If ever there was a friend to the aerospace industry on Capitol Hill, it is Representative Todd Tiahrt (R-KS), a Republican leader on the powerful House Appropriations Committee and a candidate for the U.S. Senate in the 2010 elections.

   A 14-year employee of The Boeing Company in Wichita, Kansas (where he worked on aerospace projects including the Space Station, Air Force One, and the Comanche Helicopter), Tiahrt has served in Congress since 1995 and is a strong pro-business and pro-jobs advocate.

   Tiahrt spoke to NAA at its June 2010 Luncheon, where he outlined "five things we must do" to recover economically. They include:

   "If we did those five things we could recover in 10 months instead of 10 years," Tiahrt declared.

   The love of aviation in his family began with his grandfather, Cornelius Tiahrt, who emigrated from Germany and stood on his back step watching new airplanes take off from the nearby manufacturing plant in Kansas.

   When asked by an audience member if the current Supertanker RFP is fair, Tiahrt replied that it is not.

   "The concerns I have is there are five regulations that are waived for companies not based in America," he said. "The federal cost procuring standards - where you have to track costs and report them - are required of U.S. companies but not foreign companies."

   He added that time is of the essence in awarding the contract. "We cannot accept another delay in this contract," he commented. "There is a great need to get the tankers replaced."

   He also noted that "American and foreign suppliers are going to be working together and we need to have partnerships and rules that apply equally. It is so expensive in America to build things that we have to subsidize them to get them to stay local. We can't create an environment where it is too expensive to make things in America."

   Tiahrt spoke just days after a bill that would extend bonus depreciation for businesses that purchase general aviation aircraft in 2010 was introduced in the U.S. Senate.
   "We need another shot in the arm to sell more airplanes," he said, noting his support of the legislation. "It breaks my heart to see my friends and neighbors still laid off. We are hurting in the airline and aerospace industries."

ACSC Expands Scholarship Program
   The Aero Club of Southern California (ACSC) has expanded its college scholarship program. ACSC will award two annual scholarships of $5,000 each to students preparing for aerospace careers. The scholarships will be named for the late Jack Real and Bill Schoneberger, both former club presidents who were largely responsible for acquiring the Spruce Goose flying boat in the 1980s and using its revenue to found the scholarship program. The Marsha Toy scholarship program for high school students is unchanged. Learn more at www.aeroclubsocal.org.

Thomas Leonard, 87, shares
a laugh with his wife, Ann.

ACNC Event Honors Aviation Statesman
   Thomas E. Leonard, retired chairman of the San Jose State University Department of Aviation, was honored by hundreds of the program's graduates on May 29, 2010, during a special event co-sponsored by the department and the Aero Club of Northern California (ACNC). Leonard is a member of the ACNC Board of Directors and was named an Elder Statesman of Aviation by NAA in 2005.
   The occasion marked the 50th anniversary of the Aviation Department facilities at Mineta San Jose International Airport. Leonard, who joined the department faculty in 1946 and retired in 1985, was instrumental in establishing the airport facility - a complex of classrooms and a large hanger - where the celebration took place. The program will soon move into new facilities at nearby Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose. Learn more at www.aeroclubnorcal.org.

King Schools Founders to Address AAC Members

Martha and John King in the cockpit

  The featured speakers at the next Atlanta Aero Club (AAC) event, scheduled for July 15, 2010, are John and Martha King of King Schools. King Schools, Inc. is the world�s leading producer of aviation training videos and computer software. It was first established in 1974, when John and Martha began flying around the country to teach ground school courses. A decade later, they began producing video courses in a spare room of their house. Martha received NAA's Henderson Award in 2005.
   Today, King Schools has over 70 employees and an 18,000 square-foot complex that houses a dedicated video production and duplication facility. In the past 10 years, the King Schools has delivered more than 2.5 million videos, containing over 4 million hours of video instruction, which have taught half of the instrument students and more than one third of the pilots who have obtained training in the United States. Learn more at www.atlantaaeroclub.org.

Jack Pelton of Cessna Speaks
To Aero Club of Washington

Jack Pelton

   Jack Pelton, Chairman, President, and CEO of Cessna Aircraft Company, spoke at the Aero Club of Washington June Luncheon. In his speech at the June luncheon, He indicated the market in the business jet sector has stopped freefalling. "New orders are starting to come in again, cancellations have slowed, and flight hours are going in the right direction," Pelton observed. Nonetheless, he sees a slow recovery rather than a return to rapid growth. Discussing his role on Transportation Secretary LaHood's Future of Aviation Advisory Committee, Pelton (who chairs the subcommittee on "funding for aviation systems"), underscored the critical role of general aviation in the industry going forward. "General aviation provides a pipeline of pilots and other trained aviation personnel who are the lifeblood of the air transportation system," he said. Learn more at www.aeroclub.org.

Participating in the Cabot Award presentation
were (left to right), Award Recipient Joseph Gavin, Jr., ACONE President Georgia Pappas, Award Recipient Gene Kranz, and John G. L. Cabot - grandson of the late Godfrey L. Cabot.

ACONE Presents Cabot Award to
Joseph Gavin and Gene Kranz
   The Aero Club of New England presented the 2010 Godfrey L. Cabot Award to Joseph Gavin, Jr. and Eugene F. (Gene) Kranz on June 11, 2010 at the Seaport Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts. The award recognizes their critical roles in the Gemini and Apollo space programs that landed the first men on the moon.
   Over 175 people attended the luncheon and heard the riveting presentations, which described the series of decisions made to save the crew of the Apollo 13 flight. The audience was captivated by the powerful message, "Failure is Not an Option."
   The Godfrey L. Cabot Award is one of the most prestigious of American aviation awards presented annually by the Aero Club of New England since 1952 to individuals or teams who have made unique, significant and unparalleled contributions to foster, encourage and advance aviation and space flight. Learn more at www.acone.org.