The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association ( AOPA ) is a Frederick, Maryland -based American non-profit political organization that advocates for general aviation . AOPA's membership consists mainly of general aviation pilots in the United States. AOPA exists to serve the interests of its members as aircraft owners and pilots and to promote the economy, safety, utility, and popularity of flight in general aviation aircraft.
22-567: With 384,915 members in 2012, AOPA is the largest aviation association in the world, although it had decreased in membership from 414,224 in 2010, a loss of 7% in two years. AOPA is affiliated with other similar organizations in other countries through membership in the International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations (IAOPA). In 2015, AOPA was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at
44-605: A nonprofit with the mission "to honor the great achievers of aviation and space endeavors" and the first induction ceremony took place on 18 March 1965 at the San Diego Convention Hall. Although originally housed in the San Diego Air & Space Museum, the Hall of Fame was a separate entity with its own board of directors, until the two institutions merged in 1993. On 22 February 1978 arsonists destroyed
66-521: A proposal to create El Centro Cultural de la Raza in an effort to keep the building as a space for cultural production. The proposal was eventually denied by the San Diego city government, but Los Toltecas en Azatlán decided to remain and occupy the building until 1971, when the city agreed on another space for the proposed Chicano cultural center within Balboa Park. During the process of adding
88-787: Is a Streamline Moderne structure in Balboa Park in San Diego, California , that serves as the home of the San Diego Air & Space Museum . The building was built by the Ford Motor Company for the California Pacific International Exposition , which was held in 1935 and 1936. The Ford Motor Company built a total of five exposition buildings for the world's fairs. This is the last remaining structure. The building's architect
110-414: Is a mural depicting the history of transportation from the times of hunter-gatherers to 1935. The last panel of the mural was left open for the artist to depict his vision of the future of transportation after 1935, which is still visible today. Initially, Ford wanted the building to be a 200-foot tower, but with the building near the flight path of arriving planes at San Diego International Airport , it
132-431: Is an honor roll of people, groups, organizations, or things that have contributed significantly to the advancement of aerospace flight and technology, sponsored by the San Diego Air & Space Museum . Since its founding in 1963, over 200 individuals have been inducted into the hall, with new additions inaugurated at an annual gala. The International Aerospace Hall of Fame (IAHF) was incorporated on 27 September 1963 as
154-557: The Balboa Park Electrical Building, containing both the Air & Space Museum and the Hall of Fame. The blaze consumed the Hall of Fame's entire portrait gallery, incinerating more than 60 original paintings crafted to represent each inductee. Replacement of the portraits was overseen by the board of directors, who enlisted local artists and encouraged creative depictions of each figure in their era. Additionally,
176-552: The National Register of Historic Places , saving it from being destroyed. In 1968, the San Diego Parks and Recreation Department gave Chicano artist Salvador Roberto Torres permission to use the then-abandoned Ford Building as a studio for six months. Torres eventually invited other Chicano artists to the building and they eventually formed Los Toltecas en Azatlán . In 1970, Los Toltecas en Azatlán created
198-541: The San Diego Air & Space Museum . In September 2024, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) appointed Darren Pleasance as its sixth President and CEO. Pleasance, with extensive experience in aviation and business, is set to officially assume the role on January 1, 2025. The organization started at Wings Field in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania . On 24 April 1932, The Philadelphia Aviation Country Club
220-601: The President and CEO of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), Mark Baker, addressed concerns regarding the negative impact of increased customs fees on businesses in the Bahamas . These fees, which have been imposed on private aircraft flying into the region, have drawn criticism from the AOPA since the summer of 2024. Baker emphasized the potential risks to tourism and local economies, urging policymakers to reconsider
242-523: The board instructed the artists to include in each painting a representation of the figure's achievement, usually in the form of an aircraft or rocket, a practice which continues today. After the fire, $ 4.5 million was the set goal for the San Diego Aerospace Museum and Hall of Fame Recovery Fund, a sum met in large part through contributions from aviation corporations and foundations, donations from private citizens, and support from
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#1732787937798264-471: The building "The Palace of Transportation" to showcase exhibits related to transportation. When the 1936 exhibition concluded, the building was closed and was not available to the public until 1980, when the San Diego Air & Space Museum opened. With the building empty, the National Guard temporarily stored in it antiaircraft artillery, trucks, and searchlights. During World War II, Balboa Park
286-612: The building to the National Register, the San Diego City Council recommended it be used for a new home to the San Diego Aerospace Museum, now known as the San Diego Air & Space Museum. After its earlier location in the former Electric Building was burned down in a fire in 1978, the Ford Building was remodeled to house the museum at a cost of $ 8 million and opened on June 28, 1980. The museum uses
308-805: The fees to prevent a decline in aviation-driven tourism and business activity in the Bahamas. AOPA has several programs. AOPA sponsors its own Fly-In and open house in Frederick, Maryland. The yearly event started in 1991 with 125 aircraft. By 2001, the attendance grew to 760 aircraft. The event was cancelled for five years after the September 11, 2001 attacks and consequent airspace changes, but resumed in 2006. International Air %26 Space Hall of Fame 32°43′34″N 117°09′16″W / 32.7262°N 117.1544°W / 32.7262; -117.1544 The International Air & Space Hall of Fame
330-586: The government. Though the Museum and Hall of Fame had planned to reopen triumphantly on 17 December 1978, the 75th anniversary of the Wright Brother's first successful flight, delays in renovation and aircraft delivery forced continual postponement of the opening date for over a year. Finally, exactly two years after the fire, the Hall of Fame reopened on 22 February 1980 in the historic Ford Building . Ford Building (San Diego) The Ford Building
352-461: The west side. Also, a test track was set up down the hill behind the building where visitors could take one of the model autos for a test drive. By the end of the exhibition, 2.5 million people had toured the building and its exhibits. Ford donated the building to the city of San Diego at the exhibition's completion in November 1935. The city decided to extend the exhibition into 1936 and renamed
374-479: Was founded at Wings Field. The country club was the location of meetings of members that founded AOPA. AOPA incorporated on May 15, 1939, with C. Towsend Ludington serving as the first president. In 1971 the organization purchased Airport World Magazine , moving its operations to Bethesda, Maryland. On 1 October 2023, Senior Vice President of AOPA Air Safety Institute Richard McSpadden was killed in an aircraft accident near Lake Placid, New York . In November 2024,
396-556: Was lowered to 90 feet. The size of the building was also decreased to 60,000 square feet from the initially proposed 113,000 square feet. The site for the building was initially going to be near the Spreckels Organ Pavilion , but was later decided to be built in the Palisades area of the park. Construction took 11 months to complete. The main exhibit hall was a concrete plaster structure framed by steel. Ford
418-509: Was noted American industrial designer Walter Dorwin Teague . The building was styled to resemble a V8 engine . Overall, it consists of two different-sized circles in the shape of an "8", and in the courtyard of the larger circle, a large fountain is shaped like the Ford V8 logo. The lights in the courtyard ("Pavilion of Flight") are shaped like valves. Along the interior wall of the outer ring
440-406: Was renamed to Camp Kidd, to be used for U.S. Navy training, barracks, and hospital wards. The Ford Building was used for training mechanics in aircraft repair and welding from 1941 to 1946. Convair considered using the building for construction of B-24 Liberators until they realized the building was too small to fit the plane's extensive wingspan. From the late 1940s to the 1960s, the building
462-417: Was the exposition's principal exhibitor and invested $ 2 million in the 45,000-square-foot (4,200 m ), 296-foot (90 m) diameter building to showcase its vehicles and other forms of transportation. Throughout the exposition, Ford was assembling autos along the outer rings and used the courtyard area to display the latest-model automobiles. The newly assembled vehicles were rolled out the large doors on
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#1732787937798484-529: Was used for storage for both the Starlight Civic Opera and San Diego's Park and Recreation department. By this point the building was in poor shape and was recommended by a 1960 commission to be demolished. In the late 1960s, the building was used a temporary studio space for the Chicano artist group Los Toltecas en Azatlán. In 1973, several San Diego groups worked to get the building listed on
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