Guest Editorial – by Craig Fuller, President & CEO Aircraft Owners
& Pilots Association
I can’t talk enough about the importance of protecting our freedom to fly. After all, it’s an idea that’s been at the very heart of AOPA’s mission for the past 70-plus years. But protecting our freedom to fly takes resources, innovative ideas, and new approaches. Times change and new challenges emerge, and our approach has to keep up, or better yet, get ahead of these trends.
Preserving our freedom to fly is a complex proposition. In practical terms it encompasses everything we do at AOPA, from promoting safety to sharing information to developing new tools for pilots. And the AOPA Foundation helps support much of this vital work.
The AOPA Foundation is our charitable arm—raising money, conducting research, and developing programs that benefit the entire general aviation community, not just AOPA members. The Foundation has dedicated itself to four core mission areas: promoting safety, protecting airports, educating decision makers and the public about the importance of GA, and rebuilding the pilot population.
Now the Foundation is reaching out to all dedicated pilots with an inaugural event that every dedicated pilot should be part of. I’m talking about “A Night for Flight.” It’s a benefit evening set for November 13 aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California.
It’s a great way to cap off AOPA’s “year of engagement.” But more important, and I really can’t say it too strongly, it’s critical to our ability to protect your freedom to fly now and for years to come.
Of course we’ll have a fun and entertaining evening. But this is about so much more. It’s about standing up for general aviation and taking charge of our future. It’s about reaching out to the broadest possible audience of pilots and aviation enthusiasts and asking you to make a direct contribution to protecting GA.
Half of the price of every ticket is tax deductible and will go to benefit the AOPA Foundation, helping to fund its many programs and research and educational grants.
When you come to “A Night for Flight,” you’ll enjoy an open bar, hors d’oeuvres, dinner prepared by award-winning Chef Larry Banares, and entertainment from internationally-known jazz singer and guitarist John Pizzarelli.
But even if you can’t make it to Long Beach, you can take part in our online auction (www.biddingforgood.com/aopafoundation) of truly unique items of special interest to pilots—everything from weekend getaways and aircraft paint scheme designs, to a type rating or even a very special airplane. Not only can you purchase items found nowhere else, you can do it knowing that you’re making a real contribution to the vital work of the AOPA Foundation.
I hope you’ll join us, in person or online, and seize this opportunity to be a part of the future.
