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Aviation History
1986
1986 - 0814.PDF
PRIVATE FLIGHT Glickman rallies support OSHKOSH The US Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is calling for support of Congressman Dan Glick- man's product-liability Bill. Following a members' poll, EAA president Paul Poberezny says that the "entire population" should study the Bill (and others under discussion on Capitol Hill) and "do whatever they can to get them passed". "EAA is a consumer- oriented organisation and consumers are the ones who are most affected by the liabil ity crisis," he says. Poberezny believes that EAA chapters and homebuilders were hit by the liability situation "long before" it affected the commu nity at large. He maintains that in spite of efforts to spur law reform, aviation products and insurance have become "either unavailable or unaffordable". The Glickman Bill proposes that litigants should have to prove the defendant negli gent, and that they should collect damages only on aircraft under 12 years old. Punitive damages would only be awarded if the manu facturer had demonstrated "conscious, flagrant indif ference" to safety. Negligence would be based on defective products and carelessness. Prescott builds propeller team WICHITA Prescott Aeronautical, manu facturer of the Prescott Pusher four-seat touring aircraft, announces a joint venture with Avia Products to produce a composite propeller for its kit-built aircraft. A new company, Advanced Technology Propellers, has been formed and Avia founder Paval Forgac is now working at Prescott's Wichita head quarters to develop a four- blade, variable-pitch propeller suitable for the Pusher. The first prototype of the aircraft (which was flown by Robin Blech in last week's Flight) has been using a two- blade wooden propeller. The manufacturer has now begun work on a second proto type which will appear at the Experimental Aircraft Association Convention this Aopa honours mission pilots LONDON Missionary pilots, air-traffic controllers, and disabled pilots are among recipients of awards from the UK Aircraft Owners and Pilots Associ ation (Aopa). Mission Aviation Fellow ship, the international service agency which provides medi cal, passenger, and other support flights to religious missions throughout the world, is awarded the Lennox- Boyd Trophy. Described by Aopa as the "leading light- aviation award", it is given for MAF's "consistently high standards of specialised train ing in flying and airmanship for the pilots who fly mercy missions in Third World countries, usually operating from steeply sloping or curved airstrips". Air-traffic controllers to be honoured in the 1985 Aopa awards include the group at RAF Manston "for providing a first-class radar service, including navigational facili ties for emergencies and train ing purposes over a large area of south-east England, includ ing the cross-Channel area". Phillip Petitt, a Luton Airport controller and holder of an assistant flying instructor rating, is controller of the year for his "unfailing patience" and for his help "towards promoting private flying". Long-serving instructor Frederick Loveridge is named instructor of the year. He has carried out 293 instructor courses in the past six years and has accumulated more than 20,000hr. Disabled pilots who have received recognition are Owen Majer-Williams, who suffers from motor neurone disease but has been learning to fly despite loss of major func tions, and Donald Rodewald, an American paraplegic who flew round the world in a Piper Comanche. They are named winners of the student and overseas travel awards, respectively. Birmingham Airport re ceives the aerodrome award "for providing a consistently friendly welcome to visiting light aircraft". Customer care is the area which has brought Ipswich Airport an award for "its enthusiasm and support and its endeavour to promote all aspects of aviation". Other awards have gone to Raymond Holt (the aircraft travel prize for progressive achievement in the Malta Rally since obtaining his PPL in 1980), Mrs Connie Fricker Jamie Sykes, aged 11, passed navigation and meteorology exams that stump many adults > w • t%t m ^^^^^S^^m • • :';-; 1 i : j r— (who learned to fly 12 years ago at the age of 65, and who specialises in offering hospi tality for visiting pilots to Anglesey), and to Tiger Club ground staff Adrian Deverill, Jim Ellis, and John Garratt (for efficient and effective aircraft engineering). Junior passes ground exams SHEFFIELD ~ An 11-year-old boy has passed UK private-pilot's licence (PPL) written exams in navi gation and meteorology. And though it took Jamie Sykes two attempts, he may shame some adults who have to take the tests three times. Sykes' success was inspired by his schoolteacher Ivan Shaw, who sees aviation as a means to motivate school children. He saw Jamie sailing through prescribed classwork looking for further challenges. Shaw, a private pilot and builder of a twin-engined light aircraft based on the Rutan LongEz, taught Sykes what are regarded by many as the two most difficult PPL ground exams. Adults take 36hr of instruction over 12 weeks before the exam, says Les Antrobus, chief flying instructor at the Sheffield Aero Club, where Sykes took the exam. The 11-year-old studied in odd moments at school with Shaw, and at home alone with a text book. Shaw maintains that aviation switches some schoolchildren on. "The name of the game is raising interest—the teacher has got to be a salesman," he says. When teaching children navi gation, a sure way of motivating them is to take a dramatic example such as a military aircraft mission: "They love it". In Sykes' case, it seems to have worked. After a free flying lesson at the Sheffield club, he is studying for the other ground examinations and wants to be a pilot. BRIEFING Membership of Italian flying clubs has dropped to 15,803, from 17,090 in 1983. Flying hours fell by 24 per cent from 140,000 to 107,000 over the same period. 16 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 5 April 1986
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