Page 7 - Nov 2015 Volume 9, Number 11

Returns to the DesertSome 27,000 attendees took in the show’s seminars and presentations, which featured many local and national figures. During the opening General Session, U.S. Congresswoman Dina Titus, in whose district the convention was being held, welcomed visitors at the show’s opening, followed by Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, formerly a Congresswoman herself, who voiced strong support for her state’s business aviation and the national bizav system.FAA Administrator Michael Huerta then remarked about the business aviation segment’s recovery after a difficult period earlier. He said he was one of those “airport kids with his face glued to the chainlink fence” (how regrettable that we have to have fences at airports) and reported on the positive results of cooperative safety efforts, saying “aviation has never been safer than it is today.” Looking to the future, he noted that GPS-based approaches now outnumber conventional IFR approaches, and that datacom ground-to-air communication is already implemented at certain TRACONs, with en route facilities to follow in 2019. Drones, he said, have the potential to be useful to industry, pointing out that the BNSF railroad has gained approval for rail line patrolling by UAS. An estimated 700,000 consumer drones were expected to be sold over the holiday season; Huerta expressed hope that registration will foster responsibility.Country music star Dierks Bentley spoke at length about his discovery of business aircraft’s ability to make the most of his time at home, with his heavy touring schedule. Alreadya pilot, he got current again in 2010, initially using a Cirrus and a Baron G58 and recently moving up to a Citation M2. With a professional pilot, he can enjoy some weekend breaks with his three children in spite of being on the road 150 days per year. In his words, thanks to business aviation,“we’re now playing the best music we have in years.”Prominently noted at this year’s NBAA, the association was calling for united opposition to ATC privatization and user fees, schemes that are once again being promulgated in Washington, after previous attempts by airline interests in 1997 and 2006. As pointed out by NBAA leadership, everywhere privatizing ATC services has been tried, general aviation suffers. Funding ATC through fuel taxes is both fair and efficient.The second day’s general session was equally impressive, sparkplugged by Captain Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger’s inspirational recounting of the events leading up to the January 15, 2009 ditching of US Air Flight 1549 in New York’s Hudson River. His life, he said, had been a preparation for that 208-second fateful moment, through gaining professionalism from his parents, attending the Air Force Academy and Purdue University, serving as a fighter pilot and spending two decades in the airline industry. Typically reserved, he modestly gave equal credit to his fellow crew members for the successful outcome, and stressed that, as pilots, we bear great responsibility and therefore need to foster professionalism in all our endeavors. Because of thisJANUARY 2016 TWIN & TURBINE • 5