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.