AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2012 - 51

allowed me to further develop my general aviation policy skills, which I am extremely excited to use in developing the Great Lakes aviation community.” Eastern Regional Manager Craig Dotlo earned a private pilot certificate and instrument rating in the 1970s, and was retained as the AOPA Northeast Regional Coordinator in 2002. Dotlo has collaborated with fellow GA community members on a variety of state legislative issues, including successful efforts to persuade states to adopt sensible tax policies that avoid undue burden on pilots and aircraft owners. Dotlo is also a veteran defender (and promoter) of local airports. The wild skies of the Alaskan frontier have been home to AOPA Alaska

Southern Regional Manager Bob Minter has worked in aviation since 1961, and he was honored in 2002 for career contributions to aviation in Tennessee, the highest individual recognition bestowed by the Tennessee Aeronautics Commission. Minter has worked as an FBO and flight school manager, and sold Cessna aircraft. He also worked in the 1970s for the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Aeronautics, with oversight of the state’s 76 public airports. As a corporate pilot, Minter crisscrossed the country in an Aero Commander 720. Cofounder of the Tennessee Aviation Association, founder of the Tennessee Aviation Hall of Fame, and a 50-year member of AOPA, Minter

NORTHWEST MOUNTAIN GREAT LAKES EASTERN WESTERN PACIFIC

CENTRAL SOUTHWEST

SOUTHERN

ALASKA

Regional Manager Tom George for most of the 4,000 hours he has logged since he learned to fly in a Piper Warrior in Fairbanks. He next added a seaplane rating in a Piper Super Cub, then purchased as Cessna 170 to fly for fun and to support research field camps for the University of Alaska. An AOPA regional representative since 2000, George now flies a Cessna 185 equipped with wheels and skis for business trips and aerial photography in the remote reaches of Alaska. He holds instrument, commercial single- and multiengine ratings, and is a certificated flight instructor. He makes occasional excursions to Canada and the “Lower 48.”

has worked for the past 26 years as the AOPA regional representative covering state and government affairs in the Southeast. During a 29-year career at the FAA, Western Pacific Regional Manager John Pfeifer held various engineering and administrative posts, including 14 years as manager of the FAA’s San Francisco Airports District Office, where he was responsible for all Airports Division programs in Northern California and Nevada. Pfeifer has served as the region’s AOPA representative since 2001, and on the California Transportation Commission-Technical Advisory Committee on Aeronautics; the board of

directors of the Association of California Airports; and the National Academy of Sciences, Airport Cooperative Research Program panel on the recently completed Guidebook for the Preservation of Public-Use Airports. Pfeifer, a registered professional engineer in California, also will serve as the regional manager for Hawaii—signaling the first time AOPA has provided regional representation for the state. Central Southwest Regional Manager Yasmina Platt is a transportation scholar and CFII who joins the AOPA regional manager team after working in the planning department of the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, since 2008. Platt is no stranger to AOPA, having served as a summer intern at the Air Safety Institute and an AOPA Airport Support Network volunteer. Platt has received numerous awards and recognition for her academic research and scholarship in transportation and aviation. She is passionate about safety, outreach, research, pilot education, and GA promotion and protection. Platt also is an adjunct aviation professor at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. No r t h w e s t M o u n t a i n Regional Manager David Ulane brings nearly 23 years of aviation experience in the Northwest Mountain Region to AOPA’s regional team. He previously served as assistant aviation director at the AspenPitkin County/Sardy Field in Colorado, where he oversaw planning, funding, and implementation of more than $60 million in capital improvements between 2005 and 2011. Ulane previously managed the St. George Municipal Airport in Utah and Yellowstone Regional Airport in Cody, Wyoming. He began his aviation career in 1989 working for Denver’s Centennial Airport, one of the busiest GA facilities in the nation. Ulane has held a variety of leadership roles, including president of the Northwest Chapter of the American Association of Airport Executives. A resident of New Castle, Colorado, Ulane will soon restore the currency of a private pilot certificate first earned in 1989. Email the author at jim.moore@aopa.org.
AOPA PILOT • 51 • MARCH 2012

AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2012