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Guest Tom Haines is Editor-in-Chief and Sr. Vice President, Media for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. He’s a pilot who has covered General Aviation for many years.

We talk about Tom’s fantastic Self-Fly Safari in Africa through Hanks Aero Adventures in Cessna 182’s. Tom wrote about this trip in the August 2012 issue of AOPA Pilot magazine. [PDF]

The AOPA Aviation Summit is in Palm Springs, California this year October 11-13 and we talk about that, including the parade of planes which you can see at AOPA Live This Week. The Summit features 100 hours of seminars and 400 exhibitors.

Tom also describes AOPA activity in response to the dwindling number of pilots. They’ve hired Adam Smith to run a new center at AOPA, and they are creating resources to help make GA more attractive and the flight training experience more successful. To help reduce the drop out rate, AOPA is introducing field guides: one for student pilots, one for flight schools, one for flight instructors.

Follow Tom on Twitter as @tomhaines29.

The week’s aviation news:

• No New Aviation Taxes — There’s A Better Way to Go
• User Fees in the Aviation Industry: Turbulence Ahead
• Ryanair boss slams ‘idiot’ who forgot boarding pass
• Airlines cutting middle man
• AMR Faces Pilots’ Appeal Over Contract Rejection Ruling
• Cracks Spur Board to Urge Check of Dreamliner Engines

In this week’s Across the Pond segment:

This week on Across The Pond, we have a really exciting opportunity to talk to one of the main players in public relations in the aerospace industry. Stephanie Schierholz is Social Media Manager at @Raytheon and President at Women in Aerospace. Prior to this she was Social Media Manager at NASA, Public Affairs Specialist at NASA, and Director of Communications at Space Foundation. Stephanie tells us what its like to be the public face of these amazing aerospace organisations and what those Astronauts are really like to work with.

Stephanie can be found on Twitter as @Schierholz. Find Pieter on Twitter as @Nascothornet, on his blog Alpha Tango Papa, on Facebook at XTPMedia, and at the Aviation Xtended podcast.

Mentions:

• TURBULENCE on Flight BA 244 – Buenos Aires(Ezeiza) to London(Heathrow)
• 2 planes collide in Holland!
• Most difficult landing in the world – Bhutan?
• Flagship Detroit
• Homer Hickam

Post photos by listener Neil: The Flagship Detroit, a 1937 fully restored DC-3 flown all over the U.S. raising money so people can share the history of this magnificent aircraft.

Opening and closing music courtesy Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at www.brotherloverocks.com.