IseoLake Airfield threatened with closure; please sign petition

IseolakeAirfield, a beautiful airport located on Lake Iseo in Lombardy, northern Italy, just below Switzerland, is threatened with closure. This should not be allowed to happen. Several thousand people already signed the petition. Help keep this beautiful airport open as well.

What is the case? Every year the airport receives dozens of European pilots, from just outside the Alps. Unfortunately, IseoLake Airfield is threatened with closure due to a retroactive change of the noise zone by the municipality, which seems to focus exclusively on the aerodrome.

The field has taken legal action, believing that the mayor is fighting a personal battle against the right to fly. Fortunately, they have received suspension from the administrative judges. So in addition, they have now started a petition. AOPA Italy and AOPA Switzerland are already very active in preventing this closure. But we hope that other AOPA members in Europe will also join in and support the petition.

The president of AOPA Italy, Rinaldo Gaspari, has described the situation as serious and paradoxical, since a municipality is trying to prevent the free right to fly at an airport built according to Italian rules. Therefore, the issue is not only to defend the airport, but also the right to fly for all those who want to practice this wonderful activity in fascinating and culturally rich places, places of friendship and meeting for pilots from Italy and other European countries.

We also published this on the IAOPA Europe Facebook page. 

We sincerely hope for a positive response from you. You can sign the petition here. or use the QR code

Stricter requirements for travel to the United Kingdom

Travel to the United Kingdom will become more difficult in the future (from April 2025). In addition to the mandatory GAR (General Aviation Report), an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) will have to be applied for. Meanwhile, for citizens from a number of Central countries, the requirement to apply for an ETA already exists.

The British government is making great strides toward its ambitious goal of digitizing the UK's border and immigration system and has set new implementation dates for the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) scheme.

Anyone wishing to travel to the UK - other than British and Irish citizens - will need permission to travel before travel begins. This can be done through either an ETA or an eVisa.

ETAs are digitally linked to a traveler's passport and ensure more stringent security checks are carried out before people begin their trip to the UK, preventing abuse of the immigration system.

From March 5, 2025, citizens from a wide range of European countries can apply for their ETA. From April 2, 2025, it will then be possible to travel to the UK using this ETA. If you travel to the United Kingdom before then, an ETA is not required.

It costs £10 to apply for an ETA. Everyone traveling must have an ETA, including babies and children. You can also apply for others such as your passengers. It takes about 3 days for an ETA to be issued and you cannot get a refund after you apply.

To apply, you will need the following:

- The passport you are traveling with - not a photocopy
- Access to your email
- A credit card, debit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay
- Photos or scans of - passport - face of applicant

No need to fill in your travel details.

The fastest way to apply for an ETA is through the app which can be downloaded from these links; UK ETA in Apple Store or the Google Play Store; UK ETA in Google Play Store. Again, the one and only is mandatory for travel to the UK from April 2, 2025 and of course a passport is required. Travel to the UK using an EU ID card is not possible ! It is not a substitute for the GAR. Filing a GAR is also mandatory !

 ICAO AAM Symposium in Montreal, a report

ICAO held a symposium on Advanced Air Mobility in September in Montreal. Below is a report containing the results of what was discussed at the symposium. Perhaps of interest to you.
For those who don't know exactly what the importance of ICAO is: ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) plays a vital role for General Aviation (GA), or non-commercial aviation. As a specialized UN organization, ICAO sets international standards and guidelines that promote aviation safety, efficiency and environmental friendliness. This is critical for GA because it creates a uniform set of rules that are consistent across national borders, which is crucial for international flights.

For safety, ICAO rules ensure that pilots and aircraft meet standardized training and maintenance requirements. This reduces risk and promotes higher levels of reliability within the industry. In addition, ICAO ensures consistent air traffic control, which ensures the smooth and safe handling of both commercial and non-commercial flights.

On the environmental front, ICAO is developing guidelines to minimize GA's impact on the environment, such as reducing CO₂ emissions. In addition, ICAO simplifies international flight procedures, making it easier for pilots to navigate complex airspace, customs and immigration requirements.
In short, ICAO promotes safe, efficient and environmentally friendly aviation worldwide, directly contributing to the growth and development of General Aviation.

Then a brief summary of what was discussed at the September symposium in Montreal. AOPA US airspace expert Jim McClay and AOPA representative to ICAO, Frank Hofmann made the following report:

 1. There was not a lot of “news” that came out of the event – just a lot of presentations on where both regulators and industry stand right now and highlighting the benefits of both AAM (eVTOL/air-taxi) and UAS. As a note, we need to differentiate between AAM and UAS. AAM (eVTOL/air-taxi) is not expected to have a large airspace/air traffic impact on traditional GA – either in the US or in other countries. It is expected that these aircraft will operate much in the same way that current helicopters do.

2. The main issues with AAM for us to be concerned with pertain more to pilot training, aircraft certification, and vertiport development. UAS operations are more impactful to traditional GA in the areas of airspace and air traffic.

3. Generally speaking, the UAS/AAM industry does not believe that regulators are moving fast enough to enable AAM and UAS, particularly in the US.

4. Frank noticed that this seemed to be first time the UAS/AAM industry zeroed in more specifically on the problems to be addressed, speaking more of “we have to find” or “we need” more than “we want”. While many hurdles remain, they do seem to be getting more of a handle on what those hurdles actually are.

5. There is a tangible sense of “entitlement” by both UAS and AAM proponents – a belief that these technologies are essential to the progress of society. While some of this can be dismissed as aggressive marketing, we do need to be watching for efforts that are dismissive of the needs to traditional aviation. That said, some of the claims are a bit far-fetched. For example, several AAM operators are still claiming they will pick passengers up at their homes – something that is highly unlikely to ever happen on a broad scale.

UAS operations (primarily BVLOS)

1. In Europe, they are taking a more segregated approach. The new U-space basically creates designated/segregated airspace in which UAS will operate. This could be problematic for GA, though not to the degree it might be in the US – since GA operations are more structured and restricted in Europe, this is not a huge departure.

2. While not talked about much at this event, there continue to be concerns about the implementation of e-conspicuity. There are efforts to create an ADS-L system that would aggregate signals from multiple technologies (i.e., 5G, FLARM, ADS-B, etc). This is problematic for a variety of technical reasons. A better approach, being pushed by several IAOPA affiliates, is to push for 978UAT as the standard for e-conspicuity.

3. The conversations at the Symposium steered clear of any significant debates about equipage mandates and the role of e-conspicuity.

4. There are many in these industries that favor mandating conspicuity for traditional aviation. We are hearing that a mandate is not being considered any longer, but changes to right-of-way based on equipage are still a threat.

True North

After a week of discussion in the True North group, reality finally reared its head. The avionics manufacturers gave numbers in the billions of dollars just to rewrite and to certify codes. Those costs would be passed on to operators, including the airlines’ expensive systems, who would have additional shop costs and certifications. Bottom line became that it was a lot cheaper to repaint runway numbers etc. than to upgrade equipment. We are now charged to find an alternate way to achieve a change. So even 2055 seems out of the question.

The not-so-easy path to lead-free 100 UL avgas

By dr Michael Erb

Recent reports from the US on the latest developments regarding the introduction of lead-free 100 octane avgas have surprised us somewhat.
The GAMI company has held a patent since 2022 for a lead-free 100UL avgas approved by the FAA in the US under STC, which has already produced over a million gallons of this fuel and made it available for immediate sale at a refinery in Louisiana. However, sales are not picking up as expected. Instead, there have been more or less openly expressed and unspecific doubts about the chemical composition of the fuel and its possibly corrosive effect on tanks and seals. This was seen as less critical for aircraft, but more so for stationary fuel systems and trucks.

Many Cirrus owners were also confused after Cirrus issued a service advisory strongly discouraging the use of GAMI fuel and even considering invalidating the aircraft warranty. The reason for the warning were leaks in the tank and fuel system of a test aircraft, which, according to GAMI, were due to previous damage and had nothing to do with GAMI fuel.

These doubts were further fueled when the AOPA-USA N202MD Beechcraft Baron on display at Oshkosh developed a leak under the left tank, which had been exclusively refueled with the new GAMI-Avgas 100UL for test flights in recent months.

However, it seems that the all-clear can now be given: old photos of the wings showed that the 50-year-old left-hand tank of the Bonanza, which had apparently been repaired with patches since then, had a leak problem even before the GAMI fuel was tested. The right-hand tank, which continued to be filled with Avgas 100LL, was already 46 years old but still held up well for the most part. So far, our colleagues at AOPA-USA have been very satisfied with the flight tests, with the GAMI fuel being just as good or even better than conventional 100LL avgas.

And what is the competition doing? Two other companies are still in the running. But only one is still in the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) PAFI (Piston Aviation Fuel Initiative) and EAGLE (Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions) fuel development programs.

And that is LyondellBasell/VP Racing. This company has produced over 50,000 gallons of its UL100E for the FAA's as-yet-to-be-completed tests. These tests cover 10 different engines and eight different aircraft types and will take about a year to complete by the third quarter of 2025.

SWIFT Fuels of Indiana has been marketing a 94 octane, FAA-approved unleaded avgas for several years. However, the company also wants to launch a 100R 100 octane avgas. And for this, the FAA programs are no longer being chosen for approval, but rather the ASTM industry standards. Swift made negative headlines when the University of North Dakota announced the end of 94 octane avgas use in its entire fleet of 120 Piper aircraft at the end of 2023, after experiencing several problems with valves. Until the cause is resolved, the university plans to revert to 100LL avgas.

In the USA, it is still planned to replace all of the 100LL avgas by 2030. It is clear that this challenge is not as trivial as initially assumed. This development in the USA is also extremely important for the European market, because the EU also wants to eliminate lead additives in avgas in the next few years. Due to the small market in Europe, there are no separate market initiatives on this side of the Atlantic to develop a lead-free high-octane avgas. We will continue to report.

FAA and EASA seek help from AI for flight safety

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) calling on the artificial intelligence industry to come forward with ideas on how AI technology can be used to improve aviation safety. Faced with a severe shortage of controllers, problems with new technologies and the growing list of runway incursions, the FAA wants “everything AI promises to deliver,” but wants the agency to preserve what it has. Therefore, any new technology will have to be integrated into the existing data infrastructure, some of which dates back to the 1970s. The RFI was issued on June 10.
EASA published a report back in 2020 that evaluated the reliability of AI and discussed a human-centered approach to AI programs.

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 me: Gerrit Brand | Netherlands | via email: gerritbrand@hotmail.com,

telephone or whatsapp + 31 6 50831893