Tells Wichita Aero Club "We Cannot Afford To Focus Only On The Problems Of Today"

The future for general aviation is bright, but it will require collective action by individual pilots and industry leaders to realize GA's potential, AOPA President Craig Fuller told the Wichita Aero Club on Wednesday.

Acknowledging that GA is presently caught in the downdraft of the slumping economy, Fuller said, "We cannot afford to focus only on the problems of today. Now is the time to lay the groundwork for recovery. Now is the time to launch the initiatives that will accelerate our climb back to growth and prosperity."

The Wichita Aero Club presentation was Fuller's first official public speech since taking AOPA's left seat January 1, and his first trip out of the Washington, DC area since President Obama's inauguration. "I must tell you it has been an exciting and moving time," said Fuller. "And I have seen a new spirit of hope in a city known for its cynicism."

Fuller told more than 230 Aero Club members the new mood in Washington gives general aviation both the opportunity and the imperative to improve its image with opinion leaders and the public. "Experience taught me long ago that if you do not define yourself, you are defined by your adversaries," he said, citing his 28-years working in the Washington political arena. "All of us in aviation have a role to play. We must be engaged in the political process. We must define ourselves so our adversaries don't. We cannot afford to be passive and wait for better days."

The AOPA president noted that, perhaps surprising to most pilots, there is a good base of public support for general aviation. Sixty-two percent of voters surveyed on election night said that GA is an important part of the nation's transportation system.

"They know a little; they need to know a lot more," said Fuller. "AOPA, along with other key associations, is committed to telling this story."

Fuller conceded there are still some "nagging issues" in Washington that must be resolved. First among them is FAA funding... and the ever-present threat of user fees, stalled only because final agreement on an FAA funding plan hasn't been accomplished.

"We do not want to replay the user fee debate," Fuller said, noting the current extension to FAA funding expires at the end of March. "If we must, we have AOPA members ready and willing to take up arms... At a time when so many other challenges require our attention, we don't need a continuing fight over funding. While this debate goes on, we can't make progress on air traffic control modernization, investment in airports, and other critical improvements."

Fuller was adamant that general aviation will weather the economic recession, and recover from it. "The truth is, it's been this way for us many times before," he said, noting GA was nearly decimated during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

"Just a few years after that, AOPA was founded -- 70 years ago," Fuller said. "Think about that. AOPA got its start in the bleakest of times. Talk about optimism. We were still in the midst of depression, the country was about to go to war, and the government was about to ban GA flying."

In a lighter moment, Fuller asked Molly McMillin, aviation reporter for the Wichita Eagle, to join him on stage. "Molly comes from a flying family, and she has covered aviation for a good number of years," Fuller said. "But she didn't take up flying herself until just recently. On November 1st, Molly soloed her father's Tri-Pacer out of Augusta.

"Frankly Molly, you must be a bold pilot to learn to fly in a Piper here in Wichita," Fuller quipped, before presenting her with an AOPA certificate commemorating her solo.

The tone then turned more serious, as Fuller called on all involved in general aviation to become active in the political process, and to take the lead in showing others general aviation’s importance to the economy and the national transportation system.

"We have some very tough fights ahead of us," said Fuller, "but I firmly believe that by working together and by standing up for what matters, our future can be even more exciting than our past."

FMI: www.aopa.org, www.wichitaaeroclub.org