Archive for May 2005

By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI
The Associated Press
Sunday, May 1, 2005; 1:28 PM

BEND, Ore. — Nancy Huntsman uses her small plane the way some mothers use their Volvos. She straps in her two children, yells at the dog to hop in the back, pops in a DVD for the kids to watch and then takes off to fly over soaring mountains and parched deserts. Three hours later, they land at an airstrip near grandmother’s house in northern California.

A congressional hearing yesterday explored the question of what to do about the ailing Aviation Trust Fund as the House Aviation Subcommittee began to examine options. The Fund, which supports airports and the airspace system as well as FAA operations, is suffering from a dwindling reserve (which could be gone by 2008). The law that authorized the current funding structure, which depends largely on an airline ticket tax, expires in 2007. (The future of the fund beyond that is now under discussion. No decision has yet been made to dissolve it.) “That [ticket-tax] approach will not sustain us into the future,” FAA Administrator Marion Blakey told the panel yesterday. “I see a need for fundamental change.” .

NBAA, NATA, GAMA And AOPA Leaders Stage Major Assault On Capitol Hill

It was a major show of unity on the part of the so-called alphabet groups — leaders from four of them testifying on Capitol Hill Wednesday, all adamant against the possibility that user fees will be imposed on general aviation in America.

No title During April and May 2005, the Department of the Navy will conduct an amphibious operations training exercise along the shoreline and within facilities associated with Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, California. In order to support these hazardous activities, Restricted Airspace (R2503D) has been established adjacent to existing restricted area R-2503A/B. The R2503D’s airspace…

The Little River Airport Advisory Committee (LRAAC) has been working for several months jointly with the Mendocino County Department of Transportation (DOT) on a presentation which LRAAC hopes to make to the Board of Supervisors’ Public Resources subcommittee in May. LRAAC has 4 non-pilot and 3 pilot members and advises the Board on airport matters.

Director of Airport Systems Planning San Diego Regional Airport Authority

No title AOPA is supporting a California bill that would require charter schools to notify (in writing) the State Department of Education if they are planning to acquire a new school site within two miles of an airport runway. Assembly Bill 1358, which has passed the Assembly Education Committee with bipartisan support, would impose the…

No title There?s a fight brewing in Washington, D.C. that could have profound and far-reaching effects on all of us who seek to enjoy the freedom of flight in America. As with most arguments in our nation?s capital, it?s over money; in this case, what?s the best way to adequately and predictably fund the Federal…