Flyin'Dutch'
29th Apr 2005, 20:09
After having witnessed and contributed a fair few discussions on here and other forums 2 of our number, went to the AOPA offices in London yesterday to share our points of concern with Martin Robinson, George Done and Pat Malone.
A synopsis of the contents of the meeting follows.
If you have any comments to make; suggestions to propose or plans to share feel free to do that either here or in a PM.
Notes on the meeting:
1. Communication with AOPA members and non-members
· Although the magazine in its current form give a lot of information about activities of the organisation there is scope to increase the contact interface with members. There is also scope to provide an interface with non members so that the activities from AOPA become more visible for those that are not members (yet)
· It will also allow those using these communication channels to directly ask questions about AOPA activities or bring concerns to the attention of the organisation.
· A moderated forum style bulletin board could help in giving this interface shape and this will be set up and hosted on the AOPA website.
2. Communication with the wider aviation community
· Recent discussions with some of the major GA magazines have been positive and should lead to improved coverage of AOPA’s activities.
· Promotion of the AOPA Wings program.
3. Improved visibility of the organisation
· Develop a network of regional representatives that can further AOPA’s case locally by organising and attending aviation related meetings.
· Have an annual conference, to be held at a weekend at an airfield with good facilities and aerial/road access where meetings/lectures/forums and workshops can be held discussing issues of interest to the participants. Input and choice of speakers guided by membership via the channels as proposed under 1. and 2.
· Conference for this year to be slated in September/October
· Attach the AGM to the conference (2006)
4. Increased involvement of membership with the organisation
· Development of a members working group. This group will recruit/attract members with a special interest or special skills that can be deployed for the benefit of the organisation and GA as a whole.
5. Membership fee structure and cards
· Current fee structure not transparent and confusing.
o Restructuring of fees and cards available to be undertaken in the near future.
6. Increase easy identifiable benefits of membership
· Not clear to some members and non-members what the perks are of being a member or AOPA.
o Current negotiations with other European AOPAs to make members of national AOPAs automatic members of IAOPA Europe (total membership 23000) Provide eNews for these members
o Negotiations with major sponsor for the IAOPA Europe scheme with tangible benefits for its membership, which amongst others will mean easier access to flight relevant information and products.
7. Other activities of interest
· Current discussion with CAA regarding fees and fee-structure.
· Involvement in UK based ADS-B feasibility study
· Commitment from the CAA to have non-precision GPS non ATC approaches within the next 12 months
· Removal of the need for ADF carriage from Schedule 5
Frank Voeten
A synopsis of the contents of the meeting follows.
If you have any comments to make; suggestions to propose or plans to share feel free to do that either here or in a PM.
Notes on the meeting:
1. Communication with AOPA members and non-members
· Although the magazine in its current form give a lot of information about activities of the organisation there is scope to increase the contact interface with members. There is also scope to provide an interface with non members so that the activities from AOPA become more visible for those that are not members (yet)
· It will also allow those using these communication channels to directly ask questions about AOPA activities or bring concerns to the attention of the organisation.
· A moderated forum style bulletin board could help in giving this interface shape and this will be set up and hosted on the AOPA website.
2. Communication with the wider aviation community
· Recent discussions with some of the major GA magazines have been positive and should lead to improved coverage of AOPA’s activities.
· Promotion of the AOPA Wings program.
3. Improved visibility of the organisation
· Develop a network of regional representatives that can further AOPA’s case locally by organising and attending aviation related meetings.
· Have an annual conference, to be held at a weekend at an airfield with good facilities and aerial/road access where meetings/lectures/forums and workshops can be held discussing issues of interest to the participants. Input and choice of speakers guided by membership via the channels as proposed under 1. and 2.
· Conference for this year to be slated in September/October
· Attach the AGM to the conference (2006)
4. Increased involvement of membership with the organisation
· Development of a members working group. This group will recruit/attract members with a special interest or special skills that can be deployed for the benefit of the organisation and GA as a whole.
5. Membership fee structure and cards
· Current fee structure not transparent and confusing.
o Restructuring of fees and cards available to be undertaken in the near future.
6. Increase easy identifiable benefits of membership
· Not clear to some members and non-members what the perks are of being a member or AOPA.
o Current negotiations with other European AOPAs to make members of national AOPAs automatic members of IAOPA Europe (total membership 23000) Provide eNews for these members
o Negotiations with major sponsor for the IAOPA Europe scheme with tangible benefits for its membership, which amongst others will mean easier access to flight relevant information and products.
7. Other activities of interest
· Current discussion with CAA regarding fees and fee-structure.
· Involvement in UK based ADS-B feasibility study
· Commitment from the CAA to have non-precision GPS non ATC approaches within the next 12 months
· Removal of the need for ADF carriage from Schedule 5
Frank Voeten