Niki Britton

Regular followers of AOPA Sweepstakes restorations may have noticed that we are doing things a little out of order from our typical restoration timeline.

Nonprofit aviation education and flight school organization New Vision Aviation can now provide flight training in the group’s four Pipistrel Electro trainers thanks to an eight-year public-private collaboration to prove electric aircraft can be suitable for flight training.

With major airlines slowing down or pausing pilot hiring this year, flight schools and airline pilot hopefuls are focusing on faster routes to the flight deck.

Oral and maxillofacial surgeon Dr. Joe McMurray, a certificated flight instructor turned competitive aerobatic pilot, obtained his pilot’s certificate in 2002 and over the past two decades has added a bevy of ratings, owned a stable of different mission-specific aircraft, and continues to share his passion for aviation and pilot safety through flight instruction, pilot seminars, and philanthropy.

Dan Neal, pilot, A&P shop owner, aviation professor, and academic advisor at San Jose State University (SJSU) got his start in the industry after graduating from the SJSU aviation program in 1981.

After receiving its fresh new vintage-inspired paint scheme, AOPA’s Sweepstakes Cessna 182 made its public debut at the Buckeye Air Fair in Arizona. There, AOPA members and event attendees swarmed the 182 to get an up-close-and-personal view of “their new airplane.”

The FAA approved via supplemental type certificate the use of Swift Fuels 100-octane unleaded in Cessna 172 R and S models.

After making the 1,523-mile trek from Arizona to Wisconsin to make its EAA AirVenture debut, the AOPA Sweepstakes Cessna 182 made the long flight back to California and settled comfortably into a T-hangar at the San Martin Airport (E16).

For more than 30 years Richard Jacobs has been staying current and giving back to his community through flying volunteer air transportation missions for people in need of far-from-home medical treatment through organizations like Angel Flight NE (Northeast).

In July 2024, fellow content producer Alicia Herron and I experienced an alternator failure while flying the AOPA Sweepstakes Cessna 182 to EAA AirVenture.