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GREAT LAKES REGIONAL REPORTby Bill BlakeAOPA Great Lakes Regional Representativeby Bryan Budds, ManagerAOPA Great Lakes RegionAs promisedin an earlierGreat LakesRegional Report,I mentioned mydesire to help generalaviation pilots andothers in the industryunderstand howBryan BuddsAOPA’s Airportsand State Advocacy team does itswork to help protect and promotegeneral aviation airports. One criticalcomponent of our efforts is the cadre ofby Yasmina Platt,ManagerAOPA CentralSouthwest RegionEven as the lastpiece of statelegislation for2012 in the CentralRegion was signed inJuly, AOPA startedworking on next year’s initiatives. Iwill have more details to share aboutthis in future issues of Midwest FlyerYasmina PlattGreat Regional Lakes reGionaL RepoRts reportby Bill BlakeAOPA Great Lakes Regional RepresentativeAOPA’s Frontline Advocates –Airport Support Network Volunteersmore than 2,500 volunteers that makeup AOPA’s Airport Support Network(ASN).These volunteers are the eyes andears of AOPA’s efforts to ensure vibrantgeneral aviation airports. Since so manyof these individuals are based pilots,airport managers, or employees of fixedbase operations, they have the localknowledge that can’t be gained fromreading FAA master records, airportboard minutes, or local news stories.With this local knowledge and AOPA’sstaff of airport policy experts, issues atgeneral aviation airports can usually beaddressed quickly by the Airports andState Advocacy team.AOPA Regional Heading 2012.indd 1expensive tasks that would be requiredas part of the closure evaluation, andprovided other information to the cityabout their obligations to the FAA.Although the city is just beginning itsclosure request to the FAA, the bar isvery high, the process is long, and therehas been no indication that the FAAwould approve the closure.While we were busy with manythings, most of the summer was focusedat strengthening the aviation communityby increasing our presence at regionalaviation events. I truly enjoyed flyingthrough and getting to know some ofyou in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, andIowa on my way to and from Oshkosh,the AirVenture Cup Race, and the FlyIowa 2012 event in Atlantic, Iowa whereAOPA had a booth and fellow pilot RodTichnor and I taught a safety seminartitled “Operations At Non-ToweredAirports.”During the time at Oshkosh, AOPAlaunched a new program called AV8RS,offering free AOPA membershipsto teens ages 13 to 18. Recruiting,engaging and developing the nextMagazine. I do, however, want to giveyou an update regarding the city’s effortsto close the St. Clair Regional Airport(K39) in Missouri. AOPA has worked tokeep K39 open since 2008, but MayorRon Blum continues to push for theclosing of the airport to build a mall.Before Blum began his closure attemptsand started neglecting the airport, itwas a thriving hub of business activityand revenue generation, and there isno reason why the airport could notcontinue to play that role with propersupport. During a meeting with thecity in late July, AOPA outlined a list of generation of pilots (among others) is16 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012 MIDWEST FLYER MAGAZINEI mention the ASN program becausein my travels, ASN volunteers are alwaysthe first to welcome me to their airportand to lend a helping hand. Whether itbe at our recent pilot mix and minglewith Wisconsin Senate Leader MarkMiller in Madison, Wisconsin, our localASN volunteer meeting in Ypsilanti,3/29/12 8:38 PMMichigan, or our AirVenture meeting,our ASN volunteers are always readyand willing to assist. As only a smallpart of the Airports and State Advocacystaff at AOPA, I am grateful for all ofthe ASN volunteers and their help inprotecting your general aviation airport.So, if you get a chance to talk to yourlocal volunteer, let him or her knowyou appreciate their help. To find outwho your volunteer is or to become thenewest ASN volunteer, visit www.aopa.org/asn or attend the AOPA AviationSummit, October 11-13 in PalmSprings, California!bryan.budds@aopa.org.News & Information You’ll Want To Know In Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska & Iowathe future of general aviation. For moreinformation about this program, visitwww.aopa.org/av8rs.As part of AOPA’s efforts to reachout more to its members and aviationenthusiasts in the regions, we have setup Twitter accounts to help share newsand information about local aviationevents and issues. Please follow me athttp://twitter.com/AOPACentralSW.On a personal note, I wantedto share that, on September 14,I celebrated my 10th year flyinganniversary. Although my love forflying started at a much earlier age…when I was just a toddler… it wasn’tuntil 2002 that I was able to start flighttraining. Since then, flying and generalaviation have been a huge part of mylife, both personally and professionally.To read more about this or any of theevents AOPA has participated in lately,visit the AOPA Views From the Regions(VFR) blog at http://blog.aopa.org/vfr/.I hope to see you at the upcomingAOPA Summit in Palm Springs,California in a few days onOctober 11-13.yasmina.platt@aopa.org qq