Wade Shealy, of Simpsonville, South Carolina, received the surprise of a lifetime when Mark Baker, the president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, visited his hometown to tell him he was the lucky winner of the association’s Super Cub Sweepstakes airplane.
“Well, I think it’s still a little bit unbelievable,” Shealy confided. “It’s a beautiful aircraft and I never dreamed that I’d win anything but a toy aircraft. I can’t thank AOPA enough for having this program.”
“As AOPA president, presenting our sweepstakes airplane is one of my favorite tasks,” said Baker. “Surprising a lucky pilot with a completely refurbished airplane, equipped with everything a pilot could dream of, is really a rewarding experience.”
To assist in pulling off the surprise announcement, AOPA enlisted Shealy’s flight instructor, Cecil Tune, a 79 year old, former Navy pilot and pastor, and Brett Zukowski, co-owner of USAeroFlight Flight School at South Carolina’s Greenville Downtown Airport.
Baker hid just outside a hangar with the Super Cub, waiting to surprise Shealy with his new mode of transportation. Shealy was lured to the airport by AOPA Web Editor David Tulis who told the 81-year-old student pilot that he was writing a story about older student pilots and their flight instructors.
Shealy started flight training when he was younger, but as with many pilots, life got in the way. He started flight training again in his 70s and now has about 120 to 140 hours total time, and flies on and off with Tune.
Every AOPA sweepstakes airplane is one of a kind by the time it’s finished, but it couldn’t be truer of this Super Cub, according to AOPA officials. The 1954 airplane had been wrecked and sat for nearly 20 years before AOPA and Baker Air Service started the restoration project in 2017.
What really pushed the Sweepstakes Super Cub airplane over the top was that for the first time in AOPA’s history, the airplane came with three sets of landing gear: Wipaire’s Wipline 2100 amphibious floats, AirGlide hydraulic skis, and Airframes Alaska’s 27″ Alaskan Bushwheel tundra tires. The plane is powered by a 160-horsepower Lycoming O-320 B2B engine with Electroair’s electronic ignition system.
2020 Sweepstakes Airplane Revealed
After the winner of the Super Cub Sweepstakes airplane was revealed, the 2020 sweepstakes grand prize was immediately announced: A 2007 Van’s Aircraft RV-10.
The RV-10 is AOPA’s first experimental sweepstakes project airplane in 27 years of giving away refurbished airplanes, association officials note. It will undergo renovations throughout the next year, in time to surprise another lucky winner in early 2021.