Membership Services
Fun to Fly Remos goes home to New Hampshire
Sweeps winner Yorke Brown and his wife stood in front of their Fun to Fly Sweepstakes Remos.The Fun to Fly Remos made its final voyage as an ambassador of general aviation for AOPA last week, winging its way to its new home in Newport, N.H. AOPA staff pilots ferried the airplane on Dec. 3 to Parlin Field (2B3).
New England’s frigid temperatures couldn’t keep away a crowd of well-wishers on Dec. 4, as about 50 pilots and onlookers gathered to see 2010 Fun to Fly Sweepstakes winner Yorke Brown accept the keys and congratulations from AOPA Pilot Editor in Chief Tom Haines. Brown, an engineering and scientific consultant, learned he was the winner of the airplane on Nov. 3 during a hoax that involved Redbird Flight Simulations President Jerry Gregoire.
On Saturday, Brown admitted it had taken him several minutes for the realization to sink in that he had been brought to Lebanon Airport (LEB) that day not to meet a potential client, but because he had won an airplane.
“Work’s been slow lately,” he said, pretending to be crestfallen that he wasn’t going to get a consulting gig out of the meeting. Brown was nonetheless excited to learn all about the Remos, its Rotax 912UL engine, and its glass cockpit avionics, which include dual Dynon displays and a Garmin 496 GPS with XM satellite weather. He flew the actual airplane on Dec. 4 and told the crowd that “it’s fast for the size of the engine and accelerates rapidly. The stick is fun.”
A CFI, Brown said he’s a neophyte of glass technology and even GPS to a certain extent, because he is accustomed to navigating using VOR, NDB, and ADF. He said he would study the units’ manuals and gain a thorough understanding of them, and would craft his own checklist—something he has done with every airplane he’s flown regularly—for the Remos.
Parlin’s vibrant aviation community and the Remos seem to be a perfect fit. The airport’s regulars were on hand Dec. 3 to greet the airplane as it arrived, and Edmonds Aircraft Service provided hangar space and a place for the welcome festivities.
The airport has undergone a rebirth of sorts in the last 10 years. The longtime airport manager retired, and under the new management pilot volunteers built a new office building and installed runway lights. The new office has a name: the “Sunshine Lady Operations Building,” named for the wife of the longtime former airport manager, who was known for her cheerful personality.
A building on the property that had been the former manager’s residence was leased out and is now an airport restaurant known as the Lil’ Red Baron. The airport’s 80-year-old main hangar is undergoing a facelift as well. Volunteers replaced the asphalt floor with concrete and repaired holes in the roof, and are raising money to install a new door. All of these efforts were accomplished without federal funds.
December 7, 2010
