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In Flight USA Articles
Editorial: A Fly-By for Neil
By Ed Downs
Regular readers of In Flight USA may have picked up on the fact that editorial opinions and the fun of connecting flying with space sciences come from the unsettled mind of a single person, this writer. It was planned to follow our standard two-topic format in September. But history intervened to change those plans. A remarkable person, test pilot and astronaut passed away, and those who remember when this country was proud of its scientific accomplishments took a moment to reflect. Neil Armstrong is gone. The passing of this great American connects opinion, feelings, flying and science together in a way that warrants that only one story should be written this time. Please know that the staff of In Flight USA, plus every aviator and astronomer I know extends their most heart felt sympathies and condolences to Neil’s family and friends, for their loss is unspeakable. Indeed, God speed, Neil.
This writer was in his hotel room after a long day of teaching a Flight Instructor Refresher Clinic, tired and sore from standing for more than 10 hours. But the evening was not over. Research was needed to confirm some facts and numbers before continuing with this month Skies to Stars column. With a cross country planned to the Moon, it was time to fire up the computer, unfurl a detailed Moon map, and consider how I would locate my destination, the Apollo 11 landing site. The quest for data clarification started with a search engine entry regarding Apollo 11 technical information, but I was stopped cold in my tracks. Almost every search link connected to some comment about the passing of Neil Armstrong, commander of Apollo 11 and the first man to set foot on the moon. This was the first I had heard of this news. I fired up the TV and confirmed that a person I had never met, but considered a friend and mentor, was gone. An era was at an end, like so many “eras” of scientific adventure and courage that have come to an end in recent times.
Contrails
Living Without Wheels
By Steve Weaver
Instructor Russ Weaver (no relation, Billie Sue Nester, student, Steve Weaver and friend David Austin. (Courtesy of Steve Weaver)Stopped at a traffic light this week, I noticed the car in front of me sported a license plate holder that proclaimed that the owner’s other car was an airplane. I thought back to a time when I could have used a license holder that said “My other airplane is an airplane,” but then I wouldn’t have had a car to attach it to.
There have probably been other aviation zealots, who have owned two airplanes without owning a car, but I’ve never met another one and it was a strange set of circumstances that caused me to be in such a position.
Air Racing: Competition Continues to Improve Design
By Alan Smith
The Lancair “Legacy” races at Reno in the Sport Class. (Jan Peters)Any kind of motorsport provides a form of on-site engineering test and function improvement, and air racing has definitely contributed to the development of high performance aircraft. During the so-called Golden Age of air racing that went on for ten years prior to the second World War, wing flaps, retractable landing gear, engine superchargers and variable pitch propellers all came from determination to win the Thompson and Greve trophies. Even the high performance monoplane came out of that period in a racer named the Mystery Ship that won the first Thompson trophy race in 1929. Designed and built at the Travel Air company in the American Midwest, it defeated some of the best military aircraft the armed forces of the United States could come up with.
Whirly-Girls Announce $45,000 in 2013 Scholarships, Deadline Oct. 1
Sentimental Journey: A Living Legend
By Paul Tannahill
Emitting a belch of white smoke, the number three engine of Sentimental Journey slowly comes to life. With a cost of over $2000 an hour (and climbing) to operate, continued public support and donations are imperative to keeping this important piece of history alive. (Paul Tannahill) Smoke wafts through the fuselage catching in the light that streams through the windows as one by one each of the Wright R-1820-97 Cyclone engines belches to life before settling down to a smooth rumble. Crewmember Robert Morril watches intently as each one turns over, looking for any signs of an issue. There are none. Slowly taxiing to the runway, the breaks emit a low groan as they work. Run up on an aircraft of this type takes a bit of time, but eventually we creep out to the runway centerline. With a steady surge of power and a roar like thunder the aircraft trundles down the runway.
As we lift from the ground I glance towards Robert and though he has done this countless times before, a wide grin stretches from ear to ear. I’m sure I look about the same. Undoubtedly, our reaction to the experience is quite the opposite of the feelings of the thousands of Flying Fortress crews as they took off to fly into the deadly unknown of the skies above Europe so many years ago. They are the brave individuals who truly made this glorious aircraft the icon it is today.
Pratt Open House and Plane Rides on Saturday, Aug. 25
Cleveland Airshow Set for Labor Day Weekend
From Skies to Stars - August 2012
Speed is the Thing
By Ed Downs
This column continues to speak to the natural synergies between flying and amateur astronomy. An evening of stargazing contains many aviation like elements. One must “pre-flight plan” the evening’s activities just as if a long, cross-country was going to be undertaken. Star charts are studied as if they were aviation charts, and an “observing log” is created to guide the astronomer. Magazines like “Sky & Telescope” (www.skyandtelescope.com) contain an eclectic selection of articles and star charts specifically designed for each month of the year. Special sections within the magazine even suggest “places to fly” in the form of dividing viewing into object categories.
Numerous star chart applications are now available for computers, tablets and smart phones. A check of the weather is made once the planning is complete, hoping for limited cloud coverage and modest winds. A telescope being shaken by an unstable atmosphere is no fun to use. Finally, the car is loaded up, a check list used to make sure all the goodies and gadgets needed to optimize viewing fun are onboard and our amateur astronomer is ready for “take off.
Using Your Noodle
When was the last time you practiced a simulated approach to a forced landing? If it’s been a while, you might be a little shy to try one when it’s the only safe way out.
Editorial: Good Old Days
By Ed Downs
A recent conversation with friend and fellow writer, Steve Weaver, sparked some memories and brought to mind a safety issue that has heads spinning in the magical world of FAA training gurus. As “old” pilots often do, we reminisced about the days when basic skills and common sense were considered “high technology.” Today’s version of “high technology” has progressed in the manner one might expect when having crossed into a new millennium, but some are concerned about that progression.
This writer turned back the mental clock and joined Steve in remembering how simple, and potentially frightening, the “good old days” really were. My “good old days” began in the mid 1950s. The flight school I flew with sold a “student pilot course” which included 12 hours of dual instruction in a Champ, and a 20-hour ground school. The cost was $175, including materials. The idea was that you were “issued” your student pilot certificate (solo and cross country endorsement) at the conclusion of the 12-hour program. After this, you were welcome to rent their Champs and go flying. Whether or not you decided to get a private certificate so you could carry passengers was optional. There were no multiple endorsements, no 90-day “solo sign offs,” or multitude of authorizations. The Champ had only a wind-driven generator that spun fast enough to recharge a battery if flying at about 10 mph above cruising speed, meaning the battery was constantly going dead! The low frequency radio could transmit on only one frequency and you tuned the receiver like a Motorola console radio out of the 1930s. There was no starter or workable nav system. With 12 gallons of fuel, all-important in-flight decisions had to be made in about two and half hours, or the “in flight” part of the trip came to an abrupt end. Drawing lines on big, 25 cent, sectional charts was the order of the day, with a whiskey compass and E-6B your only navigation tools. Knowing where you were and having alternatives in mind were essential, as even a mild wind could greatly affect your flight.
Why, How and When the Sport of Air Racing Was Born
By Alan Smith
Ever since the industrial revolution we have found ways to race every machine of motion that we have built. We raced steam locomotives on the main line, and steamboats on the nation’s rivers. We raced bicycles, scooters, ice skates and roller skates. We race anything that can move. It wouldn’t be surprising if we raced elevators in new office towers.
Yes, the human is a very competitive animal. It was natural that, a little less than six years after Ohio bicycle builders Wilbur and Orville Wright made the world’s first powered airplane flight on December 17, 1903 that competition between pioneer pilots and their aircraft would begin, and begin it did in France in August 1909.
Are Pilots Control Freaks
By Herb Foreman
Dr. George CohenI was recently having a check up by my cardiologist, Dr. George Cohen, at Peninsula Hospital in Burlingame, Calif. I mentioned to him that when flying in a light plane I would prefer to be in the left seat as PIC (pilot in command) than any of their others as I felt I was a competent pilot and trusted my judgment and expertise over most of the pilots I have flown with. There are a few exceptions such as my friends Butch Pfiefer, Carl Mauck and Walt Ramseur who are retired airline pilots with many thousands of hours in their log books and owners of their own aircraft. Dr. Cohen felt most pilots were “control freaks” and told the following story to illustrate his remark.
The Olympic Airshow
By Paul Tannahil
The Olympic Flight Museum’s “Tora” Zero Replica piloted by museum president Brian Reynolds formed up with the museums P-51D Mustang American Beauty flown by Bud Granley for a few passes and a mock dog fight. (Paul Tannahill) For the 14th year running, Fathers Day weekend and the Olympic Air Show, hosted by the Olympic Flight Museum, at the Olympia Regional Airport, in Washington State, has signaled the start of airshow season for many aviation enthusiasts in the northwest. For the last few years however, less than ideal weather has played a major factor, this year being no different. Low ceilings, poor visibility and showers in the area, likely kept many fly-in visitors and spectators at home. Many of the performers were forced to modify their routines to cope with a ceiling that at times was at or around pattern altitude. Fortunately conditions never deteriorated to the point where the show had to be canceled entirely.
Salute to the Greatest Generation in the Air to Honor Doolittle Raiders, Tuskegee Airmen
The Museum of Flight’s B-29
By Paul Tannahill
Boeing B-29, T- Square 54, positioned on the lawn in front of the Museum of Flight on Boeing Field in Seattle, Wash. The aircraft has been encased in thick white plastic, designed to protect the aircraft from the elements, until a suitable indoor location can be found to complete the restoration on this historic veteran. (Nicholas Rosenbladt) Visitors to Boeing Field or The Museum of Flight may have noticed the unmistakable shape of a Boeing B-29 has appeared on the grass in front of the museum. However the shape is just about all visitors may be able to notice, at least for the time being.
The Museum of Flight’s B-29, Serial Number 44-69729, known as T-Square 54 is a combat veteran of World War Two, participated in 37 missions in the Pacific, flying with the 875th Bomb Squadron and 498th Bomb Group. For the Korean conflict, the aircraft was once again called to service, this time reconfigured as an aerial refueling tanker.
Vets In Search of UH-1 Surplus
Raymond D. Allen: Flying WWII Veteran Still in the Air Today
By Herb Foreman
Ray Allen with his group of 10.Not many pilots have more flying time from the San Carlos Airport in Northern California than Ray Allen. Born in San Francisco and a graduate from the prestigious Lowell High School, he was at the right age to participate in World War II. Initially, color blindness kept him out of the Air Corps Academy and he began his career as a mechanic at Stockton Field in San Joaquin County on Oct. 28, 1942. After pestering his officers and taking new tests, he was admitted to the “cadet program” as a bombardier and navigator. He attended gunnery school and learned how to strip a 50-caliber machine gun blindfolded. He learned both celestial and dead reckoning navigation and after 105 hours of instruction joined a B-17 crew bound for Europe.
Contrails
Remembering Orion
By Steve Weaver
Steve and the flying school Citabria in 1969. (Courtesy of Steve Weaver)He walked through the office door at the airport on a hot July afternoon in 1969, looking like a farmer in his late fifties that had climbed down off his tractor and come directly to the airport. All of this turned out to be good detecting on my part, because that was exactly what he was and what he had been doing before he took a ride to see us.
Orion as it turned out had something bothering him, and it had been eating at him for almost twenty five years. He had returned from the big war, gotten married, raised a family and become a successful farmer and business man, but this little piece of his past was always there and it still nibbled away at the little secret spot where a person lives, even after all those years. He confessed to me that afternoon, sitting in the big armchair in my office, that he had washed out of the Army Air Corps flight training. Even after a generation, I could still see the regret and the shame in the faded brown eyes.
Keeping the Spirit of Aviation Alive: The Kansas Aviation Museum
By Carl E. Chance
What gives an aviation museum spirit, a pervading animating principle? Is it the building, the aircraft displayed, or the artifacts that chronicle the past, telling the story of aviation pioneers and the craft they flew? The Kansas Aviation Museum believes that it’s much more than that.
An aviation museum needs dedicated and creative people who have the vision and the passion, giving rise to what can only be recognized as a profound spirit, evidenced by the daily work in maintaining and growing the historic collections. The difference magnifying the dimension of that spirit lies in the depth and commitment of the dedicated staff and volunteers in their quest to keep aviation history alive in the present and for future generations.
Spirit is difficult to communicate because it’s so intangible. You know that spirit itself can’t be touched, seen or heard, but when you’re in the midst of a museum that expresses the spirit of aviation, you can sense it. Spirit will manifest itself in various forms as people act on that spirit to do creative works.