PARTNERS @ Solberg - General Aviation Info

It suffers from long-standing "common knowledge" - public opinion formed decades ago and maintained because only one American in 370 has a pilot license.

It still suffers from fear of the unknown. It's not intuitively understood from common experiences in airline travel or driving a car. Its reputation is driven by "scare stories" of one-time fliers seeking to dramatize their experience or the occasional misplaced bravado of pilots themselves.

It's still subject to the "bigger is better" syndrome. Consumers now accept efficient, better handling small cars. . Business has replaced big mainframe computers with PCs. But when an airplane is smaller, more fuel efficient and more versatile than a Boeing, out comes public prejudice. It suffers from an appearance of elitism, despite the fact that many "down-to-earth" people of middle-class means fly aircraft less costly to acquire than a new family car.

GENERAL AVIATION IS A $5 BILLION INDUSTRY

GENERAL AVIATION: THE REALITY

It's transportation value for some, career development for others, or just plain fun and relaxation. Nothing else you can do for yourself can cover the miles, offset the expense and inconvenience of commercial transportation, and make every trip a unique and enjoyable experience.

Even the Private pilot certificate allows for sharing of expenses on non-commercial flights - making a pilot license affordable after flight training.

But for fun or business, general aviation is productive. The popular notion of "those little planes" belies the reality of a $5billion industry which contributes importantly to the economy of its host communities - the cities and towns, large and small, with general aviation airports.

Corporations, small business and individual entrepreneurs get a jump on the competition with "random access," on-demand air transportation.

Others are literally finding new opportunities from the air, surveying real estate and development prospects.

Dispersed across the nation and serving in so many ways, general aviation is hard to describe. Here are a few snapshots that try to answer the question, "What Is General Aviation?":

It's 181,000 aircraft - 96% of the entire US civilian aircraft fleet.
It's 25.4 million flight hours annually and 35.8 million takeoffs and landings - 75% of all US flights.
It's more than 18,200 US landing facilities, including 13,175 airports and nearly 4,600 heliports, serving more than 19,000 incorporated communities.
It's fast, efficient transportation with an admirable safety record - ten times better than in the post-WWII period,. when many people received their first impressions of general aviation.

GENERAL AVIATION MAKES YOUR DRIVING SAFER

Airborne traffic reporters for radio and TV assist millions of Americans in their daily commute, reporting accidents and tie-ups to both commuters and the police.

On a trip or vacation you'll use maps drawn and updated from aerial photo data. That's also the basic information used by urban planners, engineers and government agencies to plan future highway construction and infrastructure improvements.

GENERAL AVIATION SAVES LIVES EVERY DAY

Every day, general aviation transports blood supplies, flies vital organs for transplant, and carries cancer patients to treatment centers. Air ambulances perform medical rescues and provide critical medical transportation when. minutes count. Many individual pilots volunteer their time and privately owned aircraft for other humanitarian. missions. Local volunteer pilot organizations provide such services at no cost to needy individuals.

Helicopter emergency medical evacuation services - another branch of general aviation - are nearly doubling survival rates by getting accident victims to hospitals within the first critical "Golden Hour."

GENERAL AVIATION PROTECTS OUR ENVIRONMENT

Who conducts wildlife surveys, maps wetland losses and soil erosion, follows bird migrations patrols parklands and inspects oil and gas pipelines to detect spills? It's specifically equipped government and private general aviation . aircraft gathering information vital to wildlife specialists, park rangers, prospectors, environmentalists and others.

Of course, general aviation has always been our first line of defense in fighting forest fires. Helicopter and fixed-wing "water bombers" save millions of acres of woodlands a year, protecting homes and national parks as well as the nation's forests.

GENERAL AVIATION AIDS LAW ENFORCEMENT

Aircraft have revolutionized law enforcement - and not just in the movies. Police use light planes and helicopters to patrol highways, apprehend suspects, provide backup for ground units, monitor our nation's borders, protect VIPs and locate lost children. For example, airborne Los Angeles law enforcement officers respond to more than 32,995 incidents in a single year, an average of 3.8 per hour. The result: 3,500 arrests, 1,354 suspects spotted, 747 stolen cars recovered and 205 fires discovered in just one year. That's government productivity, made possible by general aviation.

SOURCE: AOPA (7/97)

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STOP the CONDEMNATION of PRIVATE PROPERTY!

If you are interested in joining PARTNERS @ Solberg or are interested in helping us educate and inform area residents about the benefits of general aviation, please contact us for information about joining our group that is dedicated to finding effective reasonable solutions!

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