Thanks to all of you who attended our Annual Meeting on May 16th in Scottsdale. We had a great turnout, and it was great to get together with our members to share all the work APA is doing to ensure you are represented at the legislative level, preserving our backcountry strips, and supporting the next generation of Arizona aviation professionals.
In addition to committee updates from the Board of Directors, we had the opportunity to meet some of our 2025 scholarship recipients and learn about their progress towards achieving their aviation careers goals. We also had the opportunity to learn about upcoming improvements to our very popular FlyAZ Passport program and get an update on Day Trips and Weekend Getaways.
The Highlight of the meeting was the keynote presentation by Dr. Tom Cowan, titled “Military Parachute Operations - How to Fly Safely Around the Training Happening in Our Backyard.” This is a very timely subject as both GA traffic and military parachute training operations have expanded in Arizona with obvious safety implications. Dr. Cowan provided an overview of how these operations are conducted and shared some best practices for safely navigating Parachute Jump Exercise zones. We will include his one-page summary titled “15 Points for Flying Safely Around Military Parachute Operations in Arizona” that provides an excellent summary of safety best practices in the back pages of the newsletter. It’s a great reference to keep on your kneeboard.
I’d like to thank our corporate sponsors Volare Hangars. And special thanks to the donors of the excellent door prizes: PARTner 91 Aircraft Sales and SiriusXM. And last but certainly not least, I’d like to thank Brian and Michelle Schober for arranging the fantastic venue at Highlands Church and handling many of the logistics.
As you know, APA is an all-volunteer organization, and the Board of Directors and committee chairs put in a lot of hard work on our many initiatives to support general aviation in Arizona. However, we would not be successful without the commitment and support of our membership – thank you!
Chris