AOPA Favorite Aircraft Challenge:The match-ups are NOT set up by AOPA staffers

As I provide coverage of AOPA's Favorite Aircraft Challenge, I have been fed comments that voters add when they cast their votes. And one constant I've seen in these comments is that certain match-ups are all wrong, that an Aeronca Champ should not be in a voting contest against the P-51 Mustang. Or that a Pilatus PC-12 should never have been set up against the F4U Corsair.

What people who are following this challenge needs to know is that it is the will of the people who are voting in the challenge that are setting up all of the pairings beyond the first round. Here's how this is coming down:

AOPA eMedia team members did initially rank the aircraft in each regional as seeded #1 through #16. Just like the real NCAA tournament, #1 “plays” #16, #2 “plays” #15, etc. The winners of these contests move on, and are then matched-up with winners of other contests solely depending on the outcome of the voting. From round two through to the finals, AOPA staff has zero say in what aircraft get matched up with others, it's simply a numbers game...most votes wins.

Now I will be one of the many who will say that there were some crazy initial pairings, but others that seemed quite logical. The Husky A1-C versus Eclipse 500 was a strange one, as was the King Air versus Flight Design CTLS. The deHavilland Beaver against the Schempp-Hirth Duo Discus was an awful pairing, and the P-51 versus Glasair III was questionable. But the Cessna Mustang versus Embraer Phenon 100/300 make perfect sense as did the Lake Amphibian versus Seabee. 

So as you go here to vote in the next few days, don't grumble because you don't think a Bonanza against the mighty DC-3 is a fair fight. That's how the voting came down, simple and true.

The four remaining “round of eight” contests are all great ones, with the P-51 versus F4U Corsair a battle royale, and the Piper J-3 Cub against the Beech Staggerwing a great pairing between two awesome vintage airplanes. The Beechcraft Bonanza has proven very popular in voting, so much so that it has ended up facing the DC-3, which has crushed all opponents so far. The West regional voting produced a Cessna 182 versus deHavilland Beaver contest that does seem lopsided. But again, everyone must resist the temptation to gripe about these pairings...they are what they are, based only on YOUR votes..hard data and nothing else.

In case you want to stay tuned and get in on the fun, voting in the round of eight is Thursday, March 29th only, with the “Four on Final” voting set for Friday and Saturday, March 30 & 31. Check it all out here.

How My Pen Became Mightier Than My Sword

After this week's series of articles I have written for AOPA.org about their Favorite Aircraft Challenge, I've received a few nice emails, including one who asked how I developed my writing style. So in the interest of introducing myself a little more to my readers, here's a few words on how this blog and my articles are produced, and some backstory about the guy who produces it:

After a flight at age 10 in what I sort of remember to be a 707 from FAT north to Seattle, I was so jazzed about flying, my mother, Joan, suggested I write United Airlines a letter to thank them for the awesome flight. My mom was a very creative woman, an artist, a real "zany" lady. If you can imagine Carol Burnett crossed with Lucille Ball, that was my mom. I knew nothing about writing letters at age 10, but did know that mom had a way with people. Through her tenacious gift of gab as well as her insane ability to sting together the right combination of written words, she could make anyone ask "how high" whenever she wrote the word "jump." She helped me write that letter, and after stamping the envelope with me, we sat back and waited.

Now you would think that even back in 1966, United was getting flooded with letters, so naturally they would ignore one from a 10-year-old pup in Fresno. Not so. A few weeks later, I received a thick Manila envelope from the Office of the Chairman, United Airlines. Inside was several 8 x 10 black and whites of historic United planes, a booklet containing every shred of available data and trivia on them, and a gigantic brochure announcing the hottest plane in the sky, their new 747! On top of this monster pile of airplane stuff was a personalized letter from the CEO himself, thanking ME, a 10-year-old snot-nosed brat, for allowing THEM to fly ME in THEIR jetliner! It was that day that Jumpin' Joanie proved to me that compared to a sword, the pen is a far mightier instrument.

From those early days when I pecked away at an old family Smith-Corona, I progressed without even trying to a point in 1980 when I was covering Central California auto racing stories for a gaggle of regional and national papers. From Indy cars in Portland, Oregon to World of Outlaws sprinters in Knoxville, Iowa, you could find me with my bag of Minolta film cameras out there deep into the apex of turn one, so close to the track I'd scare the hell out of the ambulance drivers.

That freelance career turned into a real newspaper job in 1984 when I took a Sports Editor's position at a small weekly in Reedley, CA. My favorite part of that job was my weekly "Sports Insight" column, which was sometimes pretty far out there for my ultra-conservative readership. But the paper's owners leaned right and I've always leaned left, so that full-time gig ended two years later. At that point, I met my wife Julie, it was 1987 and we began what is now 25 years of wedded and business bliss. In 1998 we opened our ad agency, and now, just about 16 years later, here I still am, busier then ever.

During these "typewriter" years – including my first electric, bought by my sister Mary to jump start a career she knew was inside me – Jumpin' Joanie always pushed me to write, and to read newspapers. It was always a treat to find a copy of the San Francisco Chronicle, and prompted by words from those often green pages, I developed a writing style that has been called "Herb Caen meets Dave Berry." I don't try to be high brow, and I don't aim my work at low brow readers either. I just plunder through a story, hoping my fingers move just slightly faster then my brain. If the letters string together something readable, I publish it, and usually have no regrets.

I still pound away at my articles and blog posts, only now using a Macbook Pro instead of a worn manual typewriter. The vast majority of what you see on this blog comes directly from my heart, and is written first time through in one sitting, with the prerequisite time taken to keep the typo police off my back. Writing about flying is not work for me, the words are already hard-wired into my soul.

But these days, I often meet young people who can only write with their thumbs on a cell phone. Yeah, sure, there are lots of brilliant young people who publish brilliant blogs on seriously relevant topics. But for every one brilliant young blogger, there are many "writers" who have never cracked an AP Stylebook, or even know what that is. Many cannot spell without a spell checker application, and few of them know how to form a business letter. I find this trend disturbing, as writing is the very core of this country's existence. Try writing the Declaration of Independence on your cell phone sometime.

So for the future of the U.S.A., if you have 'tweenage' kids in the house, encourage them to learn creative writing, the fine art of stringing words together to get a point across. It is not that hard, any kid can do it because I did. I've made a career out of writing, and I've only had six DAYS of college. I always encourage young people to attend college, but the skills needed to write clearly are available to school kids long before they sit down to take the SATs.

But first, we have to tear them away from their video games and text messages long enough to teach them the most important skill I believe they can learn...the ability to communicate with the written word. When they learn how to do that, anything they can dream is attainable. If they neglect to learn creative writing and basic English and composition, I believe their chances of developing a serious professional career doing anything beyond burger flipping will be nil.

Why writing for AOPA is a big deal

By Dan Pimentel,
Airplanista Blog Editor

WOW is all I can say.

The feedback from my first piece on aopa.org about AOPA's Favorite Aircraft Challenge has been really wonderful. I am hearing things like "Dan, you are REALLY having too much fun with this." Truth is, I AM having too much fun, on many levels. This is sort of a dream assignment, with front page billing on the most important aviation website in the world. And I am grateful to (a) the universe and (b) the AOPA eMedia team for landing this gig in my lap. One story on AOPA.org would be mind-blowing, but one story each day for nearly three weeks?

I might just be in journalism heaven.

I have to tell my one big AOPA tale for you to understand the magnitude of this assignment:

I joined the organization as a member while still a private pilot student back in 1996, and carried the AOPA wings window decal that came in my membership packet around with me in my flight bag for months until I earned my ticket. The very day I passed my check ride and was issued my license to fly, I went out into the flight school parking lot and ceremoniously affixed that decal to the back window of my truck...the same truck I drive today. Being an AOPA member means that much, and displaying those wings meant as much to me then as it does today. I did not feel like I could rightfully fly their wings without first demonstrating to myself, my father and my family that I could in fact earn the privilege to fly private airplanes.

So, when you see my articles for the next few weeks on aopa.org, the takeaway – besides a bunch of good, clean fun with airplanes – is that I might be one of the proudest members of this great organization right now. And if you fly, or want to fly, or own a business that sells stuff to people who fly, you are making a huge mistake for the future of GA if you are not an AOPA member. Go here right now and change that...for the good of everyone involved.

Because the next time some whacked out politician or the FAA wants to ram legislation down our throats that could damage GA, or the next time some telecom company wants to launch a network that will take down our GPS system, you will be damned glad you have suits from AOPA in Washington, D.C fighting for you, me and everyone else who calls themselves an aviator.

Watch AOPAOnline for More Favorite Aircraft Challenge Updates

By Dan Pimentel,
Airplanista Blog Editor

I am elated that my coverage of AOPA's Favorite Aircraft Challenge is now being picked up by AOPAonline. For the next few weeks, you may visit the main aopa.org site to see the articles.

If you are not yet voting, please join the fun by going here to cast your votes, and then bookmark this page to watch the brackets and see which winners advance to future rounds.

AOPA's Favorite Aircraft Challenge:West Results and Round 2 Predictions

By Dan Pimentel,
Airplanista Blog Editor

Now that the voting in  AOPA's Favorite Aircraft Challenge is heating up as more pilots click here to get in on the fun, we are watching some very interesting results emerge. We've see some great airplanes make it easily through to the second round, with most of the match-ups making sense, while others seem to be coming straight out of left field.

So just how did AOPA come up with the 64 aircraft that makes up this challenge? And, once the eMedia creative team decided on those finalists, how did the match-ups come together? You might think that the eMedia team had some crazy and sophisticated algorithm to crunch numbers and select the 64 finalists. That sounds like a great “plan A” but is not how the finalists were selected. For answers, again we turn to Alyssa Miller, AOPA's Director of eMedia:

“The debates around which aircraft to include and how to rank them took place during lunch on a Friday over some pizza and pop,” Miller explains. “Of course, many pilot fanatics were involved and enjoyed pitching their favorite aircraft! I think we’re all more interested in which aircraft pilots will pick…instead of picking what we want to win, we’re trying to guess what others will do.”

Asked if the pilots that are voting are also using complex theorems to decide how to vote, Miller indicated that when it comes time to click the “submit” button on the voting site, it really boils down to one thing:

“We do have descriptions on the site and links to click through for specs etc,” Miller said, “but most pilots who are voting are going with their gut feeling. We have a comment function with the voting, and I’ve been gathering those for upcoming stories. Based on comments, their decisions are based on what they fly – or dream of flying – the nostalgia of the aircraft, etc. Voters are really getting into the smack talk too!”

We hope to present some of that 'aircraft smack' in a later segment of this series.

And now, on to the recap of the Round 1 action in the West Regional, and Airplanista's prediction for the second round in the West:

ROUND 1 RESULTS – WEST REGIONALS: If anything, the results in the West were as most pilots would have expected. The reputation of the Cessna 182 Skylane as a durable performer was no match for Cessna's 120/140, and the Skylane has made to through to the next round. The Lake Amphibian advanced by beating the Seabee in a water-soaked contest. This one kept the mop-up girls busy on the court.

In my most-watched battle, the Piper PA-28 Cherokee – which represents an entire family from the 140 to my personal favorite, the load-hauling 235 – squeaked by the Cessna 150/152 with a miniscule 2% margin! The narrow victory for the Pipers does not bode well going into the next round.

The PA-32 Cherokee Six is a notable ship, but agains the T-6 Texan, it was not even close. Memo to the rest of the competition...Don't Mess with Texas. I was personally glad that Socata's very nice TBM 850 made it past the Cessna 177 Cardinal, as the -850 deserves to move on. Not to knock the Cardinal, it is a competent airplane as well. But when you factor in the incredible specs and performance of the TBM, you see it really should be in the second round, if not farther.

Round 1 of the West was also great for some Pipers, and horrible for others. The PA-23 Aztec fell hard when one of Lock Haven's finest designs – the PA-18 Super Cub – literally wiped the floor with the -23, maybe due to the twin's unearned reputation as an “Aztruck.” And another Piper, this time the Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche, never could get its offense rolling, with the nimble ball-handling and power of the Grumman F8F Bearcat sending the PA-30 on an extended off-season vacation to Vero Beach.

Last in this round was a strange match-up between the mighty #2 seeded DeHavilland Beaver and the #15 seeded Schempp-Hirth Duo Discus, whatever that is. The Beav' is the consummate seaplane, bush plane and the “go-to” ship in Alaska, and from the initial buzzer, even with the first string on the bench (and not even in uniform), the DeHavilland pulled out early and never even looked back, taking 92% of the vote in the Challenge's largest win yet.

ROUND 2 WEST REGIONAL PREDICTIONS: Voting is underway in the second round of the West, and leading off the action is an easy one. The Cessna 182 should have no problem dispatching the Lake Amphib (sorry @MaxTrescott) as the Skylane draws upon its sheer numbers in the GA fleet to advance.

As someone who has a Piper PA-28 in my hangar, I am saddened to see the four-seat Cherokee family match up against the T-6 Texan. This famous trainer from North American is the quintessential warbird you see at shows like Oshkosh, and its variants have been used all over the world to train fighter pilots. But the Cherokee family is also found on every ramp in the land, and I swear this is true, if I pick the Texan, Katy will never speak to me again. I'm going with the PA-28 here, and it will be the upset of all round two battles.

In the contest between the TBM 850 and Super Cub, I believe the fast and sexy cabin-class turboprop will overcome early voting from a large vintage contingent to advance. And last, wow, the F8F versus the Beaver! I just watched 750 busloads of Eskimos driving south through Eugene to attend this contest, so expect a large cheering section for the DeHavilland. With what might be a “less than a 5%” margin, the Beaver will claim the win here, despite the firepower and uber-groovy fold-up wings on the Bearcat.

Coming up next, I'll start presents results and predictions from second round action in all regionals, and based on what happens there, my predictions for Round 3 which is sure to have some interesting match-ups in the 16 aircraft that makes this cut.

Remember to get involved in the fun by clicking here to start voting.Remember to get involved in the fun by clicking here to start voting.

Read Part 1 of this series here

Read Part 2 (round 1 of Southwest Regionals and round 2 SW predictions) here

AOPA's Favorite Aircraft Challenge:Round 1 Southwest Results and Round 2 Predictions

By Dan Pimentel,
Airplanista Blog Editor

The excitement surrounding AOPA's Favorite Aircraft Challenge is starting to build, and as Round One voting in the Southwest Regional comes to a close, Airplanista wanted to know just how such this fantastic, fun project was hatched. Was a bar napkin involved? Did the process to determine the match-ups involve fisticuffs and hair pulling?

The answers to these questions, are of course no, says Alyssa Miller, AOPA's Director of eMedia. “Chris Ward, our vice president of new product development and interactive marketing, is a huge sports fan,” Miller said. “He tossed out an idea during one of our weekly production/creative meetings of hosting an aircraft bracket challenge contest that would coincide with March Madness. There were plenty of skeptics – honestly, I was one of them – but once pilots around the building started chiming in with what aircraft should be included in the 64, the idea really took off.”

Once the idea moved out of the “what if?” phase, the AOPA team got to work on the many levels required to bring such a project to fruition. “After Chris came up with the idea, and we decided to get the ball rolling,” Miller continued, “we divided the project into editorial and production projects. Chris kept the ball moving on the production end, and I worked with him on an editorial plan to encourage daily voting through Aviation eBrief and AOPA Online with weekly recaps in AOPA ePilot. Our social media experts also got involved to promote the challenge through Facebook and different Twitter accounts once it was launched. We also included a teaser in the Pilot Briefing section of Pilot Magazine.”

Let's continue with a recap of the Round 1 voting as of 3/15 and see if I can pick a few winners for Round 2:

ROUND 1 RESULTS – SOUTHWEST REGIONALS: Voting has concluded for this set of contests, and it was a barnburner. In a close one between the Beechcraft Bonanza and Citabria/Decathlon, the Bonanza advanced, but it was closer than many expected. What was not even close was the Cessna Mustang win over the Embraer Phenom 100/300 with the 'Stang grabbing nearly 75% of the votes. The ERCO Ercoupe put up a fantastic fight against the sleek, tough Cessna Corvalis, but the modern composite ship scored the W. And in another close contest, the tough reputation and high dispatch reliability of the Cessna 208 Caravan overtook the experimental Vans RV-10 to advance.

In a blowout, the durable Cessna 210 creamed one of this writer's favorite ships, the Socata TB20 Trinidad, while another high-wing entry from the plains of Kansas, the Cessna 205/206, easily dispatched the Hughes 300/500 helicopter. The Grumman Tiger, a rather rare but noble entrant, was no match against the decades-old reputation of the Cessna 180/185, with the Cessna taildragger making it into the second round easily. And last, the extreme coolness and high-tech functionality of the Cirrus SR-22 could not make a stand against this regional's toughest competitor, the #15 seeded DC-3, which claimed nearly 80% of this vote.

ROUND 2 SOUTHWEST REGIONAL PREDICTIONS: When the second round launches voting March 19 – 22, there will be many contests that will be hard to predict. The Beechcraft Bonanza will face off against the Cessna Mustang, and we see a high probability that the bizjet crowd will come out en massé to send the 'Stang into the third round. The workhorse of the FedEx rural fleet, the Cessna Caravan, faces another Cessna product, the Corvalis, and due to the massive misspelling of the four-place composite airplane (at least to us Oregon residents), expect the Caravan to take this “War in Wichita.”

More Kansas drama unfolds when the Cessna 210 battles its little bro', the 205/206, and not even Nostradamus could pick this one. I give the edge to the 205/206, which advances only because it has...wing struts. And last, in a blowout, the very capable Cessna 180/185 – despite being the ship that carried Jerrie Mock around the world as the first woman to make that journey solo back in 1964 – will not stand a chance against the full-court pressure and incredible offense of the DC-3.

Coming up next, results of first round action in the West Regionals, and based on what happens there, my predictions for Round 2 of those contests.

Remember to get involved in the fun by clicking here to start voting.

AOPA Defines What 'March Madness' Means to Aviators

By Dan Pimentel,
Airplanista Blog Editor

I have made the point over the years that my dream job was doing just about anything as an employee of AOPA. Had I lived within driving distance of their HQ in Frederick, MD, I can assure you that by now I would have talked my way into a groovy, “all GA, all the time” job down the hall from AOPA Pilot Editor Tom Haines.

The quality of work that AOPA does on behalf of general aviation pilots is exceptional because they hire the right people. Can you even imagine being part of a staff that is allowed to talk airplanes on the job throughout their business day...and get paid for it!

And when that many members of our aviation family gather to do lots of professional-grade hangar flying, sometimes the ideas that sprout wings and fly are as fun as they are innovative. One such project is their new Favorite Aircraft Challenge, a bracket-style contest based on an NCAA-style tournament where you, the AOPA member, gets to vote for your favorite flying machines.

In the coming days, I will continually update this story with my comments on the results, and some predictions as we push closer to the “Championship” voting on April 1 & 2. I will also present some of the backstory behind this brilliant concept, and take you inside the process at AOPA HQ to see how a simple idea became a very fun project.

Let's begin with a recap of the round 1 voting as of 9A on 3/14:

ROUND 1 RESULTS – EAST REGIONALS: Voting has concluded in this round, with #1 seed the P-51 Mustang easily dispatching its first opponent, the Glasair III. Sure, the Glasair is a very nice airplane, but this was David versus Goliath. Another easy win was the #4 seed King Air taking down the Flight Design CTLS. The #3 seed, the venerable Cessna 172 Skyhawk, moved on with a win over the Legend Cub, and the Maule M-5 pulled out an upset by taking down the Piper PA-46 Malibu. Another contest pitted the Swiss wonder, #7 seeded Pilatus PC-12 against an opponent from the rotorhead brethren, the Bell 206, with the Pilatus scoring a decisive win. And last, the #2 seed F4U Corsair was an easy victor over the Aerostar, even with Coach Bob Hoover on the Aerostar bench.

ROUND 2 EAST REGIONAL PREDICTIONS: This sets up some interesting contests in the East's Round 2, when the P-51 is expected to chew up and spit out the Aeronca Champ, and the King Air pushing hard to overcome the popular Robinson R-22. The Cessna 172 will advance against the Maule M-5, but as a prognosticator, I had a tough time calling the results of the Round 2 battle between the Pilatus PC-12 and F4U Corsair. The warbird vote certainly will arrive for this contest, but the speed, economics and useability of the PC-12 might garner a wave of votes from the bizav crowd. In a tight one, I predict the Pilatus comes from behind late in the game to win at the free throw line. Voting in Round 2 is slated for March 19 – 22.

ROUND 1 RESULTS –  SOUTHEAST REGIONALS: The results of this round were on average fairly predictable, with few surprises. While we pilots all love Burt Rutan's designs such as his Long-EZ, the #16 seed pusher did not stand a chance and went down hard against the top-seeded Piper J3 Cub. Pilots chose the agile Pitts Special over the very agile Extra 200/300, and when it competed against the resurrected Eclipse 500, the #5 seed Husky A-1C won easily by a 2-to-1 margin. The small but swift Mooney M20 beat out the rather unknown Quest Kodiak by a healthy margin, and the Globe Swift never stood a chance against the venerable #3 seed Waco UPF-7. In another rout, the style and grace of the Beech Staggerwing easily put away the Beechcraft Baron, and the #7 seed Piper PA-24 Comanche was upset by the light twin Cessna 310. And in closing this regional round, the battle between the Stearman PT-17 and Grumman Widgeon was closer than anyone expected, with the Stearman staying on top from the half to claim the win.

ROUND 2 EAST REGIONAL PREDICTIONS: The excitement of this regional's second round is growing, due in part to the Piper J3 versus Pitts Special contest. The Pitts will come into this one ready to play, but will be no match for the legendary reputation of the J3, which advances with the W. With the Husky A-1C going up against the Mooney M20, I expect the versatility of the Husky to slide by to advance in a close one. In a “classic” match-up of two biplanes, the Waco UPF-7 and Beech Staggerwing square off, with the Beech pulling off the upset of this regional round. Last, it will not even be close when the Stearman PT-17 knocks the Cessna 310 from the competition.

Coming up next, results of the first round action in the West and Southwest Regionals, and based on what happens there, my predictions for Round 2 of these contests.

Remember to get involved in the fun by clicking here to start voting.

Read part 2 (round 1 of Southwest Regionals and round 2 SW predictions) here

Stahr's Flying Works of Art (Part 2):A Tedious Process Only an Artist Could Love

Stahr in his Eugene shop prepping a wing for striping

Read part 1 of this story here

By Dan Pimentel,
Airplanista Aviation Blog Editor

In part one of this article series, I introduced you to John Stahr, one of this country's most prolific aviation airbrush artists. He's also a member of my EAA Chapter in Eugene, Oregon, and a hangar row mate at KEUG.

As this story unfolded, I told you about my past history as a fine art gallery owner, and how I was intrigued by the artist's process for taking a mental image or idea – a concept – and transforming it from brainwaves to a finished work of art. Whether it is a guy like Stahr painting an entire ocean down the side of a Global Express, or 'Jumpin' Joanie painting a still life scene on a raisin tray, the process is what makes art so special.

Wait, what...who is Jumpin' Joanie? Oh, I'm glad you asked...

 'Jumpin' Joanie is Joan Ellen Anne Daly Pimentel, my late mother. A lifelong artist, she was also very prolific, and in the 1970s, developed a knack for painting on used raisin trays. Those were 3' x 4' wooden trays the raisin farmers used near my home in Central California's San Joaquin Valley to dry Thompson Seedless grapes into the little dried balls of love you find in your breakfast cereal. Part of the process was for me – as a teenager – to drive around the country roads until I spotted a gigantic pile of old, used raisin trays, and then fast-talk the farmer into selling me some of what was really a pretty weird artistic medium for my mom to paint on. I'd then bring them home, clean them up, and sort them until I found the ones with a really cool dried grape pattern burned into it by the blistering sun of too many hot Fresno summers. On those, mom would paint anything that would generate a few bucks, and she stayed busy doing this for years.   

I spent those years watching her produce these tray paintings, taking each from sketch to finished product all day, every day. While the skill of painting never stuck with me, mom's interest in graphic design did, and I have been supporting myself since 1986 in that trade.

Bruce Taylor's R44 Raven II helicopter.

So in thinking about John Stahr's process, I wondered how many levels of work is involved in taking a customer's design and applying it to their aircraft. As you will see here, it is an incredibly complex and tedious process that only an artist who truly loves their craft could endure. Let's start at the beginning...

 “About 10% of the designs are completed by the customer or another designer,” said Stahr, “On those projects I just have to prep and paint. Another 10% of my customers give me free reign, but in 80% of my jobs, we work together to create and refine their dream. The design usually comes into focus in a couple of hours, then probably another 6 - 20 hours of refinements and edits are needed. Then it's on to using Macromedia Freehand for the graphics and lettering, and Photoshop for integrating the art and textures.”

Once the design is complete, the customer either flies or trailers the aircraft to Stahr's Eugene airplane studio, or John travels to their shop, hangar, or aircraft paint operation set up to help with the project.

“Depending on the type and size of plane, its condition, age, body work needed, stripping needed, and the material, metal or composite,” explains Stahr, “each job's prep work ranges from 25 to 125 hours. And the time to apply the BASF Diamont automotive paint and top coats can again be in that range, it just depends on the complexity of the design and the size of the aircraft. Obviously, the Global Express I painted was at the upper end of that envelope.”

With such variance in each job, you might think some are tougher than others, and you'd be right...each job is a one of a kind original with its own challenges:

“There was that one job I did in Ft Lauderdale,” said Stahr, “in a 115 degree hot hangar, where I had to use Imron on a strict production time limit working with gold leaf, and nearly got arrested due to the airport's policy on painting in hangars.....now that's a two-beer story! Then, when I painted the Global Express, I had to develop a way to scale the design up from a laptop screen to a 120-foot-long jet. On that job, I worked in Tucson at Bombardier with a team of painters, handling the whole process over a seven-day production window working 12-16 hour days.”

Painting tail section of Global Express Bizjet

Yes, those jobs were a test of an artist's devotion to his craft, but other jobs such as the Flying Hawaiian series of planes, a Falcon 900 bizjet, and the RV-10 “Maid of the Seas” (an Oshkosh winner) were very gratifying. The one job Stahr would still like to do? “A 737 for Alaska Airlines with an Hawaiian theme,” he states emphatically.

In closing this interview, I tried to determine how special the talents of John Stahr were. Stacked up against those in his trade, where does his level of proficiency place him?

“There are tons of airbrush artists,” he explains, “ and it seems like half of them are all doing 'how-to be a great airbrush artist-like-me' DVDs, or teaching classes on how to paint flames and skulls. I only know personally of one guy from the East coast who does really great airplane pin-ups and nose art, but as far as I know, I'm the only artist who has done the scope of complete nose to tail design, including artwork and execution on some really great airplanes.”

That list of “really great airplanes” has been covered by the aviation press at one time or another and includes a long list of Oshkosh planes, one Reno Race Jet, and a handful of business jets (that go way over the top for typical bizjets according to the artist). Several Lindy award winners (often painted in conjunction with Craig Roberts of Aurora, OR), the RV-7 Corsair wannabe, and a number of Lancairs are just a peek at Stahr's portfolio.  

Detail of Stahr's American Angel RV-8

In part three or this series, I will introduce you to Stahr's Masterwork, his American Angel, an experimental RV-8 that is very near its first flight. When you lay eyes on this impeccable airbrush design – one with a heavenly backstory – you'll know why Stahr says he “hopes his American Angel will blow up a few skirts on ramps from coast to coast.”

Stay tuned, you will not be disappointed.

Stahr's Flying Works of Art:Defining What it Means to Look Completely Awesome in the Sky

John Stahr at the easel

By Dan Pimentel,
Airplanista Blog Editor

Find out more about John Stahr's aviation art and aircraft paint designs here.

If you have spent any time in the Experimental area at EAA's Airventure Oshkosh, you've seen John Stahr's artwork.

Think back to that time when you were strolling down the rows and had your breath taken away upon seeing any one of many RVs and Lancairs with impressive custom airbrushed paint designs. That plane was so gorgeous, it was easy to understand why there was a crowd gathered around, gawking.

Yes, any time other pilots view his work after Stahr finishes spraying paint towards a flying machine, that gawking thing happens. People stare, cameras come out and the Wisconsin summer sun glistens off a luscious airbrushed design that is incredibly shiny, sexy and perfect.

In the coming weeks, I will be presenting a continuing series on this star (pun intended) in the small world of custom airplane painting. While there are certainly people all over who can make Candy Apple Red literally jump off a chop-top '49 Mercury, the number of painters knocking out museum-quality designs on aircraft is a much smaller, far more specialized group.

Which is why it is super cool to tell you Stahr, of Eugene, Oregon, happens to be in my EAA Chapter 1457, and shares one of the bays in my Lane Ducks group hanger out at KEUG where Katy lives. It's about 100 steps to wander over and see what sort of magic this artist is using to make us all drool on his latest customer project.

The following few posts are not simply put out there about some guy I know. I have been an art gallery owner, and professional art director, photographer and graphic designer since the late 1980s, and I can promise you I know good art from bad art. The designs Stahr applies to airplanes, business jets, helicopters and seaplanes is not just good art, it is unbelievably good art.

So as we get into this story, remember that what Stahr does when painting something that flies is not your basic Earl Schieb special, not just a means to cover the outside of the craft with pretty colors. How his designs develop, and how the paint and topcoats are actually applied are notable, with the craft and process more related to what an artisan would demonstrate than anyone who assaults a Skyhawk with a few shaker cans of Imron and calls it good.

When you look at Stahr's designs across the ramp, they stand out as something special, something to be appreciated. But get closer – much closer – and upon inspection, the tiny, immaculate details emerge. For instance, stars draped across the nose of this beautiful RV-8 below were painted to look as if their were actually stitched on the plane! As this plane flew back home to Boston over a July 4th weekend, the pilot was literally applauded at stops along the way...and rightfully so.

Here's a little backstory to get this party started and explain how someone evolves their artistic talents from a few street bikes to this high level of proficiency:

John Stahr’s passion for aviation was encouraged at an early age by his father, an aeronautical engineer. But long before he became an Artist Member of the American Society of Aviation Artists (ASAA), he started painting with an airbrush in 1975 while attending college. Custom show vans and fancy street racing motorcycles filled his Florida based hole-in-the-wall paint shop before he moved west to set up Stahr Design/Artistic Aviation's shop and design studio in the beautiful hills of southwest Eugene, Oregon. Since 1983, Stahr and his team have designed and custom painted over 1,000 motor coaches – including 900 Marathon Coaches, some of the most luxurious on the road – and many tractor-trailer rigs, along with hundreds of smaller custom units such as specialty and tow vehicles. In 1995, he started producing artwork and custom paint designs for aircraft, and flying aviation art is now his main focus.

If you have ever watched a professional airbrush artist at work, it is a thing of beauty. The process is intricate, but with proper use of colors and textures, in the hands of an artist like Stahr, an airbrush is a magnificent tool. The skills needed to lay in texture to the wings of an angel while sprawled out on your back staring at the underbelly of an experimental airplane takes years to develop. I'm convinced that had Leonardo Da Vinci used airbrush technology back in 1503 when he began his Mona Lisa, she would have been grinning from ear to ear.

In the coming weeks, I will continue this series on my hangar row mate...first presenting the complex and intensive process of taking a customer's paint design from vision to finished product. The steps along that path are many, and a friendly, collaborative working relationship between artist and customer is vital. With such a vast portfolio, Stahr has developed a way of moving this process forward in ways that makes customers say these kinds of things about him and his work:

“I am the proud builder/owner of a Lancair Legacy that John painted for me. The design process enabled me to work with John, choosing the colors and concept that I wanted. Throughout this process he offered suggestions, but in the end, the design and color combinations were mine to make. Since I live locally, I was able to visit my plane in his shop on several occasions during the painting process. During these visits, John explained each phase of the work and what it entailed. He also kept a digital photo record of each step and later burned me a disc of all shots. Working with John, who is the consummate professional, was easy, and the final product is spectacular. I highly recommend him to anyone who has a custom painting project.”

– Phil Groshong, Eugene, Oregon

Phil Groshong's Lancair Legacy

In part three of this series, I will conclude this story by introducing you to Stahr's American Angel, his drop-dead gorgeous personal masterwork, an RV-8 he's finishing up right now. The artist has taken his skills to another level with this ship's “heavenly” paint design, and upon seeing the Angel up close, you will agree with me that this RV is destined to become a future Oshkosh Grand Champion.

Find out more about Stahr's aviation paint designs here.