Episode 181 – Craig Fuller from AOPA

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Craig Fuller in the 1998 Aviat Aircraft Inc A-1A

Guest Craig Fuller is President and CEO of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). We talk about the U.S. Government proposal to charge $100 per flight for flights in controlled airspace, Representative Mike Pompeo’s America Flies petition, NextGen Air Traffic Control, EU ETS, and other topics.

The week’s aviation news:

David’s Aircraft of the Week is the O2U Corsair.

In this week’s Australia Desk report: Reality TV pilot in trouble with CASA, Australian registered Beechcraft Debonaires & Bonanzas affected by a serious airworthiness directive, Miranda Kerr is the latest celebrity promoter for Qantas, ex Qantas bean counter suggests a “fat tax” for larger airline passengers.

Find more from Grant and Steve at the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast, and follow the show on Twitter at @pcdu. Steve’s at @stevevisscher and Grant at @falcon124.

This week on Across the Pond, Pieter Johnson talks to Pele Johnson, a frequent business traveller across the Atlantic. Pele often gets the chance to travel business or first class and so we ask him what its like (because not many of us get to do this) and which of the two major British carriers he prefers to fly with. He’s a photographer and a talented guitar player. Maybe you have heard him play. Listen in and find out.

You can find Pele on Twitter as @denhelderstudio, on the web at www.denhelderphotography.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/denhelderphotography. Pieter can be found on Twitter as @Nascothornet or at the XTP Media’s Facebook Page.

Mentioned in the episode:

Other listener submissions:

Follow the @AirplaneGeeks on Twitter and on Facebook, send us email at thegeeks@airplanegeeks.com, or leave a message on our listener line: (361) GEEKS01.

Opening and closing music is provided by Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at http://www.brotherloverocks.com/.

4 thoughts on “Episode 181 – Craig Fuller from AOPA”

  1. Alex

    Okay Guys, can we have some rules for the questions asked to “Grill the Geeks” just joking!
    Alex Ch…Ch… China

  2. Vernon Lucas

    User fees as proposed will reduce safety! I lived in the UK in the 90s when similar fees were introduced and experienced a significant reduction in my practice IFR approaches and general IFR practice. It was difficult and very expensive to maintain currency as a result of those fees.

  3. Terry D. Welander

    Minimizing the tax collection points to one or two for aircraft is critical to maintaining efficient commerce; or more accurately competitive commerce with other forms and other nations. So any new tax is worse than a bad idea. It is a stupid idea. With U.S. Federal, state, and local taxes accounting for 37% of GDP now compared to 27% in the early 1960s, no new taxes are the only acceptable answer with less government everywhere and reduced expenditures by government nearly everywhere
    now and for the foreseeable future. The dense and ignorant in DC have to have this hammered home repeatedly or they will not get it; except to get unelected.

  4. jim baker

    I enjoyed your show about direct data being sent to cockpits. I am concerned, however, that pilots using such systems might eventually be left out of the loop, because they don’t have to “worry” about these data. Might I suggest that pilots be reinserted into this loop by requiring them to periodically acknowledge receipt of these data. If pilots lose concept of especially positioning data, they will be lulled into a false sense of security. By requiring them to punch an “understand” button periodically, they will be able to keep up with whatever data is being interchanged between their aircraft and ground systems. Thanks! Jim

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