'The plane was where it belonged'

Brian Plas wearing his Waco Experience leather flight jacket.

For AOPA member Brian Plas of LaGrange, Ohio, it was "by far the best vacation" he and his wife had ever had. Brian is the latest monthly winner in AOPA's Centennial of Flight Sweepstakes to collect his prize of a flying experience in a Waco biplane similar to the sweepstakes' grand prize.

[Read Brian's first-person account of his Waco Experience.]

Brian and his wife Amanda traveled to Sedona, Arizona, to go flying with Eric Brunner of Red Rock Biplanes. "If you're ever in Sedona, Arizona, and want to take a flight of a lifetime, I would definitely recommend Eric Brunner and Red Rock Biplane Tours!" said Brian.

Plas and the other monthly winners in the sweepstakes win a trip to Sedona for a half-day's flying in a Waco biplane very similar to the grand prize in the sweepstakes, a 1940 Waco UPF-7 open-cockpit biplane, as well as a leather flight jacket. The Sweepstakes Waco has been exactingly restored by Rare Aircraft of Owatonna, Minn. It's worth approximately $250,000 and will be given away early in 2004.

Anyone who joins or renews membership in AOPA by December 31, 2003, is automatically entered in the Centennial of Flight Sweepstakes. Complete rules and eligibility requirements are available online.

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