Reasons to join us at Buckeye Air Fair

Pleasance started his tenure on January 1, and the Pilot Town Hall on Saturday, February 15, at 10.30 a.m. will be among his first public appearances. The meeting will take place at the uAvionix Safety Seminar Tent. He welcomes the opportunity to introduce himself, meet members, and provide updates on the issues facing general aviation, including the transition to unleaded fuel, what a changing political landscape could mean for GA, and what’s next for AOPA.

Visitors will also get a chance to meet retired U.S. Navy Capt. Robert Lee “Hoot” Gibson, a former fighter pilot, test pilot, NASA astronaut, and air race pilot. He can be found in the AOPA Exhibit Hall at the Artwork by Rouch booth, signing his children’s book First Flight, which Michelle Rouch illustrated and which aptly features an owlet’s journey learning to fly. (Because Gibson shares his last name with cowboy movie star Hoot Gibson, his call sign became “Hoot.”) Gibson’s impressive career includes flying combat missions in Southeast Asia and five NASA missions, famously the first shuttle mission to dock a modified Atlantis with the Russian Space Station Mir on June 27, 1995. When he left NASA, he flew as a pilot for Southwest Airlines and regularly raced at the National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada.

The AOPA Sweepstakes Cessna 182 will be at the static display, proudly showing off its new paint, interior, and panel.