Archive for July 2015

JULY 29, 2015  The Experimental Aircraft Association and other general aviation groups have fired back at an inflammatory letter sent by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) to all U.S. senators that “made numerous false and unsubstantiated claims regarding the efforts to expand freedoms in general aviation and reform aeromedical certification,” according to EAA officials.…

ALPA Opposes GA Medical-Reform Effort

EAA leadership was fuming at AirVenture on Saturday morning, as they dealt with a last-minute, unexpected letter from the Air Line Pilots Association sent to members of Congress, opposing the Pilots’ Bill of Rights 2 now under consideration — with a vote in the Senate expected as soon as Tuesday. ALPA cited concerns over safety if the bill, which would allow GA pilots to self-certify under most circumstances, were to pass. “This is an out-and-out attack to derail the bill,” EAA Chairman Jack Pelton said at an impromptu news conference at Oshkosh on Saturday morning. “We think it’s unconscionable, and unfair to the GA public.” Pelton and the EAA staffers quickly worked to rally the troops at AirVenture to call their senators on Monday to let them know the bill is important to them.

AUVSI Says It Would Make Virtually All Flights Illegal

 A bill that is working its way through the California Legislature would create a no-fly zone for UAVs from the ground up to 350 feet over any private property in the state.

 The bill, introduced by District 19 Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, “would extend liability for wrongful occupation of real property and damages to a person who operates an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system less than 350 feet above ground level within the airspace overlaying the real property, without the express permission of the person or entity with the legal authority to grant access or without legal authority.”