Desperate to avoid the unpleasantness of airline travel for his trip to Oshkosh in August, AOPA Pilot Associate Editor Steven W. Ells stopped by the Diamond exhibit at the Sun 'n Fun Fly-In in April in Lakeland, Florida. He inquired about the possibility of hitching a ride in any Diamond aircraft from his home in California to EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh. "To my surprise, Jeff Owen, director of North American sales for Diamond, volunteered a DA42," says Ells (see " Diamond Aircraft DA42 Twin Star: Flying Sports Sedan," page 80). "I really enjoyed the DA42. It is a good airplane for long cross-country flights," he says.
Paraphrasing famed humorist Will Rogers, contributor Barry Schiff says that he never flew an airplane that he did not enjoy and appreciate in one way or another. "My only requirement is that an aircraft take me aloft and return me to Earth gently. I have flown more than 300 types," he says, "and each has taught me something, even if that something was not to climb into it again." Some of these aircraft have become his all-time favorites, and one of these is the very special Lockheed 12-A Electra Junior (see " Lockheed 12-A Electra Junior: Love Story," page 88) owned by Ruth Richter Holden and Curt "Rocky" Walters and based in San Luis Obispo, California. The airplane was owned by Trans World Airlines during the early 1940s, and Schiff spent a 34-year career with TWA. "The connection between us," he says, "was magical, almost anthropomorphic. The airplane seems to touch the soul of all who fly or come into contact with it."
When AOPA Pilot Technical Editor Julie K. Boatman was offered the opportunity to fly in Central America with pilots from Cessna Aircraft Co. (see " South of Here, East of There," page 103), she jumped at the chance — but not just for the obvious reason: flying a cool airplane over scenic, south-of-the-border locales. No, the most compelling reason was to learn for herself what it took to fly outside the United States, and the impact that bureaucracy has on GA flying in the region. "I came back with a strong sense of two things. First, it's a reasonable trip for most pilots to undertake, with a little planning and a little foresight — and the rewards are immense. But second, the spectre of user fees in the U.S. is all the more threatening to me, because I've seen the frivolous hassles and insidious barriers to flying freedom that it has created in other countries."
"Each year, for the past 30 years, after nine months of teaching college physics in California, I looked forward to flying the remote regions of Alaska," says Elwood Schapansky, author of " Glacier Pilot" (page 127). "Having spent most of my flying career in the Alaskan bush, from as far north as Anaktuvuk Pass to as far south as Dutch Harbor, I have been afforded unique opportunities to become part of the native culture." Schapansky gives an insider's view of learning to land on the glaciers of Denali National Park. Unlike most bush flying in Alaska, glacier flying means carrying tourists and climbers rather than locals. It also means always flying to the same destination — but with the new challenge that the landing surface changes continually with weather and with the warmth of the summer.
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