FAA, AOPA, Daniel Webster College Team Up For Air Safety

Our good friend Annette Kurman, the PR director of Daniel Webster College, sent us news that DWC has snagged a first-rank keynote speaker for the New England Aviation Expo which will be held at DWC in Nashua, New Hampshire, on April 22: AOPA President Phil Boyer (right).

Boyer should need no introduction to Aero-News readers, or to anybody working in aviation; he's been head of the pilots' fraternity and lobby, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, since 1991. During his fifteen years at the helm of aviation's largest, strongest membership group Boyer has tangled with Congress, bureaucrats, and the media, and he hasn't been above taking his own members to the woodshed when they do something stupid (busting the ADIZ is the currently hip way to show you're stuck on stupid. Do that, and you will likely get mentioned by Boyer).

He's not just a dynamic and decisive organization head -- at AOPA Expo we were privileged to see him in action in a staff meeting --  but he knows the issues we pilots face, because he's one of us; he owns a Cessna 172 outfitted with the latest nav equipment, and has amassed 7,000 hours in over 30 years of flying.

But however interesting a Phil Boyer keynote speech is likely to be, it's only one of the attractions at the Expo. We're promised "exhibits, seminars, workshops, and classes for all aviation enthusiasts." The theme of the Expo is "Enhancing Aviation Safety."

The classes can fulfill the seminar requirement for FAA "Wings" awards. (There should be some aimed at GA mechanics, too). The schedule for 2006 is still being worked out, but last year's event included safety topics ("Accident Review," "Controlled Flight Into Terrain," "Decision Making"), brain teasers ("Aeronautical Charts - Little known facts") and airspace studies ("Flying in Canada," "Hudson River VFR Corridor.") Last year's list is presently posted at the FMI link and this year's will be put there as soon as it's available.

As DWC is located on Boire Field (KASH) in Nashua, participants can drive or fly in... either way, the Expo is just a short walk from parking (Daniel Webster is a small, intimate college).

The Expo begins at 8 AM sharp on Saturday, April 22nd, and continues to 5 PM. It's free to the aviation public, thanks to the sponsorship of FAA New England Region and Daniel Webster College.

So unless you know it all already (in which case, you need to be answering our help-wanted ad), if you're an Aero-News reader in the New England area, we'll see you there (our schedule permitting).

(Chart courtesy SkyVector.com)

FMI: www.faa.gov/region/ane/expo/