Sonex Builders and Pilots Foundation update March 2015

[Sonex1517]

I wanted to update everyone on some recent things your type club has been up to.

As some may recall, when we began this journey one of the areas of focus was EAA's Type Club Coalition (TCC). I have been working to get the TCC a bit more involved than they had been previously and with the efforts of TCC Chairman Coyle Schwab, I believe we have really gotten somewhere with our efforts.

I have met in person with Coyle several times and remained in contact since the TCC meeting last year at AirVenture.

Last Friday I was on a conference call with EAA HQ in Oshkosh. Coyle drove up from Chicagoland to attend the meeting in person. The purpose of the meeting was to update EAA on the type clubs, what we were doing, and why. Sean Elliott, Mack Dickson, and Tom Charpentier of EAA hosted the meeting.

Mack is new to EAA and is now our point of contact. It is my belief and hope that we have an opportunity to really get some traction on issues and events that directly affect EAB, and specifically our community.

One issue I am trying to push a bit is the need for more CFI's to conduct transition training. It is our hope that we can participate in a forum at AirVenture Oshkosh aimed at getting CFI's involved in a wide open market need. (There is. Market and we have a need!)

Below is the text of Mack's email to the TCC members and a letter that was attached to the email.


Hello TCC Members!

I’m Mack Dickson, the new Government Advocacy Specialist at EAA. I invite you to take a look at the attached letter which will give you some updates on future plans for the TCC. In particular, we would like you to look at the section on the proposed CFI master list.

I’m excited that the TCC now falls under my area of responsibility and am looking forward to interacting with all of you. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.

Regards,

Mackenzie "Mack" Dickson, EAA #1096940
Government Advocacy Specialist
EAA—The Spirit of Aviation



March 2, 2015
Memo to: EAA Type Club Coalition Members
From: Coyle Schwab, TCC Chairman
Sean Elliott, EAA VP of Advocacy & Safety

Subject: Progress Checkpoint – March, 2015

Greetings!

It has been a while since we have been able to provide an update to you about the Type Club Coalition (TCC) activities. We are actively resetting the process to provide a regular newsletter to keep you current, but wanted to communicate the most recent news quickly via this medium.

Personnel:
First of all, we are delighted to share the news that Mack Dickson has recently joined EAA. Mack reports to Sean Elliott and, among his roles, is assigned the responsibility of providing EAA resources to the TCC. Mack is originally from Tampa, Florida and is a 2013 graduate of Embry-Riddle. He began his career at Virgin America in the San Francisco Bay Area working in their Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA) department. Mack interned with the Government Team at EAA in 2012 and is excited to be back. EAA is a strong supporter of the coalition but, like everywhere, existing resources were loaded to capacity. Applying Mack’s bandwidth to TCC will help us to execute on our plans.

New TCC Member:
We welcome the The International Cessna 170 Association as a new member to our group! The 170 Club is a large and active organization, currently led by president Richard Pulley, and we expect that it will contribute much and will benefit as well from its participation.

Second Pilot for First Flights of Amateur Built Aircraft:
With the release of the Additional Pilot Program (APP) last summer, Type Clubs in the experimental amateur-built world have an opportunity to help new builders of eligible aircraft connect with qualified additional pilots to add safety to early Phase I flight testing. See FAA Advisory Circular 90-116 for more information.

Aeromedical Reform:
Many Type Clubs’ leaders endorsed a letter from the TCC to the Department of Transportation, urging an expedient review of the FAA’s Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) on reforming the 3rd Class medical certification from DOT and the Office of Management and Budget. Although the FAA continues to fully support the NPRM, you may be aware that the review process had stalled out in review so no action could be taken. Just last week, third-class medical reform was presented to Congress as part of the bi-partisan Pilot’s Bill of Rights II. . We feel that the TCC’s letter was another strong voice from the user community and was an important element of getting the legislative attention that we have all sought. Thanks to each TC leader who supported the effort!

Efficacy of the Type Club Coalition:
Jeff Edwards, President of the Lancair Owners and Builders Organization (LOBO) recently queried TCC members as to their desired areas of focus to improve the efficacy of Type Clubs. TCC members provided over a dozen detailed replies which offered valuable insight into the wishes and needs of a representative group of clubs. There was consistency in the “wants” even though the details may vary among organizations based upon their owners’ and aircrafts’ unique requirements.

These results provide an excellent view into items that we, as a coalition, can address to improve the usefulness of the TCC for existing and future type clubs. The major categories will be carefully weighed and will become part of a soon-to-be-refreshed Mission Statement for the TCC. We hope to have the Mission Statement out for review very soon.

Advocacy for Part 23 Rewrite and Unique ADS-B Applications:
Representatives from EAA and the TCC met with leaders from the Aircraft Electronics Association, AOPA, leading avionics manufacturers and the FAA’s Small Airplane Directorate in Lee’s Summit, MO in December. Issues pertaining ADS-B requirements for amateur built aircraft and the challenges of Supplemental Type Certificates and Approved Model Lists for vintage aircraft were discussed and vetted with attendees. Potential decisions are in the future, before the January 2020 deadline for ADS-B is upon us, but the issues are well placed on the table now.

Safety and Efficiency in Pilot Transitions:
Several TCC members have provided training syllabi that has been used to improve new pilots’ transition to their aircraft. The TCC intends to make these available as patterns to be used for those TCC members who would like to develop their own syllabus but don’t have a starting point.

If your group is willing to share its examples and you have not already provided it, please send it to Mack Dickson mdickson@eaa.org for inclusion into the process.

Another area where your help is needed is in building a comprehensive listing of Certified Flight Instructors who could improve the ease of finding a qualified resource for transitioning owners, especially for some of our more unusual types.

We recognize a need to develop a process whereby such a list can be kept current, but feel that there is immediate benefit to creating the initial list as quickly as possible. We will gladly create and share a baseline list if you can send your recognized CFIs to Mack at mdickson@eaa.org. Please provide any comments that you feel would be helpful to others, such as types of aircraft in which the CFI is qualified to instruct.

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Robbie Culver
Sonex 1517
Chicagoland
Tails and Wings complete - finishing fuselage.
N1517S reserved