Max Karant Awards Go To Five Journalists For Fair Aviation Reporting

Listening to ex-TWA captain and well-known aviation author Barry Schiff speak, is like hearing your favorite uncle telling stories, only in Barry's case, they're all true.

The guest of honor at the AOPA Expo 2006 Thursday luncheon followed an MTV-style slide show of its recently concluded amateur photo contest where hundreds of exciting aviation images flashed on the screen. The images flashed for sometimes milliseconds, sometimes for almost a whole second, to the oohs and ahhs of the crowd to the tune of a booming upbeat soundtrack.

Most subjects seemed to be self-portraits in flight, kids in little headsets giving a thumbs-up, float airplanes at dawn, airplanes in flight over water and mountains, and of course sunsets with aircraft -- lots and lots of sunsets.

The photos slowed down to show the third, second, and first place photographs in five categories, and the grand winner was a lovely portrait of a De Havilland Beaver on floats reflecting itself on a calm lake taken by Brian Dary of Aurora, CO.

After they eye-opener, Phil Boyer, President of AOPA, was presented with the actual pages of the first two advertisements ever published in a magazine -- from 1939. The ads announced the formation of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and encouraged membership. Boyer was given the framed art by the sponsors of the luncheon, DTC DUAT.

Then the Max Karant awards were announced for five general media journalists who did their best to present "fair, accurate, and insightful" reporting on general aviation. Two were able to attend the Palm Springs ceremony.

Jason Paur, of National Public Radio, told the audience that after his subject Carl Unger finally stopped talking after 15 straight minutes, he knew he had his story. Unger is the 74 year-old pilot of the aptly-named Breezy who gives Airventure attendees a free flight over the Oshkosh grounds every summer.

The other Max Karant award winner present, Stu Bykofsky, took the podium and had the crowd of 800 laughing when he said he was happy to be in Palm Springs, "especially because your organization flew me out here for free!" Bykofsky wrote a gently humorous column about his experiences learning to fly. He thinks the "Be a Pilot" program is a wonderful way to become an aviator, but warned that no one should sign up for the "Be a Newspaper Columnist" program because of the low pay and stiff competition.

Then Barry Schiff took to the stage, looked around the room, and asked "Why are you here?" He repeated the question and then said he hoped it was because everyone loved to fly, or at least had been brought to the convention by someone who loves to fly -- a reference, no doubt, to spouses.

The long-time contributor to AOPA Pilot and other aviation periodicals began to take the audience on an aviation journey of the mind as he recounted his experiences after flying more than 27,000 hours in dozens of types of planes. His first aviation experience was being sent to his grandparents in a radial engined DC-4 and that began his long love of aviation. He secretly began flying lessons which he kept from his parents until his flight instructor accidentally called them to say his lesson was postponed.

As a freshly-minted flight instructor, Schiff taught the 60s actress/bombshell Jill St. John and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, though he didn't say if she earned her license.

He also taught his pregnant wife. He said she soloed in her ninth month and he wasn't worried about her stalling because she couldn't possibly pull the stick back.

Barry Schiff soon began his professional piloting career flying for TWA while also becoming known as an expert aviation journalist and author. He is most proud of leading a flight of general aviation aircraft from Israel to Jordan, flying with American, Jordanian, and Israeli pilots. He said he naively thought he could help contribute to Middle-East peace, but knows he made at least a tiny difference, at least among aviators.

Schiff loves to fly in Africa and said he knows that lions love to chew on airplane tires -- once. The audience waited a moment, and he said "think about it."

The U-2 spy plane he flew required Schiff to undergo high altitude training, and a nearby bubbling glass of water in the pressure chamber reminded him of what would happen to his blood if his pressure suit failed.

A depressing trip to Europe brought him to an airport in Italy where renting a private aircraft was measured in Lira per minute. Pilots would literally rent a plane to fly for five or ten minutes because that's all they could afford.

A blimp he sat in departed at a 45 degree angle. Schiff said he was waiting for the stall which of course never came, because blimps don't stall.

His favorite flying is in Israel where because the military owns the airspace above 500 feet, all VFR traffic is conducted if not slow, then certainly low.

Barry Schiff asked the AOPA members sitting in the room, "Where do you stop on a long cross-country? Not where do you stop for fuel and a quick bite, but where do you stop for fun?" He exhorted the audience to find a small airport wherever they might find themselves away from home, and rent a plane with an instructor to fly around an unfamiliar part of America.

He ended with a short film of a 747 flying majestically among the clouds and sadly recounted the pilot was later lost in the TWA Flight 800 fuel tank explosion. But Barry Schiff, aviator, author, journalist, and lover of all things aviation, said to enjoy the gift of flight that we pilots share.

"It doesn't matter what you fly -- it only matters that you fly. Pass it on..."

FMI: www.aopa.org,  www.barryschiff.com/