Despite the pained expression on AOPA President Phil Boyer's face, improvements to the AOPA 2001 Sweepstakes Bonanza are proceeding well. This weekend, Boyer visited with Brad Zeman, vice president of J.A. Air Center at West Chicago's DuPage Airport, to view progress in installing the Sweepstakes Bonanza's twenty-first-century avionics suit. The Bonanza will be one of the first production piston singles to have a certified "glass cockpit" using Meggitt Avionics MAGIC system Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS). The system consists of two flat-screen active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCD) that are mounted in the aircraft instrument panel directly in front of the pilot. The upper display is the primary flight display (PFD) and the lower screen is the navigation display (ND).
AOPA Pilot magazine editors are filing weekly online reports on the rebuilding and renovation of the classic V35 Bonanza. AOPA's 2001 Sweepstakes Bonanza, which includes some $200,000 in custom upgrades, will be awarded to a lucky new or renewing AOPA member next year.
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