Pole Crossing Delayed By Mechanical Problems Thursday was set to be the first day of a new bone-chilling adventure for Dr. Gustavus McLeod. Unfortunately, he was forced to return back to Florida due to some nagging aircraft problems. McLeod was 30 miles south of Cuba on the way to Panama for the first leg of a long, challenging attempt to fly solo over both the North and South Poles in a single-engine plane when the mechanical gremlins awoke. McLeod, 49, was flying a modified Velocity SportPlane called the Firefly, when he noticed a series of abnormal electrical and oil pressure indications on the aircraft's instrument panel. Right away, he decided to contact the folks at Velocity for some technical guidance. Duane Swing, owner of Velocity Inc., told A

Florida Pilot Wins Sonex Kit

It sure pays to be an EAA member these days, as one lucky homebuilder recently found out. James "Jim" Ross, Citra, Florida, is the lucky winner of a complete Sonex Kit and builder's package in EAA's 2003 Membership Sweepstakes. His name was randomly drawn from over 150,000 entries on Thursday, January 15 and publicly announced on January 21. In a few weeks, he'll receive the kit, provided by Sonex Ltd., along with instrumentation and accessories, from Aircraft Spruce & Specialty. Jim was on the golf course when EAA President Tom Poberezny called with the good news on January 20. "I didn't believe Linda (his wife of 45 years) that the president of EAA had called until I saw EAA on the caller ID," he chuckled. "So I called Tom back, of co