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Real experts, ready for any question
Real experts, ready for any question
When you call 800/USA-AOPA looking for help, who answers the phone and what do they really know about aviation? Craig Brown, a senior technical specialist in the AOPA Pilot Information Center, is just one of the voices you might hear.
Craig has been flying for 24 years, given more than 8,000 hours of flight instruction, and holds a whole range of certificates and ratings including ATP, A&P, and ground instructor credentials. Not only that, but he’s been answering questions at AOPA for 11 years, so he has heard just about everything.
“I once talked to a pilot who was standing next to his wrecked airplane while he was talking to the sheriff on the scene,” said Brown. “And I’ve taken a cell phone call from a member who couldn’t reach ATC while flying in the clouds and needed another contact frequency.”
While these might have been some of his strangest calls, they haven’t been the hardest.
“The toughest questions are those where members want to confirm that what they have been doing is safe and legal, and I have to inform them that it is neither,” Brown said. “The long pause on the other end is very uncomfortable. I can almost hear them contemplating exactly how much trouble they are in.”
Brown’s advice: “Don’t wait; if you’re unsure about something call us first. That’s why we’re here.”
When he’s not answering member calls, Brown is keeping his own flying skills sharp, sometimes enjoying the thrill of flying unusual aircraft like a Fairchild PT-23 or Beech T-34 Mentor. With so many hours in so many aircraft, what is Brown’s favorite plane to fly?
“My all-time favorite is the Piper J-3 Cub,” Brown said. “It’s as simple as it gets, and nothing else comes close to allowing a pilot to fly by feel. The instruments in a Cub are there for backup, I suppose, in case your brain fails.”
April 17, 2008
April 17, 2008
