Scott Neville learned to fly in Australia before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he took advantage of three major airports as a recreational pilot.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Scott.

But since he moved to Phoenix, the Aussie hasn’t done much flying: “I had grand plans of getting back into it. Now I’ve got a reason to.”

That reason is the grand prize 1964 Piper Cherokee 235 he won in the Wings of Hope fall 2024 airplane raffle — the plane he never dreamed he’d win when he purchased three tickets.

“I thought maybe I’d get a third-place prize one of these years, but nobody ever thinks they’ll win one of these planes,” he said. “It took me by surprise.”

Scott participates in a quite a few charitable raffles: “I like to combine giving to good causes with a chance to win something cool.”

Now that he is the owner of his first plane, Scott has some thoughts on how he’ll put it to use.

“I have friends who want to learn how to fly, and this might not be the best starter plane — but once they’ve had a bit of experience building hours, it will be great for them.”

Scott’s also excited to build up his own flight time, and he’s looking into joining a local flying club.

With the four-seater’s capacity for carrying people and luggage on long-distance flights, Scott sees some fun excursions in his future: “I want to do a little traveling myself.”