Meet the 2024 Raffle Winner

By Regan Tunstall

“This is THE plane to win” says Zachary Newsome, a bush pilot from Martin, Tennessee who won the 2024 Raffle Plane. 

Last month, Newsome flew up to Alaska to see his brand-new cub while also immersing himself in the Alaska bush flying experience with the help of Junior Daniels, owner of Danchini Aero. Newsome has ultimately decided to sell the plane back to Junior, explaining “I’m a low time pilot with no tail wheel time. This is a super high-performance airplane which is a little out of my league skill wise, it makes more sense for my family and our situation to sell it.” 

Newsome feels confident that Junior is the right buyer, knowing it’s his dream plane that he’s always wanted and feels great about returning it to him. Newsome shared his gratitude for being able to benefit from such a tremendous windfall and hopes to use a portion of the sale proceeds to purchase a plane that’s a better fit for his needs. He said a bittersweet goodbye as he headed back home but was thrilled to have spent the weekend flying in a place like no other and learning all about Alaskan aviation.