Our first-place winner is Jim Magner with his terrific ’Nothing To Read Here At All’ story of a tragic accident that never happened.

’So, I read all the accident reports, not with a macabre voyeuristic curiosity but with a purpose. Whenever I read one, I put myself in the cockpit. I imagine that the passengers are my wife and kids or business associates. I imagine what it might feel like to have to cancel the trip; one that I’ve been talking up and that they have been excitedly looking forward to. I imagine sitting there, perfectly fine one minute, only to discover that something very unexpected has just happened.’

In second place is talented writer and photographer Ryan Lunde for his excellent essay entitled 'An Unplanned Visit to Little Buffalo,’ in which he flies an owl in need of rescue to a stormy destination at a recovery center.

’Departing Gillette, we made our way west beneath a thin, metallic overcast. The air continued to be stable and the high clouds combined with the snow-covered ground meant that there was no chance for thermal updrafts. Wintertime flying in Wyoming wasn’t always as brutal as one might imagine, and the Husky had a passable heater, at least for the front seat occupant. I climbed up above 10,000 feet as we approached Buffalo, aiming for Powder River Pass, south of the Bighorns’ major alpine peaks in the Cloud Peak Wilderness, but north of the smaller Hazelton Peaks. The high clouds were broken by the time we crossed the pass and we looked down and saw Highway 16 was snowed over. Wyoming is a challenging place to travel across during the best of weather. In the winter, it can get much more divided and isolated.’

Our third-place winning entry was a delightful tale by Mary Margaret McEachern titled ’My Failed Engine Taught Me How to Trust Myself,’ in which she recounts her adventure with an engine failure at 400 feet shortly after takeoff in her Mooney M20 she calls Ladybug.

’When Ladybug and I made our extraordinary flight, I had reached barely 200 hours. I enjoyed flying, but still considered myself an ’unlikely’ pilot. At age 49, when I began flight lessons, I had harbored a life-long fear of flying, the depth of which even I was unaware. I had retired early from my law practice, and I wanted to apply my recently acquired physics degree to inspire others. I had grown restless. My husband, Rob, also a pilot, gave me a discovery flight one Christmas. I had withheld my fear from him, but I was intrigued and determined not to disappoint him. Fighting fear all the way, I earned my private pilot certificate shortly before turning 50.’

Explore past winners, finalists and prizes from our previous contests.

We’ve compiled a list of frequently asked questions. If your question isn’t answered here, please send us an email at contests@planeandpilotmag.com with the following details:

ELIGIBILITY:
Plane & Pilot’s 2022 Lessons Learned about Flying Contest (“Contest”) is open only to individuals who are over 18 years of age and who are residents of the U.S. Employees of Madavor Media, LLC, (“Sponsors”), and their respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, and advertising and promotion agencies, and their immediate family members (spouse, parent, child and sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) and/or those living in same household of each, whether or not related, are not eligible to participate or win. Sponsors reserve the right to verify all eligibility requirements. Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

CONTEST PERIOD:
The Contest will begin on March 15, 2022 at 7:00 AM PT, and end on June 21, 2022 at 11:59 PM PT (the ’Contest Period’).

HOW TO ENTER:
Click the submit your story button above to submit. All entries must be received by June 21, 2022 at 11:59 PM PT to be eligible. Each story must be submitted in .DOC and cannot exceed 32 MB in size. Enter with an ’Early Entry Fee’ from March 15, 2022 until June 7, 2022 at 11:59 PM PT at $25 for one (1) story and $35 for two (2) stories. From June 8, 2022 until June 21, 2022 at 11:59 PM PT, the ’Entry Fee’ will be $30 for one (1) story and $40 for two (2) stories.
Please note: Entries submitted online will be eligible for (i) the Grand Place Prize (as described below), (ii) Second Place Prize (as described below), and (iii) Third Place Prize (as described below).
Entry must be the original work of the entrant and entrant must be the sole owner of the copyright of such entry. Entry must be in keeping with the Sponsors’ image and may not be inappropriate or offensive, as determined by the Sponsors in their sole discretion, nor can it defame or invade publicity rights or privacy of any person, living or deceased, or otherwise infringe upon any person’s personal or property rights or any other third-party rights. The Sponsors reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to disqualify any entry they deem to be offensive, inappropriate, that is not in keeping with Sponsors’ image or that is otherwise not in compliance with the terms of these Official Rules. Entrant must have obtained express written consent to submit any entry that contains persons other than entrant or third-party elements not owned by entrant and, if requested to do so, produce such written consent from appropriate parties in a form and manner acceptable to the Sponsors.
By submitting an Entry, entrant acknowledges and agrees that Sponsors may obtain many Entries in connection with this Contest and/or other contests staged and/or promoted by the Sponsors, and that such Entries may be similar or identical in theme, idea, format or other respects to other Entries submitted in connection with this Contest and/or other contests sponsored by the Sponsors or submitted for other reasons or other materials developed by the Sponsors. Entrant waives any and all claims entrant may have had, may have, and/or may have in the future, that any Entry and/or other works accepted, reviewed and/or used by the entrant may be similar to his/her Entry, or that any compensation is due to entrant in connection with such Entry or other works used by Sponsors.

GRAND PLACE PRIZE JUDGING:
One (1) potential Grand Place Prize winner, one (1) potential Second Place winner, one (1) potential Third Place winner, and up to twenty-five (25) potential Finalists will be determined from among all eligible entries received by a panel of qualified judges, based equally on the following criteria: Adherence to Theme, Composition and Creativity/Originality (“Judging Criteria”). The entrants who submitted the entry receiving the highest scores, as determined by the Sponsors in their sole discretion, will be the potential winners and finalists respectively.
In the event of a tie for any prize, an additional “tie-breaking” judge will determine the applicable winner or finalists from among those tied using the Criteria. The Sponsors reserve the right to not award any prize if, in their sole discretion, an insufficient number of eligible and qualified entries are received. Decisions of the Sponsors and judges are final and binding.

WINNER NOTIFICATION:
Potential winners will be notified by telephone, mail and/or e-mail by November 30, 2022 and will be required to execute and return an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability and, unless prohibited, a Publicity Release, a W-9 Form and any additional documents that may be required by prize provider within fourteen (14) days of date of issuance. If any potential winner is an eligible minor in his or her jurisdiction of residence, prize may, at the Sponsors’ discretion, be awarded in the name of the parent or legal guardian, and such parent or legal guardian will be required to fulfill all requirements imposed on winners set forth herein. Noncompliance with this time period or with these Official Rules, or the return of any prize notification as undeliverable, may result in disqualification and, at the Sponsors’ discretion, the prize will be awarded to an applicable runner-up.

PRIZES:

Grand Place Prize: $500 (U$D) cash prize;

One (1) One-year Plane & Pilot VIP Membership (ARV $95.88); Placement as Plane & Pilot’s Facebook Cover Photo (ARV priceless); publication in a special multi-spread feature in an issue of Plane & Pilot (ARV priceless);

Total First Place ARV: Approximately $

Second Place Prize: $250 (U$D) cash prize;

One (1) One-year Plane & Pilot VIP Membership (ARV $95.88); publication in an issue of Plane & Pilot (ARV priceless);

Total Second Place ARV: approximately $

Third Place Prize: $250 (U$D) cash prize;

One (1) One-year Plane & Pilot VIP Membership (ARV $95.88); publication in an issue of Plane & Pilot (ARV priceless);

Total Third Place ARV: Approximately $

Current total ARV of all prizes: $

If, for any reason, the Sponsors do not feature any of the winning entries in Plane & Pilot Magazine, no compensation or substitution will be provided; however, the remainder of prize package will be awarded and the Sponsors will have no further obligation to winners. All prize details are at the sole discretion of the Sponsors. No substitution, cash equivalent or transfer of prizes permitted by winners. Sponsors reserve the right to substitute a prize (or portion thereof) of comparable or greater value, in their sole discretion. All federal, state and local taxes as well as any costs and expenses associated with prize acceptance and use not specified herein as being awarded are the sole responsibility of each winner. Prizes are awarded “as is” with no warranty or guarantee, either expressed or implied by the Sponsors. Limit one (1) prize per household.

USE OF ENTRY:
By submitting an entry, entrant grants the Sponsors and their designees an irrevocable, royalty-free, nonexclusive, worldwide perpetual license to use the entry and his/her name, city and state of residence for credit purposes in Sponsors’ website, without further compensation, notification or permission, unless prohibited by law. In addition, each winner grants to the Sponsors and their designees an irrevocable, royalty-free, nonexclusive, worldwide perpetual license to use and distribute the entry (as submitted, or as edited by the Sponsors), and his/her name, city and state of residence for credit purposes, in any and all media now or hereafter known, including without limitation in Plane & Pilot and any Madavor Media magazines for purposes of promotion of this Contest. Except as otherwise stated herein, without further compensation, notification or permission, unless prohibited by law.

USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION:
Your personal information collected in connection with this Contest will be used in accordance with Madavor Media’s Privacy Policy (available at https://www.planeandpilot.com/privacy-policy) including, without limitation, for marketing and promotional purposes.

MISCELLANEOUS: Released Parties (as defined below) are not responsible for late, lost, garbled, damaged, incomplete, delayed, undelivered, or misdirected entries or for computer, technical, printing, typographical, human or other errors relating to or in connection with the Contest, including, without limitation, inability to access any website associated with the Contest, errors which may occur in the administration of the Contest, the processing or judging of entries, the announcement of the prizes or in any Contest-related materials. If for any reason the Contest (or any portion thereof) is not capable of running as planned, including infection by tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Contest, Sponsors reserve the right, at their sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest and, if terminated, at its discretion, determine winners from among all non-suspect, eligible entries received up to time of such action using judging procedure described above. By participating, entrant agrees (i) to be bound by the terms of these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsors and judges, which are final and binding in all respects, and (ii) to hold the Sponsors and their respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, prize suppliers and advertising and promotion agencies, and the respective directors, officers, employees and agents of the foregoing (collectively, the “Released Parties”), harmless against any and all claims and liability arising, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, out of or in connection with participation in this Contest, acceptance and use of any prize or Released Parties’ use of any of the rights granted herein. Sponsors may disqualify (and void all associated entries) anyone from participating in the Contest or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines that such person is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest by cheating, deception or other unfair practices, or intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other entrant or Sponsors’ representatives or who is otherwise not in compliance with the terms of these rules. ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE SPONSORS RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES AND OTHER REMEDIES (INCLUDING ATTORNEYS’ FEES) FROM ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

WINNERS’ LIST: For the list of winners (available after December 2022), send a separate, stamped, self-addressed envelope to: PNP 2022 Lessons Learned about Flying Contest Winners’ List, Attn: Marketing Department, 35 Braintree Hill Office Park, Suite 101, Braintree, MA 02184, to be received by January 30, 2023.

SPONSORS:
Madavor Media, 35 Braintree Hill Office Park, Suite 101, Braintree, MA 02184