Bring home a Husky

Whether you’re hopping between small-town airfields or exploring new corners of your home state, this Aviat Husky is ready to make every takeoff the start of something special. And now, it could be yours in the next AOPA Sweepstakes, which begins July 22. (We’re still awaiting the name of the winner of the AOPA Sweepstakes Cessna 182 from the independent sweepstakes administrator. Watch for updates.)

From grass strips just outside town to tucked away fly-in destinations, the Husky A–1C-200 delivers performance, style, and freedom. With a constant speed Hartzell Trailblazer composite propeller bolted to a 200-horsepower fuel-injected Lycoming IO-360 engine, the Husky leaps off the ground in 442 feet and climbs at 1,100 feet per minute—even when fully loaded. When it’s light, its performance only improves. And with its optional 31-inch Alaskan Bushwheel tundra tires installed, the AOPA Sweepstakes Aviat Husky can land just about anywhere—local grass strips, river sand bars, frozen lakes, tundra, and more.

Make no mistake, safely flying into some of these locations will take training and practice. But with the Husky, you’ll experience the true joy of flying. Slips, short- and soft-field, and crosswind techniques will enable you to place the aircraft where you want it—at the speed you need it—as you seek fun adventures in new locations.

No matter where you're headed, the Garmin IFR glass panel is ready to guide you through changing conditions with ease. The AOPA Sweepstakes Aviat Husky is decked out with a G500TXi touch screen primary flight display/multifunction flight display with Engine Indication System, a GTN 750Xi GPS navigator with nav/com, a GFC 500 three-axis digital autopilot, a G5 backup attitude indicator, and a GTX 345R ADS-B In/Out remote transponder.

Imagine you’ve just spent the weekend with friends at a quiet airport off the beaten path. After packing up your camping gear and stuffing it in the back of the AOPA Sweepstakes Aviat Husky, you’ll be able to take off and, if necessary, use the autopilot to fly a coupled instrument approach back to your local airport. How amazing is that?

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Evolution of the Husky

We’d like to thank the great team at Aviat Aircraft, which sold the Sweepstakes aircraft to AOPA at a generously reduced price, for their significant contribution to the AOPA Sweepstakes. Aviat has been building A–1Cs at its Afton, Wyoming, facility since 1987—along with the certified Pitts and homebuilt kit Eagle aerobatic biplanes.

The facility was initially home to the Call Aircraft Company, which was founded by Reuel T. Call and began producing the Model A-2 in 1945. Call later struck a deal with Curtis Pitts: The Pitts S-1S would be built in Afton, and Pitts would handle the engineering from his office in Homestead, Florida. Frank Christensen eventually purchased the combined companies and brought his Christen Eagle kit production to the Afton facility. In the early 1980s, Christensen tried to buy the rights to the PA–18 Super Cub from Piper Aircraft, but a deal could not be worked out. So, in 1986 Christensen and his team designed an improved Super Cub, named the Husky. The Husky was certified the next year and has been in production since. Stu Horn purchased the company in 1995 and has continuously improved the Husky, increasing horsepower and gross weight, along with airframe and avionics enhancements.

AOPA also thanks the Recreational Aviation Foundation for its help in making this sweepstakes possible. Over the coming year we plan to fly the Aviat Husky to RAF airfields to experience the camaraderie of pilots and their friends and family who enjoy the great outdoors and are actively working to preserve—and improve—these special airfields around the country.

Enter the AOPA Sweepstakes for your chance to explore new corners of your home state and reconnect with the joy of flying in an aircraft that rewards true airmanship.

Will you be our lucky winner?