I pulled the NPRM from the FAA website. Relax. In
the introduction it states that this rule is for powered
aircraft only, specifically NOT for gliders or hot
air balloons.

Ian

At 03:30 27 October 2003, Scott Correa wrote:

'Vaughn' wrote in message
news
..
The following is from an AOPA post and I have no further
information yet.
I
assume that they are talking about eliminating 135.1(5)
which allows
nonstop
sightseeing flights within a 25-mile radius. This
is bread & butter for a
lot of soaring schools and would be a serious blow
to our sport.
Commercial
glider rides are also an avenue that introduces thousands
of people a year
to our sport, including myself. I assume that the
charity flight
restrictions would also crimp some club operations.

Someone please tell me I have this wrong.

Vaughn (a guy who loves to give glider rides)


FAA PROPOSAL WOULD SQUEEZE CHARITY FLIGHTS, SIGHTSEEING
OPS
An FAA notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published
this week would
likely shrink the pool of pilots able to help local
charities with
fundraising flights and, by the FAA's own admission,
drive hundreds
of small sightseeing operations out of business. The
proposal would
raise the minimum number of hours required for pilots
conducting charity
fundraising flights from 200 to 500, and remove an
exemption that allows
FAR Part 91 sightseeing flights within 25 nautical
miles of an airport.
Operators currently conducting flights under this
exception would then
be subject to the operational requirements of Part
135. 'This proposed
rule is a real slap in the face to Part 91 pilots
who contribute their
time and services to worthy causes, and to small businesspeople
just
trying to earn an income,' said Andy Cebula, an AOPA
senior vice
president.
'The FAA claims the change is for safety reasons,
but they provide no
safety data or statistics to justify the jump in flight
hours required
to conduct charitable fundraising flights.'




One would wonder if this would also spell the end to
the EAA Young Eagles
program. Our chapter has flown hundreds of kids and
that would be a great
shame.....

Scott.