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About
IAOPA
The International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations (IAOPA) is a nonprofit federation of
69 autonomous, nongovernmental, national general aviation organizations. IAOPA has represented international general aviation for more than
50 years.
The combined total of individuals represented by these constituent member groups of IAOPA is over 470,000 pilots, who fly general aviation aircraft for business and personal transportation. General aviation is defined by
ICAO
as "All civil aviation operations other than scheduled air services and non-scheduled air transport operations for remuneration or hire."
IAOPA Objectives
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To facilitate the movement of general aviation aircraft internationally, for peaceful purposes, in order to develop friendship and understanding among the peoples of the world and to increase the utility, of the general aviation airplanes as a means of personal and business transportation;
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To coordinate with other international and national organizations to promote better understanding of general aviation's requirements and further the interests of the membership;
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To integrate the views and requirements of member organizations with regard to international standards, recommended practices, procedures. facilities and services for international general aviation, providing forums as appropriate for meetings of representatives of the member groups;
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To advance the interests of general aviation internationally and to represent the membership on matters of interest to general aviation at pertinent meetings of the International Civil Aviation Organization,
WMO, ITU, EEC, etc.;
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To encourage the implementation of planned systems, facilities, services and procedures in order to promote flight safety, efficiency and utility in the use of general aviation aircraft;
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To encourage representatives of national general aviation member groups to meet with and work with their national authorities in the interest of promoting better understanding, enlightened regulation and adequate facilities for general aviation;
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To encourage the collection from ICAO Contracting States and dissemination by ICAO of information, data and statistics relating to general aviation to provide a meaningful base for development of technical programs.
www.iaopa.org
About
AOPA South Africa
President
Paul
Kruger
, leader of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek and after whom South Africa’s
world famous Kruger National Park as well as
Kruger
Rands
are named lived by the credo “Take from the past the good and build the
future on it.”
South
Africa was one of the five founding fathers of IAOPA in 1956 and in 1992 even
hosted the international assembly of the organization. Yet in later years AOPA
in South Africa foundered to the point where it had all but ceased to exist.
Now, we are glad to report, AOPA is back, carrying the flag of general aviation
not only in South Africa but across the entire dark continent.
It
is interesting to note that IAOPA (originally ICAOPA) was founded in 1956 by the
USA, Australia, the Philippines, Canada and South Africa and that not one
European country had played a role in this significant event. To this day it is
believed that South Africa has the world’s third largest general aviation
fleet, after the USA and Australia, with some ten thousand aircraft on the
register. The country also had a very strong air force with a proud tradition
and history. These facts played a large role when it was decided to host the
International Assembly in Johannesburg in 1992 and several hundred delegates
from all over the globe attended this successful convention, some even arriving
by private jet.
Some
of the early pioneers of AOPA South Africa were
Guill
Marais
,
Wally
Seymore
and
Hendrik
Pistorius
and
Josh
Haldeman
, a Canadian.
Josh
was on the African leg of his round the world flying safari in a Bellanca tail
dragger when he overflew a small dirt strip near Pretoria, South Africa’s
capital city, liked what he saw, landed and stayed for the rest of his life.
This dirt strip later became Wonderboom Airport which served as the spiritual
home for AOPA SA and in fact still does. AOPA through the activities of
Guill
Marais
was responsible for much of the development of Wonderboom.
Despite
all of the successes, something happened after the highlight of the
International Assembly in 1992 and AOPA slowly faded away. What happened was
that
Nelson
Mandela
became president in 1994 and led the country to democracy and a remarkable
transformation. With it came a change of the political and economic power base
of the country and the priorities of the new rulers. General aviation was
relegated to the back burner and even the air force dwindled to a shadow of its
former self. Membership of AOPA dwindled and the administration became
disheveled. Perhaps the very spirit of AOPA was broken.
Three
years ago we decided that enough was enough. 1994 is a long time ago now and
life goes on. Our forefathers paid dearly for this beautiful country and there
is no reason to allow everything we hold dear to be discarded on the
politicians’ trash heap. On the contrary, South Africa is a land with a
treasure house of cultural diversity and technological skills which is without
any doubt the potential saviour of this sad and wondrous continent. Our European
forefathers have lived here, through peace and war, with our African brethren
for the same period as the Americas have been colonised and our futures are
inextricably entwined. We have no other home, this is it and we have to make it
work.
AOPA
SA embarked on the new road, working with our members and the authorities,
claiming one small success after the other. Slowly but surely the signs of life
returned to organized general aviation. AOPA is represented on the regular
CARCOM meetings with our Civil Aviation Authority and fights all unfair and
illogical legislation and so far has been successful in all its endeavours. In
fact the CAA has come round to the view that legislation needs to be fair as
well as strict, and the best way forward is to work with AOPA SA.
To
this day the call sign of South African Airways, our national carrier, is
“Springbok” and the Springbok is also the emblem of our world champion rugby
team. Next time you hear the call sign “Springbok” on frequency in and
around the major hubs of the world, think about president
Kruger
’s credo and a small group of dedicated AOPA members keeping the spirit of the
Springbok soaring over the African savanna.
www.aopa.co.za
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