AOPA LAUNCHES AOPA ONLINE ON COMPUSERVE;
3,000 USERS SIGN ON IN FIRST TWO WEEKS OF OPERATION

July 26, 1995 -- FREDERICK, MD -- AOPA's new, improved AOPA ONLINE computer
network has moved to its new home on CompuServe. Some 3,000 members signed
on within two weeks of start-up and 200 new users are joining every day.

"We're delighted by this tremendous immediate response, even before most
members have the information or software for the system," said AOPA
president Phil Boyer. "AOPA ONLINE on CompuServe will be the largest
interactive online service anywhere dedicated solely to general aviation.
"

CompuServe representative Jeff Schalk termed AOPA ONLINE's early acceptance
"fantastic, nearly unbelievable for a start-up." Some 6,616 files from
AOPA ONLINE's aviation libraries were downloaded during the system's first
two weeks.

AOPA ONLINE offers 24-hour access to AOPA resources including assistance
from AOPA headquarters, AOPA briefings on developments in aviation,
electronic mail and forum discussions with other AOPA members, and
extensive libraries and searchable databases of the information pilots
often need.

Some 5,000 users of the old AOPA ONLINE system received free software in
early July to be ready to sign-on to AOPA ONLINE on CompuServe at
start-up.

Activity will explode as 75,000 software start-up discs reach selected AOPA
members with their August issue of AOPA PILOT magazine. Some 100,000
software start-up packages will be distributed by September.

Thanks to new CompuServe Information Manager software, the CompuServe
system is much more user friendly than AOPA's first ONLINE offering. A
simple click on the CompuServe AOPA WINGS icon welcomes you to pages and
pages of AOPA services and activities.

CompuServe also offers AOPA ONLINE users easy access to the Internet, the
World Wide Web, and more than 120 basic services. Included are news,
weather, airline schedules and booking, stock quotes, an encyclopedia, fax
service and home shopping. Also offered are 850 CompuServe forums, 2,000
CompuServe databases, 50 newspapers and eight newswire services.

Private electronic mail connects you to other AOPA members, pilots, three
million CompuServe subscribers, myriad international e-mail services, and
e-mail to 25 million addresses on the Internet.

Accessing AOPA ONLINE is easier, too. A local phone number connects you to
the system in most U.S. cities. It's also available in 150 countries
around the world--a major boon to overseas AOPA members unable to use
AOPA' s toll-free 800 telephone service.

AOPA ONLINE Open to All;
Special Services. Discounts for AOPA members

To attract new people to aviation, much of AOPA ONLINE will be open to all
of CompuServe' s three million subscribers. AOPA ONLINE offers them
information on learning to fly, listings of flight schools and designated
examiners, a special section on AOPA's Project Pilot mentoring program for
new student pilots, and a gallery of dramatic aviation photography.

But the best of AOPA ONLINE is for AOPA members: messaging communications,
interactive hangar sessions, live conferences with top government and
industry officials, and libraries of valuable data. AOPA ONLINE' s Forum
section is already an active place for pilots and aviation people to
exchange news and views.

A World of New Features

Libraries of valuable information include aircraft ownership and
maintenance, pilot training and certification, government and technical
issues, and airport, travel and safety tips. Key articles from past issues
of AOPA PILOT magazine are available for research.

Searchable databases list aircraft owners by N-number, aviation medical
examiners, Drake FAA written test locations, repair stations, designated
alteration stations, manufacturer maintenance facilities and much more.

Scheduled soon are data on fuel availability and price by airport,
airworthiness directives, and aviation weather. Accu-Weather and National
Weather Service weather maps, forecasts, and radar and weather depiction
charts are available now as part of basic CompuServe service.

Flight instructors have their own special AOPA ONLINE area called "CFI
Hangar Talk." It offers updates on the Project Pilot Instructor Program
and direct online communications with AOPA flight instructor advisor Ralph
Hood. Also online are the CFI Checklist newsletter and registration
information for Air Safety Foundation Flight Instructor Refresher
Clinics.

Other Air Safety Foundation data for ONLINE users range from daily accident
reports to safety training courseware and ASF Safety Seminar schedules
nationwide.

AOPA has added "The Aviation Store" to CompuServe's Electronic Mall of 130
on-line merchants from Land's End to J.C. Penney. Initially offering AOPA
insignia merchandise and Air Safety Foundation educational items from
Sporty's Pilot Shop, additional products and services will be added in the
near future.

Signing On

Current CompuServe subscribers can access AOPA ONLINE simply by typing GO
AOPA. Others can sign-on to CompuServe and AOPA ONLINE by calling
1-800-GO2-AOPA.

Subscribers pay $9.95 monthly for unlimited access to CompuServe basic
services plus $4.80 an hour for AOPA ONLINE or other "Extended Services."

For AOPA members only, the AOPA Forum portion of AOPA ONLINE is available
for $5.00 a month, unlimited usage. Those who plan to spend more than 62
minutes a month communicating with other pilots or with AOPA headquarters
should choose the discount $5.00 plan.

AOPA ONLINE was inaugurated as a proprietary system in 1993, and moved to
the CompuServe computer network July 1 this year to achieve wider access
and enhanced ease of use--especially for the non-expert computer user.

Established in 1979, CompuServe has long been the center of aviation
computer activity as the home of AVSIG, the Aviation Special Interest
Group.

For more information on AOPA ONLINE, call 1-800-USA-AOPA. For questions
about CompuServe, call 1-800-462-2672.

AOPA
421 Aviation Way
Frederick, MD 21701
301-695-2000
 
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