In 1939, Franklin Roosevelt was the first sitting president to recognize GA, according to AOPA president Mark Baker. This year also marks the 85th anniversary of AOPA, an organization created to support GA.

The National Celebration of GA Flyover will be broadcast live on AOPA’s YouTube channel with commentary from longtime “AOPA Live This Week” host Tom Haines and journalist Miles O’Brien. The pair will be on a rooftop providing commentary as aircraft fly overhead. 

Haines noted that he’s spent a good bit of time researching the participant airplanes and was impressed to learn of their rich history.

Logistics

Mike Ginter, AOPA vice president of airports and state advocacy, will serve as the air boss for the event. Ginter said that all the aircraft will be strategically launched from Frederick Municipal Airport (KFDK) in Maryland—the home of AOPA—beginning at 11:30 a.m. EST on May 11. 

The aircraft will be expected to fly at 90 knots at an altitude of 1,000 feet, ensuring they are visible from the ground and online. 

“The goal is to get aviation outside of the airport fence lines,” Ginter said.

For those who won’t be in D.C., pilots are encouraged to organize watch parties at their airports.

Sixty aircraft, representing 20 different chapters of GA, are scheduled to participate. The aircraft and pilots, most of whom are the aircraft owners, were selected months ago.

Baker will be leading the parade, flying his Beechcraft Staggerwing 17, an aircraft synonymous with the golden age of aviation. The round-engine Staggerwing biplane was one of the first to feature an enclosed cockpit. In the 1930s, it was the choice for executive transport and air racers.

“It’s going to be a special time for AOPA and for general aviation,” Baker said. “What a sight it will be to see the history of general aviation flying over the National Mall, as GA has given this nation so much over the past many decades. AOPA is uniquely positioned to plan this complex event and execute it safely and professionally.”

Among the aircraft planned to appear are a WACO UPF-7, Douglas DC-3, a Grumman Albatross, one of the only two Beechcraft Starships still flying, a Robinson R44, and a Piper M700 Fury certified this year.

The flyover will also feature an appearance by the Titan Aerobatic Team.

Parade Route

Washington has some of the most restricted airspace in the country. More than 11 agencies, including the FAA, air traffic control, TSA, and U.S. Secret Service are coordinating for the event, which will include flight in Prohibited Area P-56. The restricted airspace was created after 9/11. 

The route takes the aircraft past the Lincoln Memorial, down Independence Avenue, and past the Washington Monument.

GA, By the Numbers

Parade aircraft were selected to showcase technological advancements in aviation and demonstrate the ways GA has improved its safety records over the years.

According to AOPA, the GA industry enjoys the safest record ever due to better aircraft, navigation systems, flight training, and better, more engaging ways to stay proficient. General aviation aircraft fly more than 26 million flight hours each year, including about 30 million takeoffs and landings.

AOPA officials said they hope the event will help spread the word that general aviation often comes from small towns with small aircraft manufacturing facilities, such as Yakima, Washington; Vacaville, California; and Vero Beach, Florida. 

More information on the event, route, and planned aircraft can be found on AOPA’s GA Flyover campaign website.

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The FAA has issued an airworthiness directive (AD) for certain Robinson Helicopter models: R22, R22 Alpha, R22 Beta, R22 Mariner, R44, R44 II, and R66 because of problems in the field involving the tip cap of the tail rotor blade.

According to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), the AD (FAA-2023-2232) was developed after three field reports about TRB tip caps coming loose due to corrosion at the bond on Robinson Helicopter Co. (RHC) Model R44. The incidents occurred during a run-up check, after landing, and during landing on different helicopters.

The similarity of the TRB caps on other Robinson Helicopter models resulted in the expansion of the AD beyond the R44 as a precaution.

According to RHC, there have also been reports of TRBs that have “corroded to an unserviceable condition, including severe leading-edge pitting and degradation of the bond at the tip cap.”

Affected TRBs were factory-installed or shipped as spares before November 2022. 

Compliance with the AD requires visually checking and inspecting certain part-numbered and serial-numbered TRB tip caps for evidence of corrosion and, depending on the result, removing the corrosion. The AD necessitates removing all affected TRBs from service and prohibits the installation of them on any helicopter.

The FAA estimates the cost of compliance with the AD will be $85 per hour. Visual checks of the TRBs will take approximately 0.25 work hours for an estimated cost of up to $22 per helicopter cycle.

The FAA also estimates the AD will affect about 2,701 helicopters in the United States.

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We’ll be flying with the doors off for a photo mission around Oahu—that’s photographers Jim Barrett and Stephen Yeates and I—and we’re entrusted with keeping our camera equipment safely inside the helicopter and out of the tail rotor of the pretty beast. I get to sit up front with Battjes in the left seat with a panoramic view ahead. After a week and a half of flying around the islands in Barrett’s Cessna 210 for an upcoming feature on flying Hawaii for the print edition, I’m still excited to see the island from this new perspective.

A Rainbow Fleet

Battjes moved to Honolulu about 11 years ago, and launched Rainbow Helicopters with a single Robinson R44 and the “spirit of aloha” so vital to life in Hawaii. “We seek diversity in our team and celebrate it in our customers,” says the company’s website—and we felt it throughout our visit, from the moment we were welcomed with beautiful, fragrant leis to the care with which we said goodbye after sunset photos on the ramp. 

After 11 years in business, the fleet has grown to encompass six R44s—used both for scenic tours and a little bit of flight instruction—and two AStars also flying tours, private charters, and custom trips like ours.

“I chose the AStar due to its high useful load, powerful Arriel 1D1 Safran engine, and floor to ceiling views for guests to enjoy extraordinary tours of our beautiful island home,” says Battjes. “I decided to buy a second one in order to ensure we could offer the 6-seat platform at all times, even when one is in maintenance. And of course, to meet the post-covid demand of tourism in Hawaii!”

Typical flights include the “Royal Crown of Oahu” tour, which takes a circular route around the island of Oahu, starting with a low pass offshore past Honolulu’s famed Waikiki Beach and turning past Diamond Head, Koko Head, Waimanalo Beach, and Kaneohe Bay. From there, tours circle around Sacred Falls, and Kahuku, then turn south to check out the waves pounding the North Shore. Before reaching Dillingham Field (PHDH), the flight turns south-southeast to cross the base at Wheeler Army Airfield (PHHI) and Wahiawa and returns to PHNL with a view of Pearl Harbor and Ford Island, where the USS Arizona still rests in memoriam.

Safety Focus

The helicopter tourism industry in Hawaii has fallen under scrutiny over the years, including an accident on the Na Pali Coast on December 26, 2019. Among the “most wanted” cited by the NTSB for Part 135 operators in recent years has been the adoption of safety management systems (SMSs).

Battjes is a board member for Helicopter Association International, and she takes safety seriously. In fact, we delayed our photo mission until the last day of our trip, as the team was busy in the prior days with SMS training—a step up in maintaining a conscientious operation that Battjes and the team take to heart. “We are an ‘active participant’ in the FAA’s SMSVP (SMS Voluntary Program),” says Battjes, “which means we voluntarily comply with Part 5 of the FAA’s regulations.”

In addition to the thorough preflight briefing we had in the office—conducted both by video and in person with a member of the Rainbow Helicopters team—we went through reinforcement as we approached the AStar and climbed on board. 

The cockpit of the AStar is optimized for the mission—for obvious reasons, the tours are flown VFR. With grumpy weather haunting the islands over the previous weekend, we had our collective fingers crossed that we’d be able to get in our flight. It turns out, we made it around for the full circle tour of Oahu I described before. We tooled around a waterfall up in the heights north of Punaluu, and chased rainbows—literally—as we came across the Dole pineapple fields on our way back into PHNL.

The AStar performs the mission almost perfectly, according to Battjes—its capabilities make the tour optimal as far as its overall speed and maneuverability. Operating costs are reasonable—and many tour operators use the mount, so finding pilots, recurrent training, and service isn’t too big of a challenge, even on the remote Hawaiian Islands. 

Rainbow Helicopters also provides lift for photography and videography, and has a gimbal-mounted system for providing a unique vantage point for capturing the islands’ beauty for business or recreational pursuits.

A Royal Crown of Oahu tour takes about an hour, and costs $375 per person, while private charters—including a Proposal Flight—cost from $2,100 and up. Discounts are available on the website.

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