AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2019 - 100

DETAILS

33,706

The number of pilots in the
United States in 1939, AOPA's
first year of existence.

News & Notes
MEMBERSHIP

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MUSEUM

AOPA prepares for its
80th birthday

Fly-in, museum opening-and more to come
B Y J U L I E S U M M E R S WA L K E R
MAY 2019 MARKS THE eightieth anniversary of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots
Association, formed in the months before
World War II began. In recognition of that
event, AOPA will lead its 2019 Fly-In schedule with a member and community event
at its headquarters in Frederick, Maryland,
May 10 and 11. The two-day event will feature all the hallmarks of AOPA's successful
fly-ins-seminars, displays, exhibitors,
food, parties, and fun. In addition, commemorative World War II-era events are
also planned. Frederick will be a stop on
the Daks Over Normandy flight of C-47s
and DC-3s planned to cross the Atlantic
and land in France for the anniversary of
D-Day; four or five will stop in Frederick.
The creative staff at AOPA has installed
an interactive museum in the back lobby
of its headquarters building. Designed to
look like the inside of a hangar-walls are
of a corrugated aluminum-the museum
features artifacts from the past 80 years
of association history. There's a collection
of bolo ties, the shoestring necktie with
ornamental clasps that became a favorite
collectors' item among AOPA conventiongoers in the 1960s. There's the first copy of
the "AOPA Section" in Popular Aviation; first
signatures from members; first membership

100 | AOPA PILOT February 2019

applications; books, memos, correspondence, and more. Members are encouraged
to visit headquarters and see the museum,
which will feature an ever-changing collection of memorabilia. A four-panel TV shows
segments from AOPA Live and other aviation videos.
Also in celebration of the eightieth anniversary is Freedom
to Fly: The Story of
General Aviation in
America, a beautiful coffee-table
book of AOPA's
history with
little-seen
artifacts and
stunning phot o g ra p hy.
Written by the
editors of AOPA
Pilot, the book traces
the beginnings of the
association as it is reflected
in the role general aviation has
played in the United States since the Wright
brothers. Order your copy online.
EMAIL julie.walker@aopa.org

www.aopa.org/freedomtoflybook

* Original membership roster
from 1939.
* Original charter membership
invitation circa 1940.
* Multiple pins and patches from
Plantation Parties, Conventions,
Expos, Summits.
* Correspondence to AOPA from
well-known figures such as President
Richard Nixon and astronaut Gordon
Cooper.
* Challenge coins.
* AOPA memorabilia from the tenth,
twenty-fifth, fiftieth, and seventy-fifth
anniversaries.
* Antique aviation instruments.
* License plate topper from 1939.
* The original AOPA Air Safety
Foundation survival kit.
Curator Chris Rose welcomes unique
and unusual submissions from
members such as jewelry, watches,
pins, and patches. Contact
chris.rose@aopa.org

MEET MAX: A MODEL MEMBER

Senior Photographer Chris Rose
spearheaded most of the museum
project and one of his more ambitious endeavors was to outfit "Max,"
a mannequin, in AOPA clothing from
the 1970s. Max sports a red AOPAlogoed windbreaker (circa
1979), an AOPA member
hat with gold military
insignia ("scrambled eggs"), a bolo
tie with numerous clasps, and
an AOPA air aid
ruler in his arm
pocket. He's carrying an AOPA
rolling travel
bag. "The jacket
was sent in by a
member," Rose
said. "It's been sitting in a file cabinet.
Instead of simply displaying the folded jacket,
I said why don't we go all
out and dress a mannequin
up like a member who'd be walking
the AOPA convention hall in the late
1970s or early '80s." Members are
encouraged to come meet Max. The
museum is open during AOPA's regular business hours, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Eastern time, Monday through Friday.
http://www.aopa.org/freedomtoflybook
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2019

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