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In Flight USA Articles
Faster Than a Speeding Bullet
By Donia Moore
From Here to…
The Colonel and Betty Jo. (Courtesy of Don Kindred)On Dec. 5, 1941, Colonel Robert E. Thacker, or “The Colonel,” as friends and admirers know him, was ordered to fly a new B17 E bomber from Seattle to his home base in Salt Lake City. A pilot in the Army Air Corps, the El Centro native had flown many aircraft, but never in the pilot seat of a B17. His commanding officer brushed that aside. In addition, the navigator assigned to his crew was so recently graduated that he still wore his cadet uniform. He was younger and less experienced than the Colonel. They took off on a cold, crisp, star-studded night flight over the southwest to test their skills before heading to Salt Lake and ended up in Tucson overnight due to snowy weather conditions.
The top general in the Army, General George Marshall woke them unexpectedly the next morning. With no warning or explanation, he ordered them to attach themselves to a flying convoy of 13 other bombers headed to the Philippines via Hawaii. None of the planes were armed. The Colonel called Betty Jo, then his wife of nine months, to tell her of his change of orders. The crew didn’t even have time to pick up their cars or their laundry before they had to leave. Betty Jo and a girl friend drove all night through the deep snow of Donner Pass, from their home in Salt Lake City to Hamilton Field, 20 miles north of San Francisco. When the military wouldn’t let her on the base, she cried until they gave in. After dinner with him at the Officer’s Club, she watched him taxi out to the runway, not knowing when she would see him again. He flashed his landing lights at her during takeoff to say goodbye.
Remote Runways: Missionary Aviation from a Pilot’s Perspective
By Yayeri van Baarsen
Where they fly, there is often no go-around, extremely sloped landing strips consist of nothing more than dirt road, and runways might double as the town’s main street. Meet the hardcore heroes of jungle flying: bush pilots.
Joe Hopkins with the Shell Plaza Plane and oil derrick in the background. (Courtesy Joe Hopkins)Papua New Guinea, Honduras, and the Philippines are just three of the more than 40 countries Joe Hopkins, founder of Mission Safety International, has flown in. With decades of experience, he has also trained many other pilots in jungle and bush flying, where morning dew can make the already short landing strips as slippery as ice, and the sudden drop off in the ravine might be only a couple of hundred feet away.
“I’ve landed in humid areas in Honduras where when putting on the brakes, it felt like I was speeding up. Pumping the brakes and having crosshatched tires helps, but the most consequential instrument is a pilot’s state of mind and good judgment,” Joe said. Pre-planning and keeping contact with the missionary in the village about the state of the runway are also of vital importance. “If there’s just one inch of standing water, it’ll be all over your windshields, obscuring your vision, but you can probably still land relatively safely–I’ve done so. However, if the water is two to three inches deep, which looks the same from the air, there will be too much drag on the wheels, causing a tailwheel to easily tip over,” he explained. Being a missionary pilot is not for the fainthearted.
Flights of Mercy – Liga International
From Saddles to Cessnas, Liga International Flying Doctors of Mercy are Changing Lives
By Donia Moore
Pilot Volunteer Tim Murphy and friends. (Courtesy of Liga)A train trip through the dusty Sinaloa desert of Mexico gave birth to the idea, which became Liga (League) International (Flying Doctors of Mercy). When physician, Iner Sheld Ritchie, traveled to Mexico City from the U.S. to treat then-President Abelardo Rodriguez in the 1930s, he noticed great illness and suffering as he passed through the country of the Yaqui Indians, some of Mexico’s poorest residents. He discussed the situation with the President, who offered help. Dr. Ritchi’s idea grew during his three-month long “vacation” horseback trips into Sinaloa, Sonora, and Baja, California to treat his impoverished “patients.” Word of his healing expeditions went the rounds of his medical colleagues, and it wasn’t long before he had a cadre of physicians joining him to help. Liga was on its way.
Skydive
By V. Feyling
As I get suited up, I can feel my heart racing and the butterflies starting to flutter. To start off this New Year, my boyfriend and I decided to take an adrenaline jump of a lifetime. We hop in and I soon realize, there is no turning back–I’m going to jump out of this plane.
I can feel the forced smile on my face as my skydiving instructor, Sean, rotates the GoPro towards me and says, “You excited?”
All snug in this tiny little aircraft, I look out the window in fear, focusing on the absolutely stunning Santa Barbara horizon.
Editorial: Crisis of Confidence
By Ed Downs
The crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 has left the entire aviation community stunned and horrified. It is becoming increasingly clear that this terrible loss of life was not the result of an accident, but of murder. It is also being disclosed that the co-pilot who perpetrated this mass murder was mentally unstable, and that a large number of individuals knew that. How can such a thing happen?
First, and most importantly, the staff of In Flight USA extends our sympathies and prayers to the families and friends of those lost. Such words are appropriate, but we understand they are completely inadequate. We are so sorry. The entire aviation community is looking inward to see how such a tragedy can be avoided in the future. Sadly, this is not the first time a flight crew member has taken the lives of innocent passengers while trying to satisfy a raging desire to “get even” by ending their own lives and the lives of innocent others. Suicide remains a difficult problem in many societies, as medical experts try and figure out why it is that seemingly rational people having no connection to any form of “suicide culture” feel that taking their own life is somehow a solution to supposed unsolvable problems.
Buddypilots, Redefining General Aviation Management
Buddypilots is aweb platformfor pilots, aircraft owners andGeneralAviation organizations.Flying is an amazing passion. For some pilots, it’s an opportunity to see our world from a new perspective, for others, it is a convenient way to travel and discover distant destinations. However, one thing is common to every pilot and aircraft owner; the pain caused by the overwhelming amount of preflight and post flight tasks, regulation complexity coupled with the increasing price of aviation.
A company named Buddypilots Aviation aims to solve these issues altogether. The Montreal based company has regrouped an international team to develop a powerful web platform for General Aviation. Available anywhere at any time, Buddypilots platform offers integrated tools to pilots, aircraft owners (single owner or partner) and organizations (flight schools, FBOs and flying club).
Interview With Astronaut, Chris Hadfield
By Shanon Kern
The following is an interview by In Flight USA reporter, Shanon Kern, with astronaut and author, Chris Hadfield. Chris started in general aviation at age 16 and has flown nearly every aircraft available. He currently has a book, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life, on the New York Times Bestseller List.
SK: Over the last couple of years, you’ve kind of given the world a front-row view of space and what it’s like to be an astronaut. What made you decide to put everything out on social media?
CH: I served as an astronaut for 21 years. I’ve always felt that a really vital part of the job was to share the experience, not to keep it to myself. So, through the whole 21 years, I used all the technology I could think of to share it. I used ham radio. I used Castle Blends 70 mm film and Imax movies. I spoke in thousands of places in person, but it wasn’t until my third space flight that social media was invented. That was when we had connectivity. The space station is not the best place all the time, but it has Internet connectivity. So you could take a picture and often within a few minutes share it with the world, so it was really just a continuation of what I’d been doing for 20 years, and I was doing my absolute best to use the technology that existed to share a really rare human experience. It’s just been amazing to see the result of that work.
Meet Doolittle Tokyo Raider Lt. Col. (Ret.) Richard E. Cole
EAA Clears Confusion Over Training in Restricted Category Aircraft
Uncertainty surrounding flight training in restricted category aircraft, and potentially experimental exhibition aircraft, has been clarified following EAA efforts to reach out on behalf of those who own these unique aircraft and train pilots to fly them.
EAA received reports from specialty aircraft examiners of restricted category aircraft that the FAA was considering policy changes that would prohibit the aircraft from being used for initial type rating exams, recurrent proficiency exams, and other flights necessary to operate as pilot in command of the aircraft. The restrictions would have put owners in the awkward position of not being able to qualify pilots to fly their unique airplanes.
While aircraft in the restricted category are generally not associated with EAA members, such as agricultural and firefighting aircraft, any policy change could have an unintended effect on experimental exhibition category aircraft, including warbirds and unique vintage airplanes.
FAA to Issue New Guidance on Sleep Apnea
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) continually works with the aviation and medical communities to ensure that pilots are fit to fly. On March 2, the FAA will issue new medical guidance to Aviation Medical Examiners (AMEs) that incorporates industry and Congressional feedback balanced with the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) safety concerns about pilots flying with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).
OSA inhibits restorative sleep. Untreated OSA always has been a disqualifying medical condition and will continue to be disqualifying. The FAA is not changing its medical standards related to OSA; however, it is revising the screening approach to help AMEs find undiagnosed and untreated OSA. The new guidance will improve safety and pilot health by reducing the burdens and disincentives that may have prevented some pilots from seeking an OSA evaluation and treatment.
World War I in 110 Objects Take a Novel Approach to Chronicling "The Great War"
By Mark Rhodes
Military historian, Peter Doyle’s masterful, thoughtful and fascinating book World War I in 100 Objects (Plume) is not only a captivating chronicle of The Great War pictorially, it is also a spellbinding bit of storytelling by Mr. Doyle. The book could have easily functioned as a coffee table-style book, coasting along on the mesmerizing images such as a Pickelhaube (a German style ceremonial hat), a nasty looking Butcher bayonet, a Trench art ring (trench art being a sort of folk art using the residual artifacts of war like shell casings to manufacture jewelry and so on).
Contrails: The Epiphany
By Steve Weaver
It must seem to newcomers in our world of aviation that the pilots who were flying back in “the day,” must be conspiring to weave a universal tall tale about how aviation was in the old days. Then they take turns telling the tale while the rest of the codgers nod in solemn assent.
In these times of six and seven dollar avgas and single engine piston aircraft pushing three quarters of a million dollars, it’s hard to visualize a world of 40 cent fuel and affordable airplanes, which the factories were pumping out like popcorn. Imagine a time when we had the freedom to fly just about anywhere in almost anything and when almost anyone who was working could afford an airplane of some kind.
To those of us who lived and flew during those halcyon days, it seemed normal at the time because we hadn’t known anything else. Most of us thought that it would continue this way always and that was just the way it was supposed to be. It also seemed to us, to me anyway, that aviation was probably about the same in every progressive country. I had no clue what an oasis of aeronautical privilege we were living in.
On Low Tide
Editor’s comment: The “precautionary landing,” is not a topic that is directly addressed in the FAA Practical Test Standard. A diversion to an alternate airport is part of testing scenarios, but the concept of simply getting the airplane on the ground, perhaps not at an airport, is seldom taught and certainly not tested. It is tragic that accidents, which occur every year, could have been avoided if the PIC had simply accepted the fact that continued flight was not possible. In many cases, a landing on a suitable surface could have safety prevented continuing flight into worsening weather conditions or a power-off landing caused by fuel exhaustion or mechanical difficulties.
It is interesting to note that our Canadian neighbors face the potential of off-airport landings head on, especially if flying with Anna Serbinenko, a class one airplane and class one aerobatic instructor. Anna is also the only female aerobatic performer in Canada. Her passion for flying lifts her away from the daily routine into the sky with a three-dimensional freedom called “Sky Dancing.” Anna flies with the Canadian Flight Centre.
Established in 1979 and now in two locations, Boundary Bay, Vancouver, BC, and Kamloops, BC CFC has trained more than 3,000 pilots from over 20 countries. Graduates of Canadian Flight Centre are currently working at airlines around the world. Today, under Anna’s leadership, CFC trains “from tail wheel to turbine,” with a big variety of courses and aircraft. Special programs are now being offered to U.S. Pilots that include the techniques and skill described in Anna’s latest contribution to In Flight USA. For more about Anna and her airshow schedule: visit www.annaserbinenko.com. For beach landing experience and training in BC, contact Canadian Flight Centre www.cfc.aero, flying@cfc.aero, 604/946 7744.
One last note, you MUST visit this area of the world, just north of Seattle. It is SPECTACULAR!
By Anna Serbinenko
Anna Serbinenko after one of her “off airport” beach landings.When I was a student pilot, we were strictly banned from any “off-airport” landings. On one hand, now that I am a flight instructor, I can sympathize more than ever with the school’s mistrust of a student pilot’s common sense decision making skills, and the paranoia about the insurance. On the other hand, I cannot possibly think of endorsing a commercial pilot who has never landed in anything less than 2,000+ long paved level runways. They are simply not fit for commercial pilot duties.
In the Canadian airplane pilot syllabus, there’s an exercise called Precautionary Landing. A typical scenario used to motivate the student is, “what do you do if you are low on fuel?” Or “ what if you have a sick passenger on board?” Fuel management issue aside (what was so difficult about landing at the last airport you passed and put a few gallons in the tanks?), why on earth would you land with a sick person on board in the middle of nowhere instead of heading to the nearest airport to get qualified medical help? But what if there is no airport close by, a real issue in rural Canada (most of the country), or weather blocks access to an alternate airport?
Inside the Gentle Giant
By David Brown
Imposing from any viewpoint, the Super Guppy can carry an amazing variety of shapes inside its 25 ft wide, 25 ft high, and 96 ft long cargo compartment. Based on the Boeing Stratocruiser and modified with a greatly enlarged fuselage, turboprop engines, reinforced landing gear, and a side-opening cargo nose, this is the only flying example of the five Super Guppies built. (NASA)When a giant turboprop cargo plane recently droned into Long Beach in Southern California, it marked the latest chapter in a fascinating tale.
When NASA needed to move a large box-shaped structure some 30 ft long and of 10,000lb weight across country from Southern California to NASA Langley in Virginia, they did not have to look far. As it happens, NASA owns and operates the sole remaining operational Turbine Super Guppy (out of the five built during the ‘60s to carry outsize pieces of cargo). The Super Guppy (NASA 941) is currently based at the NASA facility in El Paso, Tex., and flew from there to the west coast to pick up its cargo. The payload on this occasion was a composite, double-deck multi-bay box made for NASA’s Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) project. This test article represents a 75 percent scale version of the center section of a hybrid wing-body aircraft (think of a scaled-up X-48, flown at NASA Dryden some years ago) but now built of a lightweight, damage tolerant stitched-composite structural concept dubbed PRSEUS (Pultruded Rod Stitched Efficient Unitized Structure) built by Boeing Research and Technology in Huntington Beach, Calif. and assembled in Long Beach. The innovative structure comprises carbon-epoxy panels, which are infused with resin and cured by vacuum pressure without having to use a large autoclave, which would normally be required.
Robinson R66 Receives EASA Certification
The Hazards of Confirmation Bias in Aviation
By Shanon Kern
A wise pilot once told me, “If you’re planning to fly somewhere, be ready to drive.” At the time, I didn’t fully understand the relevance of this statement. In my inexperienced student pilot mind, I believed that I would be able to plan a vacation, reserve the plane months in advance, and fly to my intended destination. I was unaware that in order for a scenario like this to work out, a lot of external factors would have to fall perfectly in place.
According to the NTSB database, in 2013 there were a total of 49 part 91, aviation related accidents where instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed. As I searched through the database and read the weather reports, I was left wondering why a pilot would choose to fly in such adverse weather conditions? After reading several factual NTSB reports, a pattern started to develop. The majority of the flights were not VFR flights into IMC conditions. They were cross-country flights where the weather was questionable, at best, from the start.
Jumping into History With the 82nd Airborne Re-Enactors
By Donia Moore
Field training day at Yanks Air Museum. (Donia Moore)It was only their third combat jump. Stealthily landing in the dark and foggy pre-dawn early hours, the paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne All American division dropped behind Utah Beach, Normandy, France between Ste Mere-Eglise and Carentan on June 6, 1944. It was the most ambitious airborne operation of the World War II, Operation Neptune–the airborne invasion of Normandy. The operation was part of Operation OVERLORD, the amphibious assault on the northern coast of Nazi-occupied France.
Contrails: Twisted Humor Stalks the Skies
By Steve Weaver
I’ll admit it, during the years that I was instructing, as much as I loved to fly and to teach flying, there were times when I needed a break. The years that I was running the little country flight school in the late sixties and teaching eight to ten hours a day for weeks without a break, I sometimes longed for a change of pace. It was hard, unrelenting work.
But the schedule of the flight school dictated the hours that we flew and in the summer, we tried to take advantage of the long days. We harvested every hour that we could to help us stand against the long, dark winter that was to follow, and summer days when I could just relax were few.
So sometimes I did dumb things that amused me, just to break up the routine a bit. It was nothing that I could go on the road with, but those incidents served to give me chuckles and most of the time, they gave them to the whole airport.
Ninety Nines Women Pilots – Flying in Amelia Earhart’s Footsteps
By Donia Moore
OC 99s Aviation Week (Donia Moore)The Powder Puff Derby was in full flight, with aircraft landing and taking off from Lockheed Terminal, piloted by women members of the International Ninety Nines Women’s Flying Club. On the ground, Girl Scout Troop 671 watched in awe as the pilots maneuvered their aircraft around the tower and headed through the clear skies for the next leg of the relay air race. Most of the young Scouts had never even seen a small plane, outside or inside, and few had ever seen women pilots flying them. Amelia Earhart was a distant historical figure to most of them. The girls were at the airport to act as hostesses for the lady fliers, helping out where they could. One of the Scouts was so captivated by the 
Cameron’s first solo - Fullerton 99s. (Donia Moore)scene that she only stare longingly at what looked to her like toy airplanes come to life.
The mother of another of the Scouts was flying in the competition that day. Though she was well known and well liked by them all, none of the other Scouts except her daughter had ever seen her fly her plane before. Noting the rapturous look on the Scout’s face, she decided to return to the airport later that afternoon and offer to take the girls up for a ride. She didn’t know that the experience would fuel the lifelong dream of one young Scout to take her own place above the clouds.
Fighting Flight
By Shanon Kern
C-FHAD making a water landing. (Courtesy Shanon Kern)On a warm June day, in Vancouver B.C., my family and I watched in awe as small single engine air taxis took off from the bay and disappeared over the horizon. I could see the amazement and wonder in my children’s eyes as the single engine caravan taxied out to the center of the bay and magically lifted upward. In an instant, I was transported back to my own childhood amazement of flight. My Father, a newly minted commercial pilot, flew the “Sports book” from Laughlin, Nev. to Las Vegas, Nev. every night for the casinos. I was his sleeping stow away. By the age of five, my mind was convinced that I would be a pilot like my father.
By the age of seven, my father had changed careers and stopped flying. Somewhere over the years, as life progressed, I had forgotten about my young dreams of becoming a pilot. I was left instead with a completely unfounded and debilitating fear of heights and flying. I spent my entire twenties distancing myself from the dreams of the younger “me”.