By Taylor Mershon 442603
I am excited to become the new Editor of Sport Aerobatics and honored to follow Lorrie Penner who has been an outstanding example of success in this role. Lorrie is absolutely amazing at this job and I know I have some massive shoes to fill, but I’m ready and eager to do it.
While I may be a new face, I am not new to general aviation. My passion for aviation has grown since childhood––my grandfather gave me instructional and recreational glider flights in a Blanik L-23, and when I was in high school, he took me on a very memorable cross country trip in a Technam Light Sport aircraft.
When I met Brooks Mershon, now my husband, I became deeply involved in the Colorado glider operations where he was a ride pilot and manager. Brooks flew me to dozens of airports on many cross country flights in his RV-6, and one of those trips was my first AirVenture in 2019. My first aerobatic flight was in a Bücker Jungmann with a dear friend and mentor who regularly traded instructional aerobatic flights for things like hangar sweeping and cleaning bugs off the belly of the plane. I also took every opportunity I had to accompany Brooks to IAC contests where he initially competed in a Skybolt, and later a Pitts.
After moving to a small airstrip in North Carolina, I started doing some remote graphic design work for the EAA’s marketing department. This allowed me to combine my creativity with my aviation interests and helped me build professional skills in design for digital and print production. In the past few years, I also have done contract work as a graphic designer for many aviation-related businesses and completed a number of personal aviation-focused illustration and graphic design projects.
As Brooks has continued to compete (and win) in higher categories at IAC competitions, I have expanded my knowledge of aerobatics and have been an active participant in much of the non-flying work that goes into the operation of these incredible machines (and the operation of these highly-skilled-but-still-human pilots).
Currently living in Southern California near one of the most aerobatic-focused airports in the US, I spend most days helping Brooks out with his pink Sukhoi SU-26 or watching him fly, watching takeoffs and landings with our 2-year-old son, Malcolm, flying with friends, talking or learning about airplanes, and now working as the Sport Aerobatics editor!
I like to focus on the connections I and Brooks make with other airplane and aerobatics people, and this is one reason I am excited to take on this new role. I can’t wait to start reaching out to people and touching that web of connections that is the aerobatics family. Everyone has a story or something to share, and I want to fill Sport Aerobatics with that knowledge.
For questions, comments, ideas, or just to say hi, you can reach me at editor@iac.org.
