Charlie Gregoire is co-founder of Redbird Flight Simulations and currently serves as its President and Chief Operating Officer. As an avid aviator, Charlie has been flying airplanes (land and sea) for nearly 25 years, and has recently attained his CFI certificate. He lives in Austin, TX with his wife, Jamie, and their three daughters, with whom he shares his passion for flight.
WORTH THE READ: CHARLIE GREGOIRE GUEST EDITORIAL
WORTH THE READ: CHARLIE GREGOIRE GUEST EDITORIAL
November 25, 2024
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 Charlie Gregoire, the President/COO of Redbird Flight Simulations and an RAF Volunteer.
A few months ago, Clay Simmons wrote a Guest Editorial that I thought hit the nail on the head. If you missed it, I highly recommend that you read it now. Clay’s passion for aviation and his desire to provide others with the opportunity to join in this unique experience comes across very clearly. For me, reading it was a powerful reminder to not get so blinded by the “what” that you lose sight of the “why.” Simon Sinek would be proud.
So why do we do the things we do? That’s a broad and contemplative question that has kept behavioral psychologists, theologians and parents of toddlers scratching their heads since the dawn of time. I’m a naturally inquisitive person but this particular existential enigma is not one that I am qualified to opine on, so perhaps I should be more specific. Why do we, as proud supporters and volunteers of the RAF, do the things that we do in the name of the organization? While everyone’s personal motivations are unique, I feel confident in broadly asserting that for most, if not all of us, it comes down to one word. Community.
The RAF’s official mission statement says that it “…preserves, improves, and creates airstrips for recreational access.” That’s a very concise summation of the “what” but it doesn’t address the “why.” It’s easy to conflate those two things but they’re not the same. When British mountaineer George Mallory was asked why he wanted to climb Mt. Everest, he famously responded “because it’s there.” Mallory’s response illustrates a uniquely human desire to face a seemingly insurmountable challenge head on for no other purpose than to say that we could. Can the same be said about the work we do? Do we clear trees and mow grass just because it’s there to be cleared and mowed? Do we lobby bureaucrats because they are there to be lobbied? Of course not.
The RAF doesn’t preserve, improve and create airstrips just because they are there. We preserve them, we improve them, we create them in the earnest hopes that they will serve as gathering points, community hubs around which we can create shared experiences with those we love, and those we have yet to meet. Whether you’re a part of a group of pilots looking for a challenging and unique aviation experience, or you’re a loner in search of the most remote area of the world to contemplate the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything, we hope these special places that we toil over will provide for you.
It’s easy to think of the RAF as a steward of airstrips and while that’s true, it’s not the whole truth. Maintaining strips would be pointless if no one used them. So to be more complete we must also think of the RAF as a steward of the community it has inherited and participates in. Gathering, strengthening, encouraging a community of aviators is now and always has been at the heart of why we do what we do. It’s why I have and will continue to proudly support this fantastic foundation.
Recreational aviation didn’t start with us and as long as we continue to behave as true stewards, it won’t end with us. We must continue to carry on with our mission, to preserve, improve, and create airstrips and aviators. It’s our responsibility to ensure that these experiences we enjoy so completely are available and accessible to the pilots who come after us. In addition to ensuring access to strips, this means we must arm those pilots with the necessary tools, resources and training so that they may find and enjoy them safely.
Of course all this is just my opinion, but that’s what you get when you read a guest editorial. Do you disagree? Let me know in the comments below. I welcome open and honest conversation. That is, after all, the best way to build community.
P.S. If you are the aforementioned loner, the answer of course is 42. For the question…I’ll leave that to Douglas Adams to explain.
Submitted November 27, 2024.
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.
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.
“The word that comes to mind when I think of our second Walker Ridge work party is magical,” RAF California Liaison Doug Lumgair said, "even though it started off again with a truck stuck in the mud.” Volunteers began arriving Friday afternoon in a tailwheel Rans, a Super Cub, and Lumgair in his Cessna 170. A pickup with a big dump trailer brought the Polaris Ranger, and more pickups arrived. The runway surface posed major problems with boulders protruding from the surface. Everyone was eager to get started with pry bars and remove them. Once they fired up the generators to power the hammer drills, they discovered that this was the best method for attacking the rocks below the surface and breaking them up into pieces that they loaded into the trailer for removal. “At times, it felt like we had taken on an impossible task. But with steady work and persistence, by afternoon, we began to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Lumgair said. In the Friday evening fire circle, they made new friends while sitting around a propane fire pit that had been cleverly transformed into a radiant heater by placing a washing-machine drum over it. Walker Ridge lies in a dark-sky area. Before the full supermoon rose, Lumgair said they could see the Milky Way with the naked eye. The campsite at the south end of Walker Ridge has a gorgeous view of the valley, and the view became “even more breathtaking as Central Valley tule fog filled the valley and the supermoon lit the fog, creating a shimmering white lake.” Lumgair said. Saturday morning, two crews quickly organized with hammer drills, and others began cutting brush along the runway edges. Volunteers had already removed what Lumgair called an incredible amount of brush during their first work party, but Saturday, they hauled out twelve more trailer loads. Late on Saturday, they had enough time to work on the rock outcroppings in the south turnaround area as well. "It was amazing that we were able to cut and haul so much brush and break down rocks and fill the resulting holes—all in one steady, hard-working day. Thank you very much to everyone for supporting the RAF in so many ways,” he said. Some stayed Saturday night to enjoy another beautiful evening. Work remains, and Lumgair is planning more work parties in the coming year to complete further improvements, some of which will require additional approval from the BLM. “Please let me know if you get up there this winter. I’d love to hear your thoughts and see any photos of your experience, Lumgair added. Doug Lumgair can be reached at dlumgair@theraf.org . Submitted December 11, 2025.
Chris at TacAero in Fredericksburg, Texas to fly what he calls, "the mighty XCub. It's an awesome airplane,” he added.
