PerryNews

Presidents page

The last meeting was at Nikki's On the Green in the Orange Brook Golf &Country Club.
As usual the food was excellent and the drinks were superb. We had over 70 people
attend and I spent the beginning of the night that putting up more tables and chairs for
the members that keep coming in. The guest speakers were Ron Brinson our tower
chief and Nina D’Meao our airport manager. Both of these people, Ron and Nina have
been working 24/7 for us to keep the tower open. Additionally they have been working
on making North Perry Airport Day a success. You have no idea of the preparation
and coordination that goes into an event like this. Ron gave us a presentation on all
the4 different patterns that are being flown at North Perry to make us aware of what
we could be facing if the tower does close. I will try and get a copy of the presentation
at ATA flight School if anyone who couldn’t attend wants to see it. Ron has been
busting his but even after receiving a pink slip for his termination. Most people would
be “FIGMO,” but Ron is an extraordinary guy. I take my hat off to him. (If you don’t
know what FIGMO means come by the flight school). Most of you have heard that the
tower is officially open until 15 June. A bill was passed and signed by the President to
allow the FAA to use discretion in keeping open tower facility, notice it didn’t say
Facilities? This is the kicker. The intent of the legislation is to keep the contract
towers open but that one letter “S” could put a monkey wrench into it. I would like to
believe that it was all our hard work calling and writing legislators that did this, but
nothing seemed to happen until the public (legislators included) started to experience
long delays. Delta Captains would apologize for the delay and told there passengers
to contact their congressman or Senators to complain. I am sure that other airlines
followed suit.

The next meeting will be at the Blue Moon Dinner. It is located on Griffin road just west
of Palm Ave / Nob Hill Road(the name of the crossing road changes at Griffin) on the
South Side of Griffin. We have been there for a meeting before and the food was and
still is still the same…great. When I went there with Tony, he kept repeating with every
mouthful, “This is delicious,” and it was!!! The address and phone number is

Blue Moon Diner LLC,10076 Griffin Rd, Cooper City, FL, Cooper West Plaza, (954)
915-3800.

The menu will be:

·         SOUP OR SALAD

·         HOMEMADE MEATLOAF, MASHED POTATOES AND VEGGIES

·         GROUPER BROILED WITH WHITE WINE, LEMON AND GARLIC CRUST,
MASHED POTATOES AND VEGGIES

·         COUNTRY FRIED STEAK,SAUSAGE GRAVEY, MASHED POTATOES AND
VEGGIES

·         GRILLED CHICKEN STEAK TOPPED WITH GRILLED ONIONS WITH BLACK
BEANS AND RICE AND PLANTAINS

·         COFFEE, ICED TEA, OR SOFT DRINK

·         ICE CREAM OR BOSTON CREAM PIE

Price per person will be $18.

Our guest speaker tentatively will be Anthony “TONY Russo. Tony is the new chief of
Miami Approach and will talk to us about changes in procedures in case of
sequestration and new procedures for Miami approach. Saturday, May 11th will be
airport day at North Perry. Nina D’meo, Cary Johnson, and Darlene Ducker, the airport
manager, assistant manager and administrative assistant respectively have put a lot of
time and effort into this. It was especially tough because they did this while dealing
with the Tower Closure. It is the 55th anniversary of our airport, and we are
celebrating. This event started off with a conversation about how to get some kids free
airplane rides and it has grown into a big, hopefully annual, event. The aero club will
have a booth at the main tent so stop by. There will be a lot going on so it might
behoove you to show up.

There will be among other things:

·         Vintage Aircraft on Static Display

·         Classic Car Display

·         Children’s Activities

·         Food Trucks

·         Mounted Police

·         K-9 police demonstration

·         Military Recruiters

·         Aviation Vendors

·         Music

·         Blood Mobile

·         Discovery Flights

·         Formation Fly bys

…and much more

FREE PARKING AND FREE ADMISSION

Don’t Forget!!!!!!!! The week after airport day, May 17-19, is our quarterly fly in to
Saint Augustine. It will be a fun filled weekend and there are already 27 rooms
reserved. Don’t wait any longer to get your reservations…move ASAP. We have a
great guest speaker, Angela Masson. If yu don’t know her here is a short synopsis of
her resume.

Angela Masson earned her certificate at age 17. Shortly thereafter she set a cross-
country record flying in the Powder Puff Derby.   Angela Masson’s first job was
instructor for the Claire Walters Flight Academy in Santa Monica, California, which had
a contract to give Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine student pilots their first 40 hours.
While her students would go on to fly military jets, Masson was stuck training them as a
civilian, logging more than 1,000 hours in single-engine piston airplanes. “Then here
comes an ex-student with an A–7,” she says. “These guys knew how to fly because of
me, and I was really upset that they were going on to fly with the airlines and the
astronauts.” Women, on the other hand, could fly as civilian instructors or charter pilots
so long as the aircraft had a piston engine and civilian markings, or they could be
stewardesses. The good jobs, the military flying jobs, were closed. So was the airliner
cockpit door.

That led her, at 24, to write her Ph.D. dissertation, “Elements of Organizational
Discrimination: The Air Force Response to Women as Military Pilots.” After she
defended it, the dissertation was presented before Congress during hearings on
opening the military academies to women. American Airlines chief Robert Crandall read
it, and then things began to happen—at least for Masson.

“I got offered test-pilot school,” she says, “but I had just gotten married and I turned it
down. A couple months after that I was hired by American Airlines, then NASA called
me and, being the little brat at the time, I said if I’m not going to pilot the shuttle I’m
going to wait. Maybe I should have done it—they took [mission specialist] Sally Ride.”

Doctor Masson spent more than 30 years with American Airlines, seven as a flight
engineer, four as co-pilot, and more than 20 years in the captain’s seat. “I was the
second woman pilot hired by American Airlines, the second captain, and the first chief
pilot,” she says. “I looked at every day as challenge. Weather, mechanical,
passengers—if you’re going to have a problem it’ll be one of those.”

At 58, Doctor Masson retired as the airline’s most senior female pilot; then, with 20
other women formed the International Society of Women Airline Pilots. Elected
president, she stepped down last year. She lives in St. Augustine, Florida, and bought
an old Baptist church, where she keeps an aviation library, trophies, and her eight
world speed records. She paints (her first show was in Italy, at age 18) and invents,
and on weekends you can likely find her at the local airport.

“I have 26 logbooks full of flying,” Masson says. “It’s almost repetition when I look at
the flights, but none of them are the same. It’s always a wondrous adventure of the
sky, of the sun, stars, and the planets. I never got tired of it.”

This will be an interesting evening. For those of us that have daughters and
granddaughters bring them. I’m sure that Dr Masson will be an inspiration to all women.

Come by ATA Flight School, we always have a lot of members hanging around, talking
about flying or insulting each other. We call that hanger flying. You will be surprised
how much you can learn by sitting around telling lies about your flying. Our Professional
Espresso Machine has been working overtime making coffee and Cappuccino and now
we have a second machine. Members are starting to come by and try it. Even Tony
started drinking Cappuccino. Big Tough Guy likes his with a little cinnamon in it. As
always, come by and try some. If anyone needs assistance, or a cup of coffee, please
stop by A.T.A. Flight School.   I am here to help any Aero Club member. Fly Safe,

Mike Punziano

AOPA EDITORIAL
HERE WE GO AGAIN
The long awaited 2014 budget proposal from the White House has finally
been released. And it comes as no surprise that user fees are, once again,
part of the calculus. This is third time President Obama has proposed a
user fee for general aviation an idea that has been
consistently and overwhelmingly reflected by Congress. And opposition to
the fees has only been growing. The week before the budget was released,
223 members of the House of Representatives that's more than half
signed a letter asking the President to "abandon this idea once and for all."
Apparently, he didn't get the message. The idea has resurfaced and, in
some ways, It's worse than ever. The $100 per flight fee would exempt
recreational flights and some types of aircraft...for now. But the proposal
also provides for a special commission whose sole function would be to
recommend a "replacement charge or charges that would raise no less in
revenue" than the $100 fee. That language is specifically designed to open
the door for new, higher fees. In short, it gives the Administration a blank
check to spend pilots' money. Every aircraft operator already pays into the
aviation system through excise taxes on fuel. The more we fly, the more
fuel we use, the more we pay. The money is collected seamlessly at the
pump, and tax increases require Congressional approval.

User fees would work very differently. Fees would not substitute for taxes
on fuel we'd still have to pay those.. But collecting fees would require a
whole new government bureaucracy, and there would be no Congressional
oversight, meaning fees could be raised or expanded at any time.
This is, very simply, the wrong way to pay for out aviation system, and it
could have serious consequences for safety and for the future of the
general aviation industry. If user fees were the only threat facing general
aviation, the challenge would be serious enough.
But this proposal is just the most recent in a long line of assaults on our
freedom to fly. Closing towers, cutting certification nd medical service,
changes to tax laws, and more are on the table.
Each of these things has the potential to harm general aviation, but taken
together they could cripple our community.
either the Administration doesn't understand the consequences of its
actions, or it just doesn't care. It will be up to all of us who do care about
aviation and understand its value to stand strong and stand
together in the face of these threats. We'll be keeping you up to date on our
efforts and how you can help protect our freedom to fly.
AOPA President and CEO, Craig Fuller