News        from ABAC

Michael D. Chason Director of Public Relations ABAC 30 -- 2802 Moore Highway Tifton, GA 31793-2601 Phone 229-391-5055 Fax 229-391-4781 mchason@abac.edu

IMMEDIATE APRIL 25, 2006

OCILLA NATIVE SOARS AT ABAC

TIFTON – Tyler Harper, an Abraham Baldwin College agricultural engineering major from Ocilla, has a hobby that keeps him flying high. Harper is a licensed helicopter pilot who has been flying for almost a year.

“I was always interested in flying,” Harper said. “I thought about flying airplanes, but helicopters just worked out better. I had a friend that flew them, and I decided to try it.”

Harper went to Prestige Helicopter, Inc., near Atlanta to receive his training. He now flies a Robinson R 44 Raven. “All my friends ask me for a ride when they find out I fly helicopters,” Harper said.

It seems his choice in aircraft worked out not only as a hobby, but for the family business. “My dad has a business, Roscoe Allen Corporation, that moves modular buildings for the government,” Harper said. “I sometimes help him with the moving.”

Harper’s helicopter training also came in handy at ABAC’s recent Homecoming. He flew Commissioner of Agriculture candidate, Gary Black from the ABAC campus to Savannah after the Agriculture Forum.

When he isn’t soaring above the clouds, Harper is involved with campus organizations such as Phi Theta Kappa, FFA, and Baptist Student Union at ABAC. His other hobbies include playing piano and guitar, and a variety of sports.

He has been accepted to the University of Georgia in the fall and hopes to receive his Bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering. “I am still not sure what area of agriculture I want to go into, but I have always loved it,” Harper said. “I grew up and worked on a farm. I want to try to create and help advance agriculture.”

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