When Denver resident Rob Melnick walked into Centennial Airport in Englewood on Sunday, he thought he was just going to be interviewed as part of a project to encourage new pilots.
His friend Mark Lynch came along thinking that he, not Melnick, was going to win the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s (AOPA) annual sweepstakes.
Combined, the two were almost right.
AOPA, a national civil aviation association with 407,000 members, invited Melnick to be interviewed for a program to promote flying. But that was actually a coverup for the surprise that he was the winner of the sweepstakes grand prize, a $250,000 remodeled airplane.
“On the way out here, I realized it could be a 50-50 chance for either of us to win it,” Lynch said. “Then one guy came up to me five minutes before and said, ‘Can you keep a secret?”‘
The moment Phil Boyer, president of AOPA, told Melnick he won the plane, Melnick’s jaw dropped and he grabbed his chest. He was immediately surrounded by a crowd of clapping pilots and other well-wishers.
“Oh, my God,” was practically the only statement that fell out of Melnick’s mouth for the first few minutes of hearing the news.
When Melnick checked out his remodeled 1968 Rockwell Commander 112A, he brought his hands together as if in prayer and gazed at the new dashboard.
Boyer, who has announced the win to all the recipients in 13 years of the sweepstakes, said he’s seen every reaction imaginable.
“I’ve seen people speechless,” Boyer said. “I’ve seen people cry. I’ve seen people start running their mouths off with things you can’t understand.”
After taking a few minutes to soak everything in, Melnick, who sold his interest in a plane six months ago, finally put his joy into complete sentences. “This is absolutely bizarre,” he said. “I’m pretty overwhelmed.”
Melnick, who works in auto sales and describes himself as a weekend pilot, is the first Denver resident to win the grand prize. AOPA selects the winners through a random drawing of members’ names.
“I was completely blindsided,” Melnick said. “I’ve been following the stories about the renovation on this plane for a year. I followed the articles every month.”
Melnick’s 15-year-old daughter, Alex, said she has gone up with her father and wants to be a pilot.
“I had no idea he won until five minutes before,” Alex said. “I’ll kill him if we don’t go up in it soon.”
Staff writer Katherine Crowell can be reached at kcrowell@denverpost.com.
