CAA: GA News, "Taking aviation to the people"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@cwnet.com>]

Friday, May 12, 2000

Taking aviation to the people
GA News


This past March I served my Rotary Club as program chairman. I learned about
the assignment several months earlier and decided it was time to educate my
fellow Rotarians on aviation.

My first thought was to get hold of some videos or slide shows from
organizations like AOPA, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, the
National Association of State Aviation Officials or EAA.

I quickly realized that while they might listen politely to me, my fellow
Rotarians probably would pay a great deal more attention to the
presentations if I gathered some fresh faces.

My mission was to give Rotary Club members a broad view of the industry.
With very little effort, I was able to secure a commitment from four
people — actually five — to appear at the four weekly meetings.

The first person on the schedule was Bill Brubaker, who heads Washington DOT
’s Division of Aeronautics. Next was Bill Coyner, chief pilot for Clover
Park Technical College’s flight department. Coyner was followed by Peter
Anderson, president of Galvin Flying Service in Seattle.

The final speaker was originally a toss-up between two airline pilots. I
asked Steve Hutchinson, an Alaska Airlines captain, to present his program
on Fear of Flying. At the same time I asked my daughter, Robyn Sclair, to
speak about her experiences as an MD-11 pilot for FedEx.

When Robyn, a member of the Rotary Club of Phoenix, was able to make the
meeting in Tacoma, I rescheduled Hutchinson for later in the year.

Brubaker started my series by telling club members how they benefit from the
tax dollars that come to his department. He went through the details of how
airports that aren’t in the realm of Seattle-Tacoma International, Chicago’s
O’Hare or Denver International get some of their funding and operate.

Although the system differs state by state, Brubaker explained how tax
dollars are well spent when it comes to state aviation offices.

Coyner’s talk centered on learning to fly and the work that goes into
training for a career as a professional pilot. His brief remarks were
extended considerably by numerous questions from the audience.
Interestingly, the audience showed tremendous interest in a variety of
aviation aspects.

Cost was one of the early questions. Coyner explained that the $20,000
tuition to get an individual from ground zero through private, commercial,
instrument and flight instructor ratings at Clover Park Tech College allows
that person to start making a living as an instructor while building hours
for an airline career.

After Coyner explained that the typical student builds about 200 hours while
earning ratings, one individual asked if that is all it takes for a person
to start flying commercially. Coyner explained that most individuals start
instructing at that point as they build toward the 2,000 hours that are
required by most turbo-prop commuters. “They’ll get intense simulator
sessions from the airline, and there will be an extensive classroom period
to learn the systems before they get to fly the line,” he added.

The recent rash of accidents and incidents that have been headlined in the
media obviously influenced the questioning.

“Are you saying that a person finishes your course and then he becomes the
instructor?” asked one person rather incredulously.

“When a person completes the course with about 200 hours, a bunch of
stringent tests are required before a pilot certificate is issued,” he
patiently explained. “There’s a written test, an oral exam and finally a
flight examination.” Before someone gets into an airliner, even a commuter,
the experience level is considerably higher, he added.

There was little question in my mind that the members of my club, many of
whom have also flown in general aviation airplanes, were quite concerned
about flying on airlines, as well as what it takes to get a pilot’s
certificate. They also were extremely ignorant of any of the details of
flight instruction.

Our state aeronautics director was able to get people thinking about how
local airports serve everyone, not just pilots. He made at least a few
people understand that their lives are affected by aviation every day of the
week and having a well-maintained and operating local airport is crucial to
the community’s success.

Anderson explained how business aviation plays an important role in everyone
’s life, even if they never fly in a private plane.

He mentioned things like emergency medical flights, transporting checks for
banks, delivering parts to factories, and flights made by salespeople,
lawyers and real estate agents.

The FBO representative explained why a charter flight can cost less than an
airline ticket if you need to make several stops and are going to cities
that aren’t major hubs.

When Robyn explained her duties with FedEx, carrying freight all over the
world, the Rotary members were truly amazed.

Near the end of her remarks, Robyn placed her flight bag on the table next
to the lectern and proceeded to pull out her books of Jepp approach plates
as well as other items like the mandatory flashlight. “I know many of you
probably have always wondered what is in that black bag you see all the
pilots lugging through the airline terminals. Well, here’s what most of us
have to carry,” she said as she pulled out each of the Jepp books and all
the other stuff.

Many of the club members came up after she finished speaking to look at
things most of us take for granted but they’ve never seen before.

Do you belong to a community service organization like Rotary, Kiwanis,
Lions, Optimists, Chamber of Commerce, etc.? Have you ever scheduled a
program on aviation for the group? Ever encouraged the folks running the
airport and the FBO to join the organizations and spread the word?

By scheduling these kinds of projects, you can do more for the future of
general aviation than any of the alphabet aviation groups can ever do.

You have credibility within your group and you have accessibility. All you
have to do is step up and ask to be heard.


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