While EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is typically a week filled with flying for many of us, it’s become a welcomed intermission from air travel for the almost 80-year-old Arty Trost, EAA 485367, as she circumnavigates the continental United States in her Aeroprakt A-22 light-sport aircraft.
Arty departed from her home of Sandy, Oregon, on June 13 and started her way south through California. Longtime friend and pilot Dennis Long, EAA 1020229, has been joining her at each stop of the way in his own Aeroprakt. While Dennis prefers a quicker pace, Arty cruises at an average of 70 mph, and she has logged 107 hours over the course of a month before arriving in Oshkosh. With having much of the trip behind them, Arty remarked that her favorite stops were Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and Mackinac Island, Michigan.
Arty fell in love with flying ultralights in her mid-40s when a friend introduced her to the world of flight in 1989. Now, after more than 30 years of flying, she is no stranger to cross-country trips; in 2009, she completed a seven-week round trip to SUN ’n FUN in her Maxair Drifter, as well as a round trip to AirVenture Oshkosh 2011 in her Sport Flight Talon. Arty noted, “I’m going to be 80 in December, and I don’t think I would physically be able to fly completely open cockpit this far again,” and so comes the Aeroprakt, which she purchased two years ago. Arty reminisced, “When I decided to upgrade, I called Dennis to find out what he knew about the plane … and I kept asking him, ‘How slowly will I be able to fly?’… It still flies a little faster than I am used to.”
Landing in Oshkosh on July 15, she decided to volunteer in the Fun Fly Zone as she waited for AirVenture to arrive. Arty joked, “Right now, I’m so tired of flying. It’s so great to be here on the ground … and I know by the time the whole convention’s over, I’ll be just itching to get back in the air.” She will be completing her trip around the United States after AirVenture and expects it will take another week to get home. Clear skies ahead, Arty!