Michael Brown, a 23-year-old instrument and seaplane rated pilot from Tennessee, is the winner of this year’s Richard L. Collins Writing Prize for Young Pilots for his story, “The Wrong Stuff.” A distinguished panel of judges selected Brown’s story as the entry that best answered this year’s writing prompt, “My most memorable or important flying lesson.” Brown’s article recounts what he learned when he let his ego make the decision to impress his first non-familial passenger in a Legend Cub on twin amphibious floats. As he admits, “I didn’t want her to think I didn’t have the confidence or the right stuff enough to do what the plane was designed to do.” After landing the floatplane, he quickly realized safely taking back off was going to be an issue.
Michael Brown Wins the Richard Collins Writing Award
Key Takeaways:
- Michael Brown won the Richard L. Collins Writing Prize for Young Pilots for his story, “The Wrong Stuff,” which detailed a lesson learned from an ego-driven flight decision in a floatplane.
- Brown received a $2,500 prize to support his aviation and writing endeavors, and his winning article was published in Air Facts.
- The award honors Richard L. Collins, a prominent aviation journalist with a 60-year career, including a long tenure as editor-in-chief of Flying magazine.
- The prize is funded by royalties from Collins's book sales, supplemented by contributions from his children, to encourage young pilots in their writing.
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