By Clyde Smith, IDPA International President

The events of September 11 affected all pilots--deaf ones, too

September 11, 2001, was a tragic day for all Americans, including deaf pilots. The Federal Aviation Administration, pressed by the National Security Council, created enhanced Class B airspaces (ECBs) and forbade pilots who fly by visual flight regulations (VFR) to operate within ECBs. For a while the FAA prohibited all VFR flight everywhere.

Recently a deaf pilot told me he had to cancel a reservation to rent a C182 because the aircraft was at a small airport under an ECB. He did not want to drive an extra 100 miles to rent a plane outside the ECB.

I am fortunate that I fly at a small city like Jacksonville, Ill. I began flying again as soon as the FAA allowed VFR operations outside ECBs. Jacksonville does not lie under an ECB. But if I were to fly cross-country to Sikeston, Mo., for lunch, I would have to fly around the St. Louis ECB. In a rented 160 hp Warrior I could fly to Sikeston under the normal Class B airspace in 1 hour 45 minutes, but around the ECB it would take about 2 hours 45 minutes.

Clearly none of us are happy with the restrictions. We all would love to go back to normal flying. Therefore, I encourage every IDPA member to write a letter to their congressman and senators to urge them to advise the FAA to ease up on these restrictions and go back to normal airspace regulations as soon as possible.

I will work closely with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) to keep airspace within normal regulations so that every pilot can fly VFR anytime and anywhere without having to file a flight plan. Filing flight plans pose problems for deaf pilots because of poor telephone relay service and a third party causing misunderstandings.

"I've said it before . . . and I'll say it again," writes Bill Fedorko in the January 2002 Private Pilot magazine, "you need to join an aviation organization like the AOPA, whose exhaustive efforts during the trying days since September 11 have helped tremendously in getting us up and flying again. AOPA has a membership of some 375,000. But, in fact, it should have all of us as members. As membership increases, so does our voice in government, and nowadays this larger voice is extremely important."

I wholly agree with Fedorko, and urge you all to join the AOPA.

SOLO: I watched at the airport as Brenton Allen, a 16-year-old Illinois School for the Deaf day student, flew his first solo November 10 in a Warrior. His performance was flawless. He will work hard toward his private pilot certificate next year. Brenton's father is a private pilot. He and I, as role models, have encouraged Brenton's training.

After September 11, Brenton could not fly for almost a month, and worried that lack of practice would affect his flying skills. But he patiently waited for the FAA to allow him to continue training.

I told Brenton I will give him an IDPA wing pin when he becomes a private pilot, and of course encouraged him to join IDPA. If you know of any deaf student pilot, please send the student's name, address and email address to me so I can monitor and encourage the student's flight training.

FREDERICK FLY-IN: Elsewhere in this issue is an article about the 2002 fly-in. Fortunately Frederick Airport is not restricted under the Washington ECB. John Yeh, the fly-in committee chairman, has done an outstanding job of preparation. I urge all IDPA members to attend the fly-in. Henri Corderoy du Tiers in Paris is working hard to encourage deaf Europeans to come to the fly-in. It will be great to see old friends from all over the world as well as meet new ones. Please mark the fly-in dates on your calendar.

If the FAA returns to normal regulations, I will fly my C150 to Frederick. Otherwise, I will drive to Frederick, then rent an aircraft there. I don't want to fly a zigzag pattern around temporary flight restrictions at dams and nuclear reactors as well as ECBs that would result in longer flight hours. In 1999 my flight to Frederick took eight hours.

REPAIR SHOP: My mechanic informed me that my C150 had three busted cylinders. We discussed getting four new cylinders at $900 plus six hours of labor each. Ouch. But my partner and I have had that plane for 10 years, and we decided to go ahead with the job because we will be able to fly for 10 more years since the new cylinders can run up to 1,500 hours.