Membership Services
Jeppesen honors Boyer
AOPA and chart-maker Jeppesen have enjoyed a special relationship over the last two decades. That relationship has benefited AOPA members in many ways, from the state-of-the-art AOPA Internet Flight Planner to the online Flight Instructor Renewal Course through the AOPA Air Safety Foundation. AOPA President Phil Boyer and Jeppesen President and CEO Mark Van Tine have had a close professional association even pre-dating Boyer’s 18 years in AOPA’s left seat. That association was fittingly celebrated Dec 2 with a surprise visit by Jeppesen officials to AOPA’s Washington, D.C., office and a special presentation to Boyer.
In recognition of his devotion to general aviation, Jeppesen’s Tine gave Boyer a lifetime subscription to JeppView electronic navigation charts and a bronze sculpture of Jeppesen founder, Capt. Elrey B. Jeppesen. Called “The Aviator,” the 16-foot original sculpture stands outside the Jeppesen Terminal at Denver International Airport.
“I was completely overwhelmed,” said Boyer. “Capt. Jepp was one of my heroes. I felt very lucky to meet him on several occasions, and he honored me by saying how important he felt AOPA was to general aviation.”
Boyer noted that he grew up in the same area of Oregon that was home to Jeppesen and where he learned to fly.
“As he was a pioneer of aviation’s golden age, I think both Jeppesen and AOPA have pioneered some exciting things for contemporary aviation,” said Boyer.
When Boyer first became AOPA president, he and Van Tine created a special e-mail and message board system for AOPA members to communicate electronically.
“Phil was 18-months ahead of the internet,” said Van Tine. Jeppesen also helped AOPA create the computer-based Real-Time Flight Planner and graphical depictions of current and projected temporary flight restrictions (TFRs), and its successor, the AOPA Internet Flight Planner, which integrates Jeppesen weather, flight planning, and mapping with AOPA's Airport Directory and a graphically rich user interface. More than 30,000 AOPA members have tried the new flight planner.
George Lundeen, a sculptor based in Loveland, Colo., created “The Aviator”. The Nebraska native studied at the Academia de Belle Arte in Florence, Italy.
December 4, 2008
