Say Hello To Paul Plack!
With the final days before the official start to EAA AirVenture
2007 counting down all too rapidly... and, not quickly enough...
ANN's senior staff is all-too-aware of the Herculean task ahead of
us in reporting EVERYTHING that's news at The World's Greatest
Aviation Celebration.
Fortunately, this year we'll have some help... and some really
GREAT help at that. As we've already told you, Aero-News is
bringing its largest staff EVER to AirVenture this year, to not
only increase our print and audio coverage of the greatest (air)
show on Earth, but also to help us kick off Aero-TV. (Come to
think of it... "Herculean" doesn't begin to cover it...)
Over the next several days, we thought we'd take the time to
introduce you to the print stringers, video crews, and senior
staffers who will be bringing our readers and listeners all the
news that's fit to pixilate, modulate and videotape from Oshkosh
this year.
And now, without further ado...
Paul Plack
A native of Buffalo, NY, Paul gave up a boyhood dream of a
career as a pilot to pursue his other dream, radio broadcasting...
eventually becoming a top-rated personality at music-format
stations in markets along the east coast. By 2000, Paul had moved
west and transitioned to Talk Radio, becoming a popular morning
host on KUIK-AM in the Portland, OR suburb of Hillsboro.
KUIK's studios were (and still are) located on the second floor
of the terminal building at the Portland-Hillsboro Airport, with a
panoramic view of that busy, general aviation scene. Watching other
people depart for $100 hamburgers eventually got the better of
Paul, who started thinking about flying again. Then, during the
station's extensive coverage of the 2001 Hillsboro Air Show, he saw
an aerobatic performance by Jim Vanek in the Sport Copter Vortex
gyroplane, including a full inside loop. Paul recalls that as the
pivotal moment when he knew his dream of flying had just become a
goal!
Paul took his primary instruction at small airports in Oregon's
Willamette River Valley, mostly in Aeronca Champs, and got his
Private Airplane Single-Engine Land certificate in 2003. He
immediately started looking for a way to combine the skills
acquired in a 30-year broadcast career with his newfound love of
flying. Coincidentally, about that same time, ANN was looking
for someone to take over day-to-day Aero-Cast production, and Paul
jumped at the chance.
Today, Paul lives with his wife, Cindy, less than a mile from
the Portland-Hillsboro Airport, where his own Sport Copter Vortex
gyroplane kit is slowly taking shape in a hangar. He has logged
about 200 hours as a pilot, about half in tailwheel airplanes, and
17 hours of dual instruction in gyroplanes. Paul has been a daily
voice on ANN since September of 2006, and recently left behind his
co-host duties on a nationally-syndicated weekend radio talk show
to accommodate an increasing role with Aero-News.
Stay tuned as we introduce more of our stringers and staffers in
days to come!
NTSB Final Report: Cessna 177B
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