Upcoming Events

• 8 Sep 2010 - Cookout / Meeting at ORH 6:30 pm - Massport airport update

Complete calendar of events...

Worcester Airport transfer to Massport completed

George Clark writes: ... At a signing ceremony this morning, Governor Deval Patrick, Lt. Governor Tim Murray, Worcester City Manager Michael V. O'Brien, Chairman of Massport Board Dr. John A. Quelch, FAA Regional Administrator Amy L. Corbett and Congressman James P. McGovern formally signed over ownership of Worcester Airport from the City of Worcester, to the Massachusetts Port Authority - Massport. During the press conference no specific details of any changes were mentioned. Everyone spoke of the promising future. Dr. Quelch emphasized that Massport are not just owners, but see themselves as Stewards of Worcester Airport.

• Dr. Quelch speaks on Massport stewardship of Worcester Airport.:

Click here to read more...

FCC potentially grounds aircraft with 121.5 MHz ELT on 8/16/2010

George Clark writes: ... The FCC issued proposed rules on June 15th that will outright ban the use of 121.5 MHz ELT transmitters effective 60 days from publication - August 15th 2010.

The amended rule simply states:

§ 87.195 Prohibition of 121.5 MHz ELTs.
   The manufacture, importation, sale or use of 121.5 MHz ELTs is prohibited.

AOPA is opposing the rules

Click here to read more...

WWII Aircraft arrive at ORH

George Clark writes: ... With a gusty crosswind early this afternoon, three WWII aircraft arrived at ORH, beginning a 3-day visit with tours and rides available. The picture below is of the B17 Flying Fortress on final for runway 29 at Worcester. More photos will be posted to a gallery here shortly. And click the "read more" link for a photo of the B24

Update: Gallery now posted - See PhotoGallery2009x09x29x0

The visit is part of the Collings Foundation Wings of Freedom Tour. They will be at ORH from 9/28-9/30

Click here to read more...

The end of an era - the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission

George Clark writes: ... With the recent signing of the Massachusetts Transportation Reform Legislation, the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission has been eliminated, and is incorporated into the Department of Transportation. The MAC has been a strong advocate of airports and aviation in Massachusetts. Hopefully the new Division of Aeronautics within the DOT will continue it's strong support of Aviation.

Thanks to Gregg Andrews for passing along the news to WAPA.

Click here to read more... a copy of the the e-mail from Chris Willenborg, Executive Director of the MAC.

Wapa News - April 2009

George Clark writes: ... News from WAPA. The WAPA nominating meeting for officers and the BoardOfDirectors was held prior to the FAA Safety Seminar on April 1st, 2009. Detailed minutes from the meeting are available to WAPA Members at WapaSecure.MeetingMinutes2009x04x01

Highlights:

• Dues have been reduced to $25/year
• May meeting is our Annual meeting. We'll have a movie night for entertainment.
• A Porsche event is planned at ORH - tentative date June 12th.
• EMAS will be installed at the approach end of Runway 11 later this year.

How do I find out more about the new Wings Program?

Go to the FAA FAASTeam web site. http://www.faasafety.gov/spans/

Where do I find out about the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS)?

ASRS is online at http://asrs.arc.nasa.gov/ Have a look at the "Callback" newsletter while you are there, and print out one of the ASRS incident report forms to keep in your flight bag.

• And What was that beeping noise again???

What do you want to ask the new ORH Director?

George Clark writes: ... We had a good meeting in February and an opportunity to meet the new Airport Director at Worcester - Andrew Davis. Andy took time to go over his impressions and thoughts after his first 30 days. He talked about his plan for the upcoming months. As you can expect it will take some time to meet all the stakeholders. His 6 month plan - spend 3 months on orientation, meeting people, etc. Then put together a specific action plan.

We agreed to solicit area pilots and members for their opinions, issues, concerns and suggestions. We want to get this to Andy over the next couple of weeks, and he agreed to address them in a more formal presentation at our March 4th meeting.

So member or not, please put some thought into the survey at: https://survey.worcesterapa.org/orh.survey (Depending upon your browser, you might get a security warning. You can safely bypass it, WAPA uses a free security certificate not accepted by many browsers.)

WAPA members can discuss this on the unicom mailing list. unicom@worcesterapa.org

If you want to respond by email, you can direct your replies to feedback@worcesterapa.org.

Click here to read more...

Meetings changing to Wednesdays

George Clark writes: ... As of January 2009, the WAPA meetings will move to Wednesday evenings. The primary reason for the change is to accommodate the Thursday evening commercial service at ORH. We will not have access to the terminal on Thursday evenings.

Click here to read more...

-- GeorgeClark - 29 Apr 2005