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USER FEES
There seems to be no end of the
government’s attempt to pull services and add fees. It would be
nice to see all pilots take advantage of the “POWER OF THE PEN”
and contact their representatives, Congressmen, and the FAA.
There is power and strength in numbers. As pilots, we number
around 600,000 strong, but are outnumbered by the other
two-hundred million Americans. AOPA & EAA do a superb job
speaking for pilots. Our membership in these organizations will
help add power to their punch.
I squirm in my cockpit when I hear
newscasters and citizens say that the military should “shoot”
down that little dangerous Cessna 150 that wandered into
prohibited air space. The danger to America doesn’t come in a
Cessna 150…. More likely in an SUV.
We loose our local FSS, we’re promised
faster, quicker, better service. We’ll see. We’re threatened
with “user fees”. These threats might just as well be put into
place. As long as our pilot brotherhood remains silent, the
changes will come.
It is possible to make such a noise that
those changes will not take place. The “squeaking wheel”
syndrome works in any circumstance. We need to squeak.
I often use quotes from those who have come
before with words that are unmatched in today’s vocabulary.
This statement by Pastor Martin Niemoller was made during the
Nazi régime of the 1940s. I keep a copy close and quote it
often. A prominent place for the following quote might be the
wall of every hangar. Think of the constant loss of airspace
from TFRs as you read.
Speak for Me
Pastor Martin Niemoller
“In Germany the Nazis came first for the
Communists
and I
didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I
didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I
didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics
and I
didn’t speak up because I was a protestant.
Then they came for me
and by
that time there was no one left to speak for me.” |
