JANUARY 15, 2007, DEAR SUPPORTER OF CALIFORNIA AIRPORTS:
The City of Watsonville's City Manager and Development Department working with developers have plans to build in Watsonville Airport's runway protection zones. This will create new noise and safety problems. Building in these areas will cause severe restrictions, then closure of runway 8-26 (the east-west runway). The viability of Watsonville Airport will be permanently damaged by the proposed development in the Buena Vista area. But bad or no planning is not just involved with the Buena Vista area, but all around the Airport. The consensus is that the General Plan update just adopted (and future specific planning) is the beginning of the end of Watsonville Airport.

Watsonville Pilots Association (WPA) has participated in the "planning process" for a number of years. The goal of achieving responsible airport land use planning has been rejected. The City has adopted the developers' plans.

The final adoption of the EIR and updated General Plan 2030 by the City Council spelled the end of any more input on planning. Others who are objecting to the proposed Buena Vista development plans in the General Plan update are: the California Pilots Association, the Farm Bureau, a local resident organization called the Friends of Buena Vista, and the Sierra Club. California Pilots Association's opinion: "We are tired of your [City of Watsonville] bad decisions, and we are no longer going to stand by and let you make more".

The Watsonville Pilots Association has initiated legal action to prevent building in the protection zones. The goal is responsible airport land use planning that complies with State laws and reflects the basic intent of the California Airport Land Use Planning Handbook.

On behalf of the Watsonville Pilots Association we need your help to insure the future of Watsonville Airport. We now need your financial support for this worthy fight. We are asking for substantial contributions to our legal fund. Attorneys involved with the legal action estimate the chances of success are 90-10 in our favor. Your contribution will be posted onto a confidential list so that funds can be returned, if it is ruled that the defendant (City) must pay legal costs. Also, since this will be a 9 to 12-month fight we encourage a pledge so that we can plan our efforts. You may include a pledge with your check. Or a pledge can be e-mailed to: h.zamora@sbcglobal(dot)net.

Contributions to the legal fund should be sent to: WPA c/o Hal Zamora, 137 Falmouth Ct., Aptos, CA 95003. Make check payable to: WPA. In the memo section of the check, specify "legal fund". If you have any questions call Dan Chauvet at 831-724-8256 or Hal Zamora at 831-687-0719.

MARCH, 2008 FAA ISSUES FINAL RULE ON PLASTIC PILOT CERTIFICATES---Requires Changeover By March 2010. When it comes to the question of "paper or plastic?" the FAA has given its final answer. This week, the FAA released its final rule on the matter, announcing the required switch to plastic pilot certificates by March 31, 2010. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association states its members "overwhelmingly" supported the move, when the FAA first proposed the matter in 2005. In addition to being far more durable than traditional paper certificates, the plastic cards also offer greater resistance to counterfeiting. Temporary, student, and flight instructor certificates are not impacted by the change. Those with nonpilot certificates -- such as ground instructors, flight engineers, and mechanics -- will have three additional years to change over to the plastic certificate. Those pilots with a particular attachment to their paper certificates, or the original issuance date (the plastic certificate will have a new one,) will still be able to keep their paper certificates -- they just won't be able to use them to fly. Pilots may request the plastic certificate through the FAA’s website, at a cost of $2. That fee will be waived, however, if you change your pilot certificate number to your Social Security number, according to the pilot advocacy group. AOPA notes pilots might want to wait a few weeks before requesting their new certificates, as the FAA is currently processing replacement certificate for pilots who fly internationally to meet the "English proficient" endorsement required by the International Civil Aviation Organization. If pilots should miss the 2010 deadline, they won’t have to take a checkride or any exams to get back in the air as pilot in command; they'll simply need to request the plastic certificate... but until they receive their new certificates, those pilots won't be able to fly as PIC

OCTOBER 25, 2007, PILOT CONTROLLED LIGHTING NOW WORKING AT RHV From Reid-Hillview Airport: It gives us great pleasure to announce that the Pilot Controlled Lighting (PCL) system at RHV is finally up and operating. Although installed a couple years ago as part of another project, the system had to remain offline until the FAA completed a recent project to replace the Runway End Identifier Lights (REILs). ...the REILs will turn on when the PCL system activates the runway and taxiway lighting. This information won't show up in FAA pubs, Jepps or other charting systems until December 20th, but the RHV ATCT will put the info on the ATIS so pilots will know to activate the system to turn on the lights when the tower is closed (2200-0700 Local). The tower will of course continue to turn the lights on during darkness or IFR conditions when they are open. As already indicated on the recently published pilot handout for RHV, five clicks of the mic on the CTAF frequency (119.8) will activate the runway and taxiway lights to a medium intensity, and the REILS should also come on at medium. We hope you find the PCL easy to use and we ask for your feedback if you encounter problems with the new system.

CALIFORNIA FLYING !!. For the best destinations in California check out the California Flying section of the WPA Newsletter. Updated almost monthly, this list gives you a heads-up on what's happening in California. Click on the Newsletter Archives link above or click here. Enjoy!!

WPA's REGULAR WEDNESDAY NIGHT MEETING BEGINS AT 7 PM. It's usually scheduled for the last Wednesday of each month except no meetings in May or December. Regular meeting place: the WAEC Building, 60 Aviation Way, Watsonville Airport. All visitors and guests are welcome. Refreshments will be served.

EAA CHAPTER 119's REGULAR TUESDAY NIGHT MEETING BEGINS AT 7:30 PM. It's usually scheduled for the first Tuesday of each month except no meeting during Oshkosh week. Regular meeting place: the WAEC Building, 60 Aviation Way, Watsonville Airport. All visitors and guests are welcome. Refreshments will be served.