By Jim Timm
September 2014
I hope everyone has been enjoying a summer vacation and flying safely to get out of the valley’s summer heat. This year the weather at the EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh was once again superb. It was great to have had the opportunity to run into some of you there and visit for a moment. It was amazing with thousands attending again this year.
The big question starting this year’s EAA AirVenture was this: Will FAA Administrator Huerta announce reform of the third-class medical? Because of what appeared to be a lack of interest by the FAA to consider a change in the Class 3 medical requirements, U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita (R-Indiana) introduced the General Aviation Pilot Protection Act of 2013, H.R. 3708, that would allow pilots to use their state-issued driver’s license as proof of medical certification. Presently the bill has 123 co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives. A nearly identical companion bill has also been introduced in the U.S. Senate, also with significant Senate support. The EAA and AOPA petition to the FAA for Class 3 medical reform resulted in the FAA receiving over 16,000 public comments to the petition, and the vast majority of comments received were overwhelmingly positive. In response to the EAA / AOPA petition, and the Legislative efforts, the FAA announced in April they would initiate a rule-making project. In his presentation at AirVenture, Administrator Huerta stated the FAA signed off on a new rule designed to reform the agencies third-class medical requirements. The EAA / AOPA petition had called for an exemption to the third-class rule, which can only be of limited duration, and the long term policy changes sought by the general aviation community can only be achieved through a rule-making. The agency isn’t ruling out a temporary exemption, however they don’t want to prevent themselves from expeditiously completing the rule-making process. This change does represent a very significant policy change and must be reviewed by all applicable agencies before it can be published as a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) which would be open for public comment for at least 60 to 90 days. The administrator estimated the process could take six months to two years. However, he said they would expedite the process as much as possible.
To assure action is taken, U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita has indicated that if his legislation does not pass in the 2014 legislative session, he will re-introduce the General Aviation Pilot Protection Act again in the 2015 legislative session. He is confident in having even more co-sponsor support, and believes similar increased support will also be forth coming from the Senate.
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS
Mesa Falcon Field (FFZ), Phoenix Gateway Airport (IWA) and other airports around the state will be having numerous construction projects underway this summer, so be sure to check NOTAMS before your departure for possible destination airport operational restrictions. Construction work at Phoenix Gateway Airport is also expected to continue on into the fall.
Falcon Field (FFZ), currently has a runway overlay project in process that is expected to last until the end of September. During construction, Runway 4R/22L will be closed weekdays, but will be open every weekend except Saturday and Sunday September 6 & 7.
The ASR-8 radar antenna located on Williams Gateway Airport (IWA) has to be moved to accommodate airport development. A Radar Relocation Site Study has just been completed and determined the radar antenna should be relocated to the old military Rittenhouse emergency airfield (AZ38). It is indeed fortunate that this location was selected in that it will, with newer upgraded radar equipment, be able to provide adequate radar coverage far enough south to permit tower to tower operations between Phoenix and Tucson, similar to what as is now in operation between Phoenix and Flagstaff, thus providing local coverage from Flagstaff to Tucson.
We have been advised that pilots receiving air traffic control services from Phoenix Approach Control in the areas of Prescott, Sedona, and Flagstaff are able to get ATC radar-based weather information and weather advisories. Earlier equipment issues have been resolved and the service should continue and possibly improve.
We are still getting notices that GPS Interference testing is occurring. Unfortunately, we still continue to receive these notices only a few days before the testing is to take place, thus 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, providing the date, time, location, and altitude the problem is noted, and advise APA of it also.
It has come to our attention to take note that the GPS RWY 23 instrument approach at Casa Grande Municipal Airport (CGZ) has been discontinued.
I guess it could be a sign of the times, but I also received an FAA notice that the Maxwell VORTAC at Maxwell in northern California is being decommissioned. If anyone is interested, the notice is: CASE NO. 14-AWP-10NR, Decommissioning Maxwell VORTAC, Maxwell, CA.
We should all be concerned about aviation safety, and again, the last reporting period was not a good one. From the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) records, there were six accidents that occurred in Arizona during the last reporting period. Of the six accidents reported, two of them involved a total of six fatalities, and fortunately, one of the reported accidents did not involve any injuries. Once again, three of the six reported accidents did not have accident details issued. We are still trying to determine if an alternate, and more current, source of information is available. The information presently available is contained in my September Accident Report.
If you know of an instructor, mechanic, or other aviation service provider that should be recognized at the annual FAA awards banquet in November, now is the time to get their nomination submitted. Nominating forms are in the Annual Awards Flyer located elsewhere in this newsletter.
APA continues to work with several airports around the state providing the general aviation user perspective in the process of updating their Airport Master Plans. The latest one in process is for Deer Valley Airport (DVT).
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.