Christine Mortine had a twenty-five year career as a classical musician before shifting from conducting instruments to flying by them. She is a full time flight instructor and FAA appointment designated pilot examiner. She was fortunate to grow up camping and backpacking for weeks at a time, and continues to this day. She volunteers as an RAF Ohio Liaison.
WORTH THE READ: CHRISTINE MORTINE GUEST EDITORIAL
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 month’s guest editorial is by Christine Mortine, a CFI and an RAF Liaison.
A Family of Independents, A Community of Joy:
If you hang a suet feeder for woodpeckers, use the type with an extender for their tails. Bluebirds and chickadees don’t need it, but the woodpeckers do. I love seeing a Downy swoop in, land, using three points of contact – two feet and a tail – mains and a tailwheel.
I connect with woodpeckers, as they are often solo, at the feeder or navigating through the forest. I enjoy flying solo too, especially cross country. A former flight student reached out and asked if he could join me flying from Ohio to Ryan Field, Montana. I didn’t reply right away, and he wisely sent another note saying, ‘What was I thinking! I know you covet alone time in your plane!” Thanks to his follow-up note, we did fly that cross country together. And it was great. Maybe I should do that more often.
I see my bird feeders stay unused for hours, then suddenly, like a dinner bell for birds’ ears only, they all come at once. Call me crazy, but I also relate to that as a pilot. We are scattered everywhere and when a fly-in gets organized, we converge all at once. Those are the times lifelong memories are made.
While at an RAF Fly-In at Bob and Judy Gillette’s Lakewood Lodge, I declined the gracious offer of a bed in a bedroom in favor of my tent, to their utter surprise. Sleep eluded me that night as I didn’t want to miss a thing in the delicious space away from a city. I was rewarded with a long, melancholy owl duet in the middle of the night, all under a bright full moon. What is it with me and birds?
Pilots, by the very nature of the job, are independent. To land in a backcountry field and have all you need for days requires that skill. Herding a bunch of independent types and creating one of the best darn organizations around is just what the RAF has managed to create.
I flew two RAF-interested pilots to North Fox Island, 6Y3. Before heading out I called Brad Frederick to check conditions and see if there was anything I could do while there. He said everything was pretty good and to let him know how high the runway turf had gotten. Our trip day arrived, and while flying over the runway for a healthy look, we spied a parked aircraft. I’ll be darned if Brad hadn’t shown up that morning to mow the field for us. That’s the RAF Way.
When I needed a new C185 to replace the one that took care of me in an unplanned off-field landing, it didn’t take long for our RAF family to find an amazing replacement, from an amazing RAF member. So “Red Fox” stays in the family.
When I was invited to write this piece, a part of me thought I should write about flight instruction and such, as I’m blessed to be serving in that profession. But I keep coming back to the RAF community. Yes, there’s significance in the places we save, news we spread, the safety we promote. But for this solo natured bird, the community is a highlight. A former concert soprano who showed up to rehearsals with no makeup and wearing hiking boots, I am a happy camper in this aviation world, and with the RAF family.
I love being a part of our honorable, kind, hard working flock. Unlike our backyard birds, we clean up our messes, leaving a place better than we found it, and with the joy of partnerships flying both near and far!
Posted in Guest Editorial, News
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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.
