Say Hello To Senior E-Media Producer Paul Plack!

With the final days before the official start to EAA AirVenture 2008 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. Over the next several days, we thought we'd take the time to introduce you to the staff members -- both full-time, as well as our "stringers" -- who will be bringing our readers and listeners all the news from Oshkosh that's fit to pixilate, orate and videotape 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 and his wife, Cindy recently moved to a home with an attached shop near Salt Lake City, where his own Sport Copter Vortex gyroplane kit is slowly taking shape. 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.

FMI: www.aero-news.net, www.airventure.org