Aviation Regulation

AOPA advises that very few of the 8,000 CFI’s in California responded to their informational email (see below) asking for support on AB 619.

Navy seeks input on special-use airspace expansion impact
The Navy has scheduled three public information meetings April 12 through 14 on the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for a proposed expansion of the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif.

California Senate Bill 619, aimed at alleviating the requirements for flight schools under the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009, was introduced Feb. 18. Under the current terms of the bill, all individual flight instructors and flight schools that don’t collect money up front for flight training would be exempt from the provisions of the postsecondary act.

To read CALPILOTS letter of support for SB619 click Read More.

DEADLINE REMINDER– Expiration of Aircraft Registration Certificates
Notice Number: NOTC2866

This is a reminder about the re-registration of aircraft; the first group of registration certificates will expire on March 31, 2011.

Agricultural pilots pushing for tougher rules to mark, light up hard-to-see towers

The tower that an agricultural plane crashed into last month on a remote Delta island would have required bright markings and a light had it been 2 feet taller, underscoring concerns about meteorological and other structures that are difficult to spot sprouting up on farmland. Read more………..

CA bill could ease concerns of flight school certification

California Senate Bill 619, aimed at alleviating the requirements for flight schools under the California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009, was introduced Feb. 18. Under the current terms of the bill, all individual flight instructors and flight schools that don’t collect money up front for flight training would be exempt from the provisions of the postsecondary act.

David Wartofsky, the controversial owner/operator of Potomac Airfield, closest of the Maryland 3 airports to downtown Washington D.C., has filed a formal petition with the Secretary of Transportation (FAA 2009-0481), and the Transportation Committee, proposing to replace FAA’s 3rd class medical with a driver’s license for private-use aircraft under 6,000 lbs.

The NOAA’s latest proposal to limit overflight of Marine Sanctuary assumes the pilot is guilty just by being there.

SUMMARY: NOAA proposes to amend the regulations of the Channel Islands, Monterey Bay, Gulf of the Farallones, and Olympic Coast national marine sanctuaries relating to sanctuary overflights. Specifically, NOAA proposes to: amend the regulations requiring that motorized aircraft maintain certain minimum altitudes above specified locations within the boundaries of the listed sanctuaries; and state that failure to comply with these altitude limits is presumed to disturb marine mammals or seabirds and is a violation of the sanctuary regulations.

Officials at the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) are urging all pilots to comment on a Notice of Proposed Rule Making to add photos to pilot certificates, a move that could add up to $210 to the cost of those certificates.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed (CA) Senate Bill 856 (SB 856) into law. SB 856 is a budget trailer bill to the California budget which contains language providing a delay in compliance for flight training facilities with the regulations issued by the Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE).