AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - March 2022 - 34

BRIEFING
AOPA SWEEPSTAKES /
A social cat
Follow the Tiger on your device
BY KOLLIN STAGNITO
IF YOU CR AVE regular updates about the AOPA Sweepstakes
Grumman Tiger, social media is the best way find out where
the airplane is and what we're doing to it. AOPA Social Media
Marketers Kevin Cortes and Erick Webb started posting about
the Tiger prior to Sun 'n Fun 2021. They broke the news that
AOPA's Tiger wouldn't make it to the airshow and a " stunt double "
would act as a stand-in. And they've been serving up photos,
videos, and updates ever since.
Last year, Cortes made his first flight into AirVenture in the Tiger,
and then flew it back to AOPA home-base Frederick Municipal
Airport (FDK), sharing some terrific photos along the way.
Asked for his favorite Tiger post, he said, " I enjoyed the air to
air flight that led to this Instagram reel post [above left]. It was
the first time we've shot an AOPA sweeps aircraft with a behind
the scenes social media angle in mind. We were able to capture
the essence of what it takes to get a few signature shots the audience
will see in the magazine. In this clip you can listen to the
timing of the break on the intercom, along with getting a firstperson
point of view of what it looks like to shoot this scene from
the photo aircraft. The Tiger is easily one of my favorite aircraft
to fly, I'm happy to see the excitement from our audience about
this sweepstakes aircraft. " The reel had more than 555,000 views
on Instagram and TikTok.
Webb's favorite is called the " short approach " video (above
right). " It's my favorite because it was my first time flying the
34
AOPA PILOT / March 2022
Find this post and other updates about the Tiger on
Instagram (@flywithaopa under the Reels tab).
Tiger, " he said. " Kevin Cortes and I chose to go to an airport we'd
never been to before-Rostraver Airport (FWQ) in Pennsylvania.
We had an uneventful, and surprisingly good, lunch. On the downwind
at Frederick Municipal Airport, I was asked if I could make
a short approach inside of a Cardinal on final. Being familiar with
my home airport and having made several short approaches to all
the runways over the years, I felt comfortable and safe doing it. The
video shows how easy the Tiger is to fly because it was only my
third landing in the Tiger. I simply cut power, lowered the flaps,
turned toward the runway, and put it on the centerline. I've since
logged nearly 20 hours of flight time in the Tiger. It's one of the
smoothest airplanes I've had the privilege to fly, and it's no wonder
Grumman owners are such a passionate and enthusiastic group.
I've missed flying the Tiger while it's been in the paint shop, and I'll
certainly miss it when we give it to a lucky winner later this year. "
Perhaps the most viewed-and commented on-post was the
request for members to weigh in on their favorite of three possible
paint schemes. The post garnered more than 700 comments,
with the results almost evenly split.
Find more Sweeps
updates, and to post your
comments, visit AOPA
on Instagram, TikTok,
Twitter, and Facebook.
kollin.stagnito@aopa.org
Visit aopa.org/sweeps for full
sweepstakes rules and a list of
generous contributors.
http://www.aopa.org/sweeps
AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - March 2022

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