The 'Crowd Size' Vote Goes To 'GPS Approaches' -- So Far
Usually the most
crowded seminar or presentation at any event is, "whichever one Rod
Machado is presenting." But when we saw a spillover crowd outside a
seminar at the AOPA Expo in Tampa, FL, we knew Machado's
presentation was the next day, so it wasn't him.
Turned out the over-subscribed seminar was on "GPS Approaches,
Navigation Databases, and Charts," and it was by Jim Terpstra, a
retired Senior VP of Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc. Far from one of
Machado's entertaining but informative lectures, the crowded
lecture was a serious and rather technical presentation.
The seminar promised that attendees would "Discover how to best
take advantage of the RNAV (GPS) approaches and the differences
from one to another."
Jim Terpstra was taking a very full room-plus of (mostly)
instrument pilots through the vagaries of GPS approaches. Beginning
with the nuts and bolts of the navigation databases, through the
acronym soup (WAAS? TAA?), Terpstra promised to unlock the
mysteries behind IFR use of GPS.
That was obviously something that resonated with the flying
public. A representative of the convention center told Aero-News
that at least 100 more had crammed into a room initially set up for
160. All the chairs from a nearby room were taken into the Terpstra
seminar to expand available seating, and still the crowd spilled
over into the
hallway.
The seminars at any AOPA Expo definitely provide something for
everyone. After all, there are 75 seminars here in Tampa. At the
same time as Terpstra's GPS presentation, other groups were
learning about "10 Strategies For Controlling Aircraft Insurance
Costs," "FAA
Cardiac Recertification Done Right," and three other subjects.
Michael Maya Charles, an airline pilot and aviation writer, held
a seminar based on his book "Artful Flying" that was almost as well
attended as Terpstra's -- which, again, took place at the same
time. There were as many as seven seminars going on at once in
separate conference rooms, with three or four sessions in each room
every day.
The other seminars over the three days covered everything from
"Ditching and Water Survival" to "Living and Flying with Aging
Eyes," and a wide range of subject in between.
The seminars were organized into tracks with like themes:
technology, proficiency, aeromedical, ownership, safety. The
seminars are included in admission to AOPA Expo, and a complete
schedule is posted on the AOPA website here.