FAA Head, Marion Blakey, Returns to AirVenture…
“I knew I couldn’t come back unless we had this rule out. This is going to be an important advance in aviation — it will encourage people to come into aviation.” — FAA Administrator, Marion Blakey. Blakey is no stranger to AirVenture, (she visited Oshkosh in ’03) but this trip will likely stand out as a highlight — at least for the gang down on the farm. The “Farm” is the ultralight encampment; an area that’s a stretch of the legs or a puttering shuttle ride away from the activities of AeroShell Square and show center. Blakey arrived in the FAA’s Gulfstream at nine a.m. Oshkosh time Thursday, and was greeted in true AirVenture style — ATC waved her pilot off when a plane that had just landed on Runway 9 couldn’t vacate fast enough. Regardless, her first stop was the EAA Sport Pilot Headquarters. The tent was filled with EAA and industry officials and a few sport pilot-hopefuls, all with welcoming words and glad tidings. There, Blakey gave the first of many comments and compliments about the new Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft category. I’m delighted to be back at Oshkosh, she said. Blakey repeated her Sport Pilot mantra often during the day. The new rule, she says, will make flying “available, affordable, accessible.”
