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In Flight USA Articles
Warbird Adventures, Inc. Exciting from the Ground Up!
(Cover Photo by Michael Jorgensen. Provided by Warbird Adventures, Inc)The idea behind Warbird Adventures, Inc. came to shape on a cocktail napkin back in 1997. Founders Graham Meise and Thom Richard decided to max out all their credit cards and buy a T-6.
By Jan. 7, 1998 the company had been formed and the first aircraft purchased in California. It took six days to bring it home to Zephyrhills, Florida after which extensive modification had to be done. Four months later, the proud owners sat on the ramp with a shiny T-6 waiting for people to come by.
The original plan was to barnstorm around the country, but they ended up in Kissimmee by accident and set up shop out of the Flying Tigers Warbird Restoration Museum instead. The rest is history.
FAA Announces Change in Special Issuance Medical Certification
AERO 2013 is flying high again: Slated for April 24-27
HALF MOON BAY’S AWE-INSPIRING FESTIVAL OF MAGNIFICENT MACHINES
U.S. Navy Cancels Blue Angels 2013 Performances
FAA Closing Towers
First Controlled Flight, 1885 Style
Editor’s note: Our friends managing the upcoming Golden West Regional Fly-in and Airshow in California (Yuba County Airport, KMYV, June 7-9) tipped us off to this year’s special attraction, a full-sized, flyable, replica of the John Montgomery glider Santa Clara. So what is the big deal about a glider? How about the fact that it was developed in the mid 1880s and successfully flown in controllable flight about 15 years before the Wright Brothers started flying their gliders! Given the current controversy about “who made the first controlled flight?” In Flight USA contacted the builder of this remarkable reproduction, Thom Taylor, and asked for a personal account of his adventure into the world of aviation pioneer, John Montgomery. Enjoy!
By Thom Taylor
John Montgomery standing by the Santa Clara, circa 1904-5. (San Diego Air & Space Museum)As a young child I always had an interest in airplanes and model aircraft. As I grew older I developed a keen interest in history around the era of the two world wars, and the way technologies advanced in time of conflict. I also studied the history of California. When I retired, I turned to woodworking as a hobby. I quickly learned woodturning, mastered woodworking’s other skills.
After reading a book about the Wright Brothers, I decided to build a 1/3 scale model of the 1902 Wright glider using period materials and construction techniques, from the stand point of a woodworker, having no personal flying experience. The glider, which took me 1,200 hours and a year to build, is on display at the California Aerospace Museum in Sacramento, Calif. The museum’s curator asked what my next project might be, and having no idea he suggested a John Montgomery type aircraft. Like most people with no knowledge of John Montgomery I set out to learn about this most amazing Californian.
Editorial: Apology Accepted
By Ed Downs
Quoted from the March 24 television airing of the CBS Program, The Amazing Race:
“Parts of last Sunday’s episode, filmed in Vietnam, were insensitive to a group that is very important to us: our nation’s veterans.
“We want to apologize to veterans – particularly those who served in Vietnam – as well as their families and any viewers who were offended by the broadcast.
“All of us here have the most profound respect for the men and women who fight for our country.”
If you are a regular viewer of CBS’s Sunday evening program, The Amazing Race, you know what the above apology is all about. To be sure, this apology is appropriate and viewed as a sincere acceptance of responsibility for having wronged a generation of Americans who have suffered greatly. The question that remains, however, is why circumstances should ever have developed in a way as to require such an apology and whether or not consequences have been shared by those who caused this egregious program to have been aired in the first place.
As aviators, we have become accustomed to an adversarial media and foolish versions of aviation plots being portrayed in movies and television. We have learned that no matter how hard we try, reporters use incorrect terminology, movies portray pilots flying planes with the motions and force needed to guide a team of horses and television news sensationalizes aviation stories with the axiom, “if it bleeds, it leads.” Sure, we write letters, tweet our brains out, plead for help from alphabet groups and finally, develop a thick skin. Now, do not misunderstand the intent of this observation. This writer is not suggesting one simply give up. All of us involved in our remarkable industry, be it for business or recreation, must participate in preserving the rights to navigable airspace that all Americans enjoy, as verified by Title 49 of Federal law. Our forefathers learned that rights are never granted, but defended.
The FAA’s Annual General Aviation Forecast
GAMA Convenes Rotorcraft Safety and Certification Forum
From Skies to Stars - April 2013
The Comet Cometh
By Ed Downs
First a meteor smacks into Russia, and then, just a few days later, we get a close flyby of a good sized asteroid. In cosmic terms, that asteroid came close enough to give “doomsday preppers” reason to celebrate their decisions. It was close. But it is not all scary news. Astronomers who work with visible light, versus those light bands that can be seen only through the use of special instrumentation, have something to celebrate. It seems as though the summit of Haleakala on the Hawaiian island of Maui, at 10,000 feet above sea level, now sports a telescopic array that promises to be the most powerful survey telescope ever built. “Survey” means a telescope that specifically looks for things, all sorts of things, which may be heading our way. It’s called Pan-STARRS, short for Panchromatic Survey Telescope And Rapid Response System. And is the first of a four telescopes array planned.
Destin Jet, Legendary Marine Launch 2013 Props, Wings & Wheels Event
Half Moon Bay’s Awe-Inspiring Festival of Magnificent Machines
CAP’s World War II Volunteers May be Recognized for Their Service
Civilian volunteers who served during World War II may soon be recognized for their service with the Congressional Gold Medal.
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has introduced S. 309 and U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, has introduced H.R. 755 in the 113th Congress to honor the founding members of Civil Air Patrol who used their own aircraft to conduct combat operations and other emergency missions during World War II. The Senate bill has three co-sponsors – Sens. Mark Begich, D-
Alaska; Thad Cochran, R-Miss.; and Ron Wyden, D-Ore. The House bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas.
During the war roughly 60,000 civilians – men and women 18- to 81-years-old – were CAP members. Their war service was extraordinary in scope, especially since it involved civilian volunteers conducting combat operations in their own aircraft.
Educator Teams Fly on NASA's Sofia Airborne Observatory
Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors (from left) Constance Gartner, Vince Washington, Ira Hardin and Chelen Johnson at the educators’ work station aboard the SOFIA observatory during a flight on the night of Feb. 12-13, 2013. (NASA / SETI Institute / Pam Harman)The first four Airborne Astronomy Ambassador (AAA) educators returned safely to Earth at Palmdale, Calif., early in the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013, after completing their initial flight on NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA.
That flight launched the AAA program’s first full year of operations, during which 26 educators from classrooms and science centers across the United States will fly on the SOFIA as partners with scientists conducting astronomy research using the airborne observatory.
On board for the Feb. 12-13 flight were ambassadors Constance Gartner of the Wisconsin School for the Deaf in Delavan, Wisc.; Chelen Johnson from the Breck School in Golden Valley, Minn.; Ira Harden and Vincente Washington, both from City Honors College Preparatory Charter School in Inglewood, Calif. The astronomers on the flight included Juergen Wolf and Doerte Mehlert of the German SOFIA Institute in Stuttgart, Germany and Ted Dunham of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz.
Record Holding Albatross Retires to Hiller Aviation Museum
By Herb Foreman
The Grumman Albatross on the runway at the Hiller Aviation Museum. (Hiller Aviation Museum)Reid Dennis, venture capitalist and charter jet operator has donated his beautiful Grumman Albatross to the Hiller Aviation Museum at the San Carlos (Calif.) Airport. The Albatross will be a significant addition to this already wonderful display of aircraft. I’m certain if Stan Hiller were still alive today, he would have a very wide smile on his face.
Reid was born in the San Francisco Bay area and grew up watching the Pan American Clipper Ships flying from their port at Treasure Island to Hawaii and other destinations throughout the world. They must have had a profound effect on the young man as he grew to manhood.
From Skies to Stars - March 2013
It Ain’t Over Yet
By Ed Downs
Yes, February was a real “high five” for both amateur and professional astronomers. Astronomy, often thought of as a “geek” profession (or hobby) by the multitudes who would rather watch late night television as opposed to freezing their tushies off while stooped over a telescope, may reconsider their opinions. Clearly, astronomy is a participative sport that involves loud noises, close calls, frightening damage and reflection upon the many science fiction movies dealing with annihilation by giant meteors, comets or asteroids. And it ain’t over yet!
February started out with excitement as the world waited for the fly-by of asteroid 2012DA14. With a diameter of approximately 160 feet (such objects are seldom spherical); 2012DA14 was expected to pass within 18,000 miles of earth, truly a “near miss,” being inside the orbit of a number of communication satellites. Then, just 16 hours before this asteroid was to buzz our planet, a 10,000 ton meteorite, 55 feet across, ripped into the Earth’s atmosphere over Russia, moving at 44,000 mph. To put that in perspective, moving at that speed one could fly from New York to LA in 4 minutes or cover the distance from the Moon to Earth in about 5.3 hours – our astronauts took 3.5 days to do the same. It exploded 12 to 15 miles above the surface of the earth, creating an air burst of 500 kilotons of TNT (30 times larger than the Hiroshima A-bomb). More than 1,000 people were injured from shattered glass and other debris over a 30-mile radius. This writer was just gearing up to watch the 2012DA14 fly-by when we received a firm reminder that “we are not alone in space.”
"Lessons from the Cockpit"
An Exerpt from Selfish Altruism by Moe Glenner
In Flight USA is sharing Moe Glenner’s five behaviors that pilots should avoid as an excerpt from his book, Selfish Altruism. These five lessons from the cockpit will run as a five-part series. Read on for the first installment, Behavior #1, Anti-Authority.
As an instrument rated pilot, I draw many parallels between aviation related themes and the chains of change. Most successful pilots are highly goal and mission oriented. While this seems to be a requirement, it also has pitfalls. Some of these pitfalls have been at the root of serious aviation accidents and incidents. There are five notable behaviors that pilots are especially susceptible to, that left unchecked can have serious consequences. These behaviors are not exclusive to pilots and are actually present amongst all of us, regardless of occupation.
Editorial: It Must be February...Again!
By Ed Downs
I doubt there is a single reader who has not heard about the impending “sequester,” the sword being held over the heads of every citizen by both our executive and legislative branches of government as a means of gaining the “sound bite” upper hand on America’s ailing economy. Regrettably, this writer has yet to see a “sound bite” solve problems.
Museum of Fine Arts in Boston Showcases Vintage Aviation Art and Advertising in Lauder Postcard Exhibit
By S. Mark Rhodes
The Airplane at Tokorozaw, No. 5 (from an unidentified series) - Artist Unknown, Japanese. Leonard A. Lauder Collection of Japanese Postcards. (Photograph Copyright Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)The venerable Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is in the midst of an exhibition called The Postcard Age: Selections from the Leonard A. Lauder Collection. This collection features about 400 postcards from a plethora of artists and designers both in Europe in the Americas. The exhibit is organized by themes, such as “Style,” “About Town” and “Women,” as well as sections showcasing post card images featuring “Power, Speed and Flight.”