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FS: Now, what's the deal with the sweepstakes airplane? Can you tell me a little bit about it and what the winner of this plane can look forward to?
JOHN: Well, first of all, this airplane is a very, very special airplane. It's a special edition of the new Cessna 172 called a Millennium. In honor of the new millennium, Cessna's set aside a limited number of airplanes that they wanted to make very, very special, and they've called them the Millennium Edition airplanes. These airplanes give you the ambiance of a very fine luxury car. They have leather trim, leather seats, wonderful sun visors you can put in any position. Special insignias on the side of the airplane designate them as a very special Millennium aircraft, and it's this airplane that Microsoft and King will be giving away in our sweepstakes in 2001. It's a magnificent airplane. Martha and I took a weekend off just to fly the airplane, and we couldn't believe how fun the airplane was to fly, how luxurious we felt in the airplane, and how comfortable and quiet the airplane was.
MARTHA: It also has, as part of a wonderful avionics panel, the brand new KLN 94, which is a GPS with a built in color moving map, and it has a 2-axis autopilot.
JOHN: The Microsoft/King 2001 sweepstakes airplane is a better autopilot than we have in our jet!
FS: Wow. So if Darryl and Bruce get lost between Montgomery and Oshkosh, they don't have anybody to blame but themselves!
JOHN: You got that right!
There's a funny, anecdotal story about how everything works so well on the airplane in a way that we haven't seen in general aviation airplanes before. I decided to move my seat forward a little bit, and I just about threw myself through the front panel because the seat slid so easily and smoothly. But I wasn't used to that, wasn't prepared for it. It's like picking up some milk - thinking it's full - and it's empty: [you] about throw it to the ceiling.
MARTHA: The doors close so well, and everything moves so well, and the trim and finish is beautiful on it. It's just - it's a wonderful airplane.
Next: Favorite Flying Memories
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