Plane & Pilot March 2019

Year Piper began exploring new four-seater concept: 1953 Cherokee designers: Fred Weick, John Thorp, Karl Bergey Other notable designs from Weick: Ercoupe, NACA cowlings, Piper Pawnee ag plane From Thorp: Lockheed Neptune, Piper Sky Scooter, T-18, Wing Derringer Year of first Cherokee flight: 1960 Airplanes it replaced: PA-22 Tri-Pacer and Colt Material and design of PA-22: High-wing, fabric-covered PA-28 materials and design: Low-wing, aluminum monocoque construction Last year of Tri-Pacer construction: 1961 PA-28 purpose: Add low-cost, modern Piper to compete with Cessna 172 Famous wing: Piper’s Hershey Bar wing, named after its shape and as a nod to its Pennsylvania design roots Home of all PA-28 U.S. production: Vero Beach, Florida Status of PA-28 production: Going strong in Vero Beach, Florida Introduction of controversial semi-tapered wing on PA-28: 1974 Nature…

It used to be that aviation was a solid, even vibrant industry, and it still is, just in a very different way. Gone are the days when hundreds of thousands of GIs, home from WWII and having had a chance to create a little financial independence for themselves and their families, made a big impact on the face of American culture. Think big Detroit metal, Milwaukee hogs, sprawling suburban ranch homes and 18 holes on a Saturday morning. And think Cessna, Piper and Beech, among others. During the heyday of general aviation, United States plane makers were turning out tens of thousands of planes a year. Sixty years later, many of those planes continue to make economic sense to maintain and fly. Singles like the Cessna Skylane, Grumman American Tiger,…

THE MYSTERY What is the biggest airplane in the world? Sounds simple, but you hear several different models being spoken about as the “biggest.” Is the term meaningless, or can there be a champ? THE BACKSTORY There are five or so airplanes called the biggest in the world. They are: the Boeing 747, the Airbus A380-800, the Hughes H-4 Hercules, the Antonov An-225 and the Scaled Composites Stratolaunch. All of them are big, in one way or another, but “big” is a broad term. When Ed Sullivan announced every Saturday night that he had a “really big show,” he was talking about its quality, its entertainment value and its importance in the American show business world. And he was often right about all three. But when we talk “big” airplanes,…

ACROSS 1 Mooney ____ Ultra 5 Mnemonics-based pre-landing checklist 8 High winds 9 Mnemonics-based word for when you do your pre-take off checklist 10 What stealthy aircraft want to avoid being 12 The object of our obsession 14 Steep nose descent 17 Faintly lit 18 Oil container 20 Quiet planes 22 ____ of descent 24 What too many pilots don’t use 27 Check it before every flight 29 ____ cover 30 What the relatives want to know 31 Regret 32 Not a PFD 33 Set DOWN 1 Web address ender 2 French derived flight surface word 3 An approach that works when GPS is out 4 Negative response 5 NBAA motto, No Plane, No ______ 6 Airspace established to segregate non-hazardous military traffic, abbr. 7 Hydraulic and avionics, for example…

VIRGIN GALACTIC REACHES SPACE WITH MILESTONE FLIGHT Virgin Galactic made history in December when its SpaceShipTwo reached an apogee of 51.4 miles, marking the first time a human spaceflight has launched from American soil since the final U.S. Space Shuttle launch in 2011. Two test pilots guided the spaceship throughout the flight, which reached its pinnacle after a 60-second rocket burn. AIRLINER DAMAGED IN WHAT SOME SAY WAS DRONE COLLISION Investigators are looking into an incident involving an Aeromexico 737-800 that sustained substantial damage to its radar dome while on approach to land in Tijuana at General Abelardo L. Rodríguez International Airport in December. While the investigation is still in its preliminary stages, experts speculate it’s not unlikely that the airplane was hit by a drone, raising further questions about…

SCHWEIZER 269C Medford, New Jersey/Injuries: 2 Fatal The purpose of the flight was to provide an orientation/pleasure flight to the passenger, who was scheduled to perform in a concert on the airport later that evening. Several minutes after takeoff, the pilot reported over the airport UNICOM frequency that he was unable to control engine rpm with throttle inputs. He reported that he could “roll” the twist-grip; however, there was no corresponding change in engine power when he did so. Three helicopter flight instructors, one a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, one an FAA designated examiner, and a company flight instructor, joined the conversation on the radio to discuss with the pilot remedial actions and landing options. These options included a shallow, power-on approach to a run-on landing, or a power-off,…