Volunteer pilots provide views from on high The shimmering Everglades landscape is unlike any other. Watery above the rivers of grass stretch for miles; groups of mossy cypress trees tower 100 feet above the black swamp water; and shallow lakes reflect the sun. The watery surfaces are a playground for a seemingly endless variety of water birds. AOPA Photographer Chris Rose and I have an unmatched view of this unique area from an open-air, twin-engine AirCam equipped with amphibious floats. Our broad, unobstructed, and moving vantage point allows us to take in vast swaths of pancake-flat surface below, and get a sense of the problems and promise that this area holds. EVERGLADES B Y DAV E H I R S C H M A N PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS ROSE www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 43http://www.aopa.org/pilot