[TheNoonans]

Greetings to all,

I just wanted to provide another update as we approach the August 2009 LAA meeting. I was informed earlier this week that our story has gone national and that the most recent article published in the Citizen was up on the AOPA website. We are obviously very happy to hear that our story is picking up national interest. Defending airport access rights is not just about skydiving, it's about defending equal and fair access to airports for all aeronautical activities.

I'm happy to say that I received this email from a pilot in Pennsylvania:

"I am a pilot at Donegal Springs airport in S. Central PA. Our airport is home to the Maytown Sport Parachute Club. I have been flying here since 1999. I am an aircraft owner & President of the York Travelers Flying Club. I also instruct student pilots here on a part-time basis.
In 10 years here, I am not aware of any difficulties regarding the parachutists and pilots or student pilots.
We all live together in harmony and co-exist peacefully."

There were also two supportive Letters To The Editor published on the Citizen website:

1) "Editor, The Citizen: I read the news story regarding the proposed skydiving operation at Laconia airport and the opposition by Ms Adams and Mr. McCulla.

As an experienced pilot with over 4000 hours of flight time, including hundreds of hours flying from an airport with an active skydiving operation, I feel qualified to comment. I have never had a close call with a skydiver; however, I have had several with other aircraft. Should I be advocating restricting other aircraft?

Expanding on Ms Adams and Mr. McCulla's logic, one could conclude that we should limit aircraft flights entirely. Or eliminate the risk by only letting one aircraft fly at a time. Perhaps we should just exclude Ms Adams and Mr. McCulla from flying.

Obviously I am being facetious and have nothing personable against these two fellow aviators. The point I am trying to make is that you shouldn't be excluding anyone from the enjoyment of flight; because you just might be next."

and

2) "Editor, The Citizen: Good reporting on the issue, without the usual anti-aviation bias. Thank you.

I am not a skydiver and don't aspire to be one either.

I am a general aviation pilot and I fly out of an airport with skydiving operations. I also regularly fly through airspace with another skydiving operation nearby. On most of my long distance flights I am aware of skydiving operation areas by their notations on aeronautical charts and through the issuance of Notices to Airmen (NOTAM).

Skydiving operations are very friendly to airport operations and they bring in much needed revenue as well. It is usually the pilots of small aircraft that create risks through their inattention to regulations regarding operating an aircraft in and around skydiving activities. Anyone who flies into or out of a skydiving airport has to remain vigilant.

The jump aircraft broadcasts on common-talk air frequencies (CTAF) which are the same frequency used by approaching and departing aircraft. They announce two minutes before jumpers are released, again as the jumpers are released and again when the jumpers are on the ground. The jump aircraft may also coordinate their communications with air traffic control agencies that manage the airspace in and around the specific airport. ATC then also broadcasts the information on the frequencies assigned to their sectors. For any aircraft using communication radios it is hard not to know that a jump is occurring at any given moment.

There still remains one other scenario and that is for aircraft without communication radios, which is perfectly legal and acceptable in most of the US airspace. The general aviation fleet is dominated by aircraft with communication radios but aircraft with no radios (NORDO) have to remain particularly vigilant when operating in a jump zone. We all share the airspace and it is up to each of us individually to apply the requisite jurisprudence to any given situation. Aircraft are no more correct in hitting a skydiver than a skydiver is in-the-right hitting an aircraft. There is no "right-of-way" rule. It is all about see and avoid procedures.

When I am approaching my home airport I monitor the Unicom frequency, well in advance of entering the pattern. If jumpers are nearing their departure from the jump aircraft I spend an extra minute or two checking out the scenery away from the airport. Once the jumpers are on the ground I then enter the pattern and make my landing. A jump, even from 12,000 feet is a fleeting event — only lasting from 2 to 5 minutes at most. I don't think it is too much to ask of pilots to spend a few more minutes doing the thing they love to do most — aviating.

Pilots, aircraft and skydivers can play nicely together. It is generally up to the pilots to not assume that they own the airspace just because they are bigger and have engines. Leave the ego at home and enjoy the airspace shared by us all."

Mary and I thank you all for your continued support.

Blue skies to all and to all a good flight,

Tom