Talk me out of renewing my AOPA membership

Jim K

Jim K

Final Approach
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Richard Digits
My AOPA renewal form arrived, with an offer for a free hat.

I generally think they're doing important work, and I enjoy the magazine.

I also belong to the EAA, and I feel like EAA might be doing as much or more good for piston GA. Not sure I feel the need to belong to both, and some of the moves AOPA has made over the last year have rubbed me the wrong way.

I'm leaning towards going ahead and cutting them a check for another year. The hate for AOPA here seems to boil over regularly, so here's the opportunity to talk me out of it.
 
The magazine is just advertisements for airplanes most of us here would never be able to afford. In my opinion they weren't supportive enough of GAMI and their pursuit of a fuel solution. Their insurance partner never even replied to my request for a quote. Not really a fan of a management structure and begging for my money, yet I have no ability to approve or disprove of the salaries they receive...other than not giving them money. I would have liked them to address the certification process for upgrades. Maybe they are and have done a poor job of relaying that they have. They haven't really addressed the ageism thing insurance companies are doing (other than saying it is an issue they're looking at), and while not a problem for me. My dad is 64 so he'll be effect shortly. Maybe they are truly doing more but haven't been able to show their work or effort.

Now, EAA isn't all that much different as far as managerial structure. All non-profits are. However, they did partner with Dynon and helped them get their system approved for TC'd planes. And I foresee myself building in the not so distant future. I've seen zero support for Dynon from aopa, probably because they don't advertise like Garmin. Garmin is very close to being the only name in town and that's never a good thing.

Does AOPA put on an event on the same scale or even close to Air venture or Sun n fun?

I look at the AOPA as a magazine subscription. A magazine i only sometimes read. which is why I let mine lapse.
 
They advocated for constant monitoring.
 
Well, we still don’t have user fees, we still have a national airspace system that allows private and VFR flight (which were seriously threatened in the days following 9/11), I’m flying on BasicMed, and G100UL recently received fleet-wide approval.

But screw ‘em. I do something for $89/year that’s much more beneficial to GA than that. Besides, Mark Baker is not only wealthy, but short, and that makes me really mad. Oh, and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association shows the audacity to own a couple of AIRPLANES!!!
 
After 20 years, I've let mine go. $89 a year for a magazine I rarely read (nothing personal, I rarely read any of the magazines that show up in my mailbox). Then you hear numerous stories of the untold millions AOPA has in the coffers. I don't understand raising the rates when you are sitting on such funding. Its not that I don't think they are one of the better advocates for GA, but it seems like they have gotten too big.
 
My insurance gives me 10% discount for AOPA membership (AIG). That pretty much pays for it right there. Worth having a voice in DC. Cost of the overall org seems a bit over the top for what they do.
 
I dunno, I mean..........does anyone else thinks she looks slightly less crazy than she did a few years ago?




upload_2022-9-23_14-36-20.png

"send me your money, Jim. send it to me now. SEND ME ALLLLL YOUR MONEY, JIM! MMMMWWWAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!! no really, send me your money."
 
I won't try to talk you out of it. I did drop my membership because the dues increases were coming too frequently, I felt they had evolved to focus much more on new, expensive kerosene burners, with light singles no longer a priority, and I was annoyed they shut down the red board, and very annoyed that the lied about the reasons.

That's not to say AOPA doesn't continue to do good for our cause, just that the reasons I enumerated nudged me to join EAA and drop AOPA. Supporting both is a fine idea, I just elected to pick only one.
 
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OneCharlieTango said:
George Braly disagrees enthusiastically.
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Perhaps they were supportive. And no doubt more happened behind the scenes that we don't know about. But I think that's on them not conveying that they're behind GAMI. It's not Braly's job to say AOPA is supportive. Its on AOPA to say they support and are pushing the FAA to approve the STC.
 
They seem to be a big driver behind the basic med thing...which seems to be a good thing.....
even though I do feel that their course and their basic med form are extremely poorly done.... but how much of that is on AOPA vs congress, I don't know.
still, it's them or Mayo Clinic...and it's good to have a choice.

....that's another thing. Why is it a choice between two so dissimilar organizations for basic med?.....
mayo clinic or lets say "Kaiser Permanente" just to pick another at random... that I would understand
AOPA or EAA....that I would understand even more!

and while I'm on this rant, why is EAA not doing a basic med thing?

ok, rant over....

Stewartb said:
Until lobbying isn't how government business is done, I'll continue to support AOPA and EAA. Strength in numbers, power in dollars. Like it or not that's how the game is played.
Click to expand...

That right there. I'm really not so sure how affective they are or how efficient they are with the money.... but it's the tool we have for the problem.
 
OneCharlieTango said:
George Braly disagrees enthusiastically.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that!

Had the FAA not approved G100UL,
OR if they approved it but Braly still said that AOPA was a roadblock,
I would advise dropping AOPA.

But that's not what happened. The FAA did drag their feet, but when they finally approved it, Braly credited Turner and AOPA for working very hard behind the scenes to get it approved.

As far as I am concerned, that fact alone is enough for me to renew. GA is under constant attack these days. Who else is going to stand up for us as well as AOPA? Who else has the credibility?
 
I just renewed mine today actually. I get an insurance discount but no idea if that covers the dues.
I do read the magazine.
 
The Mods should set up a sticky with the pros and cons of belonging to AOPA from the endless threads on this topic.

That way POA could save bandwidth and people could read it and decide what makes sense to them.

Cheers
 
X3 Skier said:
The Mods should set up a sticky with the pros and cons of belonging to AOPA from the endless threads on this topic.

That way POA could save bandwidth and people could read it and decide what makes sense to them.

Cheers
Click to expand...

You bet. Those text only threads use up a lot of bandwidth these days.

Plus, then POA would have more electrons to start threads on important topics like getting shot by cannons at football games.


https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/shot-with-a-cannon.121675/

:p
 
I joined when I first started taking lessons. Got a hat or two, but dropped membership after a couple of years. I wasn't getting much out it, unlike for example the IFR magazine I subscribe to now.

It's not that I dislike them, I just don't see that I would get anything from AOPA that I need right now.
 
I fly basicmed. I'm excited about GAMI taking the only legitimate complaint the NIMBY's have (lead) away from them. AOPA's legal team helped me once.

Total no brainer for me to continue to support them for less than a single dinner out with the family.
 
While not perfect, and no organization is, they do things for GA.

Best is to be member of EAA and AOPA, so you can be counted twice for lobbying.

AOPA, "We represent XX pilots....."

EAA, "And we represent YY pilots......"
 
Salty said:
Has anybody named a con? The only con I can see is an annual fee that barely buys an hour of fuel.
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Their advocacy of ADSB being a equipment requirement was a con for me.
 
I like the free VREF subscription that comes with it. That's about the only perk I use from AOPA.
 
Jim K said:
...

I'm leaning towards going ahead and cutting them a check for another year. The hate for AOPA here seems to boil over regularly, so here's the opportunity to talk me out of it.
Click to expand...

It's your money.

If you can't think of why it's worth it to you, then why would you throw money away?

If you think it's worth the money, then it doesn't matter why other people have dumped their AOPA membership.
 
I saw absolutely zero value in it, so I canceled mine a number of years ago.
 
I was at an EAA talk and the subject was the then-new LSA/SP rule. Whoever it was from EAA said flat-out that they pushed to keep the max gross weight low enough that "legacy" trainers like C140, C150, Cherokee 140, Yankee, and most of the rest with >65hp wouldn't qualify. They wanted to create a demand for new models, and competition from old trainers would interfere with that.

Say what you want about AOPA, but AFAIK they've NEVER done anything so contrary to the interests of the membership as that.

Still an EAA member, but not blind about it.
 
Killing the red board was the last straw for me. I've been increasingly dissatisfied with AOPA over the years and with the increasing membership dues. They're so-called medical advice was worse than useless. Their misinformation coupled with a AME that Dr. B says after relating the story to him should have had his designation pulled ended up having me grounded for 12 weeks.
 
say what?
I've seen no need for anything like that in an aviation advocacy group. GA always have seemed to be male heavy, but seems to be generally more of a natural interest kind of thing. Nothing holding women back that I've seen on the recreational side anyway. My PPL designated examiner was a lady...and that was some 32 or so years ago.... nothing odd about it at all. Seems like anyone that want to commit aviation certainly has an equal time of it.... it's a big nothing of an issue!
 
I have sympathy for advocacy groups like AOPA/EAA b/c they often have a difficult time explaining how they provide a general and constant pressure on legislators and other groups, behind the scenes and in our favor - to keep this activity we so enjoy away from the wolves; wolves who would happily ground us all in a heartbeat.

I don't need the details of what they do; occasionally I do hear specifics (you can read about them in Pilot), but I am just happy to know I have someone working on our side.

If AOPA or EAA were to go away or become diminished, I ask what group would jump in to present our case? There is no other organization waiting in the sidelines. If they go away, what would happen to GA?

Let's also, in our assessment of online opinions about these groups, not forget that there is always a group of Negative Neds who freely, but usually without substantive arguments or large-picture perspectives, bash these various organizations who have made their reason for existence to be that of doing things to help us - have seen this behavior in many groups, av and non-av.

Actually for many of us with only 10-15 years left of flying, it could be that we are supporting the .orgs so the next generation has any hope of flying GA.
I'm on board with that.
 
Con? Well, they don't need your money.

Baker pays himself $1.5M/year. The investment cash hoard, built from unnecessarily high member dues, is now over $100M. They could shut the place down and live off the hoard for the rest of their lives. Said another way, they could make a cash payment of $200 to every single member and still have more money than they need.
 
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AOPA and Flying do NOT cater to the GA crowd.
At least not the working class folks struggling to keep a plane in flying condition, or the entry level pilot, or the end of lifer who is winding down.
Flying magazine really set me off this week with the last Email. Sorry, Flying. My lifestyle is not a 2 million dollar house on a private fly in community in the Florida Keys.
 
Learn, build, & fly! The EAA is more geared towards what I do and who I am.

I was an AOPA member for a number of years but they have been busy transitioning into an organization that doesn't help me much at all with what I do. But the last straw is no one calling me to get a free member ride in the Extra 300 that they received for FREE! :D
 
Shepherd said:
AOPA and Flying do NOT cater to the GA crowd.
At least not the working class folks struggling to keep a plane in flying condition, or the entry level pilot, or the end of lifer who is winding down.
Flying magazine really set me off this week with the last Email. Sorry, Flying. My lifestyle is not a 2 million dollar house on a private fly in community in the Florida Keys.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've had that sense for a very long time.... I really don't know that EAA is all that much different...maybe a little.

walking around sun n fun just this year I was thinking about how just about every commercial display was for something very far outside of the reach of most all the GA pilots I've ever known. They are the companies that have the coin to come display at these shows...as well as buy adds in the magazines.... but I was really wondering as I walked around, how many of the thousands of folks I walked past in a few days is actually going to seriously consider buying some of these things in the big tents front and center...or even how many could even seriously consider it if they wanted to? Those big companies certainly must get some value I suppose from showing there even if the vast majority of passers by are not their customers
 
People claim that AOPA is an advocate for us.

Not everything that AOPA advocates is a positive for us.
 
As someone who learned to fly abroad, I can tell you (and you can easily verify) that the United States is paradise on earth for light general aviation. I challenge you to find any other country where GA flying is as affordable and practical as here.

We must not take this for granted. Lots of people want to turn our airports into residential or commercial real estate and eliminate the noise. AOPA is the strongest and most effective force for GA we have. Your AOPA membership is a screaming deal, not for the magazine but for preserving your freedom to fly. Don’t believe me? Look across the border and then report back.

- Martin
 
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