What has AOPA done for you?

[A and C]

For those who question the worth of AOPA membership the events of the last week have shown the value of a strong and vocal representative voice for private flying.

The job that AOPA has done in getting volcanic ash no fly zone fiasco sorted out has been nothing short of superb, within 24 hours NATS and the CAA had to issue directives to ensure that the ATC units who did not understand the situation stopped acting like the air police.

To continue the good work and to fend off future problems for GA AOPA needs more members so please don't be a cheapskate, membership is cheap considering the advantages that a strong and united voice that AOPA has at government level.

(And yes I do know that the LAA has been making waves at the CAA on the Volcanic ash issue)

[dont overfil]

I agree with A and C, but what else?
Well, I've not needed their legal assistance yet, but it's nice to know there is support should I need it.
My crewcard got me between 10 and 20% off my hotel bills in every resort I stayed at in the Bahamas and 20% off my Hertz rental car in the USA using their CDP number. £450 saving between three of us!
Discount on fuel in Jersey.
Check in staff at airports try a bit harder to give you emergency exit seats when you use the card for ID.
Year after year it pays for its self several times over.
I would probably still have one even if I didn't fly!
DO.

[chris-h]

Iv just finished the imcr and i believe they are fighting the corner to save the rating. I think its stupid to even consider getting rid so on that basis i joined AOPA.
To actually pull out the membership card though, im not sure.

I think if the membership was a realistic price they'd get a lot more members

[flybymike]

The cost is peanuts compared to everything else we seem to happily spend on flying.

[smo-kin-hole]

A lot of you might not remember the GA groundings of that day in 9/11. I remember it all very well and I can tell you that AOPA was the ONLY aviation organization I could see defending the GA world. At first only filed IFR enroute was allowed, then only duals. A student could solo under endorsement, pass their ride, and then be grounded as a newly minted private. It was absurd and it went on for 6 months. The last people to leave the ground were the ag planes due to the airborne anthrax application scare. Same with the banner towers. I believe that nearly 1/3 of all active flight schools in the US failed in the years after 9/11, including two where I was working.

AOPA also had a great deal to do with the driver's license as a photo ID program. The magazine alone is worth it! Great outfit

[fuzzy6988]

The AOPA (UK) has a new website coming soon which will show the flying community the breadth and depth of what it has done.

[IO540]

A lot of you might not remember the GA groundings of that day in 9/11. I remember it all very well and I can tell you that AOPA was the ONLY aviation organization I could see defending the GA world. At first only filed IFR enroute was allowed, then only duals. A student could solo under endorsement, pass their ride, and then be grounded as a newly minted private. It was absurd and it went on for 6 months. The last people to leave the ground were the ag planes due to the airborne anthrax application scare. Same with the banner towers. I believe that nearly 1/3 of all active flight schools in the US failed in the years after 9/11, including two where I was working.

AOPA also had a great deal to do with the driver's license as a photo ID program. The magazine alone is worth it! Great outfit

I think you are talking about the American AOPA. They are indeed very powerful (in America). I get their magazine too.

[robin]

The AOPA (UK) has a new website coming soon which will show the flying community the breadth and depth of what it has done.

About bl**dy time too. Their website is appalling and, what's more its bulletin board is moribund. There have been almost no posts for months.

Even the breakaway forum on the FL*er forum has very few.

I've given up my membership as I found that AOPA was irrelevant to my sort of flying and the LAA has been just as active, if not more so,

Take, for example, the responses to recent consultations. The quality of the AOPA responses is markedly inferior to those of the BGA and LAA. And don't tell me about the work AOPA does behind the scenes.

The General Aviation magazine is OK and has some interesting articles, but to me it is a 'What Martin Robinson is doing on his holidays" brochure in large part.

Personally I think it would be best if AOPA joined with the other UK groups in the GA Alliance. We are too small to fragment into interest groups.

[soay]

I'm a member of both AOPA (US) and AOPA (UK) and they are like chalk and cheese. In the US, they are communicative and know how to use the Internet to keep their membership informed about how necessary they are. In the UK, they are run by a paternalistic core, from a bygone era, supported by volunteers with an uncanny knack for killing of any enthusiasm for becoming a member and using their forums. I hope the new website improves their image, but with no change of ethos, they have every opportunity to blow it.

[IO540]

I'm a member of both AOPA (US) and AOPA (UK) and they are like chalk and cheese. In the US, they are communicative and know how to use the Internet to keep their membership informed about how necessary they are. In the UK, they are run by a paternalistic core, from a bygone era, supported by volunteers with an uncanny knack for killing of any enthusiasm for becoming a member and using their forums. I hope the new website improves their image, but with no change of ethos, they have every opportunity to blow it.

I have to agree with the above.

The magazine is too patronising - the last thing anybody wants to read after graduating from the generally pretty patronising UK PPL training machine.

The leadership is actually visible at most presentation/conferences I have been to, but usually in a reclined orientation and with eyes shut, presumably following a very good lunch.

I suppose it is just apathy... they got themselves into a vicious circle where UK pilots somehow got to think they are not represented, and it continues like that. It's a shame; there are about 20k UK pilots with valid medicals so they could have 20k members.

The AOPA forum on Flyer didn't get off the ground partly due to its aggressive moderation profile. It appears this has now been addressed, but the damage has been done.

US AOPA has a big budget which no European organisation could emulate but they do have skillful people there. Phil Boyer was, I believe, a broadcasting executive in his previous life and he knew how to go about it. I have met him (shortly before he retired) and in a presentation on GPS approaches etc where he totally casually and totally effectively crushed the assembled European officials, who could not wait to leave the room afterwards, before anybody could ask them to comment. It was a real spectacle AOPA UK was there too, but gently snoozing, although to be fair it was quite warm.

[Whopity]

Just ask how many Flying Instructors are members, and they get a discount! Less than 25% I'd guess. Many still remember it as the Ron Campbell Luncheon Society and International AOPA as something akin to Arthur Scargill's International Miners Union, a name with no substance!

[flybymike]

The General Aviation magazine is OK and has some interesting articles, but to me it is a 'What Martin Robinson is doing on his holidays" brochure in large part.

If Martin did not tell people what he was doing with their money he would be criticised for not doing anything. If he does tell them , then he is accused of using it to go on holiday.

A case of "damned if you do and damned if you don't."

[sternone]

I'm an AOPA USA member and I pay extra for their legal services. Since I'm only FAA rated and my planes are N-registrated AOPA USA is of very high value for me. I have used their escrow service, their legal department, their help desk with all kinds of questions and read their magazine.

This week I flew into Jersey, they even gave me an extra discount on the already cheap fuel because I was an AOPA member!

I don't care for AOPA outside the USA. I think the chapters outside the USA are weak and a waste of money.

[englishal]

I Hope AOPA UK take a leaf out of the AOPA US website...which is excellent, has some great tools on it, has great articles and has lots of online training resources....

I hope this takes precedence over the list of MBE/KBE/OBE holders as it makes it look like an "only boys" club....

Yes AOPA US members get the same discounts as AOPA UK members, and the magazine they send me from the US is excellent, better than most of the trashy UK GA publications which tend to focus on boring stuff about "how to get into the right seat of an Airbus".....yawn......I'd rather know about wing loading and why spins happen, how to get out of them, and to hear experiences of very experienced pilots and what they do....

[QNH 1013]

I've been a member of AOPA (UK) for about ten years and the help I've received when I really needed it ensures I will remain a member for as long as I fly.

Yes, they could do a lot more, if more GA pilots were members, but in my experience they have never been found wanting when helping the "David" of an individual pilot against the "Goliath" of the CAA and Dept of Transport.

Thanks to AOPA (UK) I fly for a living today. Apart from anything else, I think the AOPA membership fee is the best value insurance you can buy anywhere.
If you're not a member, I just hope you never find yourself in a situation where you wished you were, because they don't offer their services retrospectively.

[Fuji Abound]

There are some very good people in AOPA UK who do a sterling job and there are some truly dreadful individuals. Unfortunately Martin has being doing the job for far far too long. He is like the old boy propping up the bar, way past his sell by date, and enough part of the furniture that while he still warrants a friendly nod no one is interested in what he has to say because they have heard it all before.

He should go and give some one else a chance because until he does AOPA will gradually fade away.

(PS I have no doubt Martin has given many good years and believes in what he does but simply put no one should do the same job for that long - he simply doesnt know when enough is enough).

[Mike Cross]

Personally I think it would be best if AOPA joined with the other UK groups in the GA Alliance. We are too small to fragment into interest groups.

An explanation can be found on the protptype new website here. (near the bottom of the page)

I Hope AOPA UK take a leaf out of the AOPA US website...which is excellent, has some great tools on it, has great articles and has lots of online training resources....

Great isn't it, All we need is the income from 400,000 members and we too can have a big team running the website. Unfortunately we are nearer 1% of their size.

[robin]

Mike

Thanks for the heads-up on the new website.

I know only too well why AOPA UK does not join with other organisations. I just don't agree with their stance.

With 4000 odd members compared with over 8000 LAA members and with a lower quality response (look at the Ofcome responses) I don't see that AOPA has a huge amount to offer for the moeny

I paid great attention to the responses to a number of consulations. The original AOPA UK response to the Ofcom proposal, for example, was appalling and probably posted by an AOPA member.

Unlike all other GA organisations the official AOPA response came after the expiry date.

I have begun to realise that AOPA is becoming part of the problem. At the GA conference a while back the DoT wanted to make AOPA the point of contact for GA. Since then it has become clear that it is not the right vehicle and the LAA is taking on much of that role.

If AOPA can't see that, it is going to become isolated unless it joins in with the others. I, for one, will not pay for LAA and AOPA membership and as I have to pay for LAA. AOPA is an optional and very expensive 'nice to have'

[Fuji Abound]

I think you will find Martin is very reluctant to work with any of these other organisations which was one of the reasons for my earlier post.

[A and C]

Chicken & egg situation

A number of people above are dismissive of AOPA (UK), the grounds seem to be along the lines that the website is poor and that it is an "old boys drinking club" while giving prase to AOPA (USA).

The funding of AOPA (UK) is the big issue, in the USA a large number of private pilots give support by being members and so AOPA (USA) can fund a full time office that is capable of good comuinications.

The attitude in the UK seems to be to slag AOPA (UK) off and not even give any credit for what it has done (need I say volcanic ash!) , use this as a reason for not joining and wonder why the website is lackluster when they have to be very carefull about how they spend the money that they do have.

The short answer is that the average UK pilot is too much of a mean cheapskate to become a member and have a say in the way AOPA (UK) conducts its business, by joining you will improve the ability of AOPA (UK) to function and give the weight of numbers to them when they meet the regulators.

As member of both the LAA and AOPA I see them as complimenary to each other but the LAA has to spend most of it's time on issues that are primarily of interest to permit aircraft owners.

The LAA do fine work in this area but I do wonder if the membership would be as high as double that of AOPA (UK) if LAA membership was not mandatory for permit aircraft ownwers.