Julie Boatman learned to fly at a private strip in Iowa starting in high school. She holds an airline transport pilot certificate with a commercial glider rating, and is a CFII. Julie’s the editor-in-chief for Flying Media Group, and she learns something new about the art of aviating every time she flies.
WORTH THE READ: JULIE BOATMAN 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 Julie Boatman, the editor-in-chief for Flying Media Group.
A Mountain Mentor: The RAF provides more than just support for our favorite places to fly.
Mountain checkouts ranked among my favorite dual sessions to fly during the years after college that I spent instructing in Colorado out of the Boulder Municipal Airport—then 1V5, now KBDU, a change I find hilarious. We’d fly to Aspen (KASE), Leadville (KLXV), and Steamboat Springs (KSBS), which will always hold a special place in my heart—both for its bountiful slopes and stunningly beautiful summer marathon.
I spent more than a decade based in Colorado, with every flight managing relatively high field elevations and density altitude performance reductions. Not having to lean during the runup still feels a bit strange to me today when flying in the flatlands.
But by and large those airports we’d fly into west of the Continental Divide were all paved—and well used. Though they each had their elements of objective hazard, none—not even Glenwood Springs (KGWS now) with its shortish runway and mostly one-way ops—could qualify as remote or unimproved. Therefore, I treated the transition I would make into the true backcountry with a lot of respect, because I had seen firsthand how insidious those high-country hazards can be, and how quickly the risks multiply with carelessness or neglect.
That’s also why I find the work that the Recreational Aviation Foundation does so valuable. The group reaches far beyond its considerable efforts to retain access and establish and maintain places to land in every state. RAF members serve as counselors and guides to those wishing to explore these marvelous lands from the air—and with minimal impact as compared to land-based transportation, I might add.
My introduction to the types of places RAF protects began in 2005, and though my teachers weren’t all RAF mentors per se, the model they collectively presented lies in the same vein.
In October 2005, I went flying on a mountain course with Lori MacNichol out of McCall, Idaho. After detailed airwork understanding her 180 hp Cessna 172’s specific performance, we headed first to Johnson Creek (3U2). Then she worked us to progressively more challenging terrain and approaches: Soldier Bar (85U), Wilson Bar (C48), and Cabin Creek (I08) in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. I learned immeasurably from each one, taking pieces I could incorporate into my flying, and techniques I still practice to this day.
Flash forward to October 2019, and I found myself in a beginner’s mindset again under the tutelage of Fred Williams on a WomanWise Adventure Week in Cascade, Idaho. He introduced me first to his backcountry version of the Kitfox—an amazing tool—and then worked me into progressively more “interesting” places. The next day I flew with Stacey Budell in her stock Cessna 182, and though Stanley (2U7) and Smiley Creek (U87) were “easy”—save for the bear and cubs passing along the perimeter—the approaches into Idaho City (U98) and Garden Valley (U88) kicked it up a notch. Again, the tools that these sessions with experienced instructors added to my box of tricks and have served me so well, so far.
Two RAF-connected mentors have taught me even more. In October 2020, Steve Taylor not only introduced me to his beautiful bouncing beach ball of a Republic SeaBee, but also to his Cessna “184 a half” in which we plied around the San Juans near Seattle in search of ghosts and glaciers and marionberry pie.
My latest off-airport adventures I shared last August in eastern Washington state with Brad Damm at CubCrafters—to landing sites without names. The time we spent talking and thinking and flying drove home the unique nature of these spaces once more.
The mentorship from these pilots goes beyond the hard skills and techniques you learn. There’s an overall philosophy you absorb through the behaviors they model—the respect for the airplane, the terrain, the land, and the people around you. You might venture out to an RAF-supported strip using the guidance you find on their website, but I encourage you to get to know the teachers within the group from whom you can learn so much.
Submitted on June 26, 2023.
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.
