Not sure about you, but I likely have been both. As a recent blog post suggested, not smart is a passive act, remedied with learning, experience, and thought; while stupid is active – the result of someone who should have or could have known better, but decided to do something selfish, impulsive, or dangerous anyway.
“NOT SMART” VS “STUPID”
As an organization we have concluded it is a good thing to lean in on the idea of safety and etiquette in the world of backcountry flying. Since we are in the middle of our busier summer flying season, this subject might be worth a little space.
The RAF has two pretty simple reasons for our attention to the subject.
We want to continue to see you out there in the backcountry with friends and fellow aviators enjoying this special way to see the world.
We want to make sure we do our best to be good stewards so as to attract more people to what we do, and less who want us to go away.
Aviation is unique in that the penalty for being stupid is pretty high. As a friend of mine said, “Airplanes are just not built to crash.” So we need to think about and learn from the not smart things we have done, and not sink to the stupid things we know better than to do.
The RAF has assembled a team of folks, both within the RAF as well as friends associated with the RAF to tell the safety and etiquette story as best we can. We surely don’t know it all, and would like to think of our community as best in class when it comes to willingness to learn.
With that in mind I am going to ask that you help us out. For sure, we want you to get out in the backcountry. After all, the reason we exist is to protect the ability to access and enjoy these special places. So here is what I would like you to do for me. Please leave a comment on this story with your best or favorite tip that pertains to backcountry safety and or etiquette. I am betting we will learn some things from each of you. If we might already know it, well, it won’t hurt to be reminded.
And last but not least, if you see something either not smart or worse yet – stupid…say something. The best way for us to be a better community is to talk to one another. Do your best to be both constructive and positive. No better way to promote safety and etiquette.
Looking forward to seeing you out flying.
– John McKenna, RAF Chairman
Submitted July 15, 2025
Posted in Uncategorized
Recent Posts
At about this time, every year, we have this conversation at the RAF about what our year end letter (code for asking for your financial support) should say to you, and about the RAF and the accomplishments of the past year.
Our many RAF supporters have such vast and varied experience, and we’re capturing some of their words of wisdom to share with you. This guest editorial is by Stef Goza, a pilot and an RAF Alaska liaison.
Bill credits aviation for much of his success in business and the ability to serve his companies and family. What began in a Champ, and a Tri-Pacer owned by five people, turned into what Bill calls, “a key business tool” in which he accumulated 9,000 hours – in a Cheyenne, a Pilatus, and a TBM, where ninety-five percent of his flying was for business. “My retirement enabled me to recall ‘Why I Learned to Fly’, a slogan from an old RAF video.” Bill’s son, Patrick, purchased the C185 they now share. “While attending a business function, some associates arrived in corporate jets. As they joined up on the tarmac, the jet pilots gathered around Patrick’s 185, and one of the passengers asked, ‘What’s special about this?’ No explanation needed for this RAF audience,” Bill says. “My involvement in the RAF is, in a partial way, repaying the rewards aviation has endowed me with. Having been involved in many worthwhile nonprofits, this is one where financial support is only part of the picture. Physically participating in great projects that have a lasting effect, with good people, returns a great personal benefit,” he says. “My only regret is that I wasn’t there at the start.” Bill and his wife Jane are privileged to be able to split time between their long-time home in eastern Nebraska and Scottsdale, Arizona. While still serving on several boards, he enjoys golf “about every third shot,” biking, cars, and reading, but always looks forward to the time he can be involved in the RAF. “It’s flying with a purpose,” he adds. Bill can be reached at bdugan@theraf.org
AR Ambassador
A Christmas gift of flight lessons from his parents started Scott Anttila’s aviation journey in 1985. “I learned at Johnson Field, a small grass strip tucked into the woods in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and that early exposure to simple backcountry flying stuck with me,” Scott says. Growing up in the U.P., he spent a lot of time outdoors and found that flying was another way to get to the places he liked to explore—especially the ones most people never saw. As he earned more ratings and eventually moved to the Detroit area for work, Scott realized he needed a way to stay connected to northern Michigan. He bought an airplane and used it to get back to the smaller airstrips and lake country he enjoyed. Along the way, he also flew gliders out of Frankfort, soaring along the Sleeping Bear Dunes and towing sailplanes over the Great Lakes. “Those flights gave me a different appreciation for the landscape and made me even more interested in the small, out-of-the-way airports scattered around the state,” he says. Visiting those kinds of places, Scott first came across the Recreational Aviation Foundation. He started using RAF-supported airstrips both inside and outside Michigan. “I noticed how well-kept they were and how much access they opened up,” he says, adding, ”Over the years, I’ve watched a number of grass strips close, which made the RAF’s mission feel especially important to me. Maintaining these airstrips keeps aviation connected to the outdoors and makes it possible for more people to reach the quiet, remote areas that inspired me to fly in the first place.” Scott joins the other two RAF Michigan Liaisons, General Grant and Tanmoy Ganguly. He can be reached at santtila@theraf.org . Submitted December 11, 2025.
