Comments

To be honest I've lost enormous faith in AOPA - the organization no longer represents me. As a private/instrument rated pilot and single piston aircraft owner it would appear I'm no longer within "the sweet spot" of what AOPA represents any longer. Apparently I don't spend enough on aviation to warrant representation. Said another way - I'm not a corporate flight department and I don't burn kerosene. Piston/av-gas burners have been kicked to the curb... until AOPA wants more money. First case in point: AOPA doesn't DO anything to help resolve the av-gas issue. AOPA doesn't put experimental planes in the air to prove/disprove fuel providers claims. AOPA doesn't step up to help define a single av-gas standard or propose programs to move the ball forward. Instead, they sit idly by and leave the real work to uninterested unmotivated government bureaucrats . AOPA does nothing but attend countless, useless meetings as "hangers on" - mere strap-hangers who contribute nothing to the solution - and then expend countless column inches "reporting" on their attendance at these useless self engrandising meetings. How much of a refund can I expect on my membership dues for all the travel and expense money wasted on this "effort"? Putting the shoe on the other foot momentarily, how much would AOPA be willing pay another organization for this kind of "help"? Little to nothing would be my guess. AOPA has the bully pulpit - how about getting off the corporate couch and DO SOMETHING! As a point of reference, look back at what the EAA did during the auto-fuel STC development process - the EAA DID SOMETHING! EAA single handedly pushed the STC through to fruition - ACTION the EAA can hang its hat on. Second case in point: AOPA has hired the medico who created/ran/enlarged the absolute nightmare that is the current pilot medical program. Can someone please explain this logic?! AOPA brought the creator of the single largest loss of pilots into an organization that's supposed to represent pilots. Help me understand this one. I have file folders filled with letters with this guy's signature on them that make zero sense, added nothing to the flying community, cost me a fortune, and kept me out of the air for years! We're now all saddled with this guy's flight medical treadmill/nightmare and AOPA holds him up as some kind of corporate asset. AOPA hired this guy to "help members navigate the current bureaucratic system". What do you say we FIRE this guy because of what HE created! I don't want to navigate HIS nightmare - I want to END IT! Give me a break... Jim Campbell may be at either end of the political argument - quite frankly I don't care. ANN has shone a light on an organization that used to represent me and now no longer does. Kudos to ANN for breaking the silence. AOPA - DO something - anything - to make my life as an av-gas burning, piston driven pilot better and I'll reconsider my opinion. Sending your execs, writers, contributors all over the world on my membership nickle isn't winning you any friends. How about fixing what's broke right here in the US - AOPA - your response is more than welcome.