FAA proposes removing
area proficiency requirements for Warbirds
By David Sakrison
Current FAA regulations
covering civilian-owned and -operated military and surplus aircraft are
based on the assumption that these aircraft will be flown for exhibition
purposes only, not simply used for personal transportation. The
regulations allow certain aircraft to operate only within a specified
distance from their home airports. Turbine-powered aircraft, like the
Beech T-34 Mentor, can currently operate only 600 miles from their home
bases. Piston-powered aircraft, including WWII warbirds, are limited to
operating within 300 miles of home. (FAA regulations do permit
straight-line flights of longer distances to reach air shows or for
maintenance or proficiency training.)
EAA Warbirds of America (WOA)
has been involved in a "continuing dialog" with the FAA to try
to ease those area restrictions for qualified pilots, said WOA Executive
Director Bill Fischer. There was good news for the Warbirds this week at
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.
"The FAA continues
to stress that warbirds in civilian operation are intended for
exhibition and not for personal transport," Fischer told AirVenture
Today, "but they have conceded that lifting the area restrictions
will not affect the safety of the pilots or the public. The FAA has
proposed removing the proficiency area requirements currently in place
for warbirds. It will mean that a civilian pilot who flies a military or
surplus aircraft can fly it anywhere that a civil aircraft can go."
The proposal is included
in an FAA document titled "Program Plan for Oversight of Vintage,
Surplus, and Experimental Aircraft," more commonly known as the
"FAA Road Map." The Road Map is a statement of intent and
guide that projects the things that will need to be done over the next
several years to preserve and promote general aviation and maintain and
improve GA safety.
Fischer explained that
many FAA experts have retired in recent years, and the FAA’s overall
level of expertise has declined with respect to vintage, surplus, and
experimental aircraft. "They are looking for the general aviation
community to provide input," Fischer said, and the Road Map is one
mechanism for ensuring a dialogue between the FAA and general aviation.
It is constantly evolving in response to ongoing conversations between
the FAA and organizations like EAA.
"We want to ensure
that warbird pilots have proper training and that
they are given standardized checkrides," said Fischer. "We
also want to remove the barriers to owning and flying these aircraft
while keeping them
as safe as possible."
With the FAA Road Map as
a framework, the warbird community has been working and talking
extensively with the FAA Flight Standards Service and other FAA offices
for several years. "It’s a cooperative effort," Fischer
said, and EAA has been a key player, facilitating meetings and bringing
other warbird groups to the table. "AirVenture provides an
excellent opportunity for all the warbird groups to interact and to
speak with one voice," he said.
The WOA also participates
in the EAA/FAA Aviation Summit Meeting, held each January. The annual
summit anchors a structured and productive process in which the FAA and
EAA work together year-round to solve the problems that are most
important to the general aviation community.
At various meetings this
week between WOA officers and the FAA, the WOA received draft copies of
regulation changes and a draft advisory circular, which the FAA asked
the WOA to review and comment on; heard an update on recent
airworthiness directives for T-34 Mentors and T-6 Texans; and discussed
with the FAA some possible ways of increasing the number of qualified
flight examiners for warbirds, to improve warbird operators’ access to
proficiency checkrides and other safety-related services.
"The work we—EAA
and the FAA—do here at AirVenture helps to ensure good communication
and cooperation," Fischer said.
And that helps to
"Keep ’em Flying."
