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Contrails: Adventures in Vertigo
By Steve Weaver
Being unsure of your aircraft’s attitude is one of the most stressful situations that one can encounter in an airplane. Whether the occasion is due to failure of the aircraft’s instruments to accurately give situational information or due to your own false sensations, it makes short work of one’s peace of mind in the air.
I have been lucky in my flying with only two occasions when I wasn’t sure exactly what the aircraft was doing. The first time was during a night approach to a mountain airport, done very early in my instrument flying career. At a critical moment on that flight, every nerve and sensation in my body screamed that the Grumman I was flying had decided to finish the approach while lying on its right side. Only the stern words of my instrument instructor echoing in my head saved me. “This will happen, and when it does, ignore everything else and believe your instruments!” I did that and soon the airplane returned to flying with the right side up.
Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou Makes Top Secret Visit to Yanks Air Museum in Chino, Calif.
By Donia Moore
(Courtesy of Yanks Air Museum)Most people love surprises. The people at Yanks Air Museum in Chino, Calif. received a double whammy of a surprise when officials recently arranged a top-secret visit of Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou to the museum. A fan of aviation history and vintage aircraft, Ma came to meet with 92-year-old retired Lieutenant Colonel Harold Javitt, USAF. Javitt is a former member of the 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Chinese Air Force. Nicknamed the Flying Tigers, the group consisted of three squadrons with approximately 30 aircraft each. It was composed of pilots from the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC), Navy (USN), and Marine Corps (USMC), recruited under presidential authority and commanded by Claire Lee Chennault. The fierce shark-faced nose art of the Flying Tigers remains one of the most recognizable images of any individual combat aircraft or combat unit of World War II. The Flying Tigers were responsible for defending China against Japanese forces during World War II. Javitt and his family members have been invited to participate in Taiwan’s military parade held to celebrate the 70th anniversary of victory over Japan.
365 Aircraft You Must Fly
Outlines the Bucket List for the Serious Aviator
By Mark Rhodes
The De Lackner HZ-1 Aerocycle was meant to enable “Fighting Soldiers from the Sky”A fun, educational, and definitely inspirational read, 365 Aircraft You Must Fly By Robert Dorr (Zenith Press) is well within the vein of “bucket list” works such as 1,001 Books/Movies/Places you must read/see/visit before you die. As one would expect, there is a lot of aviation exotica in this work, such as the 1909 French Bleriot XI of which two restored examples exist and are distinguished as the oldest flyable aircraft in the world at present. Also here is the De Lackner HZ-1 Aerocycle from the mid-50s, which was intended to be a kind of “personal helicopter” to be piloted by the everyday soldier on the front lines. A few were produced and even tested. Ultimately, they were considered too unreliable and unrealistic for real world military applications.
Editorial: Something Has Changed
By Ed Downs
Another birthday, another reason to reflect. This writer and his twin brother have made it through another year with an evening spent with family, giving “the twins” a chance to reflect on careers in aviation that span 60 years. Yes, twins often have much in common and our choice of careers certainly points that out. While considerably beyond a traditional retirement age, this writer and his brother, Earl, continue to fly as active CFIs, work in the aviation industry, and deal heavily in subjects relating to flight safety, training, the promotion of recreational flying, and the future of general aviation through a direct interface with the FAA and government. As the evening’s musings of past adventures turned to reflecting upon “the good old days,” we realized that both of us were concluding that, “something has changed.”
Recreational flying is certainly not what it was 50 or 60 years ago. Expense has gone up dramatically, and the technological sophistication of GA airplanes, even old planes that have been retrofitted with modern avionics, is absolutely amazing. Having started flight training in the mid 1950s, we concluded that much has improved since we first flew in an Aeronca Champ with a wind driven generator and a two channel, low frequency radio. Mind you, that was considered to be a well-equipped trainer, being flown from busy Van Nuys Airport in Southern California. The training was rigorous, with maneuvers like 720 steep turns, spins, accelerated (and aggravated) stalls, and steep spiral descents all included in the CAA approved curriculum. No training flight was conducted without a simulated engine failure, frequently followed with a landing to a full stop. Of course, almost all private training done in this timeframe used planes like Champs, Cubs, T-crafts and other tail draggers, so both full stall and wheel landings were the order of the day.
Mentor In a Poopy Suit
By Bert Botta
The USS Randolph (CVS-15) underway on February 27, 1962. (USN Photo)In June of 1957, with the ink still wet on my high school diploma, the U.S. Navy shipped me off to my first duty station, Barin Field, Alabama.
As part of the agreement I made with the Navy as a reserve sailor, I committed to serve two years active duty immediately upon graduation from high school.
One year later, after serving my time at “Bloody Barin” as it was known throughout the Pensacola Training Command because of the frequent aircraft accidents among cadet pilot trainees, I received orders to report to Antisubmarine Squadron VS39 in Quonset Point, Rhode Island.
After arriving at Quonset, I spent a few months finding my niche in the squadron and preparing for my first deployment to the north Atlantic with VS39 aboard the U.S.S. Randolph, an aircraft carrier based out of Norfolk, Virginia.
Contrails: A Hand Me Down Flying School
By Steve Weaver
When I think about the aircraft that populated our flying business in the late ‘60s, I realize what an eclectic mix of airplanes it was. We had two, four, and six place airplanes, very old airplanes, one almost new airplane, and even a twin in the person of an old Aztec. Each had a role in the business, and each one had a distinct personality that I still remember.
At birth, except for colors and optional equipment, airplanes are pretty much identical to the brethren that share the production line. In 1977, while working for Cessna, I parked my new 310 demonstrator on the ramp at Allegheny Airport in Pittsburgh while I went inside to meet with someone. I returned a half hour later just in time to see a gentleman thoroughly pre-flighting my 310. I watched from a distance while he did a textbook preflight inspection. He drained all the sumps and inspected the fuel sample for dirt or water, he checked the oil in both engines, then slowly circled the airplane, poking this and wiggling that.
“Connectivity or Distractibility: One Pilot’s take on Smart Devices in the Cockpit”
By Shanon Kern
As a “Millennial,” my generation has grown accustomed to seeking out and purchasing the latest and greatest smart technology.
We are a connected generation who depend on technology to pay for our coffee, buy our music, reserve an airplane, and control the appliances in our homes. The cockpit, for me, provided a new space to connect with my devices. With a phone and a tablet, I had instant en-route access to my connected world. In theory, I could book a plane, check the weather, and navigate across the country with the same device I use to write this article. Until recently, the use of connected technology in the cockpit seemed like a no-brainer. I found a plethora of different “apps” that allowed me to do almost everything flight related digitally. Soon, I had no need for my analog E6B flight computer. My tablet was much lighter and easier to manage in-flight than sectionals, approach plates, and AFDs. My access to information seemed to be limitless.
Bravo for Adventure Celebrates the Romance of Early Aviation in Graphic Novel Style
Gustave Whitehead Announcement
Almost There
By Evan Isenstein-Brand
The engine starved and sputtered to a halt in my shaky hands. After several practice laps in the pattern, my instructor gave me a final handshake before neatly buckling his seatbelt across the seat and trotting over to join the crowd. I entered my focus mode, carefully examining my checklist before starting the engine again and receiving permission from the sympathetic tower operator to taxi out to the ramp.
Just like I had done dozens of times before, I made sure the plane was fit to fly and promptly received clearance to take off. The conditions were beautiful: little wind, few clouds in the sky, and only several other aircraft around the airport. It was the 4th of July. Of course the conditions were perfect.
Women of the Wind
Author Phil Nussbaum is intereviewed by In Flight USA
Contrails: Getting Ready For War
By Steve Weaver
The design of the government built hangars was standardized. This hangar is identical to the one still standing at the abandoned Lewis Field in Buckhannon, West Virginia. (Courtesy of Steve Weaver)Most who are interested in WWII aviation history are aware that one of the reasons the United States won the war was her amazing record of aircraft production once we were in the fight. From producing scarcely more than 2,000 military aircraft in 1939 to over 96,000 in 1944, the record year, the U.S. produced a total of more than 303,000 military aircraft during the war years. But where did we get the pilots to fly them?
In 1939, the Army had a total of only 4,502 pilots, including 2,007 active-duty officers, 2,187 reserve officers, and 308 National Guard officers. The number of new Army-trained pilots grew rapidly each year as war seemed more likely, from 982 in 1939, to about 8,000 in 1940, to more than 27,000 in 1941–but many more were needed, and the Army by itself could not train the huge numbers of cadets desperately required. But we had a plan.
An Old, Bold Air Carrier ROP (Retired, Old Pilot) Discovers the Meaning of Life at a Fractional
By Bert Botta
Bert Botta in the cockpit. I should have known better, thinking I was through flying and bolting into retirement seven years before the clock struck 60, leaving my air carrier home of 26 years.
The bailout from my airline was more reaction to the morose conditions created there by a corporate raider than logic. But it was also part of my quest to satisfy some silly, primeval longing for a deeper spiritual life in a world that continues to threaten the theft of an aviator’s soul.
My “retire now” knee-jerk reaction should have triggered a fail flag in my brain, to move slowly, consider my options. Just like a bad sim ride, everything I’ve done in a hurry I’ve screwed up.
Wright "B" Flyer EAA
Editorial: Spring Has Sprung
By Ed Downs
Earl Downs’ handcrafted Zenith CH601 XL-B. (Earl Downs)To be sure, there is plenty to complain about as this writer once again attacks the keyboard. Civil unrest, recent questionable rulings by the FAA, the second version of the pilot’s Bill of Rights now in process, emerging safety concerns about the basic flying skills of pilots and of course, the high cost of playing with our beloved flying toys. But let’s take a break and just go flying. It is, after all, spring and airshows, fly-ins, and breakfast flights are blooming all over the country. Occasionally this writer actually takes to the air for reasons other than business. Such was the case week ago.