Re: AOPA Airport Directory

[Martin Bayer]

"Matthew P. Cummings" > wrote in message t>...
> On Mon, 30 Jun 2003 01:16:46 +0000, tom c wrote:
>
> > It's free to memebers on renewel and on thier web page
>
> But, it's not as old as this one is, it's a genuine antique. I suspect
> this is another one of those people taking advantage of simmers who don't
> know they can get the same info for free.

Dear Matthew,

your suspicion is wrong, and, to be honest, plain offensive. We
obtained this book second hand ourselves and were not aware this
information is available otherwise (BTW is it really 'free' for
everybody or just 'free' for dues paying AOPA members? In that case $5
might still be considerably cheaper than the alternative.). But even
if you can download the information electronically without joining
AOPA first at a cost, you still would have to spend money on cartriges
and paper to get a printout. As for being an antique, to the best of
my knowledge as an aerospace engineer vital airfield statistics, such
as for example longitude, latitude and altitude, don't really change
all that much over five years, so the information should still be
pretty useful.

Best regards,

Martin Bayer

[Wayne]

I was told that the AOPA Directory is to be used as a reference and that
that do not guarantee the accuracy. A typo could cause you some trouble. How
about you use that, together with an old sectional chart, and don't get the
weather and NOTAMS and take a flight to Meigs Field. Those X's areen't
anything to worry about.

You sound like you really didn't know so I see how you would get
offended. How many of them have you sold?


Wayne


"Martin Bayer" > wrote in message
om...
> "Matthew P. Cummings" > wrote in message
t>...
> > On Mon, 30 Jun 2003 01:16:46 +0000, tom c wrote:
> >
> > > It's free to memebers on renewel and on thier web page
> >
> > But, it's not as old as this one is, it's a genuine antique. I suspect
> > this is another one of those people taking advantage of simmers who
don't
> > know they can get the same info for free.
>
> Dear Matthew,
>
> your suspicion is wrong, and, to be honest, plain offensive. We
> obtained this book second hand ourselves and were not aware this
> information is available otherwise (BTW is it really 'free' for
> everybody or just 'free' for dues paying AOPA members? In that case $5
> might still be considerably cheaper than the alternative.). But even
> if you can download the information electronically without joining
> AOPA first at a cost, you still would have to spend money on cartriges
> and paper to get a printout. As for being an antique, to the best of
> my knowledge as an aerospace engineer vital airfield statistics, such
> as for example longitude, latitude and altitude, don't really change
> all that much over five years, so the information should still be
> pretty useful.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Martin Bayer

[Martin Bayer]

"Wayne" > wrote in message >...
> I was told that the AOPA Directory is to be used as a reference and that
> that do not guarantee the accuracy. A typo could cause you some trouble. How
> about you use that, together with an old sectional chart, and don't get the
> weather and NOTAMS and take a flight to Meigs Field. Those X's areen't
> anything to worry about.
>
> You sound like you really didn't know so I see how you would get
> offended. How many of them have you sold?
>
>
> Wayne


Wayne,

since I'm not a pilot myself, I have to admit your explanation above
went right over my head. My point is the book is an official directory
issued by AOPA (so any potential typos and the resulting consequences
would be the responsibility of AOPA), it's only five years old, and
the information contained therein may well be of interest to people
other than only pilots respectively AOPA members, e.g. for geography
students performing analyses and statistical evaluations related to
airfields on the basis of recent data.

We currently only have the one directory for sale, and that's still
available. If it doesn't sell, we'll eventually donate it to a book
thrift store. This forum simply appeared to be an appropriate place to
offer it, but it's sad that evidently some people regard the fact of
putting it up for sale alone as 'taking advantage'. Hony soit qui mal
y pense - after all, nobody's forced to buy it. BTW I just checked the
AOPA web site, and, just as I suspected, it appears you have to be a
dues paying member to access the directory electronically - so much
for the alledged 'free' download...

Best wishes,

Martin

[Wayne]

Yes, I checked too, once you log in, you are always logged in via cookie
so to people that logged in a year ago, it appears to be a free download
without login. It was an easy mistake for someone that wouldn't have any way
of knowing.
Wayne

> We currently only have the one directory for sale, and that's still
> available. If it doesn't sell, we'll eventually donate it to a book
> thrift store. This forum simply appeared to be an appropriate place to
> offer it, but it's sad that evidently some people regard the fact of
> putting it up for sale alone as 'taking advantage'. Hony soit qui mal
> y pense - after all, nobody's forced to buy it. BTW I just checked the
> AOPA web site, and, just as I suspected, it appears you have to be a
> dues paying member to access the directory electronically - so much
> for the alledged 'free' download...
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Martin

[Mark Kolber]

On 19 Jul 2003 13:13:33 -0700, (Martin
Bayer) wrote:

>(BTW is it really 'free' for
>everybody or just 'free' for dues paying AOPA members? In that case $5
>might still be considerably cheaper than the alternative.)

Not for pilots. The $35 AOPA membership buys a =lot= more value than
that book.

Mark Kolber
APA/Denver, Colorado
www.midlifeflight.com
======================
email? Remove ".no.spam"

[Martin Bayer]

> On 19 Jul 2003 13:13:33 -0700, (Martin
> Bayer) wrote:
>
> >(BTW is it really 'free' for
> >everybody or just 'free' for dues paying AOPA members? In that case $5
> >might still be considerably cheaper than the alternative.)
>
> Not for pilots. The $35 AOPA membership buys a =lot= more value than
> that book.
>
> Mark Kolber

Mark,

of course you're right, but as I pointed out before, there may well be
people *outside* the pilot community to whom the information contained
in the directory might be of interest, and who at the same time have
no additional incentive to join AOPA. Paying $5 for the book alone
would still be a notably better deal for them. Remember that this
forum is after all called "aviation marketplace" and not "pilot's
marketplace" - a perhaps small, but important distinction.

Best wishes,

Martin