PHOTO CONTEST STARTS OCT 1; RUNS THROUGH END OF MONTH

A small plane is parked in a grassy field with mountains in the background

October 1 is the first day of the 2024 Photo Contest! It’s time to submit your favorites.


From October 1-31, send us your best photos of scenic, recreational airstrips. Again this year, we are including the “RAF Mission” category, for photos we feel best illustrate people enjoying recreational aviation, regardless of region. 


Winning images will appear on the popular RAF Thank You cards that go out to thousands of donors and supporters. Winners receive a pack of high quality RAF greeting cards with their image on the front, just in time for the holidays.


Winners from each of five U.S. regions will be selected; plus RAF Mission category. The region is determined by where the photo is taken, not the photographer’s home state.

Entry period: October 1, 2024 until 10 pm MST, October 31, 2024


Eligibility: Open to any RAF supporter, amateurs and professionals alike, including those 18 and under


It’s easy to enter!


Email high resolution digital photos in .jpeg, .jpg, or .png format to Cindy at ccross@theraf.org.

There is a limit of five images per person, so please send only your best.


Standard size (not panoramic) photos in good focus, with good overall composition and lighting are preferred. Avoid clutter. Photos chosen as winners may be slightly edited or cropped to fit well on the cards. Most photos that include people will be judged in the RAF Mission category. Scenic images with aircraft are preferred for regional category entries.



By submitting your photo(s), you give the RAF permission to use your photo in RAF publicity.


Submissions must include:


  • Photographer’s name (Name remains anonymous during judging)
  • If under 18, state the age of the photographer 
  • Phone number
  • Location of photo (airstrip and state)
  • Identify any faces in the image, and obtain permission from them for this use
  • If sending in photos of children, you must first obtain parent/guardian permission to use the images


Our judges are our volunteer VP’s of Appreciation who write all the RAF thank you cards. They favor photos with airplanes, great scenery, and people enjoying the experience.


Winners will be announced in November. Each winner will receive a package of high quality greeting cards with their photo on the front; and their photo credit on the back.


Submitted September 19, 2024. Cover photo by Scott Newman, 2023 West Region Winner.

Posted in News

Recent Posts

IF WE COULD . . .

By Kodi Myhre • December 23, 2025
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.

WORTH THE READ: STEF GOZA GUEST EDITORIAL

By Taylin Trafton • December 23, 2025
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 DUGAN IS NEW NEBRASKA LIAISON

By lellington • December 21, 2025
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

Jake Hampton

December 15, 2025
AR Ambassador

RAF ADDS MICHIGAN LIAISON SCOTT ANTTILA

By Taylin Trafton • December 11, 2025
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.