New EASA Regulation for use of your iPad Effective this Month

New EASA regulation on the cockpit use of your iPad or other tablet enters into effect on the 9'th of July 2019. The new regulation affects the use of socalled EFBs: Electronic Flight Bags. 

For complex aircraft the rules are quite extensive and requires formal procedures in the operators OPS manual. For non-complex aircraft (NCO) the rules are less formal and generally can be summed up as what good common sense would dictate: Most importantly the pilot in command should ensure that, if the EFB moves or is separated from its stowage (as a result of turbulence, maneuvering or other action) it will not jam flight controls, damage flight deck equipment or injure any person on board. Also the cables should not hang loose in a way that compromises task performance or/ and safety.

As a help to pilots IAOPA Europe has prepared a guide with examples of best practice and good advise that you as pilot should consider before starting to use a tablet/EFB as a tool in the cockpit.

Find the IAOPA Europe guide with tips and best practice for using your tablet in the cockpit here

Find the new rules on EFBs for non-commercial complex aircraft (NCC) here

Find the new rules on EFBs for non-commercial non-complex aircraft (NCO) here

Discover Elba!

AOPA Italy is going to organize a Fly-in to the beautiful island of Elba. Maybe a chance for you to visit the Mediterranean area, to fly into Elba via France or Italy.

The Fly-in will take place on the 21^st of September.
And as we know Italy the event will be well serviced, with food and wine Italian style.

As the poster suggests, book a 3 day stay on the island, with a special AOPA price on the hotel room, the landing fee and the storage of the plane. More info: segretaria@aopa.it.


Be part of the European AOPA community.

GLOBAL BENEFITS UPDATE

IAOPA implemented the IAOPA Global Membership benefits sharing program in November of 2018, and so far, almost half of the active affiliates have signed up for the program. The goal of the program is to 

enhance the value of AOPA Affiliate membership by providing content and new benefits to AOPA members.

The highlight of the program provides a digital edition of Flight Training Magazine free of charge for members of participating IAOPA affiliates. Also the programme provides access to additional benefits such as discounts on car rental, hotel etc.

Check up with your national AOPA about the status in your country.

COST SHARED FLIGHTS

Cost share flights are flights where the costs of the flight may be divided by all passengers including the pilot. This concerns non-commercial flights operated by private individuals. Of course a different safety regime is applicable than for commercial flights.

No profit may be made on the flight and only the direct costs may be shared. Rent of the plane, the fuel, the landing fee etc are included. The aircraft must be non-complex and the maximum number (incl. the pilot) of people taking part is 6 people. 

The rules are laid down in Part NCO as part of Part 965.2012. EASA has concluded a covenant with the electronic platforms that offer cost share flights. Therein, agreements have been made about safety and the regular exchange of experiences. The most important reason for EASA to cooperate on cost shared flights is to promote more flights. The more a pilot flies, the more experience he has and the better the pilot hopefully becomes.

The agreement consists of a number of operational agreements. Almost all larger platforms are signatories to this agreement. 

Garmin co-founder and chairman Gary Burrell passed away

Garmin co-founder and chairman emeritus Gary Burrell passed away on 12 June at the age of 81. Burrell and Min Kao founded the company in 1989 with the idea of creating products that used then-emergent GPS technology. After his retirement in 2002, Burrell served as Garmin’s co-chairman until being named Chairman Emeritus in 2004. 

Burrell was born in Stillwell, Kansas, in 1937. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Wichita State University and a master’s from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Before founding Garmin, he worked at companies including Lowrance Electronics, King Radio Corporation and AlliedSignal. According to Garmin, the company now employs more than 13,000 associates in 60 offices around the world.

Norwegian airport under threat of closure

It happens that airports come under threat of closure. An example is Kjeller Airport (ENKJ) in Norway. Knut R. Johannessen from Rygge Airport mailed us to ask for help and information. He is looking for a 

good oversight of GA-airports in Europe that could possible serve as showcases for the Norwegians in this regard

Kjeller Airport is threatened by permanent closure and extinction in 2023 when the Royal Norwegian Airforce is due to leave and relocate their base. The airport property is considered to be of high value to real estate developers. In lack of better ideas the City Council seems to be playing along. I’m confident the scenario is familiar to you.

The Norwegians would like to turn the site into an airport for use by general aviation, both commercial, non-commercial and air sports. With the airport’s close proximity to the capital of Oslo the location is ideal for this. They would like to develop the airport into an integrated business park, in combination with a military air and technology museum (on the model of Duxford for example).

Knut Johannessen is looking for places in Europe where the airport is logically integrated with other industries and commercial facilities – preferably industries and commercial facilities which would not be there unless the airport was there. If they can find such places they would like to take members of the City Council for a study tour to convince them on how Kjeller Airport can be turned into a dynamic airfield generating activity and adding value to the regional economy.

If you can help the friends in Norway, please reply to Knut R. Johannessen under krj@rygge-airport.no  .

Is your 'competent authority' really competent? Back in December 2015 at the EASA TAG/SSCC/FCL meeting, IAOPA (Europe) raised the issue of a PPL/FI who had been advised by his Competent Authority that he was not permitted to receive  remuneration if providing flight instruction for a CPL holder.  We considered this to be incorrect and all delegates agreed with our opinion.  However, we continue to receive reports from our members about further examples of incorrect interpretation of instructor and examiner pre-requisites despite the agreed 2015 position.  For example: Case 1.  A CPL holding FE whose medical had reduced to Class 2 was advised that he could not receive remuneration for conducting a revalidation proficiency check for a CPL holder. That was incorrect on 2 counts!  A CPL includes all PPL privileges, amongst which is the right for PPL holder to receiver remuneration for conducting training or testing.  The only limitation in the first case is that the FE would not be permitted to conduct any training for the CPL itself. Case 2.  An ATPL(H) holder wishing to add an R44 Type Rating to his licence was told that a CPL(H) / FE would not be acceptable for conducting the R44 Type Rating Skill Test and that an ATPL(H)/FE would be required. Wrong again!  The ATPL(H) holder was being tested for a Type Rating, not an ATPL! To paraphrase the clear and unambiguous prerequisites and common requirements of FCL.915(b)(1) &(2): Holders of an instructor certificate with privileges to conduct flight instruction in an aircraft shall: (1) for licence training, hold at least the licence for which flight instruction is to be given; (2) for rating training, hold the relevant rating for which flight instruction is to be given;   We have raised the topic of this failure of certain CAs to interpret the regulations correctly yet again with EASA.  The root causes of the situation are twofold; firstly the implementation decisions agreed at meetings have not been promulgated widely enough, particularly to those CAs who do not send representatives to the meetings and secondly there is no readily available EASA website which lists these decisions. However, EASA has accepted our comments and will now ensure that their Q&A section is given a thorough overhaul to make it more widely accessible and to remove out-of-date answers.  But this will take some time. Finally, EASA has just released an updated version of the Easy Access Rules for Aircrew.  But this wasn't made widely known.  Moreover, the document consists of 1735 pages, yet EASA has not included any indication of the actual amendments.  These points were made to EASA at the ex-post FCL meeting on 2/3 July and they have taken them fully on board.  Following positive votes at the EC, FCL amendments become law 20 days after their publication in the European Journal and the Easy Access Rules for Aircrew will be amended to coincide with the 20 day period, to include clear indication of the amendments.  Hopefully this will assist your Competent Authority to be properly competent! 10 -13 October, International Aircraft Forum with Golf Tournament in Slovenia AOPA Slovenia is organizing, in cooperation with the international airport of Portoroz,  the International Aircraft Forum, a kind of Fly In with the idea to  promote the region Istria, with the cities of Portoroz and Piran.  A lof of high level activities are being organized. You can stay in 5* hotels, enjoy the local gastromomy etc.  And play golf. By organizing this three day event at the airport of Portoroz, the smallest international airport of Slovenia, AOPA Si hopes to help developing Aero Tourism in the region.     By organizing a golf tournament for aviation people AOPA Si hopes to start a new tradition, a golf contest for people from the General Aviation world. AOPA Si would like to convince you and other people from the aviation industry to come to Portoroz, have fun, eat well and play golf. Klick here for more information.  Please keep us informed about the aviation news in your country. If you have any news or things that you would like to share with pilots in other countries - for instance if you organize a Fly-in that might be of interest or if there is news about airports or new rules and regulations in your country that other pilots should know - please don't hesitate to inform us. You can send all your news to the email address newsletteriaopaeu@hotmail.com.