Organization Came To Oshkosh To Raise Awareness Among The Flying Public

By Maxine Scheer

Numerous initiatives are underway to support volunteer pilot programs and maximize their value as a community resource. ANN had an opportunity to talk with Lindy Kirkland, President of the Air Care Alliance (ACA), a coalition of public benefit flying organizations that currently lists on its website over 60 member organizations that engage in some kind of public benefit flying. ACA is an all-volunteer 501C3 organization that provides a forum for the volunteer flying groups to discuss best practices and provides guidance to individuals who might be looking for groups to join.

Air Care Alliance is here at AirVenture for its third consecutive year and is located at the Public Benefit Flying tent where volunteers provide visitors with information about the various opportunities available to pilots and other aviation enthusiasts, and to share stories of those who have benefited from Public Benefit Flying. ACA also plays an important role as an advocate, to engage stakeholders and work on policy and legislative levels to advance initiatives that allow volunteer pilots to better undertake their diverse missions.

Volunteer pilots fly under FAR Part 91 and engage in a diverse range of missions. While there is a growing interest amongst pilots, aircraft owners and others that participate on the ground, there has been a lingering hurdle of perception of personal liability that some of the large volunteer organizations such as Air Charity Network have been working on for years to resolve through the federal legislative process.

“A federal bill called the ‘Volunteer Pilots Act’, similar to the ‘Good Samaritan Act’, has passed the House and Senate and is finally in committee,” said Lindy. “While I am not aware of any lawsuits associated with personal benefit flying, it is sometimes an issue when people are considering this activity. We feel it would be of benefit to put aside that one last hurdle for people to get involved in volunteer flying.”

Lindy described a number of other initiatives that ACA is leading to support its members and others involved in this growing segment of GA. ACA is working with AOPA to develop an online safety course that grew out of an NTSB report based on incidents that involved volunteer pilots operations. The online project has been produced in draft and is undergoing review. Lindy noted that while the online training program is geared towards the volunteer pilots, upon completion it will be available to the public on AOPA’s website. “AOPA has provided a generous grant for this project, but ACA’s resources are limited and we are in fundraising mode to complete the project,” said Lindy. ACA has received seed funding from Wolf Aviation Fund and support from EAA to offset much of the costs of coming to AirVenture.

ACA is also working with the State’s Division of Aeronautics on an innovative program that allows the public sector to tap into resources provided by the network of volunteer pilots, ground-based volunteers and aircraft, both fixed wing and rotorcraft. “The idea started at the State DOT level”, said Lindy, “so ACA is working with Randy Burdette, the Director of the Department of Aviation for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Given Randy’s role and volunteer pilot experience, he is familiar with the volunteer flying resources.”

Randy Burdette is also attending AirVenture along with 14 other Virginia businesses at Exhibit Hangar C. “For some time we’ve been aware of the great resources in General Aviation”, said Burdette, a GA pilot and aircraft owner, both fix and rotor. “Pilots are generous. And we have seen in emergencies such as Katrina where well meaning pilots were not permitted to participate in a meaningful way.”

Burdette oversees an aviation system in Virginia that includes an estimate 14,000 pilots (GA and commercial), 66 public airports and over 200 private airports. “As the leader of aviation resources in Virginia, I am fortunate that the Governor and Secretary of Transportation in the Commonwealth were open to new ideas.”

Burdette described how this unique partnership with the volunteer pilots is in the formulation stage, and expects that within 9 months, leaders from ACA, State agencies, Civil Air Patrol (CAP) and volunteer flying groups will hold a forum to discuss a proposed structure, training program and communication channels for mobilizing volunteer resources when requested, to provide functions such as search and rescue, photography, supply transport, etc. “We are including private aviation in this program through the newly created ‘Virginia Airport Owners’, so in an emergency the private airports can demonstrate themselves as a community resource and enhance access throughout the State.”

“If we get processes and standards first, and have a plan for coordinating in advance, we can maximize these resources for our communities,” said Burdette. He also noted a soon to be released economic impact study showing the contribution of Virginia’s GA segment approaching $600 million annually.
In wrapping up the discussion with Lindy, it seemed apparent that public benefit flying appears to be a particularly good fit for women. “I would say that more women pilots volunteer as a percentage than male pilots.”  Volunteer flying is not just for pilots, there is a huge place for non pilots to participate in these organizations as well.

The Public Benefit Flying Tent is located near the main AirVenture entrance in Space 146 near Building D and the Fly Market. Lindy Kirkland brings to Air Care Alliance a distinguished career in the U.S. Marines that includes serving as a pilot on Marine One for President Bush. He was also featured on Aero-TV’s Live Coverage on Thursday, July 28th during AirVenture 2011.

FMI: www.aircareall.org, www.doav.virginia.gov