Goodbye to Craig Spence as Secretary General. New man Jim Coon

For eight years Craig Spence has served as IAOPA secretary general, in which function he was always present at the meetings of the IAOPA Europe affiliates. With a lot of ‘Fingerspitzengefühl’ and unbridled enthusiasm he was advising and managing the world wide IAOPA affiliates. Many projects were lead into the right direction by him. But now it´s retirement-time for the ex-US Airforce commander who flew VFR and IFR on many worldwide missions. He worked since 2008 for AOPA USA as vice-president of the Aviation Security Department. In 2012 he was appointed Secretary General for IAOPA.

We thank Craig Spence for his tireless efforts for IAOPA EU. He was always a welcome face at our meetings.

Craig Spence is succeeded by AOPA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs James (Jim) Coon,  who will be the next Secretary General. As senior vice president of government affairs. Jim Coon is responsible for the implementation of AOPA’s political, legislative, and regulatory initiatives before Congress, federal agencies, state legislatures, and international organizations. He now adds IAOPA Secretary General to his duties. He has more than three decades of experience working with Congress and the aviation industry. Coon had a distinguished 25-year career on Capitol Hill where he held the role of staff director for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and had a hand in developing major transportation policies and legislation.  He has also served in leadership roles for the National Air Transportation Association, The Boeing Company, and the Air Transport Association (now A4A).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

We welcome Andorra within IAOPA EU

The Board of the International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations has approved full membership for AOPA Andorra.
The additional IAOPA Affiliate brings the total number of member countries to 82.

AOPA Andorra was founded in February 2020 by seven enthusiastic pilots of Aviacio General. Its first president is the Andorran pilot Robert Guirao Bailen. The seven pilots who created AOPA Andorra run the association on a voluntary basis, without any remuneration or contract, motivated by their fondness for aviation.
Their mission is to contribute to the improvement and empowerment of general aviation in Andorra. AOPA Andorra is recognized as the representative of the general aviation sector in Andorra. The following can be part of the association: Aircraft Pilots, Aircraft Owners, Aviation Students, Drone Pilots (RPAS) and Aerostatics, Aeroclubs and all aviation enthusiasts (including Virtual simulator pilots). Applications for admission should be addressed to AOPA Andorra. For contacts aopa@andorra.ad

Private Flyer Exhibition in association with AOPA UK.

On 2- 3 October the UK’s only remaining Aviation Exhibition in 2020 will be held in Wycombe Airpark Buckinghamshire.

Private Flyer will showcase the latest products, services and aircraft all at a unique and exciting venue.
As they say in their slogan: harness the benefits of Private Flying. Plus, gain expert knowledge within a daily series of seminars covering all areas of private flying from industry experts.

Admission tickets can be obtained with a 20% reduction. Click here for your ticket 

There is also a nice movie to be seen. Clilck here for the movie. 

Join our Facebook Page and/or Facebook Group 

We have started a Facebook Page and a Facebook Group. People familiar with the social media (which we all are isn’t it) will know what we are talking about.

The Facebook Page is a bit more official. The editors of the Page can provide you with news about General Aviation in Europe and you can respond.

The Facebook Group is meant for discussion and is open to any AOPA member who feels like sharing opinions and ideas about GA in Europe. So if you have anything to tell your fellow private pilots about flying in your country, don’t hesitate to join the Group and start communicating with the GA community in Europe.

So please search on your Facebook for the IAOPA Europe Page and Group and join them. The FB activities of IAOPA EU are moderated by Gerrit Brand who also compiles this newsletter, but if you wish you can be editor too. Just send a message to Gerrit Brand through Facebook and he'll ad you as an editor/moderator. 

One of the first things we put on the page is a statement of the organizers of the Tour de France about restrictions concerning overflying the Tour de France trail. You also find this statement on our website.

Some news about planes and other issues

USAF: Climate change does exist

Even the US government can no longer ignore it: climate change exists and is a real threat, also to aviation. In 2012, Republican Senator Jim Inhofe, of the US Senate's Military Affairs Committee, published another book calling climate change “The Greatest Hoax” and in 2016 Congress blocked all of the Pentagon's actions against climate change, but since then much has happened. For example, in 2018 several F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft of the Air Force at Tyndall airbase were badly damaged by Hurricane Michael, and some squadrons of F-22 Raptors were only just able to escape the flooding of Offutt airbase in March 2019 (photo). The damage to Tyndall and Offutt from these effects of climate change costs the US Air Force $ 5 billion. The US Congress approved the costs of the repairs and decided to create a committee to combat the effects of climate change. This committee is now working on a list of 10 most climate-threatened air bases in the US.

Première: the VoltAero Cassio

The French builder of electrically powered aircraft VoltAero has shown for the first time what its new aircraft, the Cassio, will look like. The VoltAero Cassio will be a hybrid electric / traditional powered aircraft that will be marketed in three versions, with space for four to ten people.

The cruising speed of the Cassio will be around 200 knots (360 km per hour), according to the initiator. The flight range will be 800 miles (1300 km) and the aircraft is designed to take off and land within 550 meters. The three variants will be certified according to the manufacturer EASA CS23.

VoltAero plans to open a production line in Aquitaine, southwest France, and plans to make its first deliveries to customers by the end of 2022. Whether that is feasible is highly doubtful, especially after VoltAero at the end of June announced to postpone its presentation of the first aircraft indefinitely.

Piper Malibu Mirage with hydrogen tanks

The American Silicon Valley startup ZeroAvia conducted the first of a series of test flights with an electrically powered Piper PA-46 Malibu Mirage at Cranfield Airport in the United Kingdom on June 23. ZeroAvia's ultimate goal is to fly a hydrogen-powered aircraft with an electric motor. To this end, several large 350 bar hydrogen tanks will be built into the cabin of the Piper Malibu Mirage.

The flights took place in England because of the available British development grants under the British innovation project Project HyFlyer. Following the award of the grants, ZeroAvia relocated part of its operations from San Francisco, USA, to Cranfield, England.

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 send all your news to Gerrit Brand | Netherlands | email: newsletteriaopaeu@hotmail.com, telephone or whatsapp + 31 6 50831893.