Pilot Gear Store
Gift Ideas
AOPA Pilot Gear store helps with holiday shopping
Looking for some creative gift ideas for the pilot in your life? Here’s a quick sampling of the variety of offerings you’ll find in the AOPA Pilot Gear store online:
- Warm and cozy like your favorite cable knit sweater, this throw will be a hit with anyone who receives it. This 50-inch by 60-inch blanket is offered in cream and has the AOPA wings logo lasered on a patch. It has a beautiful knit pattern on one side and soft, faux lambswool lining on the other. Front side: 100-percent polyester chenille. Inside: 100-percent polyester. Packaged in a vinyl zippered bag. Machine washable. $68
- This custom-designed bag will keep all your valuables safe and dry. The 11-inch by 14-inch ripstop polyester bag has an all-over watercolor image of a seaplane and the AOPA seal with the AOPA seal also on the bottom. The bag has a roll-top closure with clip for snapping onto belts or other bags. It also floats if dropped into the water. Spot clean and air dry. $15
- This 100-percent acrylic chunky rib-knit toque comes with an interior micro fleece band liner that is sure to protect ears on even the coldest days. Anti-pill micro fleece and crowned darts for a shaped fit ensure this hat always looks new. The spire knit toque is medium blue and is embroidered with the AOPA wings logo. $20
- Show your pride in AOPA and interest in aviation with this antique pewter-finish die-cast metal license plate frame. The top of the frame displays “Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association” and the bottom of the frame has “your freedom to fly.” Fits all state license plates. $24
The best card for pilots
How your holiday shopping can be your own secret Santa
Start earning cash back with the new AOPA World Mastercard and stop paying too much for your aviation purchases. The AOPA Credit Card provides:
- Up to 4 percent cash back in all your favorite aviation categories.
- World Mastercard Luxury Travel Benefits, such as Mastercard Travel Services, Exclusive Golf Privileges, Mastercard Concierge Service, and more.
- Mastercard Identity Theft Protection.
- Zero liability coverage.
- Low introductory APR.
- No annual fee.
- Unique cardholder gift.
- Support for GA with every use.
ASI Tips
Check gear down
Gear-up landings are preventable, avoidable, but still happening
By Alicia Herron
It’s easy and comfortable to think that accidents only happen to other people—especially something as seemingly preventable as a gear-up landing. But gear-up landings and gear collapses happen to pilots regardless of experience level or certificates held. They are often caused by distractions that lead to forgetting to lower the gear before landing or mistakenly selecting the gear-up lever instead of the flaps-up lever on the ground. So how can we combat these self-induced woes that lead to one of the costliest insurance claims?
The AOPA Air Safety Institute team is on the case to help you avoid a gear-up landing or gear collapse. Even if your landing gear is down and welded, the tips offered in Avoiding Gear-Up Landings and Gear Collapses can help you ace your landings and avoid a costly and embarrassing gear collapse.
Sponsored by AssuredPartners Aerospace and USAIG.
airsafetyinstitute.org/insurance/avoiding-gearup-landings
Watch all four videos in this series to earn eligibility towards AOPA Accident Forgiveness.
State of safety
The AOPA Air Safety Institute released its thirty-first edition of the Joseph T. Nall Report. The report’s digital platform provides near real-time accident data that are updated on a rolling 30-day cycle, accelerating the analysis process, and allowing for the most current snapshot of general aviation safety performance.
The thirty-first Nall Report notes a decrease in total accidents during 2019. However, the overall accident rates rose during 2019 because of a reduction in flight hours, resulting in a total accident rate of 4.88 per 100,000 hours and a fatal accident rate of 0.88 per 100,000 hours.
The report shows an improvement for noncommercial helicopter accidents, which after spiking for two years decreased slightly with the fatal accident rate declining to 0.98 and the total accident rate decreasing to 5.68.
“Another area where we see improvement is the commercial fixed-wing total accident rate, which decreased for the second year in a row,” to 1.68 per 100,000 hours, said Robert Geske, ASI’s manager of aviation safety analysis. “The commercial fixed-wing fatal accident rate remains low and largely unchanged.”
ASI’s summaries for a given period provide insight and comparisons of selected dates versus previous years. Review the summaries for a detailed analysis of trends and rates for noncommercial and commercial fixed-wing operations, noncommercial and commercial helicopter operations, and sport/experimental operations.
Legally speaking
Flight tracking and privacy
Options for operating in an anonymous mode
By Cristina Zambrana
NextGen is the result of the Vision 100—Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act to modernize the National Aviation System, designed to increase safety and efficiency. Such modernization includes the FAA’s ADS-B Out rule, which requires ADS-B Out capability in certain airspace per FAR 91.225. ADS-B surveillance allows ATC to track aircraft more accurately through a network of ground stations.
ADS-B Out operates by transmitting unencrypted aircraft data, including identification data such as the aircraft’s unique ICAO code and flight ID (call sign or the N number). That data can be received by anyone with appropriate equipment. To mitigate this concern, the FAA initiated the Privacy ICAO Address (PIA) program. (Currently only 1090 MHz ADS-B equipped aircraft are eligible to apply. Operators equipped with 978 UAT may check with their avionics shop for options on operating in anonymous mode.) For privacy, PIA requires the operator to use a third-party call sign from a provider with a security agreement with FAA. The frequently asked questions section on the FAA PIA website (faa.gov/nextgen/equipadsb/privacy/) provides information on obtaining third-party call signs. For further information, the PIA user guide provides guidance on eligibility.
In addition, the FAA Limiting Aircraft Data Displayed (LADD) program is designed to block the shared data that the FAA transmits over the internet. The LADD source blocking option offers enhanced privacy by limiting the data to FAA use only. If you would like to track your own aircraft through a vendor, you may opt for the subscriber level blocking option, which binds the vendors not to publicly display your aircraft information. You may still obtain your specific flight tracking information directly from the vendor. Operators may submit a LADD blocking request online, by email to [email protected], or by mail.
Cristina Zambrana is an in-house attorney with AOPA’s Legal Services Plan and an airline transport pilot.
Aviation Finance
Adam Answers
By Adam Meredith
Q I’m a new private pilot with a 2018 Cirrus SR20 G6 that I acquired through an LLC on leaseback with a flight school. I’m considering refinancing the airplane as it was purchased for cash. Does AOPA Finance arrange “cash-out” financing?
A In general, lenders consider cash-out financing requests if the purchase was completed in the past 30 days. However, cash-out financing throws up a red flag to lenders. They will question why cash is needed so long after the original purchase. The second challenge is because of the flight school usage. Many lenders do not offer financing on aircraft that are used in a flight training environment. However, currently AOPA Finance does not offer cash-out financing.
800-62-PLANE (75263)
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