By ANN Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell
It had been
a surprisingly full day by the time that ANN's Jim Campbell
finished a lunch briefing with the AOPA staff and a few short
flights, with a fair amount of weather, awaited them before the day
was over. Campbell used that time to enjoy a little more flying
with Phil as well as some very enjoyable discussions with AOPA's
Senior Staff…
I had gotten a good briefing on the "GA
Serving America" program (which I have a feeling is
going to have a significant effect on us all) from the AOPA folks
over a pretty decent lunch at a local landmark, called the "Black
Pelican" (www.blackpelican.com).
As we left, a short tour of the restaurant turned
out to be fairly entertaining… the restaurant was housed in
what had been, many years before, the Kitty Hawk Lifesaving Station
(an elder version of what would become the Coast Guard).
Constructed in 1874, the Kitty Hawk Lifesaving Station was one of
the seven facilities of its kind existent on the North Carolina
Coast. Originally, the station was manned by one watch-keeper and a
crew of six others whose sole purpose was to rescue those "who
succumbed to the dangerous waters along the Banks." The restaurant
has a great menu (especially seafood), an intriguing little gift
shop and a number of historical artifacts that make a stop there a
"must." Highly recommended.
The rain had commenced in earnest and Manteo/Dare County Airport
Manager, Tim Gaylord, who had been kind enough to chauffer us
around all morning (and been a GREAT host), resumed his post. On
the way back, Phil Boyer picked his brains about local restaurants,
accommodations and attractions for the return trips that were to
come with the festivities associated with the upcoming completion
of the AOPA Pilot Facility as well as the 100th Anniversary in
2003. Taking notes all the while, it was obvious that Phil was
(gasp!) an unrepentant planner and was already putting together a
list of places he planned to visit or recommend to AOPA staffers
who would be working the events to come. There's very little wasted
time, it seems, in a day on the road with the AOPA gang.
A quick walk around the CJ and a WX briefing got us ready to
leave Dare County Airport… though some AOPA staffers were
heading back later. Flying down several days before, AOPA's Warren
Morningstar had been doing some advance work, and would be making
his way back, a mite slower, via Cessna 182… as soon as the
weather cleared. Morningstar is a critical and long-time presence
on the AOPA management team. I've worked with him for years and
enjoyed his sense of humor (a bit dry and often delightfully
sharp), as well as the fact that when he says something will be
done, it's simply a matter of time before you see a result…
and not a long time at that. I work with a lot of pros in the
business who facilitate my interaction with various organizations,
but there are few sharper "pros" in the business than
Warren… His efforts have been invaluable to the crew at ANN,
time and time again.
The
next leg of the trip was going to be fun, as I realized that
all the flying I had ever done in CJs was always from the front (ya
do what ya gotta do, gang). I had never tried out the passenger
cabin (such as the standard interior seen to the right).
So… in order to play bigshot for a while, I slid into a rear
seat along with two other staffers and acted like I was a Fortune
500 hotshot or something (what... me cop an attitude? Can you
believe it?). It felt really cool… The cabin is fairly roomy
for a small jet, the seating is VERY comfy and the ride is quite
nice. I guess I could get used to this kind of thing… that
is, if I didn't REALLY rather be up front.
While enjoying the cabin of the CJ… I spent some quality
time with AOPA's Keith Mordoff, their Senior Vice
President-Communications and Kevin Murphy, Director-Communications.
As oft happens when pilots sit and talk, the discussion turned to
airplanes… in this case, a lot about Cessna Skyhawks (Kevin
owns one), the desire to fly more, and the various airplanes we
liked or didn't. These guys are very aviation-dedicated and well
acquainted with the importance they play in the aviation spectrum.
As a matter of fact, I hadn't seen much of Kevin during the day
because he spent most of it shooting video and stills for future
AOPA PR purposes... and then spent the rest of the time
uploading them to the home office so that the story was available
to AOPA members ASAP. He'd been so busy; he hadn't had time for
lunch… though Keith offered him a granola bar as soon as we
belted in… which didn't have a chance once Kevin got hold of
it… now you see it... now you don't.
Keith Mordoff (seen with Phil, right) has an
interesting background, having worked for some of the largest
aerospace firms (Gulfstream, Lockheed, etc.) in the business before
coming aboard to take one of the toughest jobs in AOPA after
Drew Steketee left to take over the critical Be-A-Pilot effort that is fighting
"the good fight" to get more people involved in aviation.
Mordoff is turning out to be a pivotal part of the team and,
in fact, the idea for the Pilot Facility in NC had been his (and
Phil had been quick and quite public to credit him as such). He
originally had considered putting together an aggressive project to
host an IMAX film featuring GA, but was forced to shelve that idea
when the true costs of such an endeavor became known (millions of
bucks… no kidding). He was looking for something lasting,
positive and useful, and I think the final result works well in
terms of practicality, as well as for the mission and image of
AOPA.
We also talked about the upcoming AOPA
Expo in Palm Springs. Like last year's outstanding
rendition in South Florida, this event will commence with a "Parade
of Planes" from the airport to the Convention Center (which is a
GREAT facility), and include such events as the announcement of the
successful bid on the ASF Socata Trinidad GT, the "Spirit of
Liberty," a possible visit from the NEW FAA Administrator Marion
Blakey (she's been invited and if she truly understands the nature
of the event, we expect to see her…), and a record crowd of
exhibitors, seminars and special events. One thing I'm particularly
looking forward to the annual banquet on Saturday night, (October
26). The headliner is a guy who really knows how to entrance an
audience… none other than Political Satirist Mark Russell.
Russell is a major political presence with an uncanny ability
to take on sacred cows and serve up steak. ANN will, of course, be
there and we plan LIVE DAILY coverage from the event throughout the
week. Be sure to join us the week of October 24th-26th if you can't
make it out to Palm Springs, yourself (but, if you can…
be there… this is a GREAT event… no
kidding).
The final leg home was a short one… Easton
to Frederick is barely a 15 minute hop (without ATC's usual
deviations) though ATC decided to lose our IFR clearance until we
were a good 20 NM down the road. The worst of the weather was
clearing somewhat but visibility was still pretty muggy as we flew
along, completed the trip records for the day, cleaned up the
cockpit some, and got ready to land. It was an interesting arrival
in that we got fairly close to FDK before canceling IFR after
getting a belated gander at the field in the murk. A quick let-down
put us on a straight-in, but quite high, for Rwy 30 (the short one)
at FDK. We managed to get rid of most of the altitude but the
cleaner nature of the CJ, even with everything hanging in the
breeze, left us at Vref +30… which seemed to embarrass Phil
a bit… though I'm not sure why. It was a good try, we
adhered to the regs, didn't let down til we had a clear
picture (and a release from ATC) and there simply wasn't a whole
lot of room/time to pull off a straight-in landing. The go-around
decision was made properly, with plenty of time to set up a good
stabilized approach for the runway a moment later and the Phil
nailed the centerline again. I'd have tried the straight-in, as
well (and probably been pretty sloppy about it, to tell the
truth)… so a go-around wasn't at all a problem… it
was the luck of the draw… but its obvious that Boyer sets
some very high standards for himself.
All in
all… it was a great trip… and a coveted chance to
spend a very full day (all 8.5 hours of it so far… amazing
when you think of all that was done in that time) with the gang
from AOPA, who are some hard-working, hard-flying, folks…
and are consciously aware that they are becoming (if not
already) the first line of defense for an industry that has seen
some tough times and probably has no choice but to look
forward to more of the same…
By the way; after flying the better part of 800 miles, dealing
with the dedication and politicking, as well as the lunch briefing
and getting in a little after 1500; can you guess what everyone
did? They went back to work… it seems there are no short
days at AOPA. These guys (as suggested by an ANN reader the
other day) have become the "Dutch-Boys" of aviation--ready to plug
the leaks in the dam at a moment's notice. As usual, they're on the
job and ready to do what's gotta be done to keep aviation free and
available to all of us who know its value and fragility in these
troubling times.
One of the reasons that I decided to do this
extended story, this way, was the fact that aviation is too often
led by those who can "talk the talk" but sure as hell can't "walk
the walk," especially with the history of leadership
at the FAA. It's been too long since the FAA was led by an
actual pilot and unless our new Administrator starts taking flying
lessons, its gonna be a long while longer. Thankfully; the AOPA
situation is much different.
So… while I have always felt pretty positive about the
skills and talents of AOPA's leadership, I feel quite good
about the fact that the world's largest pilot's organization is not
only well-led, politically, but also led by a guy who can handle an
airplane quite well. I might also add that one of the things that
Phil has been talking up lately is the intensive taildragger
training he went through recently in order to get checked out
in a Citabria and then, a Waco. It pleased me in no small measure
that among the things that Phil seems most pleased with lately, as
a pilot, are the new skills he picked up in an open-cockpit
biplane. He obviously had a ball and it's a fortuitous thing,
indeed, that we have a guy fighting for us who can shoot an
ILS to minimums, after two funky missed approaches, in a small
biz-jet as well as land a somewhat blind (but no less delightful)
biplane in a crosswind.
That's a damned good thing, folks… and reason why we
continue to strongly endorse the current leadership of AOPA (while
reserving our right to give Phil all kinds of hell at a
moment's notice--grin-its FUN to be a journalist)… We are
reminded (all too often) that the quality of our leadership
will be CRITICAL to the survival of aviation at a time when the
threats are greater than at any other time in our
history.
ANN's Daily Aero-Term (04.26.24): DETRESFA (Distress Phrase)
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