If You Have An Event/Announcement To Publicize, Tell Us
Now
For you, AirVenture 2004 in Oshkosh will be a chance to see the
latest and greatest in general aviation, check out some very
informative seminars and hear some of the brightest lights in
aviation speak on topics ranging from SpaceShipOne, to the latest
GA wunderships, to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
For us, it's going to be another kick-butt year of covering the
single biggest event in GA. At Oshkosh, we'll have a presence
unlike any other news service. Oh, sure, you'll still see us
walking just about everywhere; but you'll also notice our prominent
on-site headquarters, located in the Press/Media compound. The
"ANN Mobile HQ" isn't any kind of booth, where we'd ordinarily be
handing out trinkets -- it's a 21st-Century electronic marvel,
where we will communicate with the WOW (World Outside
Wisconsin).
This Mobile
HQ enables us to do even more for you, to provide a great
place to conduct interviews, learn about new products, conduct
business, and get the message of Oshkosh out to the world, while
affording the world some way to get its information to us. We plan
on posting "visiting hours" throughout the show, when we'll be
available to meet you! We trust you'll like what it can do, even
though (unless you're at Oshkosh) you probably won't know it's
there!
The Team For 2004
ANN ushers in the next century of aviation with a mixture
of OSH veterans and newcomers to AirVenture 2004. Among them:
Publisher/E-I-C Jim Campbell
For over 30 years, Jim Campbell has told the world of
aviation what no one else dared to... the truth. He's worked
as a test pilot, stunt pilot, flight instructor
(CFI/A/I/ME/H), you name it... he flies fixed wing, rotorcraft,
single/multi-engine, gliders, balloons, ultralights, jets,
warbirds, antiques... the works. In addition to his highly
acclaimed flight tests, product reviews, personality profiles,
editorials, photo essays, exciting magazine covers, and amazing
stories about the world of aviation, Campbell also told the flying
public that there were products and manufacturers out there
who did not tell the truth or were actually dangerous, and that
many of the entities that we had learned to trust as Aviators,
especially the FAA, simply could not be trusted. To many, he was a
hero, to a few others, he was the loudmouth who screwed
up their scams... so he fought many battles, and
while he never actually lost a single fight, he sure got
his nose bloodied a few times... None-the-less, Campbell is the guy
that never gave up on doing the right thing for the world of
aviation... and all the flyers he's come to care so very much
about. That's why he's the guy "who takes the blame" at ANN.
Editor Pete Combs
A veteran broadcast journalist, IFR pilot and aviation
enthusiast, Pete Combs took over the editorial duties at ANN
earlier this year. In addition to his work with ANN, he's been a
tireless advocate for aviation among the working journalism
community.. and become the guy "in the know" to many who now
look to him for info on all things aeronautical. He's promised
to bring more hard-hitting news to our news service, with concise
and pertinent stories that range from aerospace to sport aviation
(or "asteroids to ultralights," as we like to put it). Pete's done
amazing things in his time with ANN and has been instrumental in
shaping it into one of the most powerful forces in aviation and
aerospace news.
Associate Editor Juan Jimenez
ANN owes a lot to the great work done by Juan Jimenez--even if
it has almost killed him once or twice...
The (self-described) 'crazy Puertorican' in the picture has been
flying or fixing things in airplanes since 1974, and currently owns
a BD-5J Microjet built in Australia and now being prepared for the
airworthiness inspection. He has flown a variety of aircraft,
including Grumman trainers, Cessna singles and twins, Mooney's,
Aeronca's, Citabrias and even a Stinson 108 experimental in
Argentina, on a day where airports were categorized by how many
dogs and cats came out to greet you after landing.
He served in the US Marine Corps from 1978 to 1982 as a
line avionics and electrical systems technician, and
worked on CH-46A/E/F's, CH-53D's, U-11's, T-39's and C-9B's in
the Station Operations and Engineering Squadron at MCAS
Cherry Point in North Carolina, and in HMM-161 at the
now-defunct MCAS(H) Tustin in California.
He is married to a beautiful Argentinian artist, Liliana Folta,
and has one 13-year-old son, Gustavo. If you see him during the
show and have a story to tell or new product to talk about, flag
him down, he's always looking for something cool to write about --
and he's an easy to talk to.
Kevin "Hognose" O'Brien
Kevin O'Brien was born 13 years to the day after the first
nuclear explosion. (Einstein knew no good was going to come of
that). He grew up in a flying family. Later on they began to use
airplanes. As a boy in Massachusetts (which is an Algonquin Indian
word for "sneeze"), he grew up in the heady years of seemingly
limitless aerospace progress -- and Beatle hits. Kevin brings a
remarkable ability to ferret out the best stories in aviation and a
penchant for research that usually floors the competition.
Deciding that the Army was a better hobby than a living, he
soldiered on in the Reserves and Guard while building a variety of
second careers successful (engineer, investor and board member) and
not so (Aero-News flunky). His network design business gasped its
last while he was deployed to Afghanistan as part of the Global War
on Tourism, where he became the only man in the history of modern
conflict to be medevaced for dog bites. (No purple heart, though --
it was a friendly dog!) He still has nightmares involving
helicopters and mountains. (Did you know that in your sleep,
mountains can chase you?) His fascination with flying machines, and
more so, flying people, has never flagged, and he has been known to
indulge in the sport himself, from time to time, when the FAA lets
up on him.
Tyson Rininger
Tyson first began working as a contract photographer for the
Point Mugu Air Show while still in high school. In 1991, he took up
studio and location photography for corporate clientele while
expanding his aviation coverage which has included becoming the
head photographer and web-designer for the California International
Air Show, Salinas since 1996.
Currently, he is the head photographer for the International
Council of Air Shows (ICAS), Sean D. Tucker & Team Oracle as
well as one of the staff photographers for Laguna Seca Raceway in
Monterey. On occasion, Navy Third Fleet in San Diego also contracts
him for civilian work for the military. Such prior assignments
included coverage of the USS Constellation, USS Boxer, VFA-125
& VFA-122 at NAS Lemoore and most recently the 146th Channel
Islands Air National Guard out of Point Mugu (CA).
Aleta Vinas
When she told ANN Publisher Jim Campbell she would "write for an
Oshkosh pass, she didn't really expect he'd take her up on it. That
was over a year ago and her "newbie" status has long since
been demolished. She's now a grizzled old veteran (with much to
learn) but still more than willing to write for a pass to the Big
O.
Aleta says she's known since she was a little girl that aviation
was where I wanted to build a career. She just didn't realize it
might not be up in the air. Aleta graduated from Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University with a BS in Aeronautical Science and an AS
in Aviation Management. She spent some years as a flight instructor
and now lives vicariously through a few of her students who have
become airline pilots. She chose a different flight path for her
career, but maintains her CFII and flies occasionally as a weekend
pilot.
John Ballantyne
An accomplished pilot, instructor and examiner for ultralights
(three-axis and weight shift) and hang gliders, John is the past
President of the US Ultralight Association and also a commercial
pilot and flight instructor for gliders (sailplanes and trikes). He
has extensive experience with balloons, paragliders and powered
parachutes and is the FAA Aviation Safety Counselor for the
Washington Flight Standards District Office (FSDO).
Rose Dorcey
Rose's interest in aviation began when she was a young girl
watching crop dusters fly over the cranberry bogs near where she
grew up in Central Wisconsin. It wasn't until 1991 that she started
flight training, on her 30th birthday, after twice winning a
national amateur motorcycle hillclimb championship, earning a black
belt in Tae Kwon Do, and completing 500 bicycle rides.
An instrument rated pilot, Rose is President of the Wisconsin
Aviation Hall of Fame, and Editor of the organization's newsletter,
Forward in Aviation. She has written several articles on
Wisconsin's aviation history, and lectures on the same subject. Her
passion for aviation is evident by the location choice of her
wedding, she and her husband John were married at the EAA's Fergus
Chapel.
John Dorcey
John, an Air Force Veteran, is an Aviation Consultant with the
WisDOT Bureau of Aeronautics and holds ATP, CFII, A&P, and IA
certificates. A Wisconsin native, John knew aviation was his
calling at 8-years-old when he first flew in the Penny a Pound
airplane ride program.
John is well known throughout Wisconsin for the aviation safety
programs he has given in his 19 years with the Bureau. John is on
the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame, and
webmaster for the organization's website. He has flown over 60
missions in the EAA Young Eagles program.
Christopher Armstrong
Christopher John Armstrong is a new contributor to the Aero-News
Network, joining them for the 2004 Airventure Convention.
Chris graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1986 with a
Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics with
emphasis in Aerodynamic Stability and Control, Composite Materials,
and Aircraft Design. During his diverse career in the aerospace
industry, Chris has worked at General Dynamics Fort Worth
Division/Lockheed Fort Worth Company, at Cessna Aircraft and as a
consultant to Powersport Aviation.
...And You!
We need your input. If you have an
event or want to see something covered, please don't hesitate to
let us know. You can send them in an email to ANN's Editorial
Staff (editor@aero-news.net),
or follow the simple instructions on the website to submit your
news-spy/calendar events. If you wait until the last second, your
news will have to contend with what's already there!
ONE MORE TIME: Make sure you alert ANN to your
news releases, press conferences, media events, seminars, speeches
and other special events so that we can schedule your staff to
cover them... we're runnning out of time and room on the schedule.
Make sure we have your info... NOW!
Contact: editor@aero-news.net
We're looking forward to a great Oshkosh adventure this year!
See you there!