By Jim TimmJimTimm

July 2014

Summer is definitely here and you really have to get out early to fly comfortably. Many are getting plans finalized for the big EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh and I hope the weather improves a bit for those planning on flying to the event. I hope I run into some of you while we are there. In the meantime, please keep an eye on density altitude when you fly into to some of our higher altitude airports and be sure to make a last minute check for forest fire, or any other, TFR’s before you depart on a flight. We still have a rather high potential for forest fires.


The use of UAVs’, or I guess the official term now is UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System), has been showing up in the news frequently lately. It appears that we may have to share the airspace with them in the not too distant future, and I hope that transformation can be accomplished safely. Information on the six UAS test sites the FAA designated for evaluating their integration into the national airspace system has been slowly coming in.

The FAA announced that the second of the six UAS test sites is now operational. The FAA has granted the University of Alaska Fairbanks a Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) authorizing flights by an Aeryon Scout, a small UAS, for animal surveys at its Pan-Pacific UAS Test Range Complex in Fairbanks. The COA is effective for two years. The wildlife flight operations began on May 5. The main purpose of the Alaskan wildlife operation is to demonstrate how a UAS can accurately locate, identify, and count large wild animals, such as caribou, reindeer, musk ox and bear for survey operations requested by the state of Alaska. Flights are taking place at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Large Animal Research Station (LARS).
The Nevada test site is the third UAS test site that has become operational. The FAA granted the State of Nevada team a two-year Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) to use an Insitu ScanEagle at the Desert Rock Airport located near Mercury on the Nevada National Security Site, or previously known as the “Nevada Test Site.” If this sounds familiar to you, this is where some of the 1950s nuclear testing was done. Desert Rock Airport is owned and operated by the United States Department of Energy; it is a private airport, and not for general use. The ScanEagle will fly at or below 3,000 feet, monitored by a visual observer and mission commander. Initial flights will verify that a UAS can operate safely at the airport. Nevada’s research will concentrate on UAS standards and operations as well as operator standards and certification requirements. The site’s activities will also include a concentrated look at how air traffic control procedures will evolve with the introduction of UAS into the civil environment and how these aircraft will integrate with NextGen, the modernization of the national airspace system.
You may recall, the first test site announced was for the North Dakota Department of Commerce team at its Northern Plains Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site near Carrington, ND, to show that UAS can check soil quality and the status of crops in support of North Dakota State University/Extension Service precision agriculture research studies. Also, maintenance data collected during site operations will support a prototype database for UAS maintenance and repair.

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS

By now you should have received an Urgent Action Alert from APA to consider supporting the General Aviation Pilot Protection Act bills that are before our legislators in Washington D.C. If you haven't responded to your legislators yet, don’t delay; do it now. It will be interesting to see if the threat of legislative action will spur the FAA into action and initiate a rule making on the third class medical issue as petitioned by the AOPA and EAA.

The Luke AFB Airspace Office has advised us that they are continuing to get intrusions into the Goldwater Range restricted areas. In addition to major intrusions into the range area, there continue to be numerous intrusions into the edges along the Victor Air Way 66. Caution must be exercised to NOT allow your flight path to drift south of the Victor Airway. Military aircraft are using the ranges to their very limits, and what you may consider a slight deviation or intrusion could have serious consequences. The military aircraft operating in these ranges are training with live munitions and intrusions can result in a scrubbed mission that has to be rescheduled at great cost to all of us, the taxpayers. Please know where your flight path is and be careful. An intrusion could be costly in many ways.

The FAA has their 2013 General Aviation Survey underway to collect accurate information on aviation activity across the United States, which is used to calculate fatal accident rates for general aviation and Part 135 aircraft. They need to hear from everyone who received the 36th annual General Aviation and Part 135 Activity Survey (GA Survey) invitation in the mail. Even if you did not fly your aircraft in 2013, they still need a completed survey. The surveys have been sent to approximately 85,000 aircraft owners/operators, and because this study is a random sample, only those who receive an invitation can participate. If you have already completed this year’s survey, they thank you! The information is used only for statistical purposes and will not be released in any form that would reveal an individual participant. An independent research firm, Tetra Tech, is conducting the GA Survey on behalf of the FAA. If you have questions, please contact Tetra Tech toll-free at 1-800-826-1797 or email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Mesa Falcon Field (FFZ), Phoenix Gateway Airport (IWA) and other airports around the state will be having construction projects underway this summer, so be sure to check NOTAMS before your departure for possible destination airport operational restrictions.
We continue to get notices that GPS Interference testing is still occurring. Unfortunately, we receive these notices only a few days before the testing is to take place, making it impossible to provide you with a timely notification. If you do encounter inflight problems with getting a useable GPS navigation signal, it is important that you contact ATC and advise APA of it also, providing the date, time, location and altitude the problem is noted.
Aviation safety needs to be a concern for all of us, and this last reporting period was not a good one. From the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) records, there were ten accidents that occurred in Arizona in this last reporting period. Of the ten accidents reported, one of them was a fatal accident and only one accident had serious injuries. Four of the reported accidents did not have accident details issued. An effort is continuing, to determine if an alternate, and more current, source of information is available. The information presently available is contained in my July Accident Report.
APA continues to work with airports around the state providing the general aviation user perspective in the process of updating their Airport Master Plans. We are presently or will be working on the updating of the Pinal Regional Airport, the Gila Bend Municipal Airport, and Deer Valley Airport Master Plans.

THINGS TO DO - PLACES TO GO FOR BREAKFAST:

The third Saturday of the month there is a fly in breakfast at Benson (E95) at Southwest Aviation. (Often there have been very special fuel prices for breakfast attendees.)
The last Saturday of the month there is still a fly in breakfast at Casa Grande Municipal Airport (CGZ) that runs from 7:00 am until 10:00 The breakfast is inside the air conditioned terminal building and it is anticipated to continue through the summer.
(The Casa Grande fly in breakfast is put on by a service group to raise funds for community service projects.)

Check the APA Calendar for our Getaway Flights program for weekend places to fly.

 

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