The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association held its annual member meeting earlier this week at the National Aviation Community Center in Frederick, Maryland, where it elected two new members to its Board of Trustees. The new trustees, Peter Burwell and Ryan Samples, were elected as part of an 11-member slate approved for one-year terms.
“This is a game of inches, I want to be clear,” AOPA Board of Trustees Chairman Luke Wippler said as the meeting opened. “We need all of our stakeholders pulling in the right direction. I recognize that we need to rebuild your trust.”
Acting Co-President Katie Pribyl briefed members on AOPA’s advocacy work, while Acting Co-President Jill Baker discussed the association’s finances. General Counsel Fernando Campoamor reviewed proposed bylaw changes announced in April and said member feedback remains open through 11:59 p.m. EDT on June 5 before a board vote expected this fall.
Burwell, an AOPA member for more than 15 years, flies fixed-wing and rotor aircraft, including piston and turbine types, and leads Burwell Enterprises with his two brothers. Samples, a nearly 30-year AOPA member who earned his private pilot certificate while in high school, founded BankOnIT and currently flies several aircraft, including a Beechcraft V35 Bonanza, Carbon Cub, Icon A5 and Cessna Citation CJ4.
