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FAA MANDATES PLASTIC PILOT CERTIFICATE
Still hanging onto your paper pilot certificate? You'll need to upgrade to a
plastic pilot certificate by March 31, 2010. The FAA released its final rule
Feb. 28, announcing the required switch to the certificate it deems is more
counterfeit resistant. When the FAA proposed this mandate in 2005, AOPA members
overwhelmingly supported the move to a more secure certificate. If you are
attached to your paper certificate and original issuance date (the plastic
certificate will have a new one), don't worry. You can keep your paper
certificate for nostalgia; you just can't use it to fly.
AOPA challenges Maine’s unfair tax system
By AOPA ePublishing staff
Some aircraft owners who fly to Maine for getaways are
getting a surprise in the mail—a bill for 5 percent of their
aircraft’s value if they purchased it in a state without a
sales tax.
AOPA is challenging the legal basis of the Maine Revenue
Services’ (MRS’) overly aggressive enforcement of the
state’s use tax law that changed Jan.1 this year.
“There has been no attempt to avoid Maine sales tax,
because these aircraft are owned, based, and largely
operated outside the state,”
wrote AOPA President Phil Boyer to Gov. John Baldacci
this week. “We urge you to ask your staff and the attorney
general’s office to carefully review the legal analysis that
was submitted to your office and reconsider and reverse the
MRS current policies.”
The new law exempted large aircraft from the use tax but
kept the tax on out-of-state private piston aircraft that
weigh less than 6,000 pounds and spend relatively little
time in the state. In some cases, out-of-state aircraft that
visited Maine prior to 2007 are being targeted.
Many aircraft owners who’ve been hit with a large,
unexpected bill for flying into the state before 2007 are
appealing the legal basis for the tax assessment.
“The MRS is currently reviewing these matters, and may
render decisions at any time,” Boyer wrote. “While these
matters are being further considered, we respectfully
suggest that you direct them to hold any additional
decisions or enforcement actions in abeyance.”
Boyer also told the governor that the MRS enforcement
policy is inconsistent with and could possibly violate the
commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. In addition, AOPA
pointed out that several other northeastern states have
recognized the economic boost to aviation that eliminating
these taxes brings.
AOPA has been working with the governor’s office and
state legislators to change the policy since June, when
Boyer first wrote the governor about the tax problem. AOPA
Vice President of Regional Affairs Greg Pecoraro was
scheduled to meet with state officials earlier this month
but was forced to postpone until mid-January because of a
snowstorm in the state.
December 13, 2007
Article from AVweb
That's
the question that Steve Kahn and dozens of other pilots are wondering about, after being hit by the
state of Maine with tax bills in the thousands of dollars for flying into the state. Kahn, an
investment advisor who lives in Boston, flies his Cirrus SR-22 frequently into Maine to visit a
summer home and other destinations, and as a volunteer with Angel Flight. He's been doing that since
2003, but this year, he got a tax bill from the state of Maine saying he owes them a "use tax" that
totals over $26,000 with interest. Kahn says he had no way of knowing that flying in Maine would
trigger the tax until he got the bill. "It's so unreasonable and unfair," he says. He has hired a
lawyer to appeal the assessment, but since the appeal is heard by the state tax division, he doesn't
have much hope of success. If the appeal is denied, he can take the matter to court, but then
expenses will pile up fast. "I'm willing to fight this on principle," he says. "But there is a point
where you just give up, even though you know you're right." AOPA has been talking with officials in
Maine.
A meeting was set up for this week, but was cancelled due to a snowstorm. "We're working now to
set up another meeting, probably in January," Greg Pecoraro, AOPA's vice president for regional
affairs, told AVweb on Wednesday. Some pilots who fly into Maine, even if just for a handful of
trips, have received tax bills up into the six figures, he says.
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.
-- Benjamin Franklin, 1759
HAVE YOU SWITCHED FROM PAPER TO PLASTIC?
The FAA is reviewing comments on a
proposal that would require pilots to replace their paper pilot certificates with tamper-resistant
plastic certificates. The final rule is expected to be released early next year, and it's
anticipated that pilots will have two years to make the change. Beat the rush by requesting a
plastic pilot certificate online. You should keep your paper certificate, with your original
issuance date, for your records, because your plastic certificate will have a new issue date.
Ordering a new certificate costs $2, but if you want the FAA to remove your
Social Security number from the certificate or its records, you can get a plastic certificate
for free.
Industry sees big decline in GA accidents
By AOPA ePublishing staff
When the FAA announced this week that general aviation pilots had exceeded safety goals for the
fiscal year just completed, the success was due in a large part to industry-wide efforts.
The AOPA Air Safety Foundation played a significant role, reaching tens of thousands of pilots
who either attended one of more than 200 in-person safety seminars held around the country or
completing one or more of the foundation's nearly two dozen online safety courses. The foundation
recorded more than a quarter of a million course completions during the same fiscal year.
"For more than 55 years, we've been teaching pilots how to be safer in the air, helping to drive
down the accident numbers," said Bruce Landsberg, executive director of the AOPA Air Safety
Foundation. "Our in-person safety seminars set the standard in live safety education for decades.
And the rise of the Internet has let us expand our reach and teach tens of thousands more each
year."
The FAA had set a goal of not more than 331 fatal accidents for GA during fiscal year 2007 (Oct.
1, 2006, to Sept. 30, 2007). The actual number was 314. And the number of fatalities dropped
dramatically, from 676 in FY 2006 to 564 in FY 2007.
With courses like Weather Wise: Thunderstorms and ATC, Weather Wise: Ceiling and Visibility,
Runway Safety, and Single-Pilot IFR, the Air Safety Foundation has a solid history of
examining safety data, identifying problems and trends, and developing courses that teach pilots how
to stay out of trouble. And now, the foundation is taking steps with online course topics like aging
aircraft to address safety concerns before they become safety problems.
"The key to improving safety is to help pilots understand their ability, their aircraft and their
situation, and then take steps to mitigate any risks," said Landsberg.
November 1, 2007
Would you fly in this?
You may get the chance
......
Even though the Aeroscraft dwarfs the largest commercial
airliners, it requires less net space on the ground than any plane because it doesn't need a runway.
The airship takes off and lands like a helicopter: straight up and down.
This is not a Blimp. It's a sort of flying Queen Mary
2 that could change the way you think about air travel. It's the Aeroscraft, and when it's
completed, it will ferry pampered passengers across continents and oceans as they stroll leisurely
about the one-acre cabin or relax in their well-appointed staterooms.
Unlike its dirigible ancestors,
the Aeroscraft is not
lighter than air. Its 14 million cubic feet of helium hoist only two-thirds of the craft's weight.
The rigid and surprisingly aerodynamic body - driven by huge rearward propellers - generates enough
additional lift to keep the behemoth and its 400-ton payload aloft while cruising. During takeoff
and landing, six turbofan jet engines push the ship up or ease its descent.
This two football-fields-long
concept airship is the brainchild of Igor Pasternak, whose privately funded California firm,
Worldwide Aeros Corporation, is in the early stages of developing a prototype and expects to have
one completed by 2010. Pasternak says several cruise ship companies have expressed interest in the
project, and for good reason: The craft would have a range of several thousand miles and, with an
estimated top speed of 174 mph, coul! d traverse the continental U.S. in about 18 hours. During the
flight, passengers would peer at national landmarks just 8,000 feet below or, if they weren't
captivated by the view, the cavernous interior would easily accommodate such amenities as luxury
staterooms, restaurants, even a casino.
To minimize noise, the aft-mounted propellers will
be electric, powered by a renewable source such as hydrogen fuel cells. A sophisticated
buoyancy-management system will serve the same purpose as trim on an airplane, allowing for precise
adjustments in flight dynamics to compensate for outside conditions and passenger movement. The
automated system will draw outside air into compartments throughout the ship and compress it to
manage onboard weight.
On a pressurized plane, windows like these would explode
outward. The Aeroscraft does not fly high enough to need pressurization.
The company envisions a
cargo-carrying version!
that could deliver a store's worth of merchandise from a centralized distribution center straight to
a Wal-Mart parking lot or, because the helium-filled craft will float, a year's worth of supplies to
an offshore oil rig. "You can land on the snow, you can land on the water," Pasternak says. "It's a
new vision of what can be done in the air."
Why the 'copilot' does the
walk-around preflight inspection in Texas........
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and MORE!
How cute
can a little guy get?!
Thanks! Zef
NAVIGATION
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