Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2023 i Plane & Pilot

As I write from the sticky depths of summer in the Midwest, I find myself dreaming of the cooler days of fall and winter, and especially of flying in denser air. I fear I was a bit spoiled by the low density altitudes and mousse-like stability of the air this past winter. So my thoughts have turned toward the cooler days of autumn and the promise of activities like camping (without drowning in a pool of sweat) with an airplane, as well as ways to beat the summer heat—like visiting aviation museums and appreciating the accomplishments of pioneers who have paved the way for peasants like me. It’s in the spirit of keeping cool and celebrating history that I bring you with me in this issue to the Amelia Earhart…

By the summer of 1983, I had finished my junior year of ROTC, and our old neighborhood gang was reunited again. Larry Leonard and I roomed together our college freshman year at the Castilian dorm, where I met my future wife, Karin. Before starting our senior year, Larry and I moved into the same Austin apartment complex, each in a one-room efficiency, and Michael Rafferty was in his sopho more year at the University of Texas. Driving through the west Austin hill country one late summer day, Michael and I spied a hang glider for sale in a front yard. We were both aviation enthusiasts and inspired to take up hang gliding after watching James Bond in the opening scene of Live and Let Die. Although we didn’t buy that…

It was one of those really challenging weather days in the Southeast. We were flying in and out of Atlanta, and a weather system had the region covered with embedded cumulonimbus. This Saturday in April saw me paired with a fairly young check air man as captain, and we were enjoying a pretty great trip in spite of the weather. It was supposed to end with a quick round trip to Newport News, Virginia, and we’d be home to sleep in our own beds that night—an airline pilot’s favorite layover. The radio chatter was in Spanish except for our instructions, and as we rolled down the runway beneath a hazy Mexican sky, almost everything felt out of place. The captain and I were in street clothes. A mechanic was on…

With the advent of the light sport aircraft (LSA) in 2004, this new category of simple two-seaters was expected to dominate the primary training market. However, the demand for these wonderful little airplanes fell a bit short of its promise originally. So, when the subject of the shortage of two-seat trainers comes up in conversation, the question arises: “Why doesn’t Cessna just start building the Cessna 150 again?” It’s a fair one, but I’ll explain why not in a moment. Like so many others, my journey toward a career in aviation began in the left seat of a shiny, polished, aluminum-and-red 1959 Cessna 150. N5709E was the prize possession of the Virginia Tech aviation department and carried me and my friends on our first flights, first solos, and private pilot…

Whether you’re a long time reader of Plane & Pilot or a newer member of our audience, you may be aware that the magazine has become part of the FLYING Media Group. FLYING was acquired in 2021 by media entrepreneur Craig Fuller, whose passion for aviation and experience in digital media and technology led him to pursue the legacy brand and begin building on his early success. The opportunity to acquire additional valued aviation media brands has never been greater. Naturally, you may think building a media family is about creating effciency. But it’s less about that and more about the compounding value of being able to reach as many new and active pilots as possible to ensure health and long-term success for all of our media brands. We are…

ILLNESS: Are you sick or feeling sick? MEDICATIONS: Have you taken any medications that could affect your thought process and decision-making? This could be something as simple as over-the-counter cold medication. STRESS: Are you under any undue stress, whether positive or negative? Family, financial, and spouse/partner issues are common stress inducers. Stress is known to affect judgment negatively. ALCOHOL: Even though the eight-hour rule “from bottle to throttle” is well known, many experts agree that for some individuals eight hours is not enough to rid your system of the ill effects of alcohol. United Airlines now requires its pilots to refrain from drinking alcohol for at least 12 hours before reporting for duty. FATIGUE: Have you had enough sleep and nutrition? This is something you’ll need to reevaluate during your…

By my reckoning, there have been two golden ages of general aviation in my lifetime. The first peaked around 1976, coincidentally a year when so many of the airplanes we mere mortals can afford to own and fly today were constructed. Thousands of single-engine piston airplanes were produced each year. FBOs were numerous, diverse, and competed on price and service. All this made long-distance travel by light singles relatively affordable and fun. However, the specter of product liability nearly killed the fatted aviation calf. It wasn’t until the General Aviation Revitalization Act (GARA) of 1994 that things began to turn around. The second golden age peaked around 2008. For a while there, several venerable brands were revived, piston aircraft production nearly doubled, and it looked like GA travel was back…

If only airplanes could talk. The white and two-toned blue Lockheed Vega Winnie Mae residing in the Smithsonian Institution’s Udvar-Hazy Center, outside of Washington, D.C., would have more than a few stories to share. This particular Vega has been up to the stratosphere and around the world. And all at the capable hands of one Wiley Post. Post’s beginnings were humble. He was born in 1898 to cotton farmers in northeast Texas. The family relocated to Oklahoma when he was 5. At 15, Post got his first look at an airplane, a Curtiss design. Although he had only completed seventh grade, and not as a particularly remarkable student, Post immediately enrolled in the Sweeney Automobile and Aviation School in Kansas City, Missouri. Post completed the seven-month program, but aviation remained…

AMELIA EARHART BIRTHPLACE MUSEUM Address: 223 North Terrace St., Atchison, Kansas Driving Directions: From Highway 73, take exit 14 onto U.S. Highway 59 North. Turn left onto South 6th Street, and then right onto Kansas Avenue. At the “T” intersection, turn left on North 2nd Street and then right on Santa Fe Street. The museum will be on your right. PHONE NUMBER: 913-367-4217 HOURS OF OPERATION: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; Noon-5 p.m. Sunday; closed Monday; last ticket sales at 3:30 p.m. ADA ACCESSIBLE: Partly, call with questions Ticket Prices for Self-Guided Tours (before tax): Adults: $10 Adults 50 plus and Military with ID: $8 Students K-12 and College with ID: $6 Children 4 and under: Free Ticket Prices for Guided Tours (before tax): Adults: $15 Seniors (50 plus) and Military…

“MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY…Cessna 9 [unintelligible].” Another pilot on the frequency replied: “14A, how far north of the shoreline are you?” “Right in the middle. I’m out here by…there…there’s a boat going by… there’s a tanker getting drug. I am out in the middle, and I’m going down now. I’m going in the water.” It was 4:40 p.m. on January 26, 2021. The pilot, in the middle of the 10-mile Strait of Juan de Fuca between Victoria, British Columbia, and Port Angeles, Washington, alone in his 1949 Cessna 170A, had left Ketchikan, Alaska, more than six and a half hours earlier, heading to Port Angeles. He almost made it. The other pilot asked: “Are you east or west of the [U.S.] Coast Guard station at Port Angeles, if you can tell…

Cessna 140 Keystone Heights, Florida Injuries: None The pilot reported that he was about 3 miles south of the non-tower-controlled airport, inbound for landing, when he heard another pilot announce they were on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern for the same runway. [The pilot reporting] elected to perform a 360-degree right turn to “allow the other aircraft time to clear the pattern.” He further reported that while in the turn he “noticed acres and acres of pristine/plush land.” The pilot then decided to perform an off airport landing in a field. During the landing roll, livestock began to walk in front of the airplane and the pilot [activated the brakes] to avoid a collision. This resulted in a nose over and substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer, rudder,…