Willits celebrates Aviation Awareness Day

CalPilots

Willets“Willits has an airport?” – That’s the question new airport manager Dan Ramsey sometimes gets on introductions. “Yes, for nearly 49 years,” he responds. “The reason many Willits people don’t know about the airport is that it’s located four miles out of town at the northeast corner of Brooktrails,” he explains. “It serves the entire Little Lake Valley and beyond. A Willits pilot can be whale-watching, landing in Ukiah or Covelo, or even at Lampson Field in Lakeport, within about 20 minutes.”

This year’s California Aviation Awareness Day, Ramsey notes. “Reminds non-pilots how much state and local communities rely on aviation.”

Aviation annually adds $155 million to California’s economy. The state has nearly 35,000 registered aircraft and more than 62,000 licensed pilots and 246 airports, yet only 30 offer commercial passenger service. The other 87 percent serve “general aviation,” single- and twin-engine aircraft, typically owned and flown by people for recreation.

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CAFE Symposium Explores Flight Of The Future

CalPilots

Santa Rosa, CA. – An array of experts in a variety of aircraft technologies, from batteries to aerodynamics to photovoltaics, are gathering in Santa Rosa, Calif., for this week’s 7th annual CAFE electric-aircraft symposium. Representatives from NASA, IBM, Pipistrel, MIT, UCLA, and more, are convening to share the results of their latest research and contribute to creating the next generation of flight. “There’s a great deal of promise that we can have emissions-free airplanes,” event organizer Dr. Brien Seeley told AVweb on Thursday. General-aviation aircraft that are quiet, vibration-free, and easy to operate have “the potential to really proliferate,” he said. The meeting will be held Friday and Saturday.

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Landing fees increased at Santa Monica Airport

CalPilots

SMO Airport BuildingIt’s about to get more expensive to land at Santa Monica Airport (SMO) in southern California.

On April 30 the Santa Monica City Council approved a landing fee of $5.48 per 1,000 pounds on all aircraft — transient and locally based alike. For the pilot of a Cessna 172, that’s $10.96 for each landing. The fee is slated to go into effect Aug. 1.

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California Dreamin' October 18-19, 2013

We are very excited to invite you to our CalPilots Annual Meeting/Fly-In, California Dreamin’. California Dreamin’ will be graciously hosted by The San Luis Jet Center at McChesney Field [SBP] in beautiful San Luis Obispo on October 18th and 19th. ACI San Luis Jet Center owner Bill Borgsmiller and general manager Andrew Robilard are very…

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Apparently we do need this tower

CalPilots

The “Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013” (H.R. 1765) was introduced on Friday, April 26, by Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa). It was signed by President Obama on Wednesday, May 1. You see, Congress and the President can get things done…when they want to. The full title of the bill is “To provide the Secretary of…

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The show must go on

CalPilots

When I was a young girl, my father would take the family to various airport days and aviation events in California. I grew up with prop tags, airshow hot dogs, and the sounds of warbirds. As an adult, I have loved attending and putting on events at general aviation airports. It is sad for me in 2013 to see the downsizing or cancellation of some of our wonderful airshows and aviation events because of financial concerns from the sequestration budget cuts.

From the cancellation of Indiana’s 2013 Indianapolis Air Show to expected decreases in the amount of military participation at Lake in the Sky Airshow in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., to the postponement of military and small hometown shows, the shockwaves continue. Yet as we remove some shows from our calendars, we can add smaller shows or events instead. – Get involved, support local airshows, fly-ins

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Which way do we go?

CalPilots

As general aviation comes to grips with the various opportunities to grow our community, we become aware that we face a few issues as well. First and foremost among those vexing problems may be the fact, and yes it is a fact, that we and our potential customer base speak different languages. That matters, of…

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California Aviation Awareness Day

CalPilots

The first annual California Aviation Awareness Day event to be held on April 24, 2013, between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm on the north steps of the State Capitol in Sacramento.  The purpose of the event is to inform the public and legislators about the importance of aviation to California.  Many of our members have been helping get us organized as this was not initially a planned event for ACA.  But, it made sense that ACA take the lead and we will have more information at the September conference on planning for the event in 2014.

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California Aviation Awareness Day

CalPilots

California Aviation Awareness Day Sponsorship

WHY SUPPORT AVIATION DAY?

  • Aviation is vital to the California Eonomy
  • Airports and aviation creates jobs
  • State support of California airports is completely funded by user fees
  • The historical level of state support is insufficient to sustain the infrastructure

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    Tighter Rules for Meteorological Towers

    CalPilots

    Meteorological TowersMARTINEZ, CA — Contra Costa County looks for clarity on adding lights as part of tighter rules for meteorological towers. Following the state’s lead, Contra Costa County is poised to tighten its rules for marking meteorological towers that might prove hazardous to aircraft.

    However, county planning commissioners postponed taking action this week, asking for more information about adding aviation light beacons atop towers 150 feet and taller.

    The item will be brought back to the planning commission at its April 23 meeting.

    The state approved legislation last fall in response to the January 2011 fatal crash of agricultural pilot Stephen Allen after his airplane struck a 198-foot tower on Webb Tract that he likely did not see. The tower was erected in 2009.

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