Wrapped

Noah Heckel, a graphic designer at Scheme Designers (the company that has designed the paint schemes for almost every AOPA sweepstakes airplane since 1993), had a transformative vision to grab people’s attention as they approached the AOPA campus. He would take inspiration from AirVenture visitors’ requests, and turn the Piper Archer into a one-of-a-kind work of aviation art. “I’ve always been really into cartoons and have a background in illustration,” said Heckel. “I’ve always loved to doodle in the margins of my notebooks and stuff, so this is just that, but on a much larger scale.”

As soon as Heckel began drawing on the Archer using a colorful array of oil-based paint pens, a crowd of spectators pulled out their phones to take photos and ask questions. “People come up and I ask them, ‘What’s your favorite cartoon character?’” said Heckel. “And then it’s cool for them to get to see it put on a plane in real time. We got Batman on the tail. I put Pac-Man on the wing. Another person asked for Snoopy. Bart Simpson was my touch. It’s like I’m kind of leading it creatively but also it’s like a collaborative effort with everybody here at Oshkosh.”

As Heckel’s design evolved over five days, more and more attendees took selfies and group photos with the sweepstakes airplane. It was the star of the AOPA campus. “It’s been a lot of fun,” said Heckel. “We’ve been getting a lot of attention. The plane catches a lot of people’s eyes, and it’s fun to be a part of something to help draw in a crowd for AOPA.”

Almost everyone had the same burning question: Did we plan to keep the airplane painted this way? To the disappointment of most, the wrap we put on the Archer after it landed at AirVenture was only temporary, and we reluctantly peeled the wrap off the airplane before flying it back to Frederick, Maryland. But Scheme Designers is working on another design for the Archer, and this time it will be permanent.

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