AircraftOwner Online

    Of late, I am being increasingly convinced that we need to do more squawking -- while we still can.   

    I’m not talking about transponder squawking, I’m talking about political type squawking in defense of General Aviation.  

    In my last blog I wrote about the Ross Lake issue where the some elements are trying to ban seaplanes from a National Recreation Area.  Of course, they want to keep the whole place open for jet skis, power boats and every other type of activity you can imagine – except for seaplanes. Not to mention that the recreation area was conceived by a guy who had a lodge there served primarily be seaplanes to begin with!  The comment period on this rule closed now but there are more issues including TTF, which you can still chime in on.  

    The TTF [Through The Fence] issue realtes to local airports which receive Federal Funds.  Residential Through-the-Fence (rTTF) agreements are situations where hangar homes on private property are connected to airports via taxiways.  Hangar home owners support the adjacent airports for this access with fees and purchased services.

    If you want to fix your low blood pressure, go to Dr. Brent Blue’s Web site on the subject: www.ThroughTheFence.org.  After you read the completely ridiculous position taken by certain management types inside the FAA you will be amazed.  

    Brent was invited to testify mid-month before the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on “Residential Through-the-Fence Agreements at Public Airports: Action to Date and Challenges Ahead.”  Amongst man other comments, using Freedom of Information Act requests, Brent proved that the FAA does not have even one documented noise complaint from a hangar home for the past ten years nor has any example of a single airport that has had difficulty expanding due to rTTF agreements.   

    Brent is spot-on when he says: “This is a FAA fix to a problem that does not exist. The FAA personnel who came up with this policy had not even seen a hangar home till this past winter. Their lack of evidence and data is shocking given they are establishing a policy that affects the economic viability of small general aviation airports.”  

    I urge you to read Brent’s testimony in front of the House Transportation Committee earlier this month. You can read it by clicking on the link: Brent Blue TTF Hearing. It’s absolutely fabulous.  

    There is still opportunity to comment on the FAA’s TTF position at they have posted their proposed revised policy on residential “through the fence”  (TTF) agreements at GA airports.  The short version is that they propose allowing all current agreements but no new ones after the effective date of the policy (which is not set at this time).  

    In January, the FAA initiated a review due to our input as well as the input of the EAA and other groups.  (The AOPA dropped the ball completely.)   As a result, the Agency is proposing to amend its policy regarding access to airports from residential property and Grant Assurance 5, Preserving Rights and Powers.   

    The proposed policy is Docket No. FAA-2010-0831 and is now on display at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-22095.pdf. This document was published in the September 9, 2010 Federal Register.  Please comment on the proposed policy through www.regulations.gov. All comments received by the FAA will be posted at www.regulations.gov.  Comments will be accepted for 45 days from the date the notice was published in the Federal Register which should be October 22^nd.  

    If we don’t start squawking politically, we soon won’t have to worry about squawking our transponders as they are hell-bent on chipping away at GA as we know it today. The best defense is a good offense and we are behind right now!