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In Flight USA Articles
GAMA Responds to Ferfunctory White House Response
Knight Named Sun ‘n Fun Board Chair Succeeding Eickhoff
he chairmanship, vacated by the retirement of Bill Eickhoff, who served for the past 28 years as steward of the Sun ‘n Fun organization and its development as a highly respected not-for-profit enterprise within both the greater Lakeland area and the national and international general aviation communitThe Sun ‘n Fun Board of Directors elected Bob Knight, President of Knight Industrial Equipment, Inc. of Lakeland, Fla., as its chairman at their January board meeting. Bob assumes t
Bob Knight assumes the Sun ‘n Fun chairmanship after serving on the board for the past 10 years and most recently as its vice-chairman. He has been a highly engaged member of the board serving, among many duties, as the chairman of the board’s Master Site Planning Committee. The committee has overseen significant development in Sun ‘n Fun’s educational mission culminating last year in the dedication of the Central Florida Aerospace Academy (high school) on its year-round campus and the current construction of the Piedmont Aerospace & Technology Laboratory addition to its Florida Air Museum’s Tom Davis Educational Center.
The Taylor Aerocar
Story and Pictures by Wild Bill Hill
The future is strange to us, or at least that is the general consensus. When we think of the future, certain scientific anomalies dominate our consciousness: the personal robot, the teleportation device, the complete meal in a cup, the flying car, etc. We imagine that these are machines that would be built far off in the distant future, with teams of corporate or government backed engineers working tirelessly to produce such fantastic creations. After all, in what era could one have the knowhow or the money to make something like a flying car? The answer to that question is 1949.
User Fee’s: Paying Their Fair Share?
By Ed Downs
I doubt that many readers of this editorial are completely ignorant of the war being waged against business and general aviation. Yes, we are talking about the “per flight” user fees that have been recommended by our pals in Washington, DC. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB, essentially the White House’s accounting folks), have recommended that all turbine flights be charged a $100 per flight service fee for “ATC Services.” Small, piston engine aircraft and aircraft operating in uncontrolled airspace are specifically excluded. There are other odious details, but this writer will assume that our readers are already aware of this well publicized OMB recommendation and that you have already responded to the request by multiple aviation alphabet groups to participate in a petition appearing on the White House website, “We the People.”
The Dot Lemon Saga
Who was Dot Lemon?
For EAA.org by Richard Kinsman, EAA 1074330
(Reprinted with permission from EAA Vintage Airplane, Nov. 2011)
Dot Lemon (Courtesy of EAA)Mystery woman, barnstormer, pylon racer, gold-mine owner, Whitney family orphan … take your pick.
The history and mystery of this compelling woman (1907-1986) will be the subject of an exhibit at the International Women’s Air and Space Museum, from Oct. 3 to Jan. 3, 2012, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Dot Lemon never publicly identified her birth parents as members of the wealthy and prominent Chicago Whitney family, although the Whitney name appears on her birth certificate and passport application, signed by her. While she often alluded to the fact that she was the adopted daughter of the parents who raised her, Pastor and Mrs. Albert Martin, she maintained that her biological father was a wealthy and prominent man from Chicago. Her response to further inquiries on the matter was that her past was “private.” In spite of her obscure and controversial birth origins, she lived a colorful and amazingly successful life.
From Skies to Stars
By Ed Downs
Member, Astronomy Club of Tulsa
Ed Downs with his Orion Dobsonian telescope.From Skies to Stars is a new feature appearing in In Flight USA for the first time. In Flight USA is keeping our promise made in the August 2011 editorial regarding the downfall of America’s manned space program. At that time we committed to keeping the flame of space exploration alive by bringing our readers regular information about astronomy, space exploration and space sciences. We have joined up with the Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium (TASM) and the Astronomy Club of Tulsa (ACT), a dedicated group of professional and amateur astronomers, science enthusiast and professional educators who have generously offered to share their ongoing outreach program with our readers. We invite readers to participate and let us know what you would like to read. The staff at In Flight USA may be reached at editor@inflightusa.com. Read on, and discover the universe!
Early Adventures In My Luscombe 8A, Part Three
By Steve Weaver
Continued from the January 2012 Issue
By the time I reached Pennsboro the ground was totally dark and now I was following the lights of moving cars that I fervently hoped were moving toward Parkersburg. Worse, I had no lights on the airplane and nothing to light the instrument panel, which at this point was a just a dark shape in front of my knees. I had never been in an airplane at night before, and as the visual cues that I had used in flying, without even thinking about them, slipped away one by one, I felt like a man being swept by swift waters to a waiting waterfall. The brassy taste of fear was in my mouth.
The speed of the little airplane over the ground now seemed reduced to a snail’s pace, and the indistinct gloaming below passed ever so slowly. The sky, still with faint afterglow on the western horizon, had darkened above me and stars were beginning to appear. I kept trying to comprehend the fact that I was flying an airplane alone, through a night sky.
Debbie La Mere, Combat Soldier
Two Tours of Duty, Afghanistan
By Herb Foreman
Deborah manning one of the 7.62mm machine guns near the door of the Chinook. (Courtesy of Deborah Lamere)It was almost 10 years ago that I met Debbie and wrote an article for In Flight USA about her. She was a 27-year old computer wizard working for Corio in a new building at the south end of the runway at the San Carlos, California Airport. She could do computations using the computer that few people could comprehend.
The airport proved to be a magnet for Debbie. She joined the West Valley Flying Club on the field in 1998, and was soon immersed in aviation activities. By early 1999, she had her private license and began to work on her instrument ticket. Debbie was a quick learner and she loved to fly. She purchased a 1974 Cessna Cardinal – the year of her birth – and began to spend hours in the air. She learned how to change oil, clean spark plugs and assisted in the Cardinal’s annual inspection. She was a good pilot and had over 600 hours in her logbook.
Veteran Pilot, Business Aviation Entrepreneur Clay Lacy to Receive Howard Hughes Memorial Award
Distinguished as one of the most versatile pilots in the history of powered flight, local aviation icon
Clay Lacy will be honored by the Aero Club of Southern California with its prestigious Howard Hughes
Memorial Award on Wed., Feb. 8, 2012. Famed test and aerobatic pilot Bob Hoover will present the
award in recognition of Lacy’s achievements spanning over six decades.
Lacy is a world-renowned pilot who first took to the air at age eight while growing up in the farmland of
Wichita, Kansas during the Great Depression. Now age 79, he has spent almost every day of his life around airplanes. In 1964, Lacy introduced the first Learjet to Van Nuys Airport (VNY) near Hollywood’s burgeoning entertainment industry. Four years later, he founded the first jet charter company west of the Mississippi,launching a new era in corporate air transportation and mobility.
EAA Applauds Congressional Agreement on FAA Reauthorization
Florida Air Museum Open House Slated for Jan. 26
The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Announce Their 2012 Show Schedule
The team is set to perform more than 60 demonstrations in 33 locations, including two shows in Canada.
By Tech. Sgt. Jake Richmond
U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron Public Affairs
The team, officially known as the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, will again kick-off their season by performing a flyover for the 54th running of NASCAR’s Daytona 500 on Feb. 26. The remainder of the schedule is as follows:
NTSB Plans Public Hearing on Air Race, Air Show Safety
Early Adventure in my Luccombe 8A, Part 2
By Steve Weaver
Quitting time came promptly at five o’clock and I was out the door and in my car in a flash. I drove as fast as I could without attracting police attention, to the airport where the Luscombe awaited me, tied securely down in the back row of parked airplanes.
The old Stewart Airpark lay on the west side of the town, hard by the banks of the Ohio River, and was one of the few old-time flying fields that had survived into the 1960s. It was built in the 20s, when airplanes had little crosswind capability, and were constructed to enable a pilot to land into the wind, no matter which way the wind was blowing. The landing area consisted of acres of well-drained sod, some 1,800 by 3,100 feet in size, and from the air it looked like a great, green velvet tablecloth.
Editorial: Happy Election Year
By Ed Downs
The customary greeting for a January editorial would be “Happy New Year.” And, so be it! HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2012 comes upon us with the same promise carried by every new year. All beginnings contain “good news” and “bad news.” It is up to the individual to write history and decide how each day, or year, turns out. But 2012 comes with special promises of good or bad. It is a Presidential election year. The FAA, federal budgets for aviation, private flying and business aviation are going to be topics for political controversy and we, the average flying guy or gal, are going to have an audience as never before. Let’s take a look at the “bad news” first, and then offer some creative solutions. We can make this a winning year for aviation, no mater who wins the election.
With political campaigns now well underway, it becomes clear that our major political parties will continue to ignore the real problems and opportunities facing our country. Instead, the PR firms hired by the DNC and RNC will focus upon inflammatory sound bites, insulting TV commercials, and daily “talking points” memos issued to those seeking election, to be quoted to “target voting groups” like trained parrots (apologies to parrots!). And what, you may ask, do any of these insulting realities have to do with you and your airplane?
Splash In!
By Russ Albertson
Clear Lake, California provided a perfect setting and beautiful weather for this year’s annual Splash In. (Russ Albertson)The West Coast Seaplane Association’s annual “Splash In” was held at Clear Lake, Calif. in September, 2011 and was certainly the place to be if you have an interest in some fun aviation! “Splash In” is the perfect description for this event that attracted seaplane pilots and fans from as far away as British Colombia.
More than thirty seaplanes arrived over the weekend to participate in the activities and perfect weather at Lakeport, on the west side of Clear Lake. The city allows the association to utilize an inactive high school athletic field located at the water’s edge with a short dirt ramp to the beach. It was great fun to watch various planes land in the water, lower their landing gear as they approached the beach and taxi right up onto the grass field. Amphibious seaplanes, equipped with retractable wheels, certainly add a great versatility to the adventures possible for these pilots. Buoys and docks were also available to planes not equipped with wheels.