Buzz Dopkin began his love of flying airplanes after moving to Aspen, Colorado high up in the Rocky Mountains. Having always wanted to fly when he arrived in Aspen in 1980 he began taking private flight lessons with Bill McGrath out of the Pitkin County Airport. Buzz traveled to Florida for a two week class and loved flying so much he researched and purchased a Helio Courier.

Buzz found the Helio Courier was the safest plane for the mountain terrain around Aspen. The Helio Courier could maintain control at speeds as low as 27 miles per hour. The Helio Courier is a cantilever high-wing light C/STOL utility aircraft designed in 1949. The design featured four leading edge slats that deployed automatically and large trailing edge flaps. The slats contributed to the Helio’s outstanding short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability and allow for stall/spin proof controllable flight. Couriers were famous for their takeoffs, which often took only a few plane lengths and then climbed at very high angles. Quite the machine.

Seeing the Rocky Mountains from above never got old, and Buzz enjoyed offering rides in his Helio Courier airplane logging over 2,000 hours. He participated in airshows including the EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh and flew to places like Leadville, Colorado (the highest airport in North America), the Grand Canyon and even to Baltimore, MD.