AOPA UK

[Ian_Wannabe]

Hey PPruners,
I did look in "search" but didn't find anything to answer all my questions.
I'm about to start my 1st ground exam in December, and I'm thinking of joining AOPA UK to gain the benefits of a new PPL holder (hopefully).

However I've heard that the UK organization isn't worth the £100 'ish because you get next to nothing in return.

What are your views please? Anyone out there who is a member of AOPA UK? Your advice especially will be appreciated.
Also, do you guys/girls think it's a good idea to join up before I sit my 1st ground exam?

Cheers & happy flying :)

Ian

[skua]

I would really encourage you to join.

1. They are the only organisation that stands up for us in the farce that is European aviation administration.

2. Therefore the more pilots join, the more representative they are.

3. On a selfish level, if you get their pilot's ID card, this enables you to get all sorts of discounts, but particulalrly with car rentals, and hotels.

Go for it.

[Final 3 Greens]

Ian

I believe that you can join free as a student, so why not try it out?

[SteveR]

We've had a recent extensive discussion about this on the flyer list - and the overall impression I got was that AOPA UK are about as much use to GA pilots as a chocolate teapot.

The discounts you get are pretty meaningless, and AOPA do very little to actively campaign on behalf of the GA community.

We're facing a crisis in the number of airfields under threat - and AOPA aren't doing as much to stop it as GAAC and Action for Airfields.

The JAA PPL is quite clearly a bizarre mishmash of poorly thought out legislation and poorly comunicated new requirements - and apparently AOPA just rolled over and let it happen.

I think that many of us concluded that if the sub was half the current price then we might consider joining and then trying to work within the organisation to get it to actually represent us better, but at the current price, AOPA is an irrelevance.

(Unlike AOPA US, which seems to be an admirable organisation that was in there pitching at a high level for GA within a few hours of the WTC horror)

For myself, I've not joined, but I'm going to join the PFA 'cos I reckon they've got my interests more at heart, and I support Action for Airfields as much as I can.

Steve R

[A and C]

If you think that the JAA PPL is bad then think what it would have been without AOPA working for us.

On most of the problems facing GA today AOPA and the PFA are working together in the common interest.

As for question "why is UK AOPA not as effective as USA AOPA ?" it is because the UK pilot population is too stupid to see that we need 100 % suport within the pilot population to be fully efective and in the USA allmost all private pilots are AOPA members.

So wake up you lot put your hands in your pockets and support AOPA and the PFA if you want to keep flying and insted of bad mouthing the people who are trying to help GA in this forum write a few letters to your MP and support GA where it matters in the corridors of power.

[SKYYACHT]

Look at it another way....If its £100p.a., then that works out to less than one Shoreham landing fee per month - £8.33. I joined last year, and although the regular magazine isnt overly stuffed with articles, it is still an interesting rag. Furthermore, I got a bit alarmed and fed up with the seemingly prevalent attitude that "they" will stop airfields being closed etc.etc. I realised that "I" was "they", so I did something about it. At least now I know that I am doing what I can to support them, and that they, the GAAC, PFA and Action for Airfields are trying to prevent the ranks of NIMBYS from stopping me climbing into a cockpit! Its a shame that they are regarded as as much use as a chocolate teapot....More members = more airfields....

IMHO of course.

All the best

[HighRoller]

I've been a member for 6 months now. I'm not a yank, I do have my PPL. I've been watching the action going on in the States with the grounding of 41,000 GA aircraft. No doubt they wouldn't fight the feds in Canada either as they have in the states, but it's reassuring to know at least someone's watching.
The mag is worth the money as well as the web sight at www.aopa.org (http://www.aopa.org)

[Chocks Wahay]

"If you think that the JAA PPL is bad then think what it would have been without AOPA working for us."

Good point - maybe, who knows? AOPA's biggest problem is that their PR is awful. The only way to find out what they do is to join, and I'm not about to spend £100 on the off chance that they are worth the money. If it was £20 / year I would give them a chance.

[CessnaEng]

Annual membership is £51 not £100.

Bit of a circular arguement.

I won't join until they're i)cheaper or ii)prove they do something.

They can't afford to lower the fees or engage PR because of too few members.

<Added in edit>Going back to the very first post though - don't they still provide free membership for students?
I doubt very much that they will get lots of extra members if the fees reduce - although I don't doubt that many people will jump up and down indignantly at that last statement.

I can't afford to fly as often as I like but I decide to afford to try and help ensure that I will be able to fly in the future.

[ 03 October 2001: Message edited by: CessnaEng ]

[foxmoth]

Those remarking on the JAA PPL may like to note that it will probably all be changing again in the next few years as the EEC becomes more involved, it will then be EASA I believe, but I am told they are NOT interested in regulating GA, so this may be taken over by AOPA.
If you want a say you need to join.

[rolling circle]

"If you think that the JAA PPL is bad then think what it would have been without AOPA working for us."

Fact is, if AOPA hadn't been 'working for us' the JAA would not have included the PPL in JAR-FCL, all would have remained as it was and we wouldn't need this ridiculous NPPL.

[A and C]

R-S more info please ,tell me how AOPA got the JAA involved in private pilot licencing ?

[Genghis the Engineer]

In the UK our associations are fragmented, and unlike US AOPA which has a very broad parish, there are various "clubs". Most are worth joining, but get the right one. I'd suggest thinking along the following lines (in no particular order): -

Light permit aircraft, homebuilding, private flying in more interesting light aircraft - PFA

Anything to do with microlights - BMAA

Anything to do with gliders and motorgliders - BGA

Ballooning - BBAC

Instructional community, operators of "conventional" (e.g. Piper and Cessna) light aircraft - AOPA

Non-flying enthusiasts - the air league

Professionals in any area except PPL instruction - RAeS

Competitive pilots (except gliders), pilots who want to be in the guinness book of records - RAeC

Non flying enthusiasts - the Air League

Deep interest in navigation, avionics, charts, etc. RIN


Hope this helps. Personally I'm a member of PFA, BMAA and RAeS and have no regrets about any of them.

G


N.B. The old "AOPA got us JAR-FCL for PPLs" thing has done the rounds for a while. I suspect there's some truth in it, but most of the guilty parties have moved on to other things by now anyway, so there's little point in banging on about it now.