AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 6

HANGARTALK
Visit us at www.aopa.org/pilot The story behind the story Growing up in the Seattle area, watching Beavers and Otters on floats fly overhead, has long been part of contributor Jason Paur’s life. “It’s great to live in a city where the local airline flies de Havilland floatplanes,” he says. “Hearing the low rumble of a Pratt & Whitney radial still makes me look up every time one flies over.” After years watching them from the ground, and a ride or two as a passenger, Paur enjoyed finally getting the opportunity to sit down in the left seat and fly one of Kenmore Air’s Beavers for his story (“Where Flying is ‘Still Fun,’” page 50 and “At the Controls,” page 54). Would you ever climb outside of your airplane and scramble out onto its wing? OK, you Cessna pilots, we know you’re adept at climbing on top of the wing— but have you done it while the airplane is in flight? We thought not. For Jane Law Wicker, it’s all in a day’s work, as Associate Editor Jill W. Tallman found out (“Walking Back On,” page 58). “I literally could not wait to do the photo shoot for this article,” says Tallman. “I knew that air-to-air photography with a wing walker is not what you ordinarily see in the pages of AOPA Pilot. But that’s what makes it so cool.” Tallman, photographer Chris Rose, and photo pilot Dave Hirschman traveled to Front Royal Airport in Virginia to capture Wicker doing what she loves best. Flying in the 2012 Tougher Than a Tornado Sweepstakes Husky—a perfect camera platform for Wicker’s Stearman—Hirschman and Rose completed a most memorable photo mission as their subject flipped upside down…and waved. “I had never been to the Bahamas, never flown over open water for more than 20 minutes, and never seen the devastation of a Category 3 hurricane,” says ePublishing Managing Editor Alyssa Miller. “In less than 12 hours after getting the invitation to cover the Bahamas Habitat Hurricane Irene relief efforts, I was in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, preparing for the next day’s flights. I probably slept only two hours that night because I couldn’t stop thinking of the day to come. Parts of Cat Island were destroyed. Some people lost nearly everything, yet their sense of community and will to remain upbeat and move on was remarkable. Just as remarkable were the pilots selflessly giving a week of their time and aircraft to fly long, demanding flights to deliver food, water, and building supplies,” Miller says. See her story, “Flight for Survival,” on page 66. It took a concerted, multiyear effort involving pilots, aviation businesses, state legislators, and AOPA staff to finally eliminate a use tax in Maine that had discouraged many pilots from flying there in their airplanes (see “AOPA in the States: The 5-Percent Solution,” page 81). As a bonus, the legislation eliminating the use tax also provided relief from a sales tax on aircraft parts. “As pilots, we all should be thankful that there are people as excited about eliminating unfair taxes as we are about flying,” said Technical Editor Mike Collins. “It was impressive to see how a pilot, several aviation businessmen, and a state legislator all helped to make a difference. It’s also always interesting to see how hard AOPA works to accomplish changes like this—something that’s repeated across the country, throughout the year.” And pilots can now fly into Maine without worrying about the state’s use tax.
AOPA PILOT •

publisher
associate publisher/ editor in chief editor at large managing editor technical editor senior editors associate editors editorial and production assistant administrative assistant contributors

Craig L. Fuller
Thomas B. Haines Thomas A. Horne Julie Summers Walker Mike Collins Dave Hirschman Alton K. Marsh Jill W. Tallman Ian J. Twombly Sylvia Horne Miriam E. Stoner Peter A. Bedell Kathy Dondzila Mark Kimberling Bruce Landsberg Rod Machado Barry Schiff John S. Yodice Michael E. Kline Jill C. Benton Elizabeth Z. Jones Adrienne R. Rosone Chris Delisio Mike Fizer Chris Rose

design director art director art director contributing designer digital media specialist senior photographer photographer

advertising director Carol Dodds advertising production manager Brenda D. Ridgley advertising sales and marketing manager Liz Tarver online advertising manager Michael Wilcox advertising administrator Donna Stoner advertising representative

The Orison B. Curpier Co., Inc.
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All manuscripts and contributions should be accompanied by stamped, addressed return envelopes. Reasonable care will be taken in handling manuscripts, but the magazine assumes no responsibility for material submitted. Copyright 2011, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. All rights reserved. No part of this monthly publication may be reproduced or translated, stored in a database or retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other means, except as expressly permitted by the publisher; requests should be directed to the editor. To have the latest general aviation and AOPA news delivered to your desktop, subscribe to AOPA ePilot, a free e-mail newsletter. As a subscriber you will receive weekly issues of ePilot as well as special editions when information vital to your flying is available. To learn more about AOPA ePilot, view a sample issue, or subscribe, visit AOPA Online (www.aopa.org/members/ epilot.html).

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011

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