Insurance Discount May Pay for Your BPPP Training - American ...

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President’s Comments
Execute!
By Keith Kohout
Happy New Year, ABS! We have a lot to look forward to in 2013.
2012 was the biggest year in the history of ABS for new value-added
services to make your membership even more beneficial. ABS’s
marching orders for 2013 are summed up in a single word: execute! The ABS
staff and Board, our Technical Advisors, and BPPP flight instructors are
committed to delivering on all these new programs and services, in addition
to the magazine, the Technical Advisor program, Service Clinics, and everything
else ABS does to support your flying. So what will we look back on as
ABS’s crowning achievements when we reach the end of 2013? How is ABS
going to execute the plans and programs we’ve unveiled?
Last year at this time we made a
commitment to have BPPP Online+
Flight available March 1st to provide
quality Beechcraft instruction on your
schedule at the lowest possible cost.
Through great effort, we delivered.
Nearly 300 ABS members enrolled in
the program in 2012 and we plan to
more than double that number this
year. We also plan up to eight BPPP
LIVE classroom training events around
the country. These programs are for
you, and the insurance discount for
completing BPPP (ask your insurance
agent) may even pay the cost of your
BPPP training!
We delivered the first ABS Maintenance
Academy in 2012. That first
course proved it works and is in
high demand. We’ll hold two ABS
Maintenance Academies in 2013 while
training a second Academy instructor
to supplement Bob Ripley. When that
training is complete, we’ll schedule
a third Maintenance Academy for
autumn 2013 on the West Coast.
The ABS Flight Instructor Academy
will kick off this month. Already we
have over 65 CFI nominations by
ABS members, instructors who are
highly experienced teaching in Beech
airplanes that we’ll bring into the
ranks of BPPP. The real impact of the
program, however, comes when the
ABS Flight Instructor Academy begins
training good instructors who have
not yet gained Beechcraft experience
but are providing up to 90% of
the Beech recurrent training and
nearly 100% of initial pilot checkouts.
This will improve instruction and
reduce accidents no matter where
you choose to train.
An ABS Member Advisory
Commit tee (MAC) is working
with Whit Hickman to develop the
next generation ABS website, which
we’ll launch this year. The website,
www.bonanza.org, already has
incredible depth of technical and
operational information for your
Beechcraft. Our goal is to make
this a more accessible and searchable
Beech technical resource.
This last item brings up the
opportunity for member involvement.
MACs are formed as needed to
address specific issues facing ABS.
For example, if you have expertise
in marketing and promotion, and
are willing to volunteer some time
to help spread the ABS message,
please contact ABS at absmail@
bonanza.org or 316-945-1700. The
ABS Board sees MACs as a “farm club”
for future Board members.
So here’s what we will look back
on at the end of 2013:
Over 700 ABS members trained by
the high-quality programs of BPPP,
more conveniently and at substantial
savings compared to for-profit
pilot training options.
75 or more Beech-experienced flight
instructors standardized with the
syllabus and techniques of ABS’s
Beechcraft Pilot Proficiency Program,
improving the quality and convenience
of instruction for ABS members
and new Beechcraft owners.
At least 60 experienced A&P
mechanics trained to conduct
the equivalent of the ABS Service
Clinics, skilled on the guidance
contained in the ABS mainte -
nance guides, and networked with
one another and the ABS Technical
Advisors to address all of your
Beechcraft mainte nance needs.
One completely redesigned, content-laden,
and user friendly ABS
website, your one-stop resource for
information about owning, flying,
and maintaining your Beechcraft.
And most importantly, involvement
by you, ABS members, in
Member Advisory Committees
and as participants in the many
products and services.
Happy New Year,
and execute!
Keith Kohout is using his
back ground in marketing,
product develop ment and
finance to lead improvements
in ABS mem ber
services. Owner of a 1967
C33A, Keith has been a
member of ABS since 2004.
2 AMERICAN BONANZA SOCIETY JANUARY 2013