come off as self centered, and make AOPA live look like a vanity production. I think it would be much better to profile average pilots achieving these things, although it requires more effort. And in regards to Mark Baker's Cub, I'm glad he flies a cub, but not really interested in hearing about it again and again. Once again, thanks for posting on here, it's no fun taking criticism, but it can be helpful!

Thanks for the feedback. Always good to know what's important to viewers/readers.