Most people know Patty Wagstaff as the famed female pilot that broke down barriers for women pilots with her three consecutive U.S. National Aerobatic Championship wins in the early-90s. They know her as somebody honored at the highest levels—from the National Aviation Hall of Fame to the Smithsonian Institution (her Extra 260 is hanging from the ceiling of the National Air and Space Museum).

I know her as one of my closest and oldest friends.

In fact, I’ve known her as long as I can remember. On my desk sits a picture of us taken at an aerobatic contest in 1991. I’m three years old. Patty keeps the same picture on her desk, too.

So, naturally, when this assignment came my way, I jumped at the opportunity. Call it retribution for the harsh instruction she’s given me over the years at the controls of her support plane (I’m always off the centerline, she says), but I was thrilled to have an excuse to ask her a few questions that she’s never been asked before.

In this PilotMag interview, Patty, who will fly her 25th season on the air show circuit this year, muses on her love of flying and animals, the role of women in aviation, and looks ahead to her role as an industry ambassador while looking back at her charmed life in flight.

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Maybe that’s why aviation visionaries and innovators aren’t looking to the sky for shapes of future flying machines, but underwater.

Enter Festo, a German-based automation and biometrics company. They’ve blended two century- old balloon technology with the organic movement of a jellyfish to create an entirely new (not to mention unusual) design called AirJelly.

Festo’s Head of Corporate Design and AirJelly Project Manager Markus Fisher says that the company thought it was necessary to study the motion of jellyfish and other non-winged creatures, like snakes, as inspiration for transportation. “We thought there could be some interesting principles to learn here.”

The result oozes cool factor. AirJelly is entrancing to watch.

“We have not seen such beautiful motion from a man-made creature before,” said Fischer.

The remote-controlled proof-of-concept design thrusts itself through the air with the aid of eight paddle-tipped tentacle arms attached to AirJelly’s helium-filled transparent head. A synchronized pulse of the arms the gracefully pushes the 2.8-pound machine skyward.

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Every pilot should add Mackinac Island to their fl y-in bucket list—in ink! Why? Because it’s a time capsule of America’s Gilded Age mixed with a sprinkle or two of early U.S. history, seasoned with a mouthful of fudge, and topped off with picturesque views of the natural wonders of the upper Midwest.

When was the last time you visited a village where the hum-drum throbbing of our automobile age was absent? Where the sounds of bird song and wave lap accompanies the wind-blown rustling of tree leaves. Or settled into a rocking chair on a 660-foot long porch to rock away a few hours? Or ridden a bicycle around an island? Or had 15 fudge stores to choose from? Mackinac Island is a oneof- a-kind destination.

The Grand Hotel
According to Robert Tagatz, concierge at the Grand Hotel, there were over 1200 large wood-construction destination hotels in the country at the turn of the last century.

America’s Industrial Age was booming. Better wages for working class citizens helped stoke the beginning of a middle class. This eager class of Americans took to the tracks and waterways as railroad and steamship companies expanded. In 1884 two railway companies and a steamship company agreed to finance the construction of a large hotel on Mackinac Island.

For more information on Mackinac Island please check out www.mackinacisland.org.

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Some taxpayers elect to enter into aircraft leasing transactions to generate revenue to help defray operating costs. In addition to Federal Aviation Administration regulations, aircraft leasing faces various income, sales and use, and federal excise tax issues that should be addressed.

In this article, we will discuss the depreciation benefits available for aircraft ownership, and some of the tax issues that will affect the deductibility of a business aircraft.

Income Tax Benefits
Depreciation deduction provides the most immediate tax benefits to aircraft owners. The depreciable life for a business aircraft is five years for a Part 91 operator and seven years for Part 135 operators. The return of bonus depreciation in 2008 and 2009 allows a taxpayer to deduct 50% of the cost of the new aircraft in the year of acquisition. In addition, fixed and variable operating expenses are deductible.

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Located just six miles north of beautiful Lake Havasu City, is one of the most accommodating and friendly FBOs that I have ever flown to. I met these nice folks when I flew to Arizona last year to get my seaplane rating with Lake Havasu Seaplanes (PilotMag May/June 2009). When we decided to create this new FBO Spotlight section in PilotMag, I knew we had to feature D2 Aero and get the word out to pilots looking for somewhere to fly that was interesting and a whole lot of fun.

Home to the world famous London Bridge, Lake Havasu is a paradise for water lovers and desert lovers alike. The crystal clear water and sunny skies of Lake Havasu offer the perfect environment for any getaway. And, when you take a trip by plane somewhere that you’ve never been before, it’s always nice to have the help and support of a great FBO to make the trip more enjoyable. That’s exactly what I found at D2 Aero.

Owner - Darin Craig; general manager - Birgit Van Bynen; and line manager - Lee Vandaalwyk, have done a great job creating an FBO that will treat you like royalty and provide you with fantastic service and a very pleasant experience.

I was amazed when I got to Lake Havasu, how many things there were to actually do there. From renting a house boat or jet skis to seaplane rides, bi-plane rides, helicopter rides, golf, or just flying your plane over the three lakes in the area – Lake Havasu, Lake Mojave, and Lake Mead. That was the flight of a lifetime.

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