Fast Facts Supplement
Oct. 12, 2001

DOD AUTHORIZATION BILL INCLUDES THREAT TO WARBIRDS;
WE NEED YOUR HELP

A version of the DoD Authorization Bill (Senate Bill S.1438) recently passed by the Senate and headed towards a House/Senate conference committee includes language that could be used to demilitarize former military aircraft.

The portion of the bill in question is intended to provide the Department of Defense with the capability to seize or destroy equipment (computers, helicopters, tanks, machine guns) that is inappropriately entered into the civilian inventory. There is concern in the warbird community that the language is so vague that it could be applied to existing warbird aircraft in the hands of private owners. Though it is not the intention of either the House or the Senate to use the legislation as a tool to seize, dismantle or disable privately owned aircraft, the current language of the bill makes this a possibility.

Just last year, the House considered similar legislation and received a flood of phone calls, e-mail and letters from warbird owners and enthusiasts concerned about the possible impact of the new legislation. Ultimately, the House opted not to pursue the legislation.

Consequently, congressional insiders have suggested that it will be most effective for warbird owners and air show enthusiasts to approach the Senate. To help make it clear that this language should be changed before the law leaves conference committee and makes its way to the President's desk, ICAS urges all of its members -- whether or not you own a warbird aircraft -- to immediately call the appropriate senators and urge them to change the language of the bill so that it specifically exempts warbird aircraft -- both World War II aircraft and post-World War II aircraft -- from the provisions for dismantling and disabling. Conference committee work has already begun and the group is expected to recommend its changes to the legislation next week.

ICAS members should direct their phone calls to: Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, telephone 202-224-6361); James Inhofe (R-OK, long-time general aviation advocate and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, telephone 202-224-4721); Senator Carl Levin (D-MI, Chairman, Senate Armed Services Committee, telephone 202-224-6221); and Senator John Warner (R-VA, Ranking Member, Senate Armed Services Committee, telephone 202-224-2023).

There are often legislative and regulatory issues that effect us, but which we are unable to influence. THIS IS NOT ONE OF THEM. Your phone calls today or early next week have the potential to stop this potentially damaging legislation. WE NEED YOUR HELP.

AIR SHOWS PROCEED DESPITE CONTINUED AIRSPACE RESTRICTIONS

With ICAS working closely with the FAA at the national level and individual air show event organizers seeking -- and getting -- accommodations from local flight standard and air traffic control personnel, the air show community is carrying on and making progress despite obstacles that would have been considered insurmountable just a few weeks ago.

Though air shows in other-than-enhanced Class B airspace have been cleared to fly for several weeks, it was not until early October that the FAA and the air show community developed workable solutions for conducting air shows in the still heavily restricted enhanced Class B space.

For many, the resumption of the air show schedule -- even with a significant number of cancellations -- represents a modest victory in the battle to return to normalcy and an important starting point for a successful start to the 2002 air show season.

TWO MONTHS FROM TODAY

Two months from today, several hundred ICAS members will be wrapping up the 33rd annual ICAS Convention. Indications right now are that the convention will be very successful despite the terrorist attacks of September 11. Pre-registrations are 18 percent ahead of pre-registrations at the same time for last year's record breaking convention. Hotel reservations have increased nearly 40 percent since September 10. And the exhibit hall is sold-out for the fifth consecutive year with just one cancellation in the four weeks since the terrorist attacks. If you're involved in the air show business, the ICAS Convention is STILL the place to be. We look forward to seeing all of you in December in just nine weeks.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NOT YET REGISTERED, THE EXTENDED DEADLINE FOR REGISTERING AT THE $350 RATE IS TODAY AT 5:00 P.M. EDT. WE'VE ATTACHED A REGISTRATION FORM FOR YOU TO USE.

MAPLE LEAF FORUM SCHEDULED FOR AFTERNOON OF SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9

Canadian ICAS members will once again have an opportunity to discuss Canadian air show issues during a special Maple Leaf Forum scheduled for the afternoon of Sunday, December 9 at the Coronado Springs Hotel in Orlando. Topics already scheduled to be discussed include proposed new security guidelines for air shows in Canada, Revenue Canada issues, a Nav Canada update, ongoing efforts to deconflict the Snowbirds schedule in 2003 and beyond. Canadian members with additional issues that they would like to see addressed during this session are urged to contact ICAS headquarters.

STILL ON

The following events have confirmed that they are still planning to hold their events: Yuba-Sutter Air Expo, scheduled for October 13 in Marysville, California; the Great Bend (KS) Air Show, scheduled for October 13-14; East Texas Yamboree Airshow and Fly-In, scheduled for October 19 in Gilmer,Texas; Wings over Houston, scheduled for October 20-21; Ft. Worth/Alliance International Air Show, scheduled for October 20-21 in Ft. Worth; Sertoma Cajun Air Festival, scheduled for October 27-28 in Lafayette, Louisiana; Celebrate Freedom Festival, scheduled for November 3-4 in Columbia, South Carolina; Sea and Sky Spectacular, scheduled for November 3-4 in Jacksonville, Florida; Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show, scheduled for November 9-10 in Pensacola, Florida; Wings and Waves, scheduled for November 10-11 in Daytona Beach, Florida; and the Stuart Air Show, scheduled for November 10-11 in Stuart, Florida.

MASON KILLED WHILE FROST FLYING

ICAS member Jeremy Mason was killed early on the morning of Sunday, September 30 near Centralia, Ontario while "frost flying" to prevent icing on produce. A new member and aspiring air show performer, Mason flew a Pitts and was putting the finishing touches on a customized monoplane with a Russian radial engine. The cause of the accident is under investigation by Canadian regulatory authorities.

YECK PASSES

ICAS member Gordon Yeck, a warbird enthusiast, air boss and event organizer from Virginia, died recently after a brief illness.

JULIE CLARK AND HER RUN IN WITH THE FEDS

The latest indication that the American people are a bit on edge had an air show twist to it. Last week, air show pilot Julie Clark went up for a test flight to check out new injectors in her smoke system. After circling once over the city of Folsom, California at approximately 1,500 feet AGL, Julie was satisfied that the smoke system was working as it was supposed to and she headed back to Mather Airport near Cameron Park.

According to Julie, she'd been on the ground for about an hour when a dozen police cars pulled up near her T-34. Police officers and FBI agents got out of their cars, guns drawn, and asked if she was the owner of the T-34 and whether or not she had been dropping a substance out of her plane over Folsom. Understandably rattled as several men in HazMat suits approached her plane, Julie tried to explain what smoke oil is and what she had been doing on her brief test flight. The men in the bright yellow suits extracted a sample of the smoke oil in a syringe, quickly tested it and announced that it was not a dangerous substance.

The incident was covered in the local Sacramento Bee newspaper the next day. Several days later, a reporter from the Bee called to confirm that they had subsequently figured out who Julie Clark is and what she was doing on her test flight. They've promised a promotional feature article on the air show pilot who has based her 15-year air show career around the theme of patriotism.

International Council of Air Shows, Inc. 751 Miller Drive, Suite F-4 Leesburg, Virginia 20175 Phone: 703-779-8510, E-mail: 703-779-8511 E-mail: icas@airshows.org, Website: www.airshows.org