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Highlights & Featured Speakers
The following is from 2007event. 2008 speakers to be posted
soon.
Mark Grady
Promoting the safe and efficient use of aviation in Alaska is the goal
of this conference. Flying safely and improving our skills to fly and maintain
aircraft runs through the very fabric of this year’s program. Mark
Grady brings three AOPA Air Safety Foundation presentations to Alaska covering
Single Pilot IFR, Decision Making for Pilots and Emergency Procedures.
Mark has over 6,000 hours in a Cessna 152, as an award-winning traffic
watch pilot/reporter in Raleigh, North Carolina. He delivers semiars on
serious topics with an engaging brand of humor which will keep you on the
edge of your seat!
Carol Ford
Carol Ford has spent 20 years working in support of airports. She currently
is on the Board of Directors and is a past President of the San Carlos
Airport Pilots Association. After receiving the Airport Defender of the
Year Award from the California Pilots Association in 1997, Carol became
a Director at Large for CPA, a position she still holds. She is the Aircraft
Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) representative for San Carlos airport.
Carol currently is the alternate for General Aviation on the San Mateo
County Airport Land Use Committee (ALUC) as well as the SFO Airport/
Community Roundtable. Carol is a founding Board member of Friends of
San Carlos Airport Political Action Committee and currently serves as
Executive Director.
Gary Hufford
New technology is also in the data products we use to monitor and evaluate
the weather. National Weather Service Scientist Gary
Hufford will present
a four-hour workshop to help pilots become familiar with NEXRAD weather
radar. This product is available over the web, and if you’re using an
ADS-B data link in select parts of Alaska, directly in the cockpit of
your airplane. Hufford will teach pilots how to interpret weather radar
and satellite imagery, products which are freely available from the National
Weather Service. Tom Salat from FAA headquarters in Washington, DC is
coming to give us an update on the GPS Wide Area Augmentation System
(WAAS). This enhanced satellite based navigation system is making it
possible to have instrument approaches without the need for expensive
ground based navigation system, if our airplanes have the right equipment
on board to use them.
John Kounis
John Kounis is the editor of Pilot Getaways, a travel magazine for pilots.
Since earning his pilot certificate in 1981, he has flown more than
5,000 hours in 40 countries—as far south as South Africa, and as far
north as the 80th parallel. Currently, he flies his Cessna 185 more
than 400 hours per year in search of fun fly-in destinations for private
pilots—from uncharted grass strips to major airports with convenient
general aviation services.
Bruce Williams
Bruce Williams worked on six versions of
Microsoft Flight Simulator during a 15-year career at Microsoft. His
experience with the development and design of Microsoft Flight Simulator
included consulting with leading aviation organizations and teaching
seminars about how to use Microsoft Flight Simulator as a training aid.
Bruce grew up in an Air Force family, and he has been a pilot and aviation
writer since the early 1970s. He remains an active flight instructor
at Galvin Flying Services in Seattle, specializing in technically advanced
aircraft, simulator instruction, stall/spin/upset recovery training,
and aerobatics. In early 2004, Bruce left Microsoft to devote full time
to his consulting company, BruceAir, LLC (www.BruceAir.com), which develops
training materials, provides flight training, and offers multimedia presentations
on a variety of topics for pilots and flight instructors.
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New Developments in Aviation:
History in the Making
The FAA recently announced the national roll-out
of Automatic Dependence Surviellance-Broadcast, or ADS-B as a key
technology that will drive the future air traffic control system
for the nation.
This is good news in Alaska, where ADS-B has
been tested and demonstrated in southwest Alaska since 2001. To
help pilots become more familiar with ADS-B and other elements of
the next generation air traffic control system, Randy
Kenagy, Director
for Strategic Planning at AOPA’s headquarters in Frederick, MD is
coming to ANE. He will explain the benefits of this new technology
for both IFR and VFR pilots in a presentation titled, WAAS and ADS-B:
What are they and why should I care? Kenagy will also participate
in a special four hour workshop on Thursday afternoon describing
these technologies with Leonard Kirk, UAA Aviation Technology
Program and Ken Ternada, Garmin USA.
We welcome to Alaska the new FAA Regional Administrator,
Mike Cirillo, who is just arriving to assume his
new job from a stint as the Vice President of FAA Air Traffic Organization
System Operations Services at headquarters in Washington, DC.
Cirillo will speak at the
opening session on Friday morning, followed by a special keynote section
on the Capstone Statewide Plan. A combination of FAA and Alaska
industry leaders will present the latest information on recent developments
at the state and national level that will change the aviation infrastructure
in Alaska over the next five years. You will have a chance
not only find out where these programs are today, but to participate
in the discussion.
Discussing the issues
There are changes in the wind which can impact general
aviation and either enhance or degrade our ability to fly. This
year’s Conference provide an opportunity for you to hear from, and
speak with a number of the people in government or industry who are
involved in developing our aviation infrastructure.
In addition
to the session Capstone, and ADS-B, are a two other opportunities
to look for.
The FAA is developing new IFR RNAV routes which
are entirely space based, with no ground based navigation aids required. Friday’s
session IFR RNAV Routes for Alaska will allow you to see what is
on the drawing boards, and have a chance to provide your input to
the ATC planners developing these routes.
On Saturday, a session
entitled Modernization of Flight Services in
Alaska: What do users want? Is scheduled to discuss changing some of the concepts of flight
service, based on changes the internet has already made. This is
a real opportunity to let the FAA know what you would like to see
with regrard to Flight Service.
Finally, on Saturday the Alaska
Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is moderating
a panel discussion, Future of Alaska’s Airports:
What do we need? This
is the kick-off of an update to the aviation system plan for Alaska,
which will grapple with issues which could determine how our airport
system is developed for years to come. Don’t miss these opportunities
to have a hand in the future of aviation in Alaska! |
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