Scoop: Gyrocopter mailman publishes memoir
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Doug Hughes last week. Photo: Ben Montgomery/Axios
The rogue mailman from Ruskin who landed a gyrocopter on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol building to protest Big Money in elections has published his own account of the risky and daring flight that dominated the national news for a few days in 2015.
- In "Flight Plan: A Mailman’s Aerial Adventure and Special Delivery," Hughes recounts the plan that catapulted him to fame while also landing him in a maximum security prison for four months.
State of play: The 396-page self-published book is just another part of Hughes' mission to get citizens to care about campaign finance reform — a tall order.
Flashback: On April 15, 2015, the rural mail carrier in southern Hillsborough County flew an hour from Gettysburg, Penn., to Washington, D.C., in an ultralight one-man gyro carrying letters addressed to each member of Congress demanding they limit spending on elections.
- Hughes surrendered soon after touching down on the Capitol lawn. His flight earned him a 120-day prison sentence for operating without an airman’s certificate, a felony.
Hughes tells Axios he had just one regret.
- "I should've worn a heavier sweater," he says. "I nearly froze to death."
