Senior Editor Alton K. Marsh knew his assignment would be a tough one when he showed up at an airshow in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to gather information for this month's story about skywriting (see " Sky Artist," page 84). A lull in the activity allowed Marsh to go for a ride with the well-known Lima Lima formation aerobatic team of Beech T-34 aircraft. He watched how the real pros handle precision aerobatics from the rear seat of the lead aircraft. Another lull provided time to watch the famous Air Force Thunderbirds from the VIP tent provided by Pepsi. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.
When Associate Editor Steven W. Ells decided it was time to renew his instrument flying skills, they were sorely out of date (see " IFR and Out of Date," page 91). "On April 7, 1978, Gary L. Byers issued my commercial pilot certificate with an instrument rating," Ells says. "Since no one was hiring low-time commercial pilots at that time, I went to work as a mechanic. During the next 26 years I flew eight hours of actual, always as a copilot." Ells says he was excited and nervous about returning to instrument flying but soon realized that the flying was the easy part. "I could fly the airplane — I just didn't know how to use the system," he says. "I'm tentative and tend to hang back in situations where I don't know the rules." And how does he feel now that he's been through some concentrated training? "I'm still a little tentative, but I now know that as long as I maintain my discipline, continue to practice, and always remember to fly the airplane, my instrument rating will expand my flying possibilities, and make my flying safer." Photographer Dean Siracusa, who took the photos accompanying Ells' story, also knows the value of an instrument rating. Siracusa owns a Cessna 172, which he uses to travel to photo locations. "The only thing that has slowed me down is the typical benign overcast that occurs in Southern California," he says. But Siracusa is determined to solve that problem, and on the day of the photo shoot for this story he and his CFII girlfriend turned their journey to Central California into an instrument training flight. Siracusa hopes to earn his rating this month.
For Editor at Large Thomas A. Horne, writing about the Outer Banks of North Carolina was an easy task. "I've been flying to airports down there since 1975," Horne says. "Many, many trips were memorable. Like the first one, to Billy Mitchell, where I rented a house in Avon. And the hang gliding vacation based at a beachfront house in Nags Head. Or the one where I took three nonpilots and we camped at Ocracoke. And then there's always the thrill of that first landing at First Flight." Horne's future stays at First Flight Airport are bound to be more pilot-friendly, thanks to AOPA's newly constructed facilities at FFA. Check out " Postcards: Cruising the Outer Banks," page 69, for details.
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