Say Hello To Pete Tobin And Aleta Vinas!

With the final days before the official start to EAA AirVenture 2006 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... and 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 that's fit to pixilate from Oshkosh this year.

And now, without further adieu...

Pete Tobin

Pete Tobin is a 950+ hour instrument rated pilot who really really does intend to take his commercial check ride someday. Although he absolutely loves his Lancair Columbia 350, he will always jump at the chance to take up a glider, his favorite way to fly.

When not in pilot mode, he’s a screen writer and a refuge from Hollywood, where he worked on the crews of over a dozen movies, network television shows and way too many commercials to count. His lovely wife Karen is also a pilot. Together they’ve flown their 350 from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and a whole lot of places in between.

Meigs Field will always be Pete's favorite runway... but Key West International does fill a large part of that void.

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 four years 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.

Stay tuned as we introduce more of our stringers and staffers in days to come!

FMI: www.aero-news.net