Originally Posted by
BarracudaHockey
I suspected that was the intent of the 12 pound limit, that and these rules were written when there were 2 or 3 options for sub 12 pound full house turbine planes.
I think there are many models available now that are sub 12 pounds dry, and they bring turbine flying to the average modeler that we (the AMA) need to find a way to accommodate them if that is what they want to fly, and that is what they can afford to fly.
About Turboprops. I see them quite a bit, but the guys currently flying them have jet waivers, either because thats what they also flew, or because that was the only route to a waiver at the time. TBH that's nice to provide that rating but I think thats a small sub-segment of a relatively small segment of the hobby. I think a lot more folks are or could be affected if the letter of the law is followed with the 12 pound limit than will ever be by the turbo prop waivers.
To be frank, I think my Avanti and Viper (both sub 12 pounds even wet) are more difficult to fly than my 25 pound 100n Havoc GTS will be. And both the Viper and Avanti are full house with flaps and retracts, neither are in the category of a P20 Funjet yet both fail to make the weight for a waiver flight.
Bob, how many JPO members are there right now?
One more set of musings. To me, knowledge of proper turbine operations, fire response, flight line safety, crash response, fuel handling etc are far more important to me as a turbine CD inspector (for lack of a better word) than how much the plane weighs.
Andy,
Currently, there are somewhere around 200 JPO members, that's out of 1800'ish waiver holders. As you know, you don't have to be a member of the JPO to be a waiver holder. We wish our membership was larger, of course, but it is what it is.
On the other hand, the JPO represents *all* of the jet community, not just JPO members - hence my asking for this information and discussion. We are the primary liason between the AMA (who has to represent over 200,000 members), and the relatively small jet community. We have been asked by the AMA about the 12 lb issue and what we think should be done about it.
With respect to the knowledge issue (which I agree with), we're working with a group of folks, both JPO members and non-JPO members, on a "recommended training syllabus" for the turbine waiver, and along with that will come training materials that can be used to convey that knowledge.
Bob