Essay Example on General Aviation
Throughout history, transportation had multiple varieties of choices to choose from. With the top choices now being land, air, and water. With aviation cutting down distances and times in between travels and even with it being the among the highest rated in safety and efficiency, it has taken on a huge role in our modern world. General aviation is the activity of civil aviation and operations that full under a wide branch of most aviation activity within the U.S which implies that ranging from uses with instruction, fertilize crops, enhancing law enforcement, and so much more. General aviation is a wide variety of jobs, roles, etc. with it representing 96% of all civil aircraft in the U.S. This shows how important general aviation is to our economy especially. With general aviation being the backbone of the aviation industry, the largest category, business flying, is constantly changing the map of the U.S. for the reason of industry wanting to move to smaller communities with those that are occupied with a general aviation airport.
The GA flying operation that draws me in the most is aerial application. This involves the “concerns of production with foods, fibers, and timber production and protection.” This is normally done by spraying chemicals or seeds from an aircraft. The business is an expensive one with specialized Ag aircraft costing several hundred thousand dollars each. The typical aircraft for spraying chemicals and best suited would be an Air Tractor. Referred to as the World’s Most Popular Ag Plane, the AT-502B, ranging around $1,090,000, comes with the ideal combination of payload and performance this plane allows you to make fewer trips with its 500-gallon payload. The best geographical location for the types of operation is in “California and the southern states where you’ll find the growing season to be the longest” compared to other regions, but you can also find pilots moving north following the crops if the weather allows (Avjobs, Inc). One example of a FAA regulatory restriction for an Ag pilot is “that the agriculture operator pilot possesses sufficient knowledge of the primary symptoms of poison” when it comes to dispensing chemicals and products.
One flight operation I find interesting is air racing. Air racing has been around since the first international meet of 1909 in France. Originally thought of to test and develop airplanes, it quickly caught the public’s attention and especially since many haven’t seen airplanes and especially air races. This helped lead to many advances made in flying with new designs and inventions. With races ranging from cross country races and the intense closed-coursed Red Bull air racing. The type of plane used for Red Bull races are highly aerobatic, for example the “high performance aerobatic plane such as the Zivko Edge 540” with a 420 degree per second roll rate and that reaches speeds up to 260 miles per hour. The races are performed all over the world and are approved by the FAA with courses and modifications with the only requirement is having a private or higher with a class rating for the plane that is being flown.
The operation that I find the most fascinating is public use but in terms of governmental aircraft. With such a variety in terms of jobs and uses, aircraft are designed in unique ways. With aircraft being fitted with firefighting apparatus allowing to drop water, chemicals, and fire retardant to help control forest fires. A good-sized portion of aircraft in this category include planes designed with the intent of scientific research measuring weather such as cyclones. The most common aircraft when it comes to weather reconnaissance is the Lockheed c-130. Equipped with weather instruments that can track and record data of atmospheric measurements to record cyclones or hurricanes. The best location for these types of operations can be found in most cities. With most cities using operations such as law enforcement and flight inspection, many places can fit for public use. An example of a FAA restriction on weather reconnaissance aircraft is that they are the only ones allowed to conduct missions within a Weather Reconnaissance Area.
General aviation in the United States is an ever-growing industry. With the COVID-19 pandemic setting back the GA industry, it is now recovering back to its normal state with an estimated of “$24 billion value in the market” (General Aviation Market). In terms of air transportation, general aviation had a huge impact with “210,000 general aircraft performing about 50 million airport operations” which compared to commercial still brought in an impressive yearly salary at “$47 billion” to the U.S. GDP (The Economic Impact Report of Civil Aviation on the U.S. Economy). With 80% of pilots who are certified “fly general aviation aircraft” and which it turn ends up supporting “1.2 million jobs” which is an impressive feat (Namowitz). In my opinion, general aviation is one of the most important industries in the U.S. for reasons including manufacturing, uses of aircraft, and the millions of jobs that it attaches to. If a city is limited in progress, general aviation is the thing to boost it forward and expand the market of the areas. This all helps lead to a strong booming economy that general aviation is at the beginning of.
