"If you were here, I would kiss you!" So began the e-mail from Pat Roper ( AOPA 3770245) to the AOPA staff member who helped set up Roper's Waco experience. Roper is the latest monthly winner in AOPA's Centennial of Flight Sweepstakes and had just completed a day of flying in open cockpit Waco biplane.
"This was truly the experience of a lifetime, said Roper, "to fly as they did long ago.
He had traveled to Sedona, Ariz., to go flying through the gorgeous red rock region on a cross-country flight with Mike Potts of Red Rock Biplane Tours. "He makes the experience even better by his personality, experience, and especially his love of the Waco," Roper said. "Flying home from Kingman to Sedona was probably the best part of a magnificent experience. Eight to 90 knots, down low, up through the mountains and canyons, and following the Verde Valley Railroad. Back at Sedona, Mike greased the landing, and the adventure of a lifetime was physically over but will live forever in my memories."
Each month during the two-year sweepstakes period, one winner is selected for the opportunity to go flying in a Waco. Each monthly winner also gets a beautiful leather bomber jacket with a Centennial of Flight Sweepstakes emblem on the back.
The winner of the grand prize the Waco UPF-7 restored by Rare Aircraft, Ltd., of Owatonna, Minn., will be selected in early 2004. Everyone who joins or renews membership in AOPA during the sweepstakes period is automatically entered. No purchase is necessary to enter. Visit the Centennial of Flight Sweepstakes rules page for complete rules and eligibility requirements.
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