AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association

[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

Service. Sacrifice. A bond that lasts long after the uniform comes off.

Throughout the years, we’ve had the privilege of meeting veterans and active-duty military members across the aviation community and hearing what their service, their fellow service members, and their country mean to them.

Today, we honor all those who have served and sacrificed for our nation. From all of us at AOPA, thank you for your service.

[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

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[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

Thomas Justin Smith, a private pilot, A&P/IA, and business owner in Sebring, Florida, was jailed October 22 following his arrest on charges stemming from a 17-month annual inspection of a light sport aircraft that, according to the aircraft owner, never happened.

The latest felony charges against Smith, 32, are the same as the first set: grand theft, fraud, and use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony. Smith's first arrest on July 31 followed a police investigation of the alleged theft of nearly $65,000, and the alleged attempted theft of another $60,000, from Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 1240 in Sebring where he served as chapter treasurer. He established a business, Hendricks Field Aviation, on the grounds of Sebring Regional Airport in 2021, state records show.

According to police and court records, Smith was arrested on new charges on October 22, after police investigated a more unusual crime—the 514-day impoundment of an LSA that included many conversations with the owner, Logan Kugler, via phone, text, and email, and that culminated in Kugler's August 15 visit to Smith's shop, housed in a pair of hangars, two weeks after Smith's initial arrest.

"Justin Smith took custody of my airworthy airplane that was recently appraised at approximately $200,000, and over the course of more than 500 consecutive days of extraordinary deception, deceit and malicious behavior, he reduced it to salvage," Kugler wrote in an email to AOPA accompanied by an arrest report, documents detailing the extended timeline of the purported annual inspection, as well as notes on related communication Kugler had with FAA officials and others while attempting to verify some of Smith's representations to him.

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[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

@Navstarmarine @NORADCommand Very wise choice. Our hope is that every pilot of every aircraft would do the same before leaving the ground because of how quickly things can change.

[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

@NORADCommand led a multiagency presentation for the general aviation community in South Florida ahead of what it expects to be a busy winter season. The message: "Check your notams."

The Continental U.S. NORAD Region held an open house for local pilots at President Donald J Trump International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, in early October.

The open house was NORAD's third such forum, following one in South Florida in late 2025 and another in Bedminster, New Jersey, in spring 2026.
Pilots, flight instructors, and local business owners heard from U.S. Air Force fighter pilots who intercept pilots who violate temporary flight restrictions, as well as FAA, TSA, and U.S. Coast Guard officials. Topics included TFR procedures, airspace security, intercept protocols, and local operations during VIP movements.

"Preparation is key. Before you ever step out to the aircraft... check your notams," said the West Palm Beach airport's Air Traffic Manager Mark Siviglia, who summarized the requirements for flying into the outer ring of a VIP TFR as, "squawk, talk, and flight plan."

"If you're on the ground, do all three of those before you depart. If you're outside the TFR ring, do all three of these before you come in," Siviglia added.

For the full article, click the link in the comments.

[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

Click here for the full article: https://t.co/x9s8n1KTEX

[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

Click here for the full article and event links: https://t.co/WZpo8foJLz

[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

"Jimmy," set to release on November 6, introduces audiences to the World War II military service of Hollywood actor James "Jimmy" Stewart.

While widely remembered for his storied acting career, known for roles in It's a Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Stewart was an accomplished bomber pilot who flew 20 combat missions over Nazi-occupied Europe with the Eighth Air Force. He served as the commander of the 453rd Bomb Group, flying Consolidated B–24 Liberators, and later spent nearly three decades in the Air Force Reserve, retiring as a brigadier general.

To mark the film's release, the Dallas-based Commemorative Air Force (@CAF1957) is highlighting Stewart's legacy during its Aviation Discovery Fest on November 6 and 7 at Dallas Executive Airport. Visitors will be able to see Diamond Lil, the CAF’s B–24 Liberator. As the only flying B–24A left in the world, the aircraft is a rare surviving example of the bomber type that Stewart and his fellow airmen flew during the war. Film director Aaron Burns noted that the CAF provided critical technical assistance to the production to ensure the aircraft's history was accurately portrayed.

Check the comments for a link to the full story on our website, including links to the event webpages.

[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

For more scholarship information, visit https://t.co/s2TmIzntoM.

Full article here: https://t.co/dYT1mucI36

[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

The AOPA Foundation awarded more than $2.2 million in scholarships in 2026—the largest amount in the foundation's history—with an average award of $6,500.

With support from the Ray Foundation, more than $1.3 million will go to 115 high school students and teachers, who will each receive $12,000 toward training for their private pilot certificate.

In addition to the high school scholarships, the AOPA Foundation awards other scholarships that can be used toward sport, private, commercial, or flight instructor certificates; instrument or multiengine ratings; and nonflying aviation pursuits such as mechanic or flight dispatcher training.

"Every one of these scholarships starts with donors who are passionate about aviation and choose to invest in someone else's future. Their generosity is changing lives across the country," said AOPA Foundation Senior Vice President Elizabeth Tennyson.

The AOPA Foundation recently improved its application process and now offers two application periods each year instead of one. The first application period each year runs from April to June, and the second from October to December.

For the full article, see the link in the comments.

[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

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[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

The Manistee Blacker Airport Authority has reversed course on the $10 landing fee adopted in August for light general aviation aircraft at Michigan’s Manistee County/Blacker Airport.

At its October 12 meeting, the authority's board voted to change the charge to a facility fee that applies only to operators who park on the airport's ramp and use its landside access, instead of charging for every landing.

The vote came less than two months after the board adopted a rates and charges schedule, set to take effect October 1, that applied landing fees to light GA aircraft. AOPA pushed back and, in a letter to the airport authority, Great Lakes Regional Manager Kyle Lewis called the landing fees "extremely concerning," noting that "small general aviation airports rarely charge landing fees to all aircraft, and the proposed... fee far exceeds many other categorical landing fee schedules for light aircraft (under 12,500 lbs.) at airports across the country."

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[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

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[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

Reps. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) talked during the National Business Aviation Association's annual convention in Las Vegas about how being active general aviation pilots influences their work in Congress.

During the session "From Cockpit to Congress," which was moderated by flight school owner and aircraft broker Mindy Lindheim, Graves and Obernolte discussed how they got into aviation and the different types of flying they do today.

Graves is well known in the warbird community and regularly flies a vintage Curtiss P–40 Warhawk in the Wingnuts Flying Circus' airshow—also known as the "Greatest Little Airshow"—in his hometown of Tarkio, Missouri.
Obernolte was one of the earliest owners of an Embraer Phenom 100 and later upgraded to the Embraer Phenom 300 that he now flies from his home in California to Washington, D.C.

Graves, who is retiring from Congress after 26 years and has chaired the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee since 2023, says he is proud of the section dedicated to GA in the 2024 FAA reauthorization—which had never been done before.

"For the first time ever, we put a general aviation title, which means an entire section of the bill, was devoted to general aviation, and fixing all of these problems that we see in general aviation—that's probably one of the biggest accomplishments that I have been able to do in my time in Congress," said Graves.

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[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford discussed ATC modernization, the FAA’s rescission of single pilot operations in some Cessna Citation jets, and advanced air mobility (AAM) at the National Business Aviation Association Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition in Las Vegas.

They discussed the status of the Brand New Air Traffic Control System—the ongoing modernization effort—including the impacts of the initiative on general aviation.

The next day, Duffy took the stage with Johnson at a luncheon, and pointed to the Modern Skies Act, which would provide the additional $30 billion in funding—providing $10 billion for modernizing ATC equipment, $10 billion to replace ATC facilities, and $10 billion to medium-size commercial airports for passenger terminals.

Much of the ATC funding would go to a new common automation platform (CAP), which would replace multiple, siloed, aging ATC systems.

“If you don’t have software… we’re not going to get the result that I think the American people will absolutely, absolutely want,” said Duffy, who equated not implementing a new CAP to buying a new computer and installing Windows 98.

“The computer can be great, but the software is what the computer runs off of, and so we need new software to get better efficiency out of the airspace,” added Duffy.

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[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

@mkheck Thanks for the continued feedback. We appreciate it!

[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

The FAA ordered the sudden prohibition of touch-and-goes, restrictions on parallel departures, and limitations on pattern work at Centennial Airport, near Denver, around the first weekend of October.

According to an email sent to airport tenants by the Arapahoe County Public Airport Authority, air traffic controllers were ordered by the FAA to “immediately cease simultaneous parallel departure operations at Centennial until approved mitigations can be identified to reduce the associated safety risk to an acceptable level.”

AOPA contacted the FAA, which said it has concerns including that departing IFR traffic is conflicting with VFR traffic departing from the parallel runway.
However, on October 8, AOPA expressed concern about how the FAA went about implementing its decision.

“While we appreciate the FAA’s role in ensuring safe operations, the sudden decision to ban touch-and-goes and other pattern work without notifying pilots is concerning and appears to be unprecedented,” said AOPA Northwest Mountain Regional Manager Brad Schuster. “After nearly a week, the FAA has yet to issue a notam or update the airport’s ATIS with this critical information at one of the nation’s busiest general aviation airports.”

Link to the full article in the comments.

[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

Link to full article: https://t.co/xrK2kAbh8s

[AOPA | Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association @flywithaopa]

The city of Mesa, Arizona, released a revised landing fee proposal and a long-sought justification for the fees months after its original plan approved by the City Council led to several FAA Part 13 complaints and a federal lawsuit.

Under the proposal, released by the city on October 9, aircraft owners landing at Falcon Field would pay $4.14 per 1,000 pounds of their aircraft's maximum landing weight (MLW). That comes out to $10.35 per landing for an aircraft with a 2,500-pound MLW, which is roughly the weight of a Cessna 172 or Piper Archer.

If passed by the city council, the new proposal would replace a landing fee structure that is currently scheduled to go into effect in late October, after being delayed several times since the city council first approved it in March.
Under the original structure, aircraft based at Falcon Field weighing 6,000 pounds or less would pay $20.35 per landing after their first 10 landings each month, and transient aircraft of the same size would pay $24.35 per landing.

The new structure does not differentiate between based and transient aircraft, nor does it provide any free landings for based aircraft as it previously did.

After the original fees were approved by the City Council, the FAA received at least four Part 13 complaints; the agency opened an investigation that is ongoing. One of those complaints was filed by two flight schools at the airport, which also filed a federal lawsuit against the city.

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