NAAA and Other General Aviation Industry and Congressional Leaders Meet at Wingnuts Flying Circus Airshow in Tarkio, Missouri

NAAA joined numerous other general aviation (GA) industry and congressional leaders for the biennial Wingnuts Flying Circus based in Tarkio, Missouri. The event is accurately billed as “The Greatest Little Airshow” and has garnered considerable fame due to it being organized by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman, Congressman Sam Graves (R-MO). Graves holds an aviation town hall meeting before each Wingnuts Flying Circus airshow held in the EAA hangar at the Gould Peterson Municipal Airport in Tarkio. Andrew Moore represented the NAAA as one of the aviation town hall’s panelists and emphasized the sacrosanct rule of smaller aircraft and drones providing right-of-way to larger manned aircraft, particularly as the FAA prepares to issue its proposed rule allowing drone operations to travel Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS). Moore also mentioned to policymakers and the audience that last year’s FAA Reauthorization bill includes statutory language in the BVLOS title of the bill that the FAA ensure the safety of manned aircraft in developing the rule, thanks to the help of Graves. Also brought forth in the town hall meeting was the need to ensure that ADS-B aircraft technology is used solely for air traffic deconfliction purposes and not for government or other entities to use for fee levying purposes or enforcement purposes, and that it protects the privacy of the aircraft owner.

Overall, the members of Congress and GA leaders, in addition to FAA Deputy Administrator Chris Rocheleau, were very optimistic about the state of aviation due to last year’s FAA Reauthorization—the first to have a title specifically for general aviation and due to the recently enacted One Big Beautiful reconciliation bill enacted earlier this month that includes billions of dollars for the overhaul of the nation’s air traffic control system. 

Also attending the aviation town hall and airshow was Air Tractor President Jim Hirsch.

The General Aviation (GA) Town Hall was attended by U.S. Representatives Trent Kelly (R-MS), David Rouzer (R-NC) and Sam Graves (R-MO); FAA Deputy Administrator Chris Rocheleau and Former FAA Administrator Dan Ewell; and aviation leaders with NAAA, NBAA, VAI, CAF, ICAS, NATCA, EAA, GAMA, AOPA and NATA.
NAAA member and Missouri ag aviation operation, Meyerkorth Aviation, had its Air Tractor (background) sharing Gould Peterson Municipal Airport with notable commemorative and aerobatic aircraft this past weekend in Tarkio, Missouri.

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