As part of its ongoing process of phasing out obsolete approaches at airports with new GPS approaches, the FAA has released a new list of instrument procedures that it plans to decommission. The list includes 154 VOR and NDB approaches, including some early GPS overlay approaches, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association reported. All of the GPS approaches and most of the VOR approaches are circling procedures that do not guide planes in to a specific runway. And nearly all of the airports are served by more precise ILS or GPS approaches. Even still, AOPA wants pilots to review the list for their local airports to ensure that needed procedures aren’t being cut. As the FAA has cut old non-precision approaches over the last few years, it has created nearly 1,700 precision WAAS approaches that use GPS to provide lower minimums without having to install or maintain ground-based approach equipment at each airport. But to take advantage of those approaches, pilots must install newer and more costly GPS units in their planes.

General aviation pilots and advocacy groups will continue working with residents and businesses to develop safety plans for flights at North Las Vegas Airport, but there are no flight restrictions in the airport’s future. The state legislature last week passed a resolution encouraging the collaboration, but it left out earlier language that would have let county officials regulate airport operations, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association reported. Following two fatal crashes at North Las Vegas last year, including an experimental plane that destroyed a home and killed three people when it crashed, some residents and officials said they wanted to ban certain types of planes at North Las Vegas. AOPA had expected the legislative victory since April, when the group was able to get the pending bill changed. A working group set up earlier this year to focus on safety issues at the airport doesn’t have a specific mandate, though it is expected to make proposals and recommendations later this year. It would be up to the pilot community to adopt whatever suggestions emerge.

Responding in part to concerns that the TSA was able to issue a security directive without any public comment period, some U.S. congressmen are backing changes to that agency’s funding bill that would limit how it can use the directives. In a letter to Congress, officials from six major aviation groups said they supported the changes. If the amended bill is approved, it would let the TSA use security directives in legitimate emergencies, but would otherwise require the agency to go through a public review process, just as many other federal agencies must do. Currently, the TSA can summarily issue security directives without first having to conduct a public economic analysis. And security directives aren’t published in the Federal Register. The agency often invokes national security reasons in issuing the directives and generally does not give specific rationale behind the directives.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is claiming a victory in reworking a piece of Nevada legislation that would have restricted “high risk” flights at North Las Vegas Airport. The airport was the scene of two deadly crashes that damaged several homes last August, sparking community outrage about airport operations, AOPA reported. The state legislature had previously considered a law that would have given the county broad powers to restrict airport operations. The reworked bill, pushed by both AOPA and the Experimental Aircraft Association, calls for creating a committee of airport users, community members, politicians and businesses. It is charged in the coming months with coming up with ideas for making experimental aircraft operations at North Las Vegas Airport safer.

The original LORAN-A went into service about 60 years ago, a reliable way for ships to navigate precisely using land-based stations. A revamped system followed in the late 1970s making accurate navigation to within a quarter of a mile, and often much better, a reality not just for boats but for aircraft as well, even in instrument flight. But now, LORAN-C could be decommissioned in the next two years to save the U.S. Coast Guard $180 million, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association reported. While AOPA is urging the system not be shut down so quickly, very few planes still have LORAN-C receivers installed. While LORAN-C has become nearly obsolete as planes and boats turn to GPS instead, some are calling for the LORAN-C network to remain as a backup. Covering the entire continental United States and coastal waters requires maintaining less than 20 ground stations, advocates point out.

The restored plane the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association gave away this year went to only the second woman ever to win the contest. Karoline Amodeo, 25, is a private pilot from near Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and will start training to be an en-route air traffic controller later this month, AOPA reported. Amodeo got her private pilot certificate in 2002 and says she’s now working on her instrument rating. Each year, AOPA constructs an elaborate ruse to award the plane to the unsuspecting winner. This time, the advocacy group brought Amodeo to the annual Women in Aviation International convention, where they had her work the AOPA booth and drum up enthusiasm among young women considering aviation. At the end of the conference, AOPA President Craig Fuller called Amodeo to the stage where he announced that she was the winner of this year’s 1976 Piper Archer II. Most of the restoration for the sweepstakes plane this time around involved upgrading the panel with an Aspen Avionics primary flight display, as well as equipment from Avidyne, Garmin and S-Tec. The plane got a new leather interior, fresh paint and an overhauled engine as well. Next year’s plane is a 2005 Cirrus SR22-G2 in good enough shape that it’s not being upgraded.

Among the $789 billion in the final version of the economic stimulus bill expected to get President Obama’s signature today is $1.1 billion for airport construction projects. The FAA will divvy up the funds based on how quickly airports can start work on the projects for which they request money, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association reported. While Airport Improvement Program grants often require local governments to pitch in a small amount in matching funding, the grants that are part of the stimulus bill don’t have that requirement. That’s good for cities and counties, since they won’t have to come up with money on their own if their grants are selected. A separate bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last week to fund the FAA for the next four years contains wording that would create a new FAA office to review complaints from whistleblowers. The agency came under fire last year when employees where reprimanded for voicing concerns about everything from maintenance to air traffic control procedures, the Federal Times reported. The whistleblower office, if created, would process and review complaints, making recommendations to the agency as needed. The $70 billion funding bill would keep the FAA running for the next four years, using increased fuel taxes to help pay for modernization programs. The bill is very similar to a 2007 funding bill that the U.S. House approved. It does not contain user fees and it is widely supported by many sectors of the aviation industry.

A permanent version of the Air Defense Identification Zone over Washington, D.C., could be one of the last accomplishments of the Bush Administration, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association predicts. A final rule that would create the permanent zone is being reviewed by the White House, one of the last steps that’s required, AOPA reported. For all of AOPA’s arguments and alternatives, White House officials appear intent on pushing forward with making the rule permanent. And once that happens, it would take another lengthy rulemaking process for the Obama Administration to reverse it. AOPA has suggested that the ADIZ either be enacted by NOTAM when national security warrants it, or that the ADIZ be reduced to cover a 20-nautical-mile radius around the Capitol. Currently the ADIZ is roughly 60 miles across, smaller than it once was but still swallowing several general aviation airports, which prompted many pilots based at those facilities to either stop flying or move their planes elsewhere. The ADIZ was first created in 2003 as the U.S. prepared to invade Iraq, but the general aviation community was never given specific reasons why it was needed. In 2006, at the urging of AOPA and other pilot groups, more than 22,000 people commented on the ADIZ during a public review process. The overwhelming number of those comments opposed the ADIZ.

Despite the sagging economy and slumping aircraft sales, general aviation manufacturers tried to put their best feet forward at last week’s Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Expo in San Jose, Calif. Diamond Aircraft flew the newest version of the TwinStar there, powered by Lycoming IO-360 engines each rated at 180 horsepower for a maximum cruise speed of 180 knots, AOPA reported. The TwinStar’s future was in doubt after the demise of engine-maker Thielert earlier this year. The props on the new engines counter-rotate, so when one engine fails, there is no critical engine and flying the plane with the remaining engine should be easier. The company also redesigned the plane’s cowl and canopy to improve airflow and give people in the front seats more headroom. And Diamond is working on programs to allow owners of the old Thielert-powered planes to swap their engines for the new Lycomings or the forthcoming Austro AE300s that Diamond itself is developing. The Lycoming DA42 is expected to be certified early next year and will be priced at $600,000, including Garmin G1000 avionics. Buyers of the Cirrus SR20, SR22 and SR22 Turbo planes will have a new $15,000 option for an enhanced vision system using an infrared camera mounted on the left wing. The system will give pilots a view of what’s ahead of them in instrument conditions, the company said in a news release. That should make spotting the runway at the end of an approach easier, and the system will show clouds ahead when flying at night. Owners who already have a Cirrus with the Garmin Perspective system can get the infrared camera upgrade for the same price, which includes installation.

The 1977 Cessna Cardinal restored by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association over the course of the last year went to a Texas flight instructor. Bruce Chase, based in Longview, Texas, got the keys in a ceremony Jan. 26. Chase has been researching how pilots make the transition between traditional cockpit instruments and glass panels, so AOPA used that as the setup, telling him he’d been awarded a grant to continue his study. When Chase showed up at the airport, he was greeted by the plane, as well as $5,000 for further research. AOPA’s next plane is a 1978 Piper Archer II. The plane is currently getting stripped and repainted and will eventually be outfitted with an Aspen Avionics panel, Garmin navigation equipment and an S-Tec autopilot.