Drivers license medical

[FlyingRon]

I think the AOPA assumption was that the DOT was going to hold to the scheduled dates which they haven't done yet. Whoever wrote that press release wasn't actually paying attention to the issue.

[Byron J. Covey]

Now the American public will see it does not matter what side is in office or what office, politicians are what they are, it matters not if you have an R or D in front of ones name.

Prefessional politicians are the lowest form of human life.


BJC

[TedK]

I think the AOPA assumption was that the DOT was going to hold to the scheduled dates which they haven't done yet. Whoever wrote that press release wasn't actually paying attention to the issue.

It sure seems to me that AOPA and EAA are naive. All you have to do is look at the DOT Significant Rulemaking website to get some sense of FAA's poor track record at bringing even modestly controversial Rules to fruition.

[TedK]

Ted,

As you know, come January 3 many of the Representatives and Senators on that list will be pursuing other career options and the bill's support coalition will have to be rebuilt. There is work to be done in building up the GA caucuses, too.
The bill will likely stay alive in one form or another, and I suspect that the FAA does not want that legislative language to be a factor in the 2015 re-authorization bill. That is why we are holding out hope for an acceptable NPRM, as slow as the process may be.

Jonathan- au Contraire, the grand majority of those sponsors were reelected.

Hope is not a strategy. The NPRM has spent over six months going absolutely nowhere. And AOPA embarrassed themselves by taking a cursory look at the DOT Significant Rulemaking website without looking at trend. A down in headwork. Amateurish.

So, as Lynn asked a few posts earlier, what is EAA's Strategy? This is the number One item among recreational aviators and neither AOPA nor EAA will state to their membership what their strategy for obtaining Third Class Medical Reform will be.

Frankly, it appears to me that EAA has been successfully cowed by the FAA and you are too afraid for Airventure to challenge the FAA. Please tell me something that proves me wrong.

But should I be right, and EAA has decided the Show is more important than being an Agent for Change, then perhaps we Members and Chapters need to consider how we abandon the husk and move forward. Perhaps, it might be time to ask is our organization working for us or working for themselves?

[Gunslinger37]

This subject is a hot issue with all the pilots at our local airport and our EAA Chapter meetings. Why has EAA HQ let this drop off the radar screen? The latest issue of Sport Aviation has not one word about Aeromedical Reform. No update to the membership. On the EAA Advocacy web page is appears to be the top issue, but the two little paragraphs of text on that page have not changed for months. At least AOPA writes letters to the DOT and updates their members with a little news when they get anything from the government.
Now that we have a new Congress, what is happening there to re-introduce the House and Senate bills this session?

[FlyingRon]

Note that GAPPA even if it had passed would have done NOTHING with regard to this. It didn't abolish the medical requirement, it just told the FAA to initiate regulations to that effect.
Well the FAA has done that. There were time limits in the rule but such limits are almost UNIVERSALLY ignored by the executive branch so unless the Congress comes back and specifically takes them to task (rare), it doesn't happen. Further, it wouldn't short circuit the OMB part of the rulemaking (yes i know we're not there yet) because that's required by law and GAPPA didn't override that law.

[Tom Charpentier]

So, as Lynn asked a few posts earlier, what is EAA's Strategy? This is the number One item among recreational aviators and neither AOPA nor EAA will state to their membership what their strategy for obtaining Third Class Medical Reform will be.

Frankly, it appears to me that EAA has been successfully cowed by the FAA and you are too afraid for Airventure to challenge the FAA. Please tell me something that proves me wrong.

If we have ever given the impression that reforming the 3^rd Class Medical is not our top advocacy priority, nor one that we work on every day, then that was certainly unintentional on our part. Our strategy is comprehensive, and we’re not hanging our hats on any one thing. Yes, the fact that the FAA has developed a rule-making package is a step in the right direction, and we’re waiting for it to clear the same bureaucratic hurdles that all rulemaking must clear (the same hurdles, I might add, that help us fight bad rulemaking), but we’re in parallel continuing to actively push for legislation. The new congress is seated and we are on Capitol Hill every week recruiting members of the General Aviation Caucus and developing support for new legislation on medical reform, which will soon be filed. In addition, the FAA needs its budget reauthorized this year, so the must-pass reauthorization bill is another part of our legislative toolbox.

So the bottom line is this: the NPRM is forthcoming, but we’re very active in pursuing legislation on a parallel track. And I promise that’s not lip service. We’re on the ground in Washington on a regular basis to work on this. Nothing will be off the table until we have accomplished actual reform for pilots who fly recreationally.

[cub builder]

So the bottom line is this: the NPRM is forthcoming, but we’re very active in pursuing legislation on a parallel track. And I promise that’s not lip service. We’re on the ground in Washington on a regular basis to work on this. Nothing will be off the table until we have accomplished actual reform for pilots who fly recreationally.

Since this is undoubtedly the #1 subject matter with the EAA membership, why not have a monthly update in Sport Aviation as to the status and what is being done to make it happen EVERY MONTH WITHOUT FAIL until the goal is met?

No matter how much you do, if you fail to keep the membership informed on their #1 issue, then you will be seen as asleep at the wheel.

-Cub Builder

[TedK]

If we have ever given the impression that reforming the 3^rd Class Medical is not our top advocacy priority, nor one that we work on every day, then that was certainly unintentional on our part. Our strategy is comprehensive, and we’re not hanging our hats on any one thing. Yes, the fact that the FAA has developed a rule-making package is a step in the right direction, and we’re waiting for it to clear the same bureaucratic hurdles that all rulemaking must clear (the same hurdles, I might add, that help us fight bad rulemaking), but we’re in parallel continuing to actively push for legislation. The new congress is seated and we are on Capitol Hill every week recruiting members of the General Aviation Caucus and developing support for new legislation on medical reform, which will soon be filed. In addition, the FAA needs its budget reauthorized this year, so the must-pass reauthorization bill is another part of our legislative toolbox.

So the bottom line is this: the NPRM is forthcoming, but we’re very active in pursuing legislation on a parallel track. And I promise that’s not lip service. We’re on the ground in Washington on a regular basis to work on this. Nothing will be off the table until we have accomplished actual reform for pilots who fly recreationally.

Tom-

An excellent post. Thank you.

However, it appears you are trying to do the heavy lifting without the benefit of the additional support the Members and Chapters could add. For example, why not publish who you have met with so we could roll in behind you as the exclamation point? When you go to see a Congressperson or Senator, do you take a powerful aviator from their district or state with you? Who? How can we work with that person?

Do do you have an Info Packet that you are providing to Hill denizens? Can we see the packet so we can sing from your hymnal?

This is is not just your fight, this is our fight. Include us and arm us. We can be a tremendous force multiplier.

Your thoughts, please?

Ted

(Jonathan, I owe you a cold one at OSH)

[dclaxon]

Prefessional politicians are the lowest form of human life.


BJC

Byron, are you sure the life form you are speaking of is actually human?
Dave