NASAO Celebrates 75th
Anniversary
By James Wynbrandt
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Happy 75th, NASAO.
The always gregarious Henry O’Grodzinski chats with visitors
to the NASAO display tent. Photo by Dave Higdon |
It’s the alphabet group
you may have never heard of. So what better place and time to learn
about NASAO, the National Association of State Aviation Officials, than
here at EAA AirVenture, where the organization is celebrating its 75th
anniversary and giving away free aeronautical charts, airport
directories, coloring books and other goodies. As it is every year,
NASAO is located at its red-and-white striped tent in the EAA Supporters
Area, just south of the control tower.
NASAO plays a vital role
in helping elected officials get the facts about aviation and support it
in their states and across the country. And the organization has been
doing that since well before any other aviation alphabet group was even
established.
"In the 1920s the
states petitioned Congress to create something like the FAA, but
Congress didn’t do it," explained Henry O’Grodzinski, NASAO’s
president and CEO, standing beside a display of photos documenting the
organization’s history. "So in 1931 all the states gathered in
Cleveland, Ohio, to form NASAO. Even though there was no federal
recognition of the importance of aviation, the states knew how important
aviation was."
And aviation
professionals know how important NASAO is. As FAA Administrator Marion
Blakey has said, "NASAO is the glue that holds aviation together
for this country."
Today NASAO’s
membership is composed of aviation officials from all 50 states, Puerto
Rico and Guam. The organization is working closely with EAA, AOPA, GAMA,
the FAA, and other groups on issues including adequate funding for the
Airport Improvement Program, opposition to user fees, and preservation
of airports.
"We are currently
working on protecting airports from incompatible land use and
development around the airports," said O’Grodzinski. "It has
been a long battle. We are working together with the FAA in the hopes we
can put together a national framework to aid states and the federal
government in prohibiting incompatible development so we don’t find
ourselves losing any more airports."
O’Grodzinski says
members of the public can play a big role in helping win support for the
initiatives it’s working on.
"NASAO is very close
to every major general aviation organization. So everyone who’s a
member of EAA and those other organizations can do a great deal of good
work for the aviation community by staying in touch with their
associations and with NASAO."
With Senate and
Congressional elections coming this fall, O’Grodzinski says individual
citizens can play an especially critical role.
"This is a great
time to call or write your elected representatives and say, ‘Where do
you stand on user fees for general aviation?’ That will get them
thinking before the election," said O’Grodzinski. "Every
letter, every phone call to an elected official regarding the funding
level for the FAA and the Airport Improvement Program and user fees is
incredibly important."
Besides helping the
aviation community through its regulatory and legislative efforts, NASAO
also provides some of the best giveaways aviators will find at
AirVenture. Pilots can get a selection of free state aeronautical charts
and airport directories, and meet state aviation officials. For
youngsters, NASAO has activity and coloring books, and has created
exhibits demonstrating phenomena such as Bernoulli’s Principle and how
sound waves work. NASAO also sponsors the U.S. portion of an annual
international aviation art contest for youngsters, and has brochures
explaining the next competition, whose theme is airfields.
"NASAO is very
strong on its 75th anniversary," O’Grodzinski added. "We
have some strong relationships out there. We can rally elected leaders
across the country and make sure they understand how important aviation
is."
