What You Don't Know May Be About To Hurt You

If you've been turned off by the crasser, more high-pressure tone of recent AOPA mailings insisting you need the organization's prepaid legal services, you may have wondered who would respond positively to such a pitch.

Well... apparently, a lot of people.

AOPA reports more than 100-thousand members, or nearly 1-in-4 of all its reported members, have now joined the plan, which offers pre-paid legal help with everything from busted TFRs and medical issues to review of hangar rental agreements, for a flat 29 dollars per year.

The plan started in 1983, and now offers access to more than 700 attorneys specializing in aviation. And while having access to a qualified nearby attorney is something that no one wants to consider... that willful ignorance ends when they really need it. Let's face it, there is no lack of things to excite one's fears of what legal peril may be around the next corner... and AOPA is definitely working off that concern.

Actually, it's not safe to assume that the new mailers, which seem patterned after those sent by political action committees, are the reason for any boost in enrollment. Maybe pilots are just concerned about the TSA's Security Directive 8-G, which sets out secret rules for GA pilots using commercial airports.

Then again, if the government arrests you for breaking a law it never published, I'm not sure a lawyer could help...

FMI: www.aopa.org