EAA continued to address threats to the general aviation community in 2008. Our advocacy accomplishments have certainly contributed to the success of our organization’s tomorrow. We are setting the table to be stronger, and our investments today will pay dividends and produce results to benefit the organization and aviation for generations to come.

• The efforts to impose user fees were successfully forestalled
in 2008. The airlines were unsuccessful in dividing general
aviation into groups because of the combined efforts of the
general aviation community.

• More than 7,000 comments were submitted by the general aviation community to the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) voicing their opposition to the Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP). EAA also submitted 58 pages and testified at public hearings held by the TSA.

• EAA obtained a 2-year exemption on behalf of light-sport
aircraft (LSA) owners providing more time for them to
certificate their ELSA aircraft already registered with the
FAA, are still awaiting inspection, to be certificated.

• The FAA also proposed a long-awaited cleanup or “fix” to the sport pilot and light-sport aircraft regulations in April. Comments from EAA staff, our members, as well as others drove much of the FAA to proposed changes. The FAA is currently developing a set of final rules incorporating this input provided during the comment period last year. EAA staff continues to advocate various refinements of the Light Sport and Sport Pilot regulations as the FAA develops its rule revisions to be published in 2009.

• Early in April, EAA facilitated meetings with FAA including one at FAA headquarters with EAA CAF and Classic Jet Associations addressing concerns about excessive restrictions on some experimental exhibition ( Warbird) aircraft, specifically the removal of the 300-mile and 600-mile proficiency limitations for ex-military aircraft. Both limitations were removed in 2008.

“The progress we’ve made in the past year on several
fronts demonstrates again that the EAA community’s
collective, collaborative, and constructive approach
gets results.”

-Earl Lawrence, EAA vice president
industry and regulatory affairs

“It is important for us to hear from the people here and,
in particular, the members of EAA.”

- Jerry Costello, U.S. House of Representatives
Subcommittee on Aviation
Congress makes it a priority to visit AirVenture each
year to see grassroots aviation at its best.

• The efforts to impose user fees were successfully forestalledin 2008. The airlines were unsuccessful in dividing generalaviation into groups because of the combined efforts of thegeneral aviation community.

• EAA obtained a 2-year exemption on behalf of light-sportaircraft (LSA) owners providing more time for them tocertificate their ELSA aircraft already registered with theFAA, are still awaiting inspection, to be certificated.

“The progress we’ve made in the past year on severalfronts demonstrates again that the EAA community’scollective, collaborative, and constructive approachgets results.”

-Earl Lawrence, EAA vice presidentindustry and regulatory affairs