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Marcos Municipal Airport through 2020. GENERAL AVIATION General aviation is defined as the portion of civil aviation which encompasses all facets of aviation except commercial and military operations. To determine the types and sizes of facilities that should be planned to accommodate general aviation activity, certain elements of this activity must be forecast. These indicators of general aviation demand include: ~ Based Aircraft ~ Based Aircraft Fleet Mix ~ Local and Itinerant Operations ~ Annual Instrument Approaches ~ Aviation Peaking Activity NATIONAL TRENDS By most statistical measures, general aviation recorded its fifth consecutive year of growth. Following more than a decade of decline, the general aviation industry was revitalized with the passage of the General Aviation Revitalization Act in 1994 (federal legislation which limits the liability on general aviation aircraft to 18 years from the date of manufacture). This legislation sparked an interest to renew the manufacturing of general aviation aircraft due to the reduction in product liability and a renewed optimism for the industry. The high cost of product liability insurance was a major factor in the decisions by many American aircraft manufacturers to slow or discontinue the production of general aviation aircraft. According to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), aircraft shipments and billings grew for the fifth consecutive year in 1999, following fourteen years of annual declines. In the first three quarters of 1999, general aviation aircraft manufacturers shipped a total of 1,692 aircraft, 13.4 percent higher than the same period in1998. Shipments of piston aircraft and jets were up 10.8 and 26.2 percent, respectively. Turboprop shipments increased 14.8 in 1998 and 8.6 percent through the first three quarters of 1999. Both the number of active pilots and student pilot starts were up in 1998. Total active pilot numbers increased by 3.5 percent in 1999 over 1998, eclipsing the 0.3 percent gain the previous year. For 1999, student pilot starts increased for the third consecutive year, increasing by 4.4 percent over 1998. These student pilots are the future of general aviation and are one of the key factors impacting the future direction of the general aviation industry. Since most pilot training activities are conducted using general aviation aircraft, the increases in new pilot starts and increases in advanced training discussed above are one of the primary reasons for the resurgence in general aviation over the past years. These increases combined with the increases in piston-powered aircraft shipments and aircraft production are tangible evidence of the resurgence of the industry and that many of the industry initiated programs to revitalize 2-6