AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2023 - 34

BRIEFING
YOU CAN FLY /
Rising to the challenge
AOPA Foundation received record donations for You Can Fly in 2022
BY ERIC BLINDERMAN
FURTHERING AOPA INITIATIVES THAT
promote and protect general aviation,
AOPA members and the GA community
rose to the challenge in 2022, raising
more than $3.1 million and unlocking
an additional match of $2.5 million from
the Ray Foundation. Between the You
Can Fly Challenge window of June 1
and December 31, 2022, more than 3,200
unique donors gave generously to the
AOPA Foundation in support of the AOPA
You Can Fly program. All donations were
matched-dollar for dollar up to $2.5
million-by the Ray Foundation. When
donations and the match are combined,
more than $5.6 million was raised to get-
and keep-more pilots flying.
" I am never surprised, but never take
for granted, the appreciation and support
that our members provide, " said
Elizabeth Tennyson, senior vice president
of the AOPA Foundation and You
Can Fly. " They recognize the importance
of our You Can Fly program in growing
the pilot population and keeping pilots
safely in the skies. "
The late James C. Ray was a World
War II veteran and a member of the AOPA
President's Council who believed that " life
skills are learned through aviation. "
The AOPA Foundation's You Can Fly
program comprises four important initiatives:
High School Aviation STEM
Curriculum, Flight Training, Flying
Clubs, and Rusty Pilots.
Learn about more ways you can
donate to the AOPA Foundation.
eric.blinderman@aopa.org
foundation.aopa.org/ways-to-give
Happy birthday, 'AOPA Pilot'
Premier aviation magazine is 65 years old
BY JULIE SUMMERS WALKER
MI L ESTONES /
'AOPA PILOT' MADE ITS DEBUT as an independent magazine
with the publication of its first issue in March
1958. Since 1939, AOPA had reported on general aviation
in what was first Popular Aviation then Flying and
Popular Aviation and finally Flying magazine. AOPA
contributed to the Ziff-Davis publication in first the
" AOPA Section " and then " The AOPA Pilot. " The decision
to break from Ziff-Davis and Flying was made by
AOPA President Joseph B. " Doc " Hartranft, Editor Max
Karant, and Managing Editor Charles P. Miller.
" The editorial policy of The AOPA Pilot will be to
educate, entertain, and inform, and to do so objectively,
forcefully, and fearlessly, " said Karant.
The editorial staff had offices at AOPA headquarters, which at that time was located
at 4644 East-West Highway in Bethesda, Maryland. Freelance writers and AOPA members
wrote most of the 1958 magazine content. Membership was $10 per year (adjusted
for inflation, that's about $100 now) and the first staff writer for The AOPA Pilot earned
$6,000 per year.
The first cover of The AOPA Pilot featured an air-to-air photograph of the Cessna 182
Skylane. The magazine used the title The AOPA Pilot until 1979, when " The " was dropped.
AOPA Pilot is the world's largest-circulation general aviation magazine, staffed by pilots
and aircraft owners who are award-winning writers, artists, and photographers. The magazine
consistently wins design and photography awards each year. julie.walker@aopa.org
34
AOPA PILOT / March 2023
Joseph Kittinger
U.S. Air Force fighter pilot
Col. Joseph Kittinger, who flew
high enough to see the curvature
of the Earth during his recordsetting
102,800-foot skydive
in 1960, died at age 94 on
December 9, 2022.
Pat Magie
William Henry " Pat " Magie of
Copalis Beach, Washington, died
at home on December 26, 2022.
He was the author of Whatta Life
and a seaplane stunt pilot in the
movie The Phantom.
Walter Cunningham
Former astronaut Walter
Cunningham, who flew into space
on Apollo 7, died January 3 in
Houston. He was 90.
aopa.org

http://foundation.aopa.org/ways-to-give http://www.aopa.org

AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2023

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