AOPA Sweepstakes 172: Airshow season

So in April the Sweepstakes 172 flew to Lakeland, Florida, for the Sun ’n Fun International Fly-In and Expo. As we shut down at the gate before the airplane was to be pushed onto the Sun ’n Fun grounds, the volunteer flagger asked, “Key out?”

“No key,” we said, momentarily flummoxing the volunteer. “But the mixture and mags are off.”

“Wow,” he said, and came around to have a look at the ElectroAir push-button ignition in the panel. “They didn’t make them like that when I was flying them.” Indeed.

Throughout the many queries of “Are you taking good care of my airplane?” one thing is clear: Pilots love this Skyhawk. And that’s not hard to understand. Most pilots have at least one hour of Skyhawk time in their logbooks. Many learned to fly in a 172. A Southwest pilot who often rented our sweepstakes airplane when it was N739HW recalled happy afternoons flying out of Hayesfield Airport in Maryland. Our 172, now N172WN, is a nice, familiar airplane that has been made so much better by the many modern additions to its interior and exterior. Virtually everybody wants to win this airplane. That’s gratifying.

Westward ho

Since we were sort of on the way to California already, we decided to fly the Sweepstakes 172 the rest of the way for our Camarillo Fly-In, held April 28 and 29 at Camarillo Airport. AOPA pilot Luz Beattie and I made the run in two and a half days with fuel stops in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. We left the airplane with AOPA Ambassador Kay Sundaram, who was happy to temporarily park her Cessna 152. Two weeks later, Sundaram guided me from Carlsbad-Palomar Airport, north along the Pacific Coast, through the hyper-busy VFR transition of the Los Angeles Class B airspace to Camarillo Airport.

In spite of an unseasonably early blast of Santa Ana winds, we welcomed more than 6,000 visitors to our Camarillo Fly-In (see “Member News and Notes,” page 100). The Sweepstakes 172 was the center of attention near the static display.

“This is the first time I’ve seen a sweepstakes airplane in the flesh,” an AOPA member said.

I consulted with a half-dozen pilots about the best way to head back East, and chose a route that took us on the other side of the LAX Class Bravo to Bryce, California, before veering toward El Paso, Texas. The trip home was three days—about 18 hours of flying. With AOPA Pilot Information Center Senior Manager Ferdinand Mack in the right seat, at 7,500 feet the airplane had true airspeeds of around 110 knots at 2,500 rpm, burning between eight and nine gallons per hour.

Bose on board

Bose, manufacturer of high-quality hearing protection, is providing the winner of the Sweepstakes 172 with two A20 noise-canceling headsets. As a Bose user since 2013, I can attest that the headset makes long-distance flights more comfortable and enjoyable.

Are you keeping the decals?

It’s a testament to the skill of Paul Howes of Moody Aero-Graphics that many people don’t realize the words applied to the fuselage of the Sweepstakes 172 are not part of the paint scheme—they are decals.

The number one question at Sun ’n Fun and Camarillo—aside from “Is this my airplane?”—was “Are you giving the airplane away like that?”

Some of you love the decals and would take the airplane right now, just as it is. Some of you promised to keep the decals if you win the airplane. Others—well, let’s just say they were relieved to hear that the decals are temporary.

As you read this, 172WN is with the professionals at KD Aviation getting its final paint scheme at Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, New York. (Sorry to everybody who wanted the airplane to keep its decals.) It then comes back to Maryland for an annual inspection. And we might have another surprise or two in store.

The sweepstakes closed May 31. The airplane will be at EAA AirVenture, but will the winner be there too? You’ll know soon enough.

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