June, 2010
Vol. VII, No. 6 |
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Welcome to the
Over the
Airwaves
aviation journal. This complimentary e-publication is
prepared monthly for pilots and aviation enthusiasts around the
world. Its aim
is to promote
flight safety, encourage students and new pilots, and to build
enthusiasm for aviation in general.
Operating Overweight!
Ask the average general aviation pilot if he ever operates his airplane above its maximum allowable takeoff weight and his answer will be, "No, of course not!" Truth be told . . . he does operate overweight, and so does every one of us. In fact, I find that each of the three late model Cessna 172SPs we use in our flight school fly very nicely 2,000 pounds beyond their maximum allowable takeoff weight! Hold on here, Bob! Are you suggesting that it is okay to operate our airplanes overweight? Answer: Sure . . . . we do it every time we enter a 45 to 60 degree bank turn! As every primary pilot learns, the load factor (G loading) of an aircraft increases with bank angle. For example, a 60 degree bank angle doubles the load factor. Thus, our Cessna 172SP that has a maximum allowable takeoff weight of 2,400 pounds effectively weighs 4,800 pounds when in a 60 degree banking turn!
Answer: No! The folks who design our airplanes build in enough structural integrity within the airframe to accommodate the forces of a 60 degree turn in any aircraft certified in the normal category. Here's the problem . . . Excess weight produced by a steep turn is not the problem. The real problem is the resultant increase in stall speed produced by the excess weight. Going back to our Cessna 172s, for example, their published stall speed in the landing configuration (Vso) is 40 knots when in level flight. Curiously, this stall speed increases to 57 knots due to the excessive load factor produced by a 60 degree turn. If we increase the bank to, say, 80 degrees, the stall speed increases to a whopping 98 knots! This dramatic increase in stall speed as bank angle increases occurs in any airplane, not just our Cessna 172s. Do you see a problem developing here?
The witness further reported that "the nose of the RV was increasing its pitch and it was apparent that the RV was not climbing." As the RV came approximately abeam the number 12 on its left downwind, it made a steep left turn as to land on 12. As this occurred, the nose of the RV dropped. The witness said, "I saw it dive into the ground and erupt into flames." [NTSB Report] Sadly, this is not a unique accident. Fatal stall/spin accidents occur once a week, on average, in the United States. In most such scenarios, the hapless pilot is so intent on getting the disabled airplane back to the airport that he forgets what happens to his stall speed in making steep turns. Here's the REAL problem . . . Reading about the effect of bank angle on stall speeds or talking about it in a classroom or flight school office is NOT going to instill enough awareness in pilots to prevent such tragedies. The truth is, when things go terribly wrong in an airplane, we typically suffer momentary "brain fade." We react rather than think. Actual experience is what we remember best. That's why we teach and practice accelerated (steep bank) stalls and spin awareness at a safe altitude. That's why we practice this stuff on a regular basis. Regrettably, far too many of us never do this. In fact, according to a survey we conducted of OTA readers several months ago, less than 50 percent of us ever received "full" stall training during our primary training. Worse, less than 50 percent of us were asked to demonstrate a "full" stall recovery on the our private pilot checkride! When was the last time YOU experienced an accelerated or cross-controlled full stall break? If you have to pause to remember, beware! Here's the good news . . . The airplanes we fly are wonderfully designed. They fly beautifully, reliably, and predictably. In fact, left to their own devices, most airplanes will recover from unusual attitudes all by themselves. Some have been known to actually take off, cruise, run out of gas, then land without damage before the pilot actually got in the airplane (like when hand-propping). Curiously, it takes a poorly trained or non-proficient pilot to screw things up! So . . . if we want to live a long and enjoyable life as a pilot, choose your flight instructor or flight school carefully. That decision, alone, is perhaps the most important decision you'll ever make as a pilot. Second, develop and follow an annual (not biennial) recurrent training program. Be sure that this recurrent training program includes accelerated and cross-controlled stall and spin awareness work. If you do this regularly, you'll NEVER be tempted to make a tight turn back to the airport should that engine ever fail! That, alone, may save your life.
Fly safely,
Avoid scattering the flock!
Does this happen very often? You bet it does, particularly when the visibility is below five miles and the pilot is down low searching for the airport. Suddenly our searching pilot finds the airport directly below him while others in the pattern scatter to the four winds in an effort to avoid being rammed by our errant pilot. So what is our hapless pilot supposed to do when the visibility is low? Most of us have searched for an unfamiliar airport in marginal VFR conditions, but most of us know to conduct our search while maintaining an altitude at least 500 feet above the traffic pattern of the airport we're looking for. By so doing, if we happen to find ourselves directly atop of the airport, we'll be high enough above the traffic pattern to avoid any collision potential with aircraft already in the pattern.
The above graphic illustrates one of several different ways we can fly low enough to find an airport in poor visibility without creating a collision risk with other aircraft in the pattern. In this illustration, the pilot approaches the airport from the south. Note #1 in the graphic (bottom right) indicates that the approaching aircraft is between 500' and 1,000' above the published traffic pattern altitude (TPA). Still at 500' to 1,000' feet above the TPA, he crosses over the runway and, per note #2, he confirms the runway in use and the direction of the traffic pattern. He then turns upwind, per note #3, while keeping the runway in sight. Upon reaching the end of the runway, he turns 45 degrees to the left and travels about 2 miles south of the airport. Per note #5, he turns back to the airport and begins his descent to the pattern altitude and enters the downwind leg. From there, he makes a normal traffic pattern approach and landing. Where mid-air collisions occur!
Curiously, mid-air collisions seldom occur at big air shows and aviation gatherings like Oshkosh and Sun 'n Fun. That's because carefully designed NOTAMs detailing arrival procedures are published and widely disseminated. In short, everybody is following specific procedures for proper traffic pattern entry. It's at the quiet little non-towered field where we seem to have the most problems. This is why procedures such as the one discussed above should always be followed when searching for an airport in marginal VFR conditions. Global travel condensed to two minutes! Click HERE to view a remarkable two-minute video of the actual movement of aircraft around the world condensed into two minutes. You will see aircraft flying from North America to Europe in the evening and returning in the morning. Also note that the sun does not set on the arctic regions during this summertime depiction. Similarly, observe how it is dark in Australia when in it is daylight in the U.S. If nothing else, this video illustrates the tremendous job being done each day by air traffic controllers around the world. Thanks to OTA reader, Brian Blaney, for sharing this remarkable video with us! Our Helpful Sponsors
If you have an aviation-related product or service you would like to promote and help underwrite the continued publication of Over the Airwaves, please send an email to rjma@rjma.com.Transitioning to Fast Glass Aircraft - Don't rush it!!! You could see this fatal accident coming before the pilot even left the ground. Here was a 700 hour recreational pilot whose total flight experience had been in a Piper Warrior. He went out and purchased a used Cirrus SR22, took four lessons with a flight instructor, then went out and killed himself and his wife just one month later. NTSB Report Sadly for many of us here in the Buffalo, NY area, this tragic accident took a locally prominent couple in an accident that should never have happened. Here's why . . . A Cirrus SR22 (or Cessna Corvalis) is not just another single engine airplane! Affectionately referred to as "fast glass" aircraft, the Cirrus SR22 and the Cessna Corvalis represent an entirely new aircraft design. Skillfully crafted from glass and carbon-composite materials, these machines are designed primarily for just one thing . . . speed! What they offer us in speed, they take away from us the friendly maneuvering forgiveness of traditionally designed metal aircraft like the Cessna 172/182/206 and the Piper Warrior and Archer series.
The traditional round "steam" gauges found in older, more traditional aircraft are replaced by two large glass panel displays. In short . . . things happen much more quickly in the "fast glass" aircraft than they do in other traditional singles. To think or be taught that the typical GA pilot can be effectively transitioned into these "fast glass" aircraft, particularly for instrument flight, in anything less than 20 to 25 hours of dual instruction, given by a factory trained CFI with at least 25 hours of "fast glass" flight experience, is pure fantasy, as our Buffalo Cirrus SR22 pilot discovered with tragic results. And once trained . . . Given the fact that these "fast glass" aircraft fly more like jets than traditional piston aircraft, flight currency becomes an increasingly important safety factor. This simply means that we have to fly them often in order to maintain any reasonable level of proficiency. Pilots who think they can step into these aircraft only once every couple of weeks or so are dramatically compounding their risks!
FAA Taxi Rule Change . . . beware!
Sure, that's what every pilot is taught per FAR 129(i),
but not so anymore!
Read the following change to the Air Traffic Controllers
Handbook (FAA Order 7110.65, which becomes effective June
30, 2010.
Bravo, FAA, it's about time that this archaic rule (FAR
129(i)) was changed! Like so much of what everybody is
trying to achieve safety-wise, much more can be done by
simply updating and/or ridding the FAR/AIM of antiquated
rules and procedures.
For safety sake, let's carry this taxi rule change over
to non-towered airports as well. We can do this by
stopping at all intersecting runways before taxiing to the
active runway. It's not required by the rules, but it
makes sense from a safety perspective.
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Air-Work: Hover taxiing!
Remember, air-work is to the pilot what a tune-up is to an
engine. It affords us opportunity to re-build our basic
airmanship skills. And like engine tune-ups, air work
should be performed at regular flying intervals.
This month we
will review the essentials of hover taxiing.
There has never been a pilot who has not struggled with
mastering the fine are of landings! Like those first
fledgling attempts at riding a two-wheeled bicycle, there is
something peculiar about learning how to return our airplane
smoothly to the ground.
The good news is, we all finally get it. The
key, of course, is to "get it" before we run out of time and
money!
The burden is on the flight instructor . . .
Before we bash ourselves too harshly for not mastering the
fine art of landing, let's place blame squarely where it
belongs. Yep - it belongs squarely on the
shoulders of the flight instructor, because he or she should
have the tools in their instructional bag of tricks to make
mastering landings quick and easy.
One of these tools is the hover taxi exercise. As
illustrated below, this exercise simply involves bringing
the aircraft down to within one foot of the runway and
holding it there while flying (hovering) as slowly as
possible for the entire length of the runway.
The key, of course, is controlling both pitch and power
with tiny, precise pressures on both the throttle and yoke
(stick).
The object of this exercise is to develop absolute
control of the airplane BEFORE it touches the runway rather
than allowing it to bounce onto and off of the runway
surface.
Once the airplane is stabilized at minimal controllable
airspeed (MCA) just one or two feet off of the runway, power
is gently reduced to idle as back pressure is smoothly
applied to the yoke to keep the nose wheel from touching the
runway before the main gear.
Crosswind landings are perfected in the same manner Hover taxiing in the manner described above is a great exercise for mastering crosswind landing technique. Here, we apply a slight cross-control of aileron and rudder to keep the airplane banked slightly into the wind while maintaining perfect longitudinal alignment with the runway. Another reason . . . Perhaps the most important reason for engaging in hover taxi practice is the well-known fact that more accidents occur during landing than in any other phase of flight. Imagine what our industry could save in insurance expense if we could eliminate landing mishaps!
In summary, hover
taxiing is a tremendous instructional tool and should be
incorporated into every training syllabus. Remember,
if we cannot control the airplane while it is flying low and
slow over the runway, we cannot be expected to land it
smoothly!
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Departure procedures are NOT suggestions!
It's a dark night with low ceilings and poor visibility.
You have just completed your run-up and have taxied into
position for takeoff. All of your preflight planning
is complete and you have just received your clearance for
departure.
This sounds like a routine IFR flight except for one
thing . . . and that one thing cost this pilot his life.
He apparently forgot to check the published departure
procedure (DP)!
Here is what happened?
This tragic accident occurred last August at the Napa
County Airport in Napa, CA. The pilot of a Cessna 182
departed at night from Runway 18R into a 600' overcast
ceiling. According to radar returns, shortly after
takeoff, the pilot banked left and climbed to about 1,000'
AGL, then struck rising terrain just east of the airport.
The airplane was immediately engulfed in flames. The
pilot died in the crash.
So what went wrong?
A quick look at the published departure procedure (DP)
for Runway 18L/R shows that pilots are required to climb on
the runway heading (180 deg) until reaching the Scaggs
Island VOR 127 degree radial, then climb to 3,000'on that
radial outbound to the Lizrd intersection before turning on
course.
See the published departure procedure for Runway 18L/R
below.
Departure procedures have only one lifesaving purpose.
That purpose is to guide pilots around and over rising
terrain and other obstacles as they climb to their cruising
altitude. In this case, the Napa Valley Runway 18L/R
departure procedure is intended to prevent pilots from
flying into rising terrain immediately east of the airport.
Had our accident pilot adhered to this departure
procedure, he would likely be with us today.
Lessons for ALL instrument pilots . . .
The lesson here is strikingly clear. Never depart
any airport in IMC conditions without first checking
published departure procedures for the intended departure
runway. If there is a published departure
procedure, study it carefully to determine why it exists.
Could there be rising terrain and/or obstacles that could
get in our way enroute to our cruising altitude?
There is another vitally important lesson here,
especially for pilots who depend heavily upon GPS
navigation. Note that DP requires pilots to intercept
a VOR radial, then track it outbound on the climb to a
specified intersection. This can be difficult to do
using only GPS navigation systems. Here, as in many
other scenarios, solid VOR tracking skills are still
required!
Aero-News.Net Features
OTA
in Podcasts
"Hijacking" is the latest
in a series of podcasts Bob Miller has been doing with Aero-News.Net's
Paul Plack. You can hear, or download for later
listening, these 15 minute interviews and any of the
previously conducted podcasts by clicking on the titles
below: By the way, Aero-News.Net is a FREE daily online publication that is packed with aviation related news. It is the first thing I read every morning. You can log on to Aero-News.Net and subscribe for your free subscription by clicking HERE. What's New at BMFT . . .
Here are several examples of what we are doing:
While useful in warming up students on the day of their first solo, repetitive takeoffs and landings is a form of "rote" learning that has little place in flight training. Instead, the proper development of slow flight skills, runway tracking, and pitch/power control as part of a series of systematic flight scenarios to numerous different airports is a far more effective way to develop takeoff and landing skills. The example demonstrated by BMFT to avoid repetitive takeoffs and landings at the same airport also promotes neighbor-friendly airport operations and effective noise-abatement procedures. 2. Frequently offered Safety Seminars to our pilots: The traditional approach of "Train 'em and leave 'em" demonstrated by some flight schools and instructors ignores the fact that recurrent training is often as important as initial training. We're addressing this fact through our regularly scheduled flight safety seminars. 3. Impeccable aircraft maintenance: While less than 10 percent of all fatal accidents are attributable to aircraft maintenance issues, this is one area of flight training where "short-cuts" are often observed. This is also an area where BMFT
aggressively ensures that each training aircraft is
absolutely free
Instead, each aircraft is meticulously maintained and inspected before every flight. Similarly, while older aircraft are not necessarily less safe than newer aircraft, our entire fleet of training aircraft is less than three years old. Newer airplanes translates to newer component parts, to newer and more advanced avionics, and lower total time engines. Most people prefer newer cars over older cars for the same reasons! 4. Reaching out to local youth:
Now working with the Greater Niagara Council of the Boy Scouts of America, BMFT is forming its own Aviation Explorer Scout program. Adding scouting to its already growing group of young pilots, BMFT will soon be putting more young people into aviation than any other flight school in the area! Topping off BMFT's expanding youth programs is our affiliation with both Utah Valley University and Mountain State University, where fully accredited Associate and Bachelor degrees in global aviation studies can be earned online at home at less than 50 percent of the cost of traditional campus-based programs. 5. FAA Approved Part 141 Flight School:
There is no question that the Part 141 certification process forces a flight training facility to improve its procedures, to more aggressively monitor its own activities, and to ensure that every enrolled student is receiving the very finest flight instruction services possible. And it can to do this all while advancing and improving the overall flight training system at the same time. In this regard, BMFT is proud to be Buffalo, NY's other FAA approved Part 141 flight school. Operating an effective flight school is far more than teaching people how to fly. It also includes finding ways to make pilots safer, make training more affordable and less daunting, and promoting aviation in general in a neighbor-friendly way. And it needs to do this profitably while working within a challenging economy. This has been our aim all along at BMFT!
Join with John and Connie Bouck as they share their adventuresome getaway weekends and extended journeys to romantic places around the globe. Whether in their Cessna 210 or Cessna 180 on floats, the Boucks make the best of general aviation. You can too! Click HERE for your trip to Martha's Vineyard, MA!!!Read earlier "Fly Away" stories by John Bouck. Click on the links below:
Despite all of the flag waving by AOPA, the endless rationalizations by its Air Safety Foundation, and the constant regulatory changes promulgated by the FAA, our dismally poor GA fatal accident rate is now higher than any time in the past five years. Worse, despite dramatic improvements in our cockpit technology, our fatal accident rate over the past five years combined is no better than the previous five years combined. In other words, what we're doing to improve GA flight safety ain't working, folks! Curiously, we wonder why our precious industry is stagnated. We wonder why people are not standing in line at our flight school doors, why our new airplane showrooms are not packed with buying customers, and why our GA airports are growing weeds between the cracks in the runways. Sure, it's easy to blame all of this on our economy, but like so much of what we hear from our big GA membership organizations, this is just another lame rationalization. If general aviation is going down the dumper, it's because our industry leaders refuse to face the facts. First among those facts is, each of our over 300 fatal accidents each year turns off another local community to little airplanes until the smoke, fire, and broken hearts of family members fade away. Yep, that's over 300 cities, town, and villages across America . . . every single year!
Frankly, no industry could endure that kind of customer dissatisfaction rate for very long. In short, we're killing off our customers, literally and figuratively, faster than we can replace them. Thirty years ago, there were over 700,000 licensed pilots in the United States. Today, the number is much closer to 400,000 despite significant increases in the size of our population. Think of it like a plague sweeping through 18th century Europe! Rays of hope emerging . . . But wait . . . hope is emerging. Curiously, it's not coming from the FAA or our big membership organizations. Instead, it is coming from those who pay the price for our pilot foibles - the insurance companies, specifically Avemco.
The same is true for total flight hours of experience. Once we get beyond the 200 hour mark, high time pilots kill themselves just as frequently as low time pilots. What they did conclude, however, is that pilots who were trained in a real world environment, where aeronautical decision making was emphasized, suffer fewer fatal accidents than those who receive only skills-based training in traditional practice area settings. So what's the solution? Avemco's research suggests that our best hope will come from modifying our training standards to change pilot behavior. Rather than conducting endless skills-based training exercises in designated practice areas with takeoffs and landings at the same one or two airports, we need to prepare our students for the challenges they will face in the real world of flying. We need to instill, through the actual training experience, realistic decision making exercises related to pre-flight planning, weather conditions, and diversions. The earliest example of this form of training began in the airlines. Called LOFT (line oriented flight training), pilots receive training while flying scheduled routes. This form of training has evolved into FITS (FAA/industry training standards) that emphasizes scenario-based training, aeronautical decision making, and learner-center grading. FITS training minimizes the importance of the traditional practice area from the total mix of training resources. Necessary piloting skills such as slow flight, steep turns, stalls, and takeoffs and landings are incorporated in real world scenarios that take the student from airport "A" to airport "B" to airport "C" and so forth, where changing terrain, weather, ATC sectors, and airport factors play an important role in developing sound decision making skills. Old ways are slow to change!
I see this every day right here in our Western New York flight training community. Local training areas are still populated by training flights conducted by the same handful of flight instructors from the same flight schools doing the same repetitive exercises over the same terrain. Mindless circuits are being flown round and round at the same one or two airports. Rather than imparting life-saving aeronautical decision making skills in realistic training scenarios that vary by location, terrain, and weather factors, students are being trained to satisfactorily replicate each element contained in the practical test standards. In short, they're being "taught to the test." The only problem here is that the "test" doesn't measure the things that lead to most fatal accidents. The same can be said about flight reviews and instrument proficiency checks (IPCs). Unless these recurrent training exercises address those factors that lead to fatal accidents, they are simply social events between pilots and the CFIs they pay to conduct them. That, my reader friends, is why our fatal accident rate continues unabated. Corrective action is needed now . . . When an airliner produces a smoking hole with fatalities, everybody from the local FSDO operations inspector, to the NTSB chairman, to the FAA administrator, to senior White House officials stop in their tracks. Yet let over 500 people die in general aviation accidents over a 12 month period, we hear barely a peep out of those very same people. Instead, our merry band of flag-waving general aviation leaders host air shows and exhibitions, publish glossy magazines, recruit members, sell life insurance, and register new credit card users. Even our newest organizational member of the "alphabet" team, "SAFE" (Society of Aviation and Flight Educators), is now running nifty membership building contests to see who can sign up the most members soonest! Our fearless leaders' message is quite simple . . . put a positive spin on our deplorable fatal accident rate, recruit new pilots and dues-paying members, sell lots of advertising space, prevent user fees and onerous state and federal regulation, and discourage any undue burdens on us general aviation pilots. Granted, each of these activities do carry some level of importance, but none of these activities, not one, focus directly on GA's greatest problem . . . its deplorable fatal accident rate. This fact, alone, is what's killing (pun intended) general aviation. So what should we do?
Yes . . . in the short run, any such action will likely further reduce the size of our pilot ranks simply because added burdens WILL be placed upon us. There will be those who will quit flying altogether rather than adhere to tighter regulation of our industry. That's okay because it's better they leave than die in a smoking hole that turns off yet another community! Over the long run, however, the resultant marked reduction in our fatal accident rate will turn the tide of public opinion, which currently fears little airplanes, into a positive force. In time, more students will be knocking on flight school doors, more new airplanes will be sold, and our little industry will grow once again. Two last words. First, don't let our industry leaders compare these suggestions and their likely outcomes with what is happening to general aviation in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere around the world. Those restrictive policies have more to do with flawed economics and mindless regulation than with reducing fatal accident rates. Second, there will be those who say we should not be writing about our fatal accident rate because doing so promotes a bad image of general aviation. The alternative is, not writing about it at all and pretending that it does not exist. The truth is . . . it does exist, and the more attention we can focus upon it, the sooner it can be fixed. In summary, what we've been doing over the past 15 or 20 years simply has not been working. Our pilot numbers have been plummeting. Unless we change course now, a smoking hole awaits all of us!
Bob Miller, CFII, ATP
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and
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Is
that a problem? Do 60 degree turns place excessive
forces on the airframe? 
Let's
take the tragic example of an RV-6 pilot who suffered an
engine failure while in the traffic pattern last August in
Caldwell, ID. According to a witness statement
contained in the NTSB report,
the aircraft turned onto a left crosswind, then "quickly"
to downwind at an altitude of about 200 feet agl.
Few
things enrage pilots more than some hapless pilot flying
randomly through the airport traffic pattern without ever
noticing the airport directly below or the other aircraft
actually in the pattern.
Most
of us realize that the non-towered airport traffic pattern
is where most of our mid-air collisions occur.
Fortunately, they only happen about 12 times a year in the
United States, nonetheless, they do occur and they are
nearly always fatal.
Even their cockpit
design is radically different. There is no yoke.
Instead, a short side stick requiring tiny push/pull/banking
wrist movements is all that is required to put these
airplanes through their paces.
Here's
the scenario . . . you've just received clearance from the
ground controller to taxi to Runway 23. Does
this taxi clearance authorize you to cross all runways
enroute to Runway 23 (except the active runway)?
This
is the next in an ongoing
OTA
series designed to bring our readers "back to the
basics." Going back to the basics is a tool often used
by flight instructors when pilots, whether students or rusty
veterans, begin to exhibit signs of poor piloting technique.
of
any maintenance issues ("squawks") before it is
dispatched. 
While the certification process to
become an FAA Part 141 flight school was challenging,
and while the exhaustive FAA inspections were daunting,
and while the FAA's continual oversight of our
operations can be onerous, one very important fact
remains. That fact is, BMFT is operating at the
very highest standard of quality possible . . . and the
FAA can attest to that fact!
It's Up to You to Fly Away - "Martha's
Vineyard, MA"
Second
among these facts is that, despite the inherent joy of
flying, most of the flight instruction component of general
aviation is operating as if it were teaching 1941 air cadets
for the war effort. For
every 100 students who sign up for flight instruction, 50
drop out before receiving their pilot certificate.
Sadly . . . and at dear cost in terms of
chronically high fatal accident rate, our flight training
community is slow to change its ways. 
Each GA pilot who has the ability to write a
check or sign a credit card statement to pay membership dues
has a very powerful vote. Let's use that powerful
ability to convey a message to AOPA, EAA, SAFE, NAFI, GAMA,
and the several dozen other aircraft type clubs and
membership organizations that demands they promote an agenda
that specifically targets reductions in our fatal accident
rate.