During his presidential campaign, John Kennedy told a gathered crowd in Chicago that "Life is a journey. Though there are curves in the road and hills to climb, there is a clear path for each of us." After 8 years of producing High Flight, we presented to the I.M.A.A. Board of Directors at the January, 1998 Board Meeting a request to terminate my contract. The Board agreed and this will be our last issue as Editor/Advertising Manager of High Flight.

I would like to thank the dedicated writers who poured so much oftheir time, effort and money into their High Flight articles. Thanks to Greg Meyer, Al Hensen and Jim Kummerow for their regular construction articles. As most of our readers are aware, there was never a budget for any review items. The writers or magazine staff had to purchase the kits, engines, covering, etc., all in an effort to include in High Flight what the members wanted; construction articles.

Feature writers sent in regular articles without missing a deadline, including Joe Farris, Kirk Gullach and Alex Muller. Our readers were interested in technical articles and Joe, Kirk & Alex came through issue after issue. Few writing challenges can compare with coming up with technical or "how to" articles over and over. They showed real dedication.

There have been so many people in the past 8 years who have given so much of themselves to help make High Flight better. Like Jim Van Loo, John Baldwin, John Peck and Irv Allison, God rest his soul, whose input will always be remembered. We have all met the "talkers" and "complainers" in life, but the people we respect most are the hard working "doers." We were blessed with a group of writers and contributors who were "doers" during our years at High Flight.

Thanks also to my friend and counsel, Frank Healey. His professionalism, experience and advice have been invaluable. Most of all, his friendship and loyalty will be remembered by us.

We extend our appreciation to the many advertisers who supported the I.M.A.A. members by advertising in High Flight. Without a doubt, the I.M.A.A. dues have remained at $15 for the last 7 years because of the financial support of our advertisers.

I also have to thank my partner and wife Fran. In the past 6 years she has managed the advertising for this magazine, which included ad sales and collections. Those collections have been very important to the I.M.A.A. Fran collected over $370,000 in ad revenue, nearly 100% of all the moneys due to our organization and that amount is directly reflected in the financial stability of the I.M.A.A.

The fact that Fran collected such a high percentage ofthe moneys is a tribute to this Registered Nurse who in addition to her 40 hour a week job, worked nights and Saturdays for the I.M.A.A.

To all the I.M.A.A. members, many thousands of whom we have met in person and talked to on the phone, it has been our pleasure to serve you. We are going on to new and exciting publishing challenges but we will never forget the wonderful members of the I.M.A.A. Give us a call anytime!