Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
Encyclopedia
| Type | Not for profit |
| Founded | 1939 |
| Headquarters | Frederick, Maryland Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
| Membership | Individuals and companies |
| Field | Aviation Aviation Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:... advocacy |
| Number of Members | 400,000 (2007) |
| Key Personnel | CEO: Craig Fuller (since 1 January 2009) |
| Website | www.aopa.org |
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is a Frederick, Maryland
Frederick, Maryland
Frederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...
-based non-profit
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
political organization. Incorporated on 15 May 1939, AOPA's membership consists mainly of general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
pilots
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. AOPA exists to serve the interests of its members as aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
owners and pilots, and to promote the economy, safety, utility, and popularity of flight in general aviation aircraft.
With 414,000 members in 2009, AOPA is the largest aviation association in the world.
External links
- AOPA official site
- AOPA Air Safety Foundation
- General Aviation Serves America
- AOPA's Let's Go Flying
- Records of the AOPA at the Hagley Museum and LibraryHagley Museum and LibraryThe Hagley Museum and Library is a nonprofit educational institution located in Wilmington, Delaware. Hagley Museum and Library collects, preserves and interprets the history of American enterprise.- Hagley Library :...