Nancy Benscoter, APA President
Since April is “tax” month, you should consider taking advantage of the great opportunities we have put together for you to get out and fly and write off the experience. When you attend our APA sponsored events, they are tax deductible since we are a 501c3 non-profit volunteer organization. Every month, we host a FAA safety seminar. This month's safety seminar is at Ryan Field on April 21st at 9am. If you enjoy backcountry flying, join us at Superior Airport. How about helping restore Grapevine airstrip? RSVP to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to attend the fly-in work party for Grapevine Airport. Join us on our Get-away-flight to Page Airport to tour Antelope Canyon! See more details on all these events contained in this newsletter. Supporting General Aviation has never been so full of fun and adventure with the opportunity to write off your flying… No April fooling!
Here are some other aviation events outside of the APA that are worthwhile to attend. On March 31st, Falcon field hosts its open house. On April 14th at Goodyear Airport the skykids.org group will be hosting a benefit for special needs kids. They are looking to give special-needs kids an airplane ride at no cost. Pilots and planes are needed to participate in this terrific event. Please consider volunteering. For more info go to skykids.org to register or become a volunteer.
Calling all APA Members… Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 26th, 2012! We will have our APA Annual Members meeting. The Air Force's Glendale Civil Air Patrol unit at Glendale Airport will host this event in their new building. Our guest speaker is Col. Bob Ashby, a Tuskegee Airman. He is the recipient of the Presidential Master Pilot Award & the 50 Year Master Pilot Award. He graduated from flight training at the Tuskegee Institute (1945) and was assigned to Japan as part of the US occupying force. Later he flew the B-26’s in combat during the Korean conflict (1952). Col. Ashby then began his commercial aviation career as a Flight Operations Instructor with United Airlines and helped write the training program for the Boeing 747 aircraft. Ashby went on to become the first black pilot for Frontier Airlines and retired as a Captain with over 30,000 flying hours (1986). Come meet this legend and hear his amazing story!
There is still time for you to become a nominee for the Board of Directors (BOD) of the APA. If you are a member in good standing and have the desire to promote and support our love of General Aviation in AZ, then you have the “right stuff” to be a director. There are many areas that your skills and individual talents can be utilized. Contact me, Nancy at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are interested in serving on the Board of Directors. All nominees will be presented to our membership via the May newsletter. Elections will be held at the Annual Members meeting on May 26, 2012. Our group is experiencing fantastic growth due to the many exciting things we are involved in. Come join the team and help us continue our efforts to promote and preserve General Aviation in AZ. Fly safe and enjoy our beautiful Arizona skies.