Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
6 | June 2014
+
Great War Flying Fighters
Kermit Weeks World War I ghter collection
Vega
The Last
Only one still
ying coming
to Oshkosh
JACK J. PELTON
COMMENTARY / TOWER FREQUENCY
I AM VERY PLEASED that our members and volunteers will once again
build an airplane during the week of our y-in and convention at
Oshkosh. We have done it in the past, and the One Week Wonder
project is a great demonstration of how an airplane is built. This year
we will build a Zenith CH 750 Cruzer in just seven days.
Across the hundreds of acres of show ground at AirVenture
Oshkosh there will be dozens and dozens of programs teaching peo-
ple every essential skill needed to build their own airplane. And
many forums and seminars will help people restore antiques and
warbirds. And still others will instruct owners about how to best
maintain and operate their standard airplanes. The week of Oshkosh
is one huge educational experience.
But Im getting ahead of myself. A real-time demonstration of how a
modern airplane kit goes together is a great educational tool. But before
we can educate people about personal aviation we have to wow them.
The people who attend the many how-to classes and forums dur-
ing Oshkosh are already converts. They already own an airplane or a
building projector plan to buy one soonand are focused on doing Similar efforts happen during Oshkosh in the
the best work possible. These people are already sold on whatever Vintage area where airplane owners describe the
aspect of personal aviation they have chosen to participate in. history and restoration and maintenance of their
However, there are thousands, actually many thousands, of peo- classic airplanes. Visitors can learn what its like to
ple who visit our y-in that are clearly intrigued by aviation but own their own antique.
havent made the commitment to participate. They come to look at The Warbirds area also features daily presen-
the airplanes on display, inspect the new products the industry tations about the airplanes and the people who
shows off, and marvel at the skill of the pilots ying in the air show. ew them. Nothing could be more effective to
Thats why it is crucial that Oshkosh continue to feature the best attract new people to preserving our military avi-
of all types of private aviation. We cant know exactly what segment ation history.
of personal aviation the curious but not yet committed visitor is most There are similar programs going on in the light
interested in. Every part of the huge and diverse EAA family needs ight area and at the aerobatic display. Visitors can
to put its best foot forward so every AirVenture Oshkosh visitor feels learn about the fun of ying and then nd the spe-
welcome and believes he or she can join in our aviation activity. cic forums and courses they need.
The one-week Zenith build project is a great example of how we The aviation industry does a great job of
can showcase kit airplanes and the enormous amount of progress explaining the value of its products with excellent
they have made. People at Oshkosh can see for themselves how the displays and the entire range of information on
modern kit is very complete, needs little in the way of specialized what their airplanes and equipment can do.
tools and skills, and comes with excellent support from the manu- Weve all heard the old line about selling the
facturer and other kit builders. sizzle not the steak. There is some truth in that,
An Oshkosh visitor can watch work on the Zenith project for a but at Oshkosh we do both, and I think we are
relatively short time and easily grasp how he could build his own kit. doing a pretty good job at keeping things in the
I believe the one-week build will sell many people on building right order. We have everything necessary to
their own airplane, and after that we will continue with our terric teach people to weld, work with fabric, and carve
educational programs that teach them the special techniques they a propeller, but before that we put on a show that
need to do so. sells that aviation sizzle.
Contents
Vol.63 No.6 | June 2014
F E AT U R E S D E PA R T M E N T S BETTER PILOT
50
A Superstar Reborn
COMMENTARY
84
Stick & RudderThe Road to Forced Landings
58
The High Art of John Stahr
22 Flying LessonsLane Wallace
HANDS ON
66
Passions of the Past Reborn
36
40
Dream Build FlyBrady Lane
Kermit Weeks and his WWI Albatros 104 Shop TalkSo You Wanna Build a Bush Bird
D.Va and Snipe 46 ContrailsJe Skiles
By Jim Busha MEMBER CENTRAL
NEWS & INFO
74
TBM 900
10 Advocacy & Safety
Governmental Issues
109
110
113
Member Central
Pilot Caves
News From HQ
124
127
Members and
Chapters in Action
Member Benets
The science of airow management 118 Board of Directors 128 FlyMart
By J. Mac McClellan 14 FlightlineIndustry News Nominees 129 Classied Ads
123 Gone West 132 EAAs Logbook
ON THE COVER: Scott Germain photographed the only yable Lockheed Vega. For more on many of the topics in this issue, visit www.SportAviation.org. To view and
It is one of a handful of metal-fuselage Vegas built. submit aviation events, visit www.EAA.org/calendar.
EAA PUBLICATIONS
Founder: Paul H. Poberezny
Publisher: Jack J. Pelton, EAA Chairman of the Board
Vice President of Marketing: Rick Larsen
Editor-in-Chief: J. Mac McClellan
Associate Editor: Meghan Hefter
Assistant Editor: Katherine Pecora
Senior Graphic Designer: Chris Livieri
Graphic Designer: Jenny Hussin
News Editor: Ric Reynolds
Copy Editor: Colleen Walsh
Multimedia Journalist: Brady Lane
Visual Properties Administrator: Jason Toney
Print/Mail Manager: Randy Halberg
Contributing Editors: Jim Busha, Kelly Nelson
Contributing Writers: Charlie Becker, Mike Busch, Budd Davisson,
Dave Matheny, Lauran Paine Jr., Mark Phelps, Dan Pimentel,
Robert Rossier, Je Skiles, Lane Wallace
ADVERTISING
Vice President of Business Development:
Dave Chaimson / dchaimson@eaa.org
Advertising Manager: Sue Anderson / sanderson@eaa.org
Business Relationship Manager: Larry Phillip / lphillip@eaa.org
EAA and SPORT AVIATION, the EAA Logo and AERONAUTICA are registered trade-
marks, trademarks, and service marks of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. The
use of these trademarks and service marks without the permission of the Experimental
Aircraft Association, Inc. is strictly prohibited.
SUBMISSIONS
LETTERS INTENDED for publication should be e-mailed to editorial@eaa.org or addressed to EAA/Letter to the
Editor, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI, 54903. Please include your EAA number, city, and state. All letters are
subject to editing. Unpublished letters will not be returned.
Commenting Effectively
How your comments can help change the third-class medical
BY JONATHAN HARGER, GOVERNMENT ADVOCACY SPECIALIST
IN LATE MARCH, the FAA announced that it will release a notice of Comments that are angry, accusatory,
proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would ease or eliminate many and/or overly emotional. These comments
of the requirements for third-class medical certication. How many might make writers feel like they got
of us comment on the new rule proposal when it comes, and how something off their chests, but the comments
effectively our comments are worded, will signicantly affect how are ultimately ineffective and even damaging.
the new third-class medical requirements take shape. Consider the comment, I am amazed that
The FAA is required by law to ask for comments on all NPRMs, the FAA continues to have complete disregard
and no issue has been more important to so many pilots as medical and keeps trying to kill GA. This comment,
certication reform. We as a ying community want the FAA to aside from not providing any factual analysis,
know what we think about the proposed changes. Whether you melodramatically implies that the FAA is
support or oppose a proposed rule, there are ways to communicate acting maliciously in proposing a rule. It is
with the federal government effectively and lower the chance your completely legitimate to opine in a comment,
comment will be ignored or dismissed. for example, that a proposed AD would be
It is easier than ever to submit comments to the FAA docket. cripplingly expensive to aircraft operators
Thanks to www.Regulations.gov, all you need to do to is enter while providing comparatively little in the
a phrase into the search box (e.g., third-class medical), click way of safety gains. It is not legitimate to tell
Comment Now! and begin typing. The process seems informal, the FAA, as one commenter did, that the
but submitting a comment via the website still constitutes as FAA is being very one-sided and is not acting
formal communication with the federal governmentone that is in a professional manner.
permanently on recordand should be treated as such. Comments that reference other
The best comments are those written and formatted like comments, i.e., using the federal docket
business letters. The appearance is crisp and professional, which as a chat room. All comments posted to the
goes far in setting your comments at the top of the pile for serious docket are public, and if you read enough
consideration. The tone should be formal and respectfuleven if of them, youll nd one you dont like. The
youre not feeling particularly full of respect. It is best to approach online docket is a tool for the public to
the FAA as a potential partner rather than an adversary. If you communicate with the government, not for
oppose a rule, suggesting an alternate and mutually benecial individuals to address other individuals. It
method of achieving a stated goal is much better than simply telling might have the look of an online forum, but it
the FAA it has it all wrong. is denitely not. No matter how unbelievably
Unfortunately some comments that pilots submit to the ridiculous and untruthful anothers
FAA hurt our cause more than help. Here are some examples of comment might be, neither you nor the FAA
ineffective comments from past rules proposals and what we hope have anything to gain if you address that
to avoid when the new medical rules are proposed: individual in the docket and demand that he
Comments without rationale or data. A good example defend his objectionable comments.
of this is the comment, I see no need for third-class medical Your opinion matters, but it matters a
certication. Another example of a poor comment is, I would lot more if you back it up with reasoning,
like to state that Im not in favor of this from the FAA. This will data, FARs, FAA orders, legal opinions,
do more harm than good in the GA world. The comment invites or other hard material that would be
a reviewer to ask, Why arent you in favor of this, and how would appropriate for the issue. EAA members
this action cause harm? The FAA is very data- and process- are encouraged to contact EAAs advocacy
oriented, especially with safety proposals and airworthiness and safety office (govt@eaa.org) about
directives. Remember, you are not voting on a rule here. You are any issue for guidance related to locating
explaining your support or opposition. applicable material to use in comments.
THE GENERAL AVIATION So why is this important to EAA Tom also served on the previous work group
Joint Steering Com- members? Most signicantly, this effort is focused on loss of control in the traffic
mittee (GA-JSC) is a all about improving safety without adding pattern environment. The steering group
collaborative industry/ new regulation. The basic premise is that meets quarterly in Washington, D.C., and the
FAA effort aimed at education within the aviation community work group meets six times a year in various
lowering the rate and and the community advocating for locations. The work group develops risk
total number of fatal improvements/best practices will always be mitigations that are reviewed and approved
GA accidents. While more effective than new regulation or policy. at the steering committee level. Those safety
the committee has existed in various forms In some cases, the safety enhancement might enhancements and recommendations are
over the past decade, it was not until three even call for a reduction in regulation/policy, then implemented by either the most obvious
years ago that a regrouping occurred based such as with angle of attack indicators and industry partner to lead the education effort
on the success of the Commercial Aviation subsequent barriers to low-cost, simple or by the FAA itself, depending on the nature
Safety Team (CAST) model used for airline installation oversight. EAA has always of the recommendation.
safety. This industry/FAA partnership was supported the educational/community It is a proven process, and perhaps the
integrated into the manner the GA-JSC was approach to improved safety. best safety effort within the GA community
conducting its business. This process relies EAA continues its commitment to to date. We look forward to continuing to
on data-driven analysis and outputs, based the GA-JSC. I participate at the steering support the GA-JSC and see a denitive
on what the data shows as the root causes committee level, and EAA Government reduction in GAs fatal accidents by having
of accidents. This has worked exceptionally Specialist Tom Charpentier participated in everyone work together, which has been a
well for the airlines and can certainly have a the latest work group, with an emphasis on hallmark of EAAs advocacy efforts since
positive effect for GA. system and component powerplant failure. our founding.
WITH AIRVENTURE APPROACHING, many of us are practicing our formation think, and maneuver for two (or more)
ying skills in preparation for our annual trek to Oshkosh. Formation aircraft. A good leader will make the job
ranks up there among the most enjoyable ying we do, but it demands of ying the wing position much easier.
greater preparation, training, and some unique safety measures. The When Ive conducted formation training
simplest rule we all follow is dont hit the other guy! Unfortunately just with students in both aircraft, I can readily
recently a midair collision occurred between a vintage warbird Hawker determine from the wing position whether
Sea Fury and a Cessna 210. Both aircraft were en route to Eagles Nest it is the student or instructor on the controls
Airport from Half Moon Bay Airport near San Francisco. It is too early in the lead aircraft. The experienced lead
to know a lot of detail, including whether or not the ight was a planned provides a predictable stable platform. Turns,
formation, but the National Transportation Safety Board reported the changes in power, climbs and descents, and
midair collision occurred when the pilot of the Sea Fury pulled up to the conguration changes all require the leader
left side of the Cessna 210. The 210 crashed into the bay, killing the pilot, to plan well ahead so the wingman is ready
while the Sea Fury managed to make it to Eagles Nest. for the change and can respond promptly
This is an all too sobering reminder of what can go wrong when to maintain position. For example, when I
airplanes operate close together. If youre contemplating formation ying begin a turn as leader, I roll in smoothly, with
for the rst time, be sure to nd someone with good experience to give you initially a low-roll rate but steadily increase
the proper training. You dont need a CFI for that, but the individual who it to a normal-roll rate for the aircraft, to
instructs formation should have a commanding knowledge of formation get to the desired bank angle. Common
ight and experience in the types of aircraft involved. One of the best mistakes are to roll too quickly, surprising
sources Ive seen for formation training was written by the Formation the wingman, or to roll too slowly, causing
and Safety Team (FAST) at www.FlyFast.org where you can nd a the wingman to stutter his roll inputs in
comprehensive guide to this type of ying. anticipation of the normal roll rate that the
You might think the most challenging part of ying formation is lead never gets to. Finding the right balance
mastering a stable position on the wing, but Ive found that ying well takes a lot of thinking ahead, and practice.
as the formation leader is far more challenging. The leader has to plan, An extremely important concept for
both the lead and wingman is what we call
situation awareness (SA). Many failures in
formation ying can be attributed to one or
more pilots in the ight having lost SA, leading
to confusion and errors in the cockpit. FAST
denes SA as the continuous observation
of current conditions and, along with the
integration of previous knowledge, the ability
to quickly form a coherent mental picture
to anticipate future needs and direct future
actions. Strong SA allows the formation pilot
to absorb information from several different
sources near simultaneously, such as the
aircraft engine and navigation instruments,
radio chatter, traffic analysis, etc., and
anticipate what actions are needed over time.
In many regards, ying a general aviation
aircraft in formation can be much more
challenging than ying the military jets.
Propeller aircraft have a narrower operating
speed range, slower response to power
changes, and often slower roll rates, all of
www.eaa.org13
F
LIGHTLINE
INDUSTRY AND COMMUNITY NEWS
MOONEYS COMEBACK
MOONEYS COMEBACK plans continued this
spring as the 80-year-old single-engine
airplane manufacturer looks to become
viable again following a five-year hiatus.
Mooney International has ramped up staffing;
restarted its dormant Kerrville, Texas,
production line; launched an online auction
to purchase the first Mooney airplane off that
line; and announced plans to build a museum.
Mooney also sponsored Mays Planes of Fame
Air Show in Chino, California.
More than 80 employees have been hired
in Kerrville, where millions of dollars have
been invested to upgrade the facility, which
Mooney says will plan to deliver six airplanes
in 2014.
Proceeds of the online auction for the
first new production Mooney, the twin
turbocharged, 242-knot Acclaim Type S,
will be dedicated to the future Mooney
History Museum. Bids are open through
July 11, and the winner will receive the
airplane at a special ceremony on July 29
at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. To participate,
visit www.Mooney.com.
Mooneys Ovation3, featuring a 310-hp
Continental Gold standard IO-550 engine and
FBO at KOSH
WITTMAN REGIONAL AIRPORT announced that Basler Flight Service is
now the airports sole xed-base operator following the FBOs move
to integrate Orion Flight Services facilities into its operations. As a
result of the consolidation, Basler also became a Shell Aviation fuel
dealer on May 1, 2014.
The recent dealership agreement between Basler and Eastern
Aviation Fuels, the national marketer of Shell Aviation fuels and Orions
owner, includes an investment of more than $750,000 to acquire and
expand Orions facilities that include office space, a 100-by-120 foot
hangar, and two 12,000-gallon above-ground avgas and Jet-A tanks.
Basler had been a Phillips 66 dealer for 32 years, but the business
was a Shell dealer before that, and the change will not affect the
level of service Basler provides, commented Tom Weigt, president of
Basler Turbo Conversions, parent company of Basler Flight Service.
Basler offices will move to the building occupied by Orion
adjacent to the airport terminal, but everything should be business
as usual during AirVenture 2014, said Basler General Manager
Mary Garcia. She said she doesnt expect any change in service for For more information and direct links to Flightline stories,
AirVenture and that her team is focused on logistics and transition. visit www.SportAviation.org.
14Sport AviationJune 2014 PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF JULIE WEGNER AND MOONEY INTERNATIONAL
PRODUCTION BEGINS ON QUICKSILVER SPORT L-S2S TWO-PLACE SUNSEEKER
DUO MAKES FIRST
Aeronautics president. The company is POWERED FLIGHTS
taking a new approach to production by
creating extensions, or manufacturing SOLAR FLIGHT ANNOUNCED that test ights of
locations other than the headquarters the Sunseeker Duo, the rst solar-powered
factory. In accordance with the LSA airplane with a passenger seat, have been
regulations, these extensions allow ongoing since it rst ew on December 17, 2013,
Quicksilver to maintain full quality at the companys facilities in Voghera, Italy.
control and puts production closer The company aims to have the aircraft
to customers. tested and ready to offer passenger ights
This is the first time a company has by summer.
opened multiple extension facilities, The Sunseeker Duo is Solar Flights third
and Quicksilver plans to open two new solar-powered airplane. Thanks to improved
facilities at Air-Tech Inc. of Reserve, technology, this latest addition to the lineup
QUICKSILVER AERONAUTICS Sport 2S model Louisiana, and in Rochester, Minnesota. features lithium batteries with seven times
has been verified as a special light-sport The Sport 2S model will be called the capability of the companys rst effort
aircraft, and the model will officially be the S2SE and will be available for Sunseeker I. That aircraft made history in
known as the Sport L-S2S, marketed as $39,999. Quicksilver reports it is one the summer of 1990 when Solar Flights Eric
the Sport S2SE, the company announced. of the lowest-priced S-LSA models Raymond ew it across the United States, the
The company is ramping up pro- on the market. Amateur-built kits are rst solar-powered aircraft to do so.
duction, said Will Escutia, Quicksilver also available. The Sunseeker II was notable in its rst
crossing of the Alps. The project is led by
FAA, GA COMMUNITY LAUNCH WEATHER SAFETY CAMPAIGN Raymond and his wife, Irena.
THE FAA AND GENERAL aviation groups year in general aviation crashes related
launched an eight-month national safety to weather.
campaign, Got Weather? #GotWx, The Got Weather? safety campaign
to help GA pilots prepare for potential will run through December and refresh
weather challenges during the 2014 each month to feature a new weather topic
flying season. such as turbulence, thunderstorms, icing,
This campaign will help ensure that crosswinds, and the resources available
our general aviation pilots are prepared to pilots. Pilots can go to www.FAA.gov/
in the face of bad weather and are as about/initiatives/got_weather and get
safe and well-trained as possible, said fast facts, links to partner videos, safety
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony seminars, quizzes, prociency programs,
Foxx. But too many lives are lost each online training, case studies, and more.
// ELECTROAIR HAS RECEIVED design approval LSA/Experimental, has essentially the two 30-kilowatt electric motors powered
and FAA-PMA for its EIS-61000 series same dimensions as the TSO 850-6 tires by lithium-ion polymer batteries that the
electronic ignition system for Continental that are in use currently, but is rated at company says will provide up to an hour of
470 and 520 series of engines. The four-ply instead of six. It has a smooth ight time.
Electroair kit uses a crankshaft trigger tread prole designed not to pick up
wheel for locating engine position and pebbles and rocks that can damage aircraft // THE COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE (CAF) has
determining rpm of the engine. The trigger skin, and is highly deected to absorb selected the Dallas Executive Airport (RBD)
wheel kit offers a highly accurate way of larger river rocks and gravel. as the location of its national air base and
determining engine information with the corporate headquarters. The news comes
long-term benet of needing only a sensor // AIRBUS GROUP INNOVATIONS made the after a one-year nationwide search that
change at the next engine overhaul. rst ight of its prototype E-Fan electric originally considered 23 cities. The CAF will
training aircraft on April 25 in Bordeaux, move a few initial staff this year, and plans
// DESSER TIRE & RUBBER Companys new France. The all-composite aircrafts twin- to complete the move from Midland, Texas,
backcountry Tundra tire, the Aero Classic ducted, variable-pitch fans are powered by by the end of 2015.
THE TOWER CONTROLLER WISHED me a good day and passed me on The Garmin G600/500 at-glass avionics
to departure. Everything was perfectly normal. I changed fre- system uses a single knob to control several
quencies, keyed the mic, looked at the altimeter, and told functions, including heading select and
departure that 45 Fox Mike was out of 600 feet for 3,000. altimeter baro set. A push of the knob syncs
The instant I nished saying that I realized something was wrong. the heading bug to your present heading. If
The altimeter did show just over 600 feet, but the runway I departed baro set mode has been selected, a press of
a minute or so ago was at 629 feet. The vertical speed was 1,000 fpm, the same knob selects 29.92 inches, the stan-
and the airplane was climbing nicely in cool air and at a light weight. dard setting for use in the ight levels.
It was obviously impossible that I was really at 600 feet. The G600/500 defaults to heading mode
It took a few seconds, and a glance at the second altimeter, because we change heading in ight more
to figure out what happened. The atmospheric pressure was frequently than most other functions. To
high with an altimeter setting at 30.63 inches. I set the altimeter keep the heading display tidy and logical I
correctly after listening to the ATIS, but at some point shortly frequently press the button so the heading
after takeoff I fat-fingered the baro setting back to standard at bug is synced to the actual heading while the
29.92 inches. GPS nav system corrects for wind drift to
maintain the desired track. I apparently the FAA established 60 as the maximum
inadvertently selected baro set mode age for pilots flying scheduled airlines.
shortly after takeoff, pressed the button The maximum age issue was driven by
intending to sync heading, and instead set contract disputes and negotiations
the altimeter at 29.92. That was enough to between pilot unions and airlines, but it
bring the indicated altitude down by more then turned into a safety issue the
than 700 feet. FAA addressed. The FAA convened
Over the years Im sure I have broad- panels of experts, and age 60 was set-
cast hundreds, probably thousands, of tled on as the maximum age for medical
incorrect bits of information to control- and performance reasons. The fact that
lers. Like this time, I realized the mistake 60 also aligned with the majority of
and corrected it, or the controller spot- pilot unions position probably had a lot
ted the error and asked for a repeat. to do with the selection.
None of us want to make even small mis- By the 1990s there was a growing
takes in our ying, but this time the error demand from many airline pilots that
made me wonder. Is this a sign of aging? the maximum age be raised to 65. There
I am just now crossing the threshold were dozens of petitions to the FAA,
of 65 years of age that carries us into the lawsuits filed, and many requests for
official world of being old. Call it a senior, Congress to get involved. The FAA suc-
or a golden-ager, or a retiree, or what- cessfully beat back the growing demand
ever; in our society age 65 is a milestone to increase the age using the safety
that carries all sorts of baggage. mantra as a shield.
The age 65 threshold has been
enshrined by our social security system. None of us want to make even
The age was further cemented in place
when Medicare was created in the 1960s. small mistakes in our ying, but
Germany was the rst major nation to
establish a national retirement system
this time the error made me
and settled on 65 years old as the official wonder. Is this a sign of aging?
retirement age before social security was
established here. The creators of the U.S. But the FAAs position became
Social Security system probably consid- untenable after the International Civil
ered the German experience when they Aviation Association (ICAO) increased
were selecting the retirement age in its recommended retirement age to 65.
1935. They probably also looked at some When pilots switched the topic from
private pension plans that used other safety to age discrimination, Congress
ages, and also to the Railroad Retirement got involved and told the FAA it had
Act established a year earlier that used to produce convincing evidence that
65 as the eligibility age. pilots between the ages of 60 and 65
There wasnt really any medical evi- were less safe than those under age 60
dence or other data to demonstrate that or the FAA was going to be guilty of
65 was the age when an average person age discrimination.
should retire, but there was actuarial data The FAA tried mightily to prove its
to show that the average life expectancy position, but the data to support the age 60
wasnt a lot longer than 65. By selecting rule just doesnt exist. At rst the focus
age 65 the creators of the new system was on sudden incapacitation in the cock-
knew they wouldnt have to pay a lot pit. That seems like an obvious threat for
because few people would live long after older pilots, but thats not what the data
that age so the cost of funding the new show. Only about 0.03 percent of acci-
system would be manageable. dents, including all types of ying, involve
Retirement age became an ongoing incapacitation in ight. And most of those
controversy in aviation in 1959 when incapacitations involve pilot behavior,
www.eaa.org19
J. MAC MCCLELLAN
change was really the result of Congress An old pilot who only recently
Fair Treatment for Experienced Pilots
Act that forced the FAA to make the began ying, or logged only
change in the absence of any evidence
that safety would be compromised. a few hours over his career,
But I am, along with thousands of
other pilots, launching into that
performs less well than a highly
unstudied age group. All of the effort to experienced pilot of the same age.
examine pilot performance during the
many years of the age 60 rule contro- with our cognitive and basic perfor-
versy ended at age 65 because nobody mance capabilities as we age, not our
was proposing a higher age. There was blood pressure or doctor visits. They
very little data available about how know that incapacitation is a tiny threat,
pilots age 65 perform, and there is even and the small threat applies to all pilots,
less known about how 70-, 75-, or not just older ones. But age does at some
80-year-olds can fly. We can look at point rob us of the mental and physical
accidents but learn nothing because we abilities necessary for safe ight. We just
dont have any idea how much older dont know at what age that will happen
pilots fly and under what conditions. to each individual.
What we do know is that not a lot of These AMEs believe that just talking
older pilots have current medicals. In with and observing a pilot, particularly
2012 the most recent data from the FAA an older pilot, is important. We have all
showed that only 39,135 pilots between seen how age changes people we know,
the ages of 65 and 69 had a current but those changes can be very hard to see
medical certificate. In the group in ourselves, or to admit to. For example,
between 75 and 79 were only 8,316, and an eye test is reading a number or letter
by age 80 the number was down to on a chart, or in that infernal machine
4,943. There are pilots flying LSA who most AMEs use. But even though the eye
dont need a medical, but there is no doctor tells me my vision is corrected to
way to know the size of that group. 20/20, I know I dont see the same as I
If, as we expect, the FAA broadens did 30 years ago. Especially at night.
the right to y privately using a drivers I dont agree that we should be forced
license as evidence of medical tness, I to have an AME pass judgment on our
think more of my fellow golden-agers ability to y for our own reasons, but I
will continue ying. I am convinced that do agree that somebody has to do the job.
the hassle of getting a medical certicate And what are the key signals to look for?
is what signals the end of ying for many, Did my botching the altimeter setting
even though they often still have all of and not noticing it before making a silly
the necessary capabilities to y safely. report to the controller show my cogni-
Though I dont believe the third- tive abilities are in decline? I know that
class medical adds anything meaningful they are, but enough to matter? Ive
to safety in private flying it has served made similar dumb mistakes at almost
one purpose. It has been a signal, even a every age so why is this one different?
jolt, that makes us eventually consider Ill keep searching for answers to
if the time has come to hang it up. those questions as, I hope, more flying
Without the medical certification sys- years go by. But one thing is certain
tem the decision of when we are just no a calendar isnt going to provide the
longer up to the demands of flying will answers. And neither can an AME.
be left to us, with help and advice from
our family and pilot friends, I hope. J. Mac McClellan, EAA 747337, has been a pilot for
The thoughtful AMEs I knowand more than 40 years, holds an ATP certicate, and owns a
there are manyare most concerned Beechcraft Baron. To contact Mac, e-mail mac@eaa.org.
I AM, AS MY HUSBAND and stepson regularly point out to me, not the But as we approached the Vintage area,
most observant of humans. This is a potential liability for a writer, of his buddy came running up to us.
course. Ask me later what a place or event looked like, or what a spe- Did you see it? Did you see it? he
cic person was wearing, and Im likely to come up a complete asked excitedly.
blank. Im not sure why that isperhaps, as I sometimes say, my See what? I asked.
mind operates on a need to know basis, and it doesnt think I The PLANE crash! he responded with
needed to know, or remember, those particular details. Or perhaps disbelief. How could you miss it? A busi-
its just a downside of focusing too much in certain areas, resulting ness jet crashed right behind you guys!
in a remarkable, and sometimes embarrassing, obliviousness to I turned and looked back along the path
everything else. wed taken. Sure enough, there were sirens
I cant even argue the point. As my family reminds me, I once and ashing lights moving rapidly toward
even missed a plane crash 40 yards away from where I was standing. the area, andbetween the rapidly growing
Sadly, theyre not kidding. I really did. number of people crowding around the
It happened at the big AirVenture air show at Oshkosh a few siteI could make out a wingtip and parts of
years ago. I was interviewing a teenager who, with his best buddy, a business-type plane that had no business
had own a Cub from Florida to Wisconsin for the show. We were skewed sideways on its belly along the run-
walking along the show line from AeroShell Square to the Vintage way like that.
camping area, talking about his trip. In my defense, it was a really How could I have missed it? One would
cool story. The kind of Motorcycle Diaries road trip into adventure think that some cue or noise, in the interests
and to see the world that few people over the age of 30 ever attempt. of self-preservation, would have penetrated
www.eaa.org23
LANE WALLACE
also keep an eye out for potential landing But I think the answer is both What I notice most often, looking down,
sites in case of engine trouble. But theres is stuff like seeing a car with a windsurfer on
a fair amount of time in a flight (or at least simple and profound: In the the top driving toward a coast I can look out
a good-weather VFR flight) when your and see, but which is still obscured to the
mind, while having to remain present in sky, I have enough space and driver below. Or someone pulling a car into a
the moment, isnt fully engaged in tasks parking spot on a main street of a town, or
or even reminders of all the never-ending
spare focus to not only look, but into a driveway in a housing development,
tasks to be done on the ground. actually seeand think about and wondering who the driver is and what
In short, the overall noise and number their story is. Sometimes its seals crowding
of distractionsmental, audible, and what is in front of my eyes. onto a beach, or a pair of egrets or herons or
visualare vastly reduced, and most people ducks ying low over a body of water, then
can manage the number of tasks requiring paying more attention to the details drawing a line of spray from their trailing
focus with mental bandwidth to spare. beneath me. feet before splashing down for good. Other
(This is when all is going well, of course. And heres the other interesting part of that. times its the colors and patterns of particu-
Emergencies are another animal alto- While there are times when the details I notice lar crop plantings beneath me. I still have a
gether.) But I think that relative quiet and in the air are the more spectacular sortthe distinct memory of one particular eld in
spare bandwidth allows me to loosen the shadow of my airplane inside a circle rainbow Montana that I swear must have been grow-
lters and take in more of my surroundings. in the mist, or the shimmering, opaque copper ing ower shop owers, because its stripes
I dont just look at the sky. I have the space color that a section of ocean can turn at the of color were so varied, distinct and bright,
and time to see it, in all its colors and end of the daythe vast majority of my memo- even though it doesnt seem that Montana
shades and textures. Removed from a forest ries involve much more mundane details of life would be anyones rst choice of where to
of immediate detail, I have the luxury of as we know and practice it. plant tropical blooms.
www.eaa.org25
M
IKE BUSCH
C OMMENTARY / SAVVY AVIATOR
I SUPPOSE IT COMES as no surprise to readers of this column that Im failureseither as expert witness or
not exactly a fan of top overhauls. I never like to see any cylinder investigatorwhere the engine either
removed from any piston aircraft engine unless theres absolutely threw a rod through the crankcase or
no alternative. I truly hate to see multiple cylinders removed suffered the complete separation of a cyl-
simultaneously. Removing all cylinders at oncethe so-called top inder from the engine, resulting in a total
overhaulis something I try to avoid at all costs, except in truly loss of power. In some cases, the pilot
extraordinary circumstances. made a successful forced landing; in
One of those truly extraordinary circumstances has had my others, the outcome was serious injury
phone ringing off the hook in recent weeks. The calls have been or death.
from frantic owners of Continental 520- and 550-series engines Cylinder replacementand especially
whose Superior Millennium brand investment-cast cylinders are replacement of multiple cylinders at once
being euthanized by Airworthiness Directive 2014-05-29 and its is a procedure that needs to be executed
predecessor 2009-16-03 that are legislating thousands of these perfectly. If it isnt, there can be dire conse-
magnicent cylinders out of existence the moment they reach the quences. Yet its a procedure that most
calendar age of 12 years. career general aviation A&Ps perform rou-
I can only imagine what my phone will be doing this summer tinely without any apparent fear or
if the FAA issues its long anticipated AD against ECi Titan concern, seemingly oblivious to the fact
brand cylinders, which would euthanize about 10 times as that even a tiny mistake could result in an
many perfectly good cylinders as the Superior Millennium AD. engine failure that could destroy an aircraft
What a travesty! and hurt or kill someone.
Why arent these mechanics nervous?
RISKY BUSINESS Undoubtedly because they are convinced
Cylinder replacement is a highly invasive and risky procedure that they always perform the cylinder trans-
with a long history of causing catastrophic in-flight engine fail- plant procedure properly, and that only
ures that cause airplanes to fall out of the sky and sometimes careless or incompetent mechanics screw it
hurt or kill people. I have been personally involved with at least up. Of course, this is a dangerous attitude.
a half-dozen of these maintenance-induced catastrophic engine Even the most experienced, careful, and
www.eaa.org27
diameter is 5.25 inches, so its surface area is percent to generate preload. Thats why
21.6 square inches and the peak force trying both Continental and Lycoming specify that
to pull the cylinder off the engine is on the cylinder deck studs and through bolts
order of 20,000 pounds. Each cylinder is should be torqued wet (by applying lubri-
bolted to the engine with eight fasteners cant to the fasteners) to reduce these
six 5/16 inch in diameter deck studs frictional losses and increase the preload
threaded into the crankcase and two 1/2 achieved by torquing to a specied value.
inch in diameter through bolts that pass The wet torque method works ade-
all the way through the crankcase and do quately during initial engine assembly at
triple duty of clamping the main bearing the factory or engine overhaul shop when
supports in the crankcase halves together the engine is mounted on an assembly stand
plus holding down a pair of opposing cylin- and all the fasteners are new. But it works
ders. In a perfect world, the 20,000 pounds far less well when cylinders are being
of force trying to rip the cylinder off the replaced in the eld with the engine still
engine 20 times every second would be mounted in the airplane.
equally divided among the eight fasteners,
so each one would bear 2,500 pounds of OBSTACLES TO PROPER PRELOAD
force. (In the real world, of course, things Roger Fuchs identied ve obstacles to
are never that simple.) To be on the safe achieving proper fastener preload when
side, wed want each of those eight fasten- performing cylinder installation on an
ers to be tightened to a preload of 3,000 or engine mounted in the airplane:
4,000 pounds. 1. The fasteners arent new. When an
How do we obtain the desired preload? engine is initially assembled at the factory
In a perfect world wed tighten the cylinder (or by a rst-rate overhaul shop), the
base nuts so that the deck studs stretched through bolts, deck studs, and cylinder hold-
by about 0.005 inch and the through bolts down nuts are all new components with
stretched by about 0.035 inch. In the real cadmium-plated threads in perfect condi-
world, unfortunately, mechanics have no tion. The cad-plating is very slippery
practical way of measuring the stretch of (helping to reduce friction) but very thin
the deck studs and through bolts, so they (typically 8 microns thick, 1/10 the thickness
are forced to rely on using a calibrated of a human hair) and relatively soft, making
torque wrench to tighten the nuts to manu- it easy to damage.
facturer-specied torque values in an Many eld-overhauled engines are
attempt to establish fastener preloads that assembled with repaired crankcases in which
are in the desired ballpark. This turns out the deck studs are not replaced and may have
not to be a very reliable method. been torqued numerous times with most or
all cad-plating removed by wear or cleaning.
THE TROUBLE WITH TORQUE Through bolts and hold-down nuts may also
The problem with the torque-wrench be reused (although they shouldnt be).
method is that the amount of fastener pre- Things get even worse when cylinders
load generated by torquing a nut to a are replaced with the engine on the air-
specied torque value can vary quite a bit. plane. Through bolts and deck studs are
Thats because the lions share of the never replaced, and hold-down nuts may be
applied torque is dissipated by the over- reused at the mechanics discretion. The
coming frictionboth friction under the threads of through bolts, deck studs, and
nut face and friction of the threadsleaving hold-down nuts may be damaged, but its
only a small and rather unpredictable por- almost impossible for a mechanic in the
This Continental IO-360 spun a main bearing after cylinder work. tion of the applied torque to generate eld to evaluate this.
Fortuitously, the situation was caught at a routine oil change preload on the fastener. 2. Fasteners may not be adequately
(where the lter was found to have thousands of akes of bearing If the fastener is torqued dry, then 85-90 lubricated. Both Continental and
metal) literally an hour or two before the engine would have self- percent of the applied torque is dissipated Lycoming specify that cylinder fasteners
destructed in ight. overcoming friction, leaving only 10-15 are to be torqued wet. Continental calls
www.eaa.org29
airplane and sitting on an engine stand 5. Manufacturer instructions are
with unobstructed access, its almost incomplete. The published guidance
impossible to do when the engine is from Continental and Lycoming leaves a
mounted in the airplane and various lot to be desired. To cite one glaring
components restrict wrench move- example, Continentals overhaul manu-
ment. Frequently, two or three bites als and torque charts emphasize that
of the wrench are needed before final when a cylinder is replaced, the nuts on
torque is achieved, and each adds both ends of each through bolt must be
uncertainty to the final result. This is torqued. In my experience, many
particularly true when wrench rota- mechanics dont bother with torquing
tion must be stopped as the nut is the nut on the opposite side of the
approaching the desired click of the engine. But even if they do, theres noth-
wrenchbut not there yet, Fuchs says. ing in Continentals guidance suggesting
Time after time when the wrench is that the opposite-side through bolt nut
removed before it clicked, the wrench should be removed and the nut and
will do so upon attempting to tighten threads be lubricated, nor that the oppo-
the nut further with no additional site-side threads should be cleaned and
rotation of the nut. This deceives the the opposite-side nut be replaced with a
mechanic into believing that proper new one. Its dubious that following the
preload has been achieved when it published guidance will accomplish any-
almost certainly hasnt. thing with respect to torquing the
Achieving nal torque needs to be accomplished with one smooth motion of the torque wrench. This is usually possible when the
engine is out of the airplane and being assembled on a stand, but its almost impossible when the engine is in the airplane.
BE AFRAID
If you have a cylinder repaired or
replaced, your conscientious A&P
probably employed what would gen-
erally be considered proper
maintenance practices. His torque
wrench may have been calibrated
recently, set to the proper torque
value, and given the reassuring
click indicating that the desired
torque value was achieved. And yet
its entirely possible that most of the
fastener preloads achieved may well
be below the design minimum
required for safety and reliability
of the engine.
Most of the time you and your
A&P will get lucky; the cylinder will
stay attached and the main bearing
wont spin. But occasionallydespite
your mechanics best effortsone of
those bad things will happen and
youll fall out of the sky.
Of course, any time multiple cyl-
inders are replaced, the probability
of failure increases with the number
of fasteners that are messed with.
Food for thought next time your
mechanic suggests that it might be a
good idea to do a top overhaul.
www.eaa.org31
A Dark and Stormy Night
Staying out late when you dont mean to
IN TRUTH, IT WAS NOT a stormy night, at least not yet. But it was de- signs and portents than a modern man
nitely dark and becoming oppressive and ominous. should be. Maybe Im not modern. But
What had been a sunny late afternoon had gradually become home base seemed to be creeping slowly
overcast, the overcast had grown heavier, and it was now an impen- away almost as fast as I approached it. I
etrable, thick mass up there, like gray blotting paper, sodden and was reminded of a story Id heard in child-
lumpy. I was at 500 feet, halfway between that stuff and the hood, or maybe had read in a comic book,
ground, with the sun setting behind me. The wind, which had been in which a guy who had been shipwrecked
insignicant before, was taking on signicance. It was from ahead was swimming toward an island, and
and slowly increasing. gradually came to realize that the island
That murk overhead was daunting, as was the steadily dark- was drifting away almost as fast as he
ening sky. Maybe Im more sensitive to what the ancients called could swim. It was a floating island,
www.eaa.org33
DAVE MATHENY
follow a series of legs that would eventu- dramatically, reducing the miles I had to this, I ew there, thought that, made that
ally take me southeast to my home field on cover to 35. But even so, it seemed I would get other choice. In the broader sense, I got
the far side of St. Paul. I was now making there at about ve minutes before sunset, and into this x by allowing my choices to evap-
45 mph over the ground, down from 55 I could expect the ETA to keep creeping later. orate. I could have left a lot earlier (there
before, the difference entirely attributable So why was sunset such a big deal? In was that forecast of increasing easterly
to the growing headwind. the rst place, I dont like being illegal. I wind), and I could have made just one stop
Now, as I plugged along toward my house, have no lights of any kind on the GT to refuel. And I could have spent less time
I watched traffic below outrun me. Time to strobe, nav lights, anythingso by law I hangar ying. As so often happens in avia-
calculate again. If I were to complete my cir- could not be aloft after sunset. In the sec- tion, what began as a broad range of choices
cuit before sunset, as planned, Id have to ond place, but such a close second it could becomes a much smaller range as time
cover the 60 miles in about an hour. But my be rst, darkness would fall rapidly as the passes. Almost anywhere you turn you will
speed over the ground was down, with a ten- sun went down. The cloud deck overhead read stories by pilots who survived to tell
dency to decrease as the island drifted admitted no light. Although visibility was their tale. Virtually every story told in
awayI mean, as the wind slowly increased. 10 or 12 miles, it would only decrease as the Ill Never Do That Again here in Sport
My ETA was now well after sunset. It looked light dimmed. We have no lights at my eld. Aviation has this quality.
as if the wind couldnt wait until later. When I rst got into ying, I read about
Whatever weather system was headed this the necessity of doing the right thing when
way was coming in ahead of schedule.
With eastbound highway you entered poor visibility, which was to
Two choices: The sensible one was to turn trac outrunning me, I did not turn back. This was based on the very rea-
back and land at Maple Plain, tie down, and sonable assumption that you had own
gure out a way to get home by land. I could actually consider landing in a into bad visibility from good visibility.
call my wife and have her come get me, but we What naturally comes to mind is an air-
only had one car at that point and I had left it eld and putting a thumb out to plane ying from a sunny sky into a wall of
at my eld, 40 miles from home. That would cloud. As part of my ight training, I had to
be the awkward but play-it-safe option. But hitchhike a ride, which would put a hood on and demonstrate to an
really, really inconvenient. If I have learned instructor that I could make a 180-degree
anything in aviationand some would argue have gotten me home faster. turn based on instruments alone. That, I
that I have shown little evidence of itit is must say, is not a difficult thing to doin
that the sensible option is nearly always the Although its commonplace for ultralights to those circumstances.
difficult, plodding, inconvenient one. y at sunset, and even after sunset (which is But it doesnt happen like that. Or if it
The other option was to point the nose legal if the aircraft has a strobe visible for at did, there would be very, very few accidents
directly at my home eld and just go. least 3 miles), thats almost always done resulting from ying VFR into IMC. Whats
Even that one was looking harder. With when theres lots of lingering light left the problem? Duh! Just turn around!
eastbound highway traffic outrunning me, I afterglow, sky-shine, wherever its called, its No, what happens is that you allow all of
did not actually consider landing in a eld perfectly reasonable to y for 20 minutes or those other options to gently disappear. You
and putting a thumb out to hitchhike a ride, more after the sun goes down. In this case, dont y from sunshine into darkness, but
which would have gotten me home faster. night was going to fall even before sunset, from some clouds into more clouds, from
Thats just the sort of joke you think to and I did not want to push it. little headwind into more headwind, from
amuse yourself in between consultations The rest of the ight was uneventful but lowered ceilings into much lower ceilings,
with the GPS to see if the ETA had ticked anxious. I had to steer around congested from 12-mile visibility to 8-mile to 5-mile to
another minute later. It kept doing that. areas, adding time to the trip. And there are a a few thousand yards. The transition is soft.
lot of not-nice places to land along there, so I No horn will honk in your ear.
SLIP-SLIDING AWAY had to climb up close to the cloud deck when It comes to this: Dont wait for a horn
I felt a renewed sympathy for the guy passing over them to stay within gliding dis- to honk, just catch it early, when you can
swimming toward his oating island. Of tance if a forced landing became necessary. still catch it. On this occasion, I got away
course there were major differences: My Even so, my denition of an acceptable land- with not making the difficult, plodding,
objective, my home eld, wasnt drifting ing place became all stretched out of shape. inconvenient choice of turning back. I
away, but I was being pushed back by the The last 10 minutes was a sprint to the eld. I dont plan to force myself to have to make
wind, or at least slowed down. And the made it with two minutes to spare before that such a choice again.
swimmer didnt have any deadline other actual sunset, although it was dark enough to
than the fact that he would eventually be 45 minutes after sunset. Dave Matheny, EAA 184186, is a private pilot and
become exhausted. I did have one: sunset, an FAA ground instructor. He has been ying light
which was now less than an hour away. HOWD THAT HAPPEN, AGAIN? aircraft, including ultralights, for 30 years. He accepts
Pointing the nose at my home eld and Up above I answered the question of how I commissions for his art and can be reached at
reading the GPS improved the situation got into this x a little too literally. I did DaveMatheny3000@yahoo.com.
THERES A BOULDER BEHIND my house that my daughter has climbed Climbing alone, she naturally devel-
since she was 2. On nearly every walk through the neighborhood, oped the skills necessary for checking her
she insists we stop to climb it. own steps. Her caution increased as she
Her maturation as a rock climber has mirrored my progress as a gained independence, and so did mine
pilot. She began with fearless determination because she knew as a pilot.
someone was there to catch her, just as my ight instructor was The independence I was enjoying as a
initially there to save me from scraping my knee. newly certicated pilot was also the cause
The day eventually came for Eliana to solo the boulder. of my caution and reverent approach
She knew the route, the steps, how to climb safely, but doubted toward every ight.
her skillsuntil I stepped back and let her see she had the skills Last summer, Eliana began teaching
to climb without me. She has not been the same since. She in- her younger sister how to climb the boul-
stantly became an independent woman, well, as much as any der during our walks. She couldnt resist
3-year-old can be. sharing her joy with somebody else.
FAMILIARITYS FRIENDS
Just like the old cartoon, familiarity has an angel
on one shoulder and a demon on the other.
www.eaa.org37
BRADY LANE
Some say familiarity breeds contempt, It is dierent for each of us, but we must perform a gut check
but I see both a blessing and a curse. The
blessing is prociency. The curse: compla- as soon as the signs of comfort and familiarity surface and be
cency. We should strive for familiarity for
the prociency it brings, but guard against intentional about how to proceed.
its complacent neighbor.
The ancient Chinese philosopher and and like me, had to choose what kind of move to an 800-foot strip, then to 600 feet,
poet Laozi said, A scholar who cherishes pilot they wanted to be and the best way to and so on. Eventually, and only with time
the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed get there. and practice, you know when and how to
a scholar. With apologies to Laozi, the How did they reach their degree of pro- land in 50 feet.
same is true of pilotsa pilot who cher- ciency while keeping complacency at bay? Thats a methodical approach to gaining
ishes the love of comfort is not fit to be How did they become the pilots and crafts- experience. It also represents good counsel,
deemed a pilot. men they are? or as we say in aviation, instruction.
Though we train to become procient In talking with these mentors, who Good Instruction: How am I getting
and to some degree comfortable, we didnt know their inuence on me at the instruction right now? Instruction
shouldnt linger in the comfort we gain. It time, I saw the same three inuences in shouldnt be something only in the past.
will not serve us well if we do. In fact, if we their livesgood friends, good experiences, So, even if I am surrounded with good
feel stagnant, that is the scariest place of all, and good instruction. Together, these inu- friends and experiences, I need to give
because we are being deceived. Our skills are ences directed and shaped their paths, and somebody permission to question, test,
always moving on the continuumeither continue to do so. challenge, and teach me. This is how we
improving or degrading. To feel stagnant In light of this observation, I asked keep our skills moving in the right direc-
anywhere on that spectrum is actually a myself the following questions: tion on the continuum. It doesnt have
deception and distortion of reality. Good Friends: Who do you surround to be formal instruction, but it should
As a 200-plus-hour pilot, I am now yourself with? What company do you keep? be intentional.
comfortable with the fundamentals of fly- Who inuences your ying? Who is model- Even though I welcomed instruction
ing and am eager to explore, discover, and ing behaviors and practices for you? Are when it was offered, I knew great strides
try new things. There is a safe way to do you regularly ying with people youd like of progress and proficiency were available
this and a dangerous way. It is different for to be more like, y more like? Are you if I sought it out intentionally. So, for that
each of us, but we must perform a gut involved in a community, EAA chapter, or reason, and a few others, I asked a friend
check as soon as the signs of comfort and ying club that challenges you, holds you and pilot I greatly respect if he would help
familiarity surface and be intentional accountable, and employs behaviors aligned me become a more intentional, thoughtful,
about how to proceed. with your values? and precise pilot. Since he is a CFII, we
I once heard that pilots around 600 Mom, once again, you were right. decided to do this through some instru-
hours are most prone to accidents because The friends I keep matter more than I ment training.
they see themselves beyond the student can imagine. Im a few lessons in and already feel my
phase, but have not yet achieved the mind- Good Experiences: Do you eagerly seek skills getting sharper. It is a great feeling to
set and lessons afforded to more new experiences in a thoughtful and satisfy my appetite for growth through the
experienced pilots. I couldnt nd data to methodical way? Are you afraid of new challenge of ying an ILS approach and not
affirm or deny this claim, but anyone who is experiences? Or just the opposite: Are you through more exploratory urges.
honest about their internal condence being too careless in the way you are push- Whether your logbook has 20 hours,
meter would likely come to this theory on ing the bounds? 200 hours, or 20,000 hours, I hope you
intuition. My only caveat is that pilots reach For example, if I tried to land a Super survey your life regularly and listen to
this 600-hour-mindset at different times, Cub on a 50-foot gravel bar, it likely would what a kindergartner can teach you
not necessarily at 600 hours. not end well for me because that is a care- about flying.
Through my work at EAA, I am less way for me to gain this experience. A Eliana, thanks for again showing me
exposed to ordinary people who are true few years ago, Paul Claus, who had just won how to spread my wings. You do it so well
masters of their craft. I am thankful for three titles at the Valdez STOL contest, from atop your boulder, though it may be
this as it is a constant reminder I am still a shared with me a methodical way to gain time we look for a larger one.
rookie. There is a barway up thereI such experience as a pilot.
have yet to reach or attain. I also see that He said if you want to land in 50 feet, Brady Lane, EAA 808095, is a multimedia journal-
these masters are ordinary people who start by landing on a 1,000-foot strip. When ist for EAA and a private pilot who is scratchbuilding a
once had only 200 hours of experience, you can consistently land in the rst half, Bearhawk. Contact Brady at blane@eaa.org.
Flyin Right
The safety problem has to be solved by you and me
BY LAURAN PAINE JR.
EAA CHAPTER 105 in Portland, Oregon, recently held an E-AB Safety the group, invited not because I know any-
Conference. Excellent idea, huh? And it wasnt just a y safe, boys thing but because, from years of ying, I do
and girls type of conference but a full-blown conference with dif- have some observations and opinions. Im
ferent speakers. Neither was it a mind-numbing all-day deal. It was not one to tell anyone how to y, but I can
rather an attention-getting couple of hours. The speakers were tell you some of the things Ive seen over
heavy-hitters: Dick VanGrunsven, founder of Vans Aircraftwhen the years.
Van talks, people listen; Gil Hutchinson, representing the EZ iers; First, a word about safety. Its rather an
and Scott McDaniels, who has worked at Vans Aircraft for many empty word in and of itself. But its thrown
years and knows RVs inside and out. I was the lone lightweight in about a lot. And its great fodder for the fed-
eral cubicle dwellers who compile accident
statistics; they point to them and trumpet
safety, but that doesnt solve the problem. The
problem has to be solved by you and me. We
in the E-AB community dont want to be
known as the accident-prone boys and girls.
We want to be known as the competent pro-
fessionals. But we have to earn that. And
thats what the conference was really about:
how to go about yin right.
Second, I dont make a habit on dwelling
on the mistakes of others. Ive made a boat-
load of mistakes all by myself. I once
preighted an OV-1 and ew it on a mission.
After I returned, the ground crew refueled it
and handed it over to another pilot. He did
his preight and promptly grounded the air-
plane. Seems that when he grabbed a vertical
stabilizer (the airplane has three), it wiggled
back and forth. It was loose! I had missed that
on my preight! And did you ever try to take
off with a pitot cover still on? I have. You roar
down the runway and the airspeed stays at
zero. You abort. And then you feel dumber
than a bag of rocks. And there was the time at
the airline (it happened once in 26 years,
okay?) that I taxied into the wrong gate. Id
Laurans cockpit. Round dials and no autopilot. Nothing to do but y and lookoutside. been doing the same trip for most of the
month and we always went to the same gate, Like, Hey, saw ya go around. Screwed up, huh? This is when you
except on this particular day. When we called
in our ETA they told us our assigned gate, but look em in the eye and say, Maybe. But it didnt look good to me
we sort of blew it off because we knew what
gate we were going to. After landing, I started so I went around and did it again.
down the alleyway and into the gate. It was
open. As I started my turn I noticed no one revered gure in aviation, but it doesnt always those accidents would have been avoided? I
was there, but over my shoulder, on the other tell the complete story. Lets say a pilot has dont know the answer to that question, but
side of the alleyway, stood the usual support 20,000 hours. Heres what I want you to do: my hunch is quite a few. For the sake of dis-
personnelall with their mouths wide open Subtract from that total the time spent at alti- cussion, lets say 50. That 50 would be a
and their eyebrows raised. They eventually tude, straight-and-level with the autopilot on. nice drop in the E-AB accident rate. Its
came running over to bail out the errant cap- That time does nothing to help reduce loss of food for thought. I subscribe to the theory
tain: me. First thing I did after I parked was to control accidents. Those type accidents are that most big problems were once little. For
come out of the cockpit, walk down the out- reduced by ying an airplane, not program- sure, the go-around maneuver should be
side stairs of the jetway, nd the head ground ming it. Think of ying time as stick time. Most right up there near the top of your aviation
agent, stick out my hand and say, Hi. My know that; some dont. Hang me by my thumbs bag of tricks.
names Brady Lane. for my heresy if you must, but please give what I know, I know, some pilots worry about
Mistakes happen. Its best to keep I said some thought. what other pilots might say. Like, Hey, saw
them small such that you learn from them While Im throwing stuff around here, let ya go around. Screwed up, huh? This is
rather than make the kind that results in a me throw this at you. Look at the chart from when you look em in the eye and say,
statistic. We all know that, right? So lets Ron Wanttajas article (Sport Aviation, Maybe. But it didnt look good to me so I
work on it. March 2014) about Pilot Error Breakdown. went around and did it again. Then keep
Okay, lets get to some of the nitty-gritty. It lists 402 accidents; 313 of those were basi- looking them in the eye.
When we look at the graphs and charts and cally loss of control accidents. Put your Now this: Those dad-gum stall/spin acci-
whatnot, the pilot error/loss of control type thinking cap on for a minute and imagine dents just keep rearing their ugly head. How
accidents jump out at us. Do they ever. Im what would happen to the loss of control long have we been putting up with that? For a
going to say something here that isnt said very number if at the rst inkling that something long time! Heres another of my radical
often because it sometimes hurts feelings and wasnt right, the pilot did a go-around. (Or thoughts. You can read 25 articles about stall/
egos. But Im going to say it anyway as a in the case of the loss of control on takeoff, spin accidents and say, Yup. Bad deal. Not
reminder. A pilots total ight time is rather a did an abort.) If the pilot had, how many of gonna do that. But they keep happening! So
heres what you do: Go for a ight in an air-
plane rated for spins with a qualied
instructor. Simulate an overshot nal (at alti-
tude), get slow, pull a few gs, slow and pull
some more, a little more andwham!youll
be on your back and spinning toward the
ground. Thats stall/spin. Do that once with
an instructor and youll learn more than read-
ing all those 25 articles taught you. You will
have seen and experienced and felt what hap-
pens. After that, its unlikely youll be caught
unaware in the traffic pattern ever again.
Experience is the ultimate teacher. (There are
several schools that specialize in upset train-
ing; one of them is Vertical Works, run by my
Air Force pilot training buddy BubbaRon in
Scottsdale, Arizona.)
Heres one more question for you. Of the 77
stall/spin accidents listed on Rons chart, how
many of those pilots actually had spin training?
Hmm. Fix that with training and you get
Data courtesy of Ron Wanttaja another reduction in the E-AB accident rate.
You can practice stick-and-rudder ying if session, most all the guys demonstrated a reacted by spending an inordinate amount of
you make it a habit to do so. Every time I y spot-on performance. Its an old (but good) time trying to reprogram the technology,
alone (except for cross-country or formation adage: practice makes perfect. Seems obvi- pushing all manner of buttons. While doing
ying), I do air work. Steep turns, stalls, slow ous, but seeing it rsthand really drives it that, as you can imagine, the ying went to
ght, and the like. And I dont do it to some home. I like to say, You do best what you heck in a handbasket. Many ended up miss-
federal standard, I do it to my standard. And I do the most. ing the approach. Programming doesnt
keep doing it until I meet that standard. I do it On a related subject, I dont know that at equal ying! The pilots who had retained
for me. (I wont belabor the specics of what I the E-AB level that the glass cockpits are a their pilot mentality merely noted the failure,
do since I already wrote about that in my April big safety issue. Most everybody seems to noted their position on the approach, took
2012 column, titled Therapeutic Flying.) want glass cockpits. Having all the pretty control of the airplane, and said something
Basically, its doing a maneuver until you feel lights and bells and whistles is enticing. (Not like, Autopilot failure, continuing the
really good about doing that maneuver. to me, but I know Im in the minority.) But, if approach manually. The approach remained
Here are a couple more stick-and-rudder all that fancy stuff becomes confusing or dis- stable, and they landed. Different attitudes;
essentials for reminder and discussion. Climb tracting, it becomes a problem. So I just want different outcome.
at your normal climb speed, get to a cardinal to throw a couple more things out there while Okay, one more glass story. I routinely do
altitude, pull the power off, get to your glide were talking. recreational aerobatics in my airplane. I once
speed, and then maintain it in a 180-degree spotted an airplane traveling through the area
turn. Note your altitude loss. Its a good num- Our E-AB accident record is not I was using. Fine, he has every right to be
ber to have in your head. Do the same thing there. I broke off my routine and loosely
with a spin. Enter at a cardinal altitude then good and it is up to us to make trailed him out of the area. The airplane was
note your altitude loss after one turn. Another an RV-9. I could see the pilots head, which
good number to have in your head. Pad those
it better, and with practice and was down the entire time I trailed him. I can
numbers, however, because if youre surprised common sense, we can! almost guarantee you that he was busy push-
by an engine failure close to the ground, or a ing buttons in his fancy cockpit. Just sayin.
spin, your reaction time will be delayed Almost my entire aviation career was Ill conclude with some reminders to
because of the surprise factor. When youre own using round dials. With an RMI and ruminate on:
practicing these things, be sure and listen to DME I simply always had a mental picture You do best what you do the most.
and feel your airplane; thats your airplanes of where I was. It was an ingrained habit. An overshot nal is a dangerous nal.
way of talking to you. Not comfortable with Then came my airline transition to glass. If in doubt, go around.
some of this stuff ? Go with a CFI. When I rst looked into the new cockpit, Big problems were once little.
And it goes without saying to practice with the power off, it looked like a doctors Haste is the leading cause of oversight.
power-off spot landings whenever you can, office. You know, screen for blood pressure, Dont mess with the weather.
right? Theyre fun, and theyre telling about another for EKG, and so on. Then, power The best ying time is stick time.
how procient you are. on, it looked like a multi-screen Disney If you are bored ying, your standards
I am not preaching here, just throwing out movie. Six TV screens (as I called them). I are too low.
considerations as food for thought. Use it or played the part of Goofy for the rst week of There are no guarantees in aviation.
not. But two things are indisputable: Our training; thats how I felt. I eventually came Accidents, after all, are the price of motion.
E-AB accident record is not good and it is up to be at peace with the glass and came to Even when you are trying to do everything
to us to make it better, and with practice and appreciate that it can do some magnicent right, things can go wrong. But if we y smart,
common sense, we can! things. And my RMI/DME mentality faded y with practiced skill, y with humility, the
Let me give you some prima facie evi- when all I had to do to know my location safety thing will take care of itself. Lets stop
dence about practice. A visual, if you will. was to look at the little airplane on the giving fodder to the statistics people. In E-AB,
Back in my airline days I was a check air- screen. Deep down I didnt like that it we are our brothers keeper; what one does
man and gave a lot of checkrides. Captains happened to me, but it did. In retirement, reects on us all. We each must constantly do
were required to take a full-blown check- I built my E-AB cockpit to return me to my our level best for each other! The end result is
rideall systems, procedures, and aviation roots (round dials). And, of course, that when you complete a good ight, you feel
emergenciesevery six months. When the no autopilot. really good. Thats why we y.
airlines were ush they allowed two simu- Let me give you another mental visual
lator sessions: one to practice, the other, about glass. While giving checkrides, if when Lauran Paine Jr., EAA 582274, is a retired military pilot
the next day, was the checkride. The rst on an approach I failed the autopilot (or the and retired airline pilot. He built and ies an RV-8 and
day thered be little lapses and errors and ight director), the guys who had let them- has owned a Stearman and a Champ. Learn more about
such, but the next day, after the practice selves become technologically dependent Lauran at his website, www.ThunderBumper.com.
Bomber School
Following a World War II cadet through to a B-29 cockpit, Part 3
BY JEFF SKILES
AFTER ALMOST A YEAR of continual training, a World War II aviation aileron, rudder trims, as well as the landing
cadet would have progressed from indoc to primary, and subse- gear and ap actuators. Operating either
quently basic aviation training. He would have approximately 150 the gear or the aps requires an extra step
hours in the air and would be ready to move on to advanced training for the uninitiated. In early models to acti-
in high-performance aircraft. Up until this point all cadets more or vate the hydraulic system you must press
less had a similar experience, but with advanced training they would down a paddle that gives you something
follow divergent paths. like 30 seconds of hydraulic pressure. With
the pump appropriately primed, the gear
FIGHTERS or aps can be operated as normal.
Pilots headed for the cockpit of a ghter aircraft would accomplish Experienced pilots shove the paddle as
their advanced training in a North American AT-6 Texan before they begin their takeoff roll allowing them
moving on to transition training into their assigned ghter. The AT-6 to snap up their gear smartly after liftoff.
goes by many names; the Navy calls it the SNJ, the Canadians the Long delays in gear retraction give away
Harvard. All refer to a substantial-looking aircraft built by North many a neophyte AT-6 driver who forgot
American, powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1340 600-hp Wasp pow- this important step.
erplant, and swinging a Hamilton Standard propeller. The AT-6 was a good steppingstone for
The design evolved naturally out of the North American BT-9, frontline ghters with its relatively narrow
a basic trainer contemporary of the Vultee BT-13 that was pro- retractable landing gear and complex sys-
duced in very low numbers. The design was modied to be all tems. The Texan also had a reputation for
metal and to have retractable landing gear. The AT-6 has some often being more difficult to y than the
unique control placements. The left side of the cockpit fairly bris- ghter aircraft that the pilots were eventu-
tles with levers and controls, throttle mixture, prop, elevator, ally destined for, particularly on landing.
46Sport AviationJune 2014 PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF ERNEST AND LEIGH ANN LANE
The big engine ahead promised power, training. Fort Sumner was an outpost in the lieutenant and was asked his preference
but that didnt translate into speed as the desert, and he and his fellow trainees would for assignment.
AT-6 lumbers through the air at a pedestrian share the dry, desolate landscape until My preference was the B-17 Flying
130 knots. While not as forgiving as the March 12, 1944. Fortress, which had an excellent combat
PT-23, the AT-6 on landing is straightfor- Often the air was filled with dust and record. It could take a lot of punishment and
ward and the tail wheel lock keeps it coal smoke. Lieutenant Burke told us we still y. Art received orders to Hobbs, New
tracking down the centerline. would really like the place after two Mexico, for transition training in the Fortress.
Advanced training would be the last weeks. We really liked it better after The B-17 was an older design that rst
opportunity for a cadet to y with a ight March 12, Art wrote. ew in 1935. It was the rst mass-produced
instructor. Subsequent ghter aircraft were Once the cadets were checked out in the bomber with numbers eventually surpassing
only single seat, and other than offering AT-17 they accomplished much of the neces- 12,700. Its four Wright Cyclone engines
encouragement from the ground, an instruc- sary ying among themselves. They would could power the 65,500-pound bomber to
tor was powerless to affect the outcome of be paired with another cadet, and since they Germany and back while delivering a bomb
the mission. Eventually hundreds of thou- were headed for heavy bombers, their load on target.
sands of pilots would pass through advanced emphasis was on formation ying, instru- The rst time I saw a B-17 cockpit, the
training in the powerful retractable before ments, and cross-country. instrument panel was intimidating. There
moving to P-51s, SBDs, or the many other was row after row of dials and switches in
single-engine aircraft in the Navy or Army The AT-6 was a good steppingstone front of the pilot as well as overhead. And to
Air Forces. think we needed to know what each dial
for frontline ghters with its meant and what each switch did, Art wrote.
BOMBERS Pilots learned that ying such a massive
Those destined for bomber aircraft took a very relatively narrow retractable aircraft required a lot of muscle compared to
different path. Multiengine training was the the lighter ships they had become accus-
rst step in their advanced training. Most landing gear and complex systems. tomed to. But ying it wouldnt be so
found themselves in the cockpit of the ubiqui- difficult once they learned arm and leg coor-
tous Cessna AT-17 trainer. One thing we observed in a hurry; in the dination and synchronization of the four
The airplane was initially developed as a middle of a desert there are few landmarks 1,200-hp engines.
passenger transport by Clyde Cessna before except for the highway and railroad tracks. The thermals (updrafts and down-
World War II was ever envisioned. Its civilian We often commented that sometimes the drafts) were throwing that baby all over
designation was the Cessna T-50, and it began only landmarks seem to be the jack rabbits, the sky, and I was under that hood trying
military service as the AT-17. After 1943 the and they were not reliable, Art wrote. to read the instruments as well as fly the
AT-17s designation was changed to the UC-78. Commonly they would train or have plane. By the time we landed, I had blis-
Nicknamed the Bobcat by Cessna, it will be ground school until 4 or 5 p.m., sleep until ters on my hands and a flight suit wet from
forever be known by the name given to it by the 11 p.m., and then be awakened for a night sweat (I think it was sweat). Little did I
pilots who ew them, the Bamboo Bomber. cross-country. know that in less than a year, I would be
The Bamboo Bombers somewhat large On February 23, another cadet and I fighting even greater thermals created not
airframe was propelled through the skies made a night 900-mile cross-country to by the sun but incendiary bombs. The
by two Jacobs 245-hp engines, making it a Wichita, Kansas. On the ground at Wichita training was valuable, Art wrote.
lackluster performer on one engine. But we got lost on the many taxiways and The expectations for Art on the ground
like the 150-hp Piper Apache, a low-pow- found ourselves on the side of the airport were equally as challenging.
ered aircraft can be one of the best trainers where several B-29s were parked. This was Ground school was rough. As a pilot we
because it teaches ying skills rather than the rst one for us to see, and as we taxied were to know all about the plane from A to
dependence on power to extract a pilot under the wings, I remarked, These things Zthe structural framework, the electrical
from a hazardous circumstance. will never y; they are too big and heavy. It and hydraulic systems, the engines as well as
The AT-17 was prolic with more than was not in my wildest imagination that how to handle emergencies in any area.
5,400 examples made. But, other than serving within eight months I would be ying one, Much of this was done in ground school
as the rst twin-engine that any cadet ew, and Art wrote. along with navigation, plane identication,
of course being Sky Kings rst ride, the Cessna At the end of advanced training a cadet and weather, Art wrote.
AT-17 has pretty much drifted into obscurity. would become an officer, and those headed Engine-out procedures and other
Bringing in the new year, our cadet Art for heavy bombers were sent to training in emergencies were trained relentlessly
McElmurry was transferred to Fort either the Boeing B-17 or the Consolidated with cross-country flights offering the
Sumner, New Mexico, for advanced B-24. Art became a newly minted second occasional respite from hard work.
www.eaa.org47
By the end of May I had nished
ground school and had given the check
It was the rst mass-produced
pilot a good ight even on a hot after- bomber with numbers
noon. Now the only thing lacking was to
get my required 100 hours of ying time. eventually surpassing 12,700.
Word was out that some of the guys
would be selected for B-29s, the new We had our first B-29 flight on
Superfortress. The only objection was Friday night, August 4. It flew
that on the B-29 the rst pilot, called an extremely easy, but with a front nose
airplane commander, had to have 1,000 wheel, the landings were entirely dif-
hours in a B-17, so those selected from our ferent from a B-17, Art wrote. The 17
group would y as second pilot but be has a tail wheel, which means you do a
called the pilot. three-point landingin the 29 you land
On June 23, 1944, Art received his on the two main wheels and then ease
orders to Fairmont, Nebraska, for transi- down the nose wheel. All the crew
tion training for the Boeing B-29. areas of the 29 are pressurized to 8,000
feet, which greatly adds to the crew
B-29 comfort. It was two weeks before we
In Fairmont, the airmen not only learned could get another 29.
the skills necessary to pilot a new aircraft, The crew spent six months working
but also met and bonded with the men as a team and transitioning into the
who would form their crew when they B-29 before being ready for deploy-
shipped overseas. The B-29 ew with a ment overseas.
crew of 11 men; the officers consisted of a Staging for our overseas assignment
pilot, copilot, bombardier, and navigator, was at Herington Army Air Force Base
and the enlisted personnel were the radio in Herington, Kansas. During the
operator, radar operator, ight engineer, approximate three weeks we were there,
central re control gunner, right gunner, we were assigned a brand-new B-29 that
left gunner, and tail gunner. we test ew a few times, Art wrote.
Much of our training at Fairmont The crew was as proud of our plane as
was in the B-17, Art wrote. At rst there a 16-year-old would be with his own
were not enough 29s, and they had lots of new car. After a crew conference, she
bugs to be corrected that resulted in was named Pretty Baby.
downtime. Training was at a serious Art now had completed his training
pacewe often had three to ve hours a for the Pacific theater. He began
day in ground school, 30 hours a week advanced training with 145 hours in his
ying time plus 10 hours or more a week logbook. He gained another 70 in the
on the ightline. It was on a seven day a AT-17 advanced trainer, and still 100
week basis. hours more in the B-17 before moving
Training consisted of high-altitude on to the B-29. He had been in continu-
cross-country ying over Nebraska, ous training from February 26, 1943, to
North Dakota, and South Dakota. December 27, 1944. It was 22 months
Flying high-altitude formation in a before he was qualified to point the
B-17 is nothing but hard work. Often nose westward and head overseas in
the temperature was a minus 30 to 50 Pretty Baby.
degrees. With those wool-lined flight
suits and wearing an oxygen mask, it Je Skiles, EAA 336120, is EAA vice president of
took the sap out of you in a hurry, communities and member programs. He can be
Art wrote. reached at jskiles@eaa.org. Quotes are reprinted
After six weeks in Fairmont ying from the unpublished memoir My Memories of World
well-worn B-17s, the crew nally made War II by Art McElmurry. Art is the grandfather of EAA
their acquaintance with the Superfortress. multimedia journalist Brady Lane.
BY BUDD DAVISSON
PIONEERS INEVITABLY LIVE a hard life. Out in clusters of wings, wires, and struts that popu-
front of the pack, while forging new paths, lated aviation at the time.
they usually accrue a lifetime of cuts and The edgling Lockheed Aircraft Company
bruises and often disappear leaving nothing had assigned two of its brightest and soon-
but their name behind. This is especially true to-be well-known young engineers, John
of pioneer airplanes like John Magoffins Northrop and Gerard Vultee, the task of de-
Lockheed Vega, the only ying survivor signing a new, edge-of-the-envelope airplane.
of the breed. The design goal was to gain outstanding
The Lockheed Vega burst onto the aviation range, speed, and load-carrying capabilities
scene mid-1927 where it looked like an artil- by developing an airframe with the lowest
lery shell amid a gaggle of box kites. Its wildly drag possible. This meant nding ways to
sleek outline stood out in stark contrast to the carry the necessary ight loads without wires
52Sport AviationJune 2014 PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT GERMAIN IMAGES OF LIGHT AND LIFT
[USAAC] was becoming interested in metal was a dead end and two engines and metal shipped to Southern California. However, his
construction techniques, and DAC could see construction were the ways of the future. enthusiasm died quickly, and the Vega nearly
that this was the way of the future for both As good as the Vega was, its heyday was died with it because it was left outside in the
commercial and military aircraft. The fuse- fairly short, and by the late 1930s Johns Vega weather. Had this been a plywood Vega, it
lage is identical in size and shape to the ply- had gone through a long series of owners and most certainly wouldnt have survived. The
wood fuselage. It has some very advanced was on its way to a less glamorous life. wing was reduced to warped, rotten scrap
and interesting construction techniques that The John Morrell meat company, Ottum- barely usable for patterns. If the fuselage had
are still seen in later Lockheed aircraft. I wa, Iowa, was the rst owner of my airplane, been wood, it most probably wouldnt have
believe that the metal fuselages were actu- and eventually it went to a construction been economically restorable because of the
ally designed by Lockheed company design- company involved in the construction of the cost of tooling to reconstruct it.
ers, not DAC, because the blueprints are Alaska Military Highway [Alcan Highway]. It John knows the fate of many old Alas-
signed by Allan Lockheed. The USAAC was assigned to the Whitehorse Division in kan airplanes because, even though he was
took delivery of two Vegas, the Y1C-12 and 1942, John says. brought up on a remote cattle ranch in
the Y1C-17, for test and evaluation of the After the war it flew extensively in eastern Arizona, and before he went to the
metal construction. Alaska. Among others, it was flown by fa- airlines, he spent much of his life in Alaska,
Johns airplane was built in March of 1933, mous Alaska bush pilot Orville Tosch, John which is where he became infected with the
which was right at the end of the Vega line. adds. It was owned and operated by both old airplane virus.
Newer designs were catching up so its pos- Northern Air Service and Northern Consoli- Flying in Alaska, I worked and ew with
sible that Lockheed used the metal Vega as a dated Airways. a lot of the old-timers who had started in the
learning exercise. Alaska eventually kills airplanes with its late 20s and early 30s. They had own the
I dont think Lockheed had any great roughshod demands. In the case of Johns air- Vegas, Pilgrims, Travel Airs, Stinsons, Fokker
plans for the metal Vega, John says. It was plane, the nal trip came in 1957, when it was Universals, Boeing 247s, DC-3s, etc., John
a way to test construction techniques and wrecked and abandoned next to a backcoun- recalls. I listened to their stories for hours on
the certication process for the Lockheed 10 try runway 40 miles up the Yukon River end and learned how the old-time waddies
Electra, which was already on the drawing from Galena, Alaska. It laid there for nearly had done it back when times were hard and
board by this time. They knew that plywood a decade before an antique enthusiast had it it still got cold in the winter. I ew out to the
John (shown) with Rick Barter of Arizona Airframe took 18 years to get the Vega back in the air.
www.eaa.org53
Pilgrim wreck site and searched for the Vega it had been stored inside so the repairs were 985s were the cheapest horsepower available
while working my rst job at Galena, Alaska. fairly straightforward. The fuselage, however, and a cinch to support thanks to the over-
Later on, I ew quite a few old airplanes was another matter. Virtually every inch of it supply of parts from the war. John restored
including the Pilgrim, Stinson SR, Waco 10, needed restoration and repair. the airplane to the functionality it enjoyed
Lockheed 10 Electra, C-46, and DC-3. The damage involved bending, twisting, while in Alaska, making it totally usable in
Johns early interest in antiques included and cracks to major components, stringers, todays environment, with the 450-hp P&W
this very Vega, and he had more or less kept and skins. The toughest part of the project, by still in place. It now hides under a nearly new
track of it as it cycled through various own- far, turned out to be removing and replacing BT-13 cowling.
ers. It was fortunate that Robert Taylor the two main bulkheads and forming the lower When it came time to blow paint on the
and Jack Lowe bought what was left of the skins on the English wheel. Rick Barter at airplane it would appear that John couldnt
airplane in the late 60s and carted it back to Arizona Airframe on Marana airport north of bring himself to hide the most unique feature
Iowa, he says. Saving nothing but the t- Tucson did most of the work, and I lent a hand of a very unique airplane: the aluminum
tings, they built an entirely new wing, which on my days off from the airlines, John says. fuselage. The best historical paint scheme
at 42 feet long was a gigantic undertaking! With such major parts needing replacing, that would let all of that work literally shine
Monumental, actually. They got the airplane Rick and John had no choice but to construct through was that carried by one of his air-
into the air, but a later owner ground-looped a factory-style jig for the entire fuselage. planes sister shipsthe USAAC Y1C-12, c/n
it several times, and thats when I got into This held all of the important attach points 158, which was the rst Lockheed ever to be
the act by buying the damaged airplane (wings, tail, engine mount, etc.) in precise purchased by the U.S. military. The scheme
where is, as is. alignment while skins and structure were is what that airplane wore while assigned to
The last ground loop actually folded removed for repair. the 35th Pursuit Squadron, Langley Field,
the fuselage, John says, and broke the left Ahead of the rewall, rather than the Virginia, in 1932.
wing about 8 feet from the tip. Both spars low-horsepower version of the larger R-1340 After 18 years of hammering on the Vega,
were broken, but the rest of the wing, which (usually seen with 600, not 450 hp), Johns it took to the air on December 17, 2013, at
Taylor and Lowe had done in 69, was in good airplane was re-engined in 1946as were precisely 11 a.m. Why that time and date? It
condition. They did beautiful work, and the many airplanes at the timewith the 450-hp is the exact 110th anniversary of the Wright
inside looks like a Stradivarius violin! Plus, package from a BT-13. At the time, surplus R- brothers ight at Kitty Hawk. John explains,
The landing gear disrupts the clean lines but was state-of-the-art at the time.
54Sport AviationJune 2014 PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT GERMAIN IMAGES OF LIGHT AND LIFT
The detail work required in rebuilding the badly damaged metal fuselage is obvious.
www.eaa.org55
I needed a denite end point for the project,
as it had taken on a life of its own.
He says the rst ight was full of surprises,
most of them good, not the least of which be-
ing that the ailerons and the general handling
in the air was much lighter and better than he
expected. On the ground, not so much.
As John puts it, It is unstable on the
runway. In addition, it is top-heavy and has a
low-wing loading. It wants to go everywhere
but straight down the runway if you give it
the slightest opportunity. If you keep it dead
center, then it is okay, but if you give it a
chance, it will eat your lunch!
So, what are his plans for the airplane? He
says, Ideally, Id like to lease it out for movie,
television, and advertising work. The Vega
was used by many world-class corporations
that are still in business today! I also would
like to do some documentary work, perhaps
re-creating some of the Vegas more interest-
ing exploits.
Perhaps his plan that will affect many of
us the most is a planned excursion to AirVen-
ture 2014 where the Vega is bound to be a
hit. Very few EAAers have ever laid eyes on a
The exposed oil cooler was part of the 1946 installation of the R-985. John is going to return it to original. ying Vega.
Also, this isnt an airplane that can be
adequately described in a single magazine
article like this one. The restoration included
a wide variety of interesting technical details
that many EAA members would love knowing
about. So, EAAs Vintage Airplane magazine
will be running a follow-up article sometime
in the future that gets into the dirt-under-the-
ngernails details. In addition, John has lent
the airplane to the Arizona wing of the Com-
memorative Air Force, and it has the aircraft
on display in its superb museum located in
Mesa, Arizona.
Is this Johns last restoration project?
Hardly! He has a Lockheed L-18 Lodestar
(modied to Learstar congurationa pre-
Learjet super-performer) ready to roll into
his shop. Dont know the airplane? Google
it and youll see that John is clearly fearless
when it comes to restoration projects. More
power to him. I envy his energy!
56Sport AviationJune 2014 PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT GERMAIN IMAGES OF LIGHT AND LIFT
AN INTRICATE BLEND OF AIR, PAINT, AND UNBRIDLED CREATIVITY
BRINGS AIRCRAFT OWNERS DREAMS TO LIFE
BY DAN PIMENTEL
ITS BEEN NEARLY FOUR decades since John really is no difference between the mental themes always are refreshing, and they allow
Stahr, EAA 714251, of Eugene, Oregon, rst gymnastics an artist who paints the ceilings of my imagination to churn.
pulled the trigger of an airbrush, and since 1995, chapels goes through and an aviation airbrush After that rst contact, John makes quick
hes built a stellar reputation for producing some artist like John, a prolic leader in the aircraft thumbnail sketches just to get his thoughts
of the most elaborate and intricately painted de- painting trade whose stock is currently rising. captured. Like most artists, his sketchpad is
signs on countless experimental and certied In between jetting off to paint another never far away from his hand, and while wait-
aircraft, business jets, and helicopters. If youve Grand Caravan on oats or traveling around ing at a restaurant or sitting evenings in his
ever been strolling the homebuilt section at EAA the Lower 48 to turn a business jet into a ying magic recliner where his creativity easily
AirVenture Oshkosh and were stopped in your billboard for a customer, John took some time ows from mind to paper, the design begins to
tracks, blown away by a custom paint design, out to explain exactly how his process works, show life through sketches. And sometimes,
chances are very good it was painted by John. from beginning to end. inspiration hits when he least expects it. The
The difference between the ying art- Builders of experimental aircraft will most fun I had doing thumbnail development
works John paints and a mere paint job is recognize Johns methodical work ow, too, sketches was for an Otter with a tropical/nau-
best understood when thinking about how all because it is the same planned, deliberate pro- tical theme while I was actually on vacation
true artists produce their work. To fully grasp cess they have used in their shops, and its the on a sailboat in the tropics! he says.
how artistic painters think and work in any same one the artist used to construct his own Once sketches have been e-mailed to the
medium, one must step back and visualize the RV-8, American Angel. client and John knows the basic design, he
process these natural-born artists take to bring begins his shing for feedback phase. Every
incredibly complex ideas to life. CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT job is far different than the previous one, and
An artists mind is hard-wired to harness The initial contact from a customer usually the artist seeks out as much info as he can
the natural creativity that ows from his or her happens by phone or e-mail, and John calls before moving to digital renderings. I will
consciousness like a fountain and propel an this one of the most exciting phases of any job. prompt them to help me ll in the blanks,
idea through a maze of intricate steps and pro- To hear the rst vision of the clients dream, John explains, like what is your N number,
cesses, each one building slightly on the last, he says, it gets me amped up because the or do you want a subtle look or a real ramp
until a beautiful work of art is produced. There customer is looking for my creative input. New magnet that brings people out of hangars
John nishes the details of the wing joint on American Angel. The plane is suspended in the shop so the artist can get underneath to paint over his head.
EXECUTION photos, and often these steps involve an A&P coal sketches. A natural feel for drawing is
Like building a house, John says, you must mechanic, particularly on jets and bigger air- important here, as I get ready to start applying
start with a great design and plan. But the craft. When it is an experimental, it is often the paint, he says. Other main elements of
foundation has got to be the most important best to have the builder or owner involved at the artwork are sketched in to establish the
thing. For an aircraft paint job, this means this time. Cleaning, scuffing, sanding, etching, composition. The foreground elements are left
that the preparation long before the painting priming, more sanding, body work as needed. as shapes as I paint the background, establish-
starts is just as important as the nal n- It all leads to the point when the fun part ing the basic color and lighting. The elements
ish. Because of all the moving parts on an the actual paintingcan nally begin. of the design in the foreground get the most
aircraft, painting in the unseen places is im- Most of Johns airbrushed renderings start contrast to bring these elements forward to
portant to protect metal, fabric, and compos- as a primary focal-point image that is either concentrate the focus in the eye of the viewer.
ite airframes, John explains. Disassembly transferred from paper to the aircraft with And when that begins and paint starts y-
is the only way to do it right, and that means a perforated pounce pattern, or just drawn ing through the air onto someones cherished
lots of tools, documenting with sketches or with the airbrush like the simplest of char- aircraft, thats when John starts to shine.
www.eaa.org61
THE HIGH ART OF JOHN STAHR
What sets me apart from the thousands of we had on paper to life. But it also has to be underlying meaning. This part of the story is
aircraft painters in the industry, he says, completed on time, on budget, and in an ex- best described when looking at the wings of
is that Im a designer, artist, and illustrator pedient manner, because people are waiting American Angel.
before I walk into the shop to be a painter. I on me to get it done so it doesnt tie up their Creating something special for the aircraft
have a signicant amount of time invested in aircraft for weeks. owner makes the job a joy to paint, John
the design and illustration planning prior to The most important element of the explains. As a way of thanking my wife, Patti,
the job execution. I already can see it done execution phase of any project, John says, for her support as we built our RV-8, I created
in my mind. The tricky part is that I have to is making sure the intent of the work shines a tribute to her departed dad, Charlie, who
make that concept full size, bring the ideas through, because each design has plenty of was a 50-mission P-38 pilot from World War
II. She had a great classic-looking photo of
him as he completed his 50th mission, sitting
proud in the cockpit. I rendered his skyward
gaze in the clouds as if an angel was looking
for pilots to guide in ight. Off in the distance
is a crippled B-17 in need of an escort. It makes
a great feeling for Patti when she looks out
of our bubble canopy and sees her dad ying
with us on our wing.
THE AIRBRUSH
The airbrush is just a tool, like a scalpel is just
a sharp knife, John said. In the right hands,
remarkable things can be done with a common
The art on American Angels wing memorializes Pattis dad, tool. But the artist is quick to point out that
Tail art on an RV-7. a P-38 pilot in World War II.
like a scalpel in the hands of a DIY surgeon, an elements, like whitecaps on waves, details in to work with a budget, and his rst thoughts
improperly used airbrush in the hands of an clouds, or underwater sunbeams. are how to help another aviator create his own
untrained artist can make bad things happen As he was nishing his American Angel, dream, not how much can he get for the job.
to an aircrafts nish. John accepted invitations to place the RV-8 While some jobs can take weeks of planning
John describes the airbrush as a tiny in hot rod shows in Portland and Eugene, and execution, which can elevate the nal cost,
spray gun for getting high-quality, usually Oregon. Working with his brother, Mike, they other jobs are faster to execute and thus very
solvent-based paint onto the aircraft sur- built a runway-themed display that was at the reasonable. John works directly with build-
face in a creative way. It can only spray one center of the shows and drew the non-ying ers who often are able to contribute their own
color at a time, so the artist keeps a palette of public in so John could answer questions and sweat equity into a project to reduce costs.
colors nearby. He often paints with regular tell them the great benets of building and y- Through Johns career, he has enjoyed the
automotive spray guns to render big back- ing an experimental aircraft. Since this was a support of his wife, who was the inspiration
grounds, but ne, illustrative details almost hot rod show, he says, most of the questions for the bigger-than-life angel that adorns the
always call for the airbrush to execute. were about the speeds, and the engine. Taking entire underside of American Angel. Speaking
Johns main airbrushes are dual-action, GA to the people in a busy off-airport venue about her husbands talent for creating ying
where the trigger is depressed for air to ow was brilliant. It helped that the aircraft on works of art, she says, I am continuously
through and out the tip, and then drawn back display was exceedingly gorgeous, which kept amazed at his creativity; its truly a gift. He has
with the forenger to precisely control the a crowd around American Angel at both shows. an uncanny ability to positively connect with
amount of paint. The airbrush can spray a There is one question that seems to always just about everyone he comes in contact with,
tiny line when drawn in close to paint eye- come up around a Stahr-painted airplane: It and instills condence in his clients to push
lashes and highlights on precise bullet holes, sure looks neat! But how much does it cost? limits and be creative so he can deliver more
but with the trigger pulled back and a bit Builders often assume that even though they than they expect. Along with having realistic
more distance from the surface is held, a fog- like the idea of having an artistically unique expectations about her honey-do list, Patti
ging mist or wide line of color can be painted aircraft, they could never afford it. As a builder assists with the business, and when clients fre-
to ll in color areas or render great lighting himself, John knows that every customer needs quently come in for a few days for some per-
www.eaa.org63
THE HIGH ART OF JOHN STAHR
sonal interaction with the artist to participate Like most of Johns designs, Chris RVette-8 very nature of Johns workartworks that
in the creative process on their aircraft, she is is a complete ramp magnet. On my dads trip ymakes this truly high art in a physical
happy to make sure they are well-fed. She also home to Del Rio, Texas, with the aircraft, every as well as conceptual sense. The only real
keeps the website current; builders who visit fuel stop resulted in a crowd of people walking difference between what John paints and the
ArtisticAviation.com can view a portfolio of over to look at it, Chris says. Its fun having centuries of artists whose work adorns galler-
Johns work, which often generates new ideas a plane that so many people want to see, and ies all over the world is that to see an exhibi-
for their own project. inevitably we start talking about ying, which, tion of this artists work, you really need to
One example of Johns ying works of art like all pilots, I cant help but enjoy. visit EAA AirVenture Oshkosh each summer
that is dramatic in design and exquisite in nish There comes a time in the creation of any and walk the homebuilt section.
is Chris Hills RVette-8. The RV-8 features a work of art ying or notwhen it has to be It is there, between the North 40 and show
distinct, custom Corvette theme inspired by the considered nished. For John, this state is center, under the hot sun of a Wisconsin sum-
2003 50th anniversary of the Corvette Chris reached when the clear coat is applied to form mer, that Johns body of work comes alive. As
father bought him when he graduated from a protective nish that amplies the color, another formation of warbirds passes over-
the United States Air Force Academy. Work- contrast, and focus on the airbrushed art. But head and the smell of grilled brats wafts across
ing with John on the design was really fun, the actual nale comes when one special piece the eld, this gallery feels like the natural
Chris says. My original idea was interesting, of art is placed in an inconspicuous place on place to view this art, in a setting that feels a
but very simple. John suggested things that we the airframe. I am proud of my work and feel lot like home.
could do, and through 12 revisions, each itera- that these custom creations deserve the artists Because it is.
tion was a little more of what I wanted, until I signature, so I usually sign my designs with
nally had everything I was looking for: P-51 one simple Artistic Aviation logo under the left Dan Pimentel, EAA 1073301, has worked in journalism and
wing planform in the polished top-down view horizontal stabilizer, where you have to look graphic design since 1979. Hes an instrument-rated private
of the plane, nose art, classy and racy accents, for it to see it. pilot and owns a Piper Cherokee 235, and he has been
polished aluminum, epic under-wing art, and of There is no canvas, and a wire doesnt writing the Airplanista aviation blog (www.Airplanista.com)
course, the Corvette theme. hang these works on any gallery wall. But the since 2005. You can nd him on Twitter as @Av8rdan.
John paints a whale shark on an aircraft for a sightseeing operation in the Maldives.
BY JIM BUSHA
AVIATION LEGEND AND VINTAGE aircraft col- aviation era to another in an afternoon of When WWI broke out in 1914, the air-
lector extraordinaire Kermit Weeks, EAA ying from his grass runways. But he read- plane was not thought of as a killing machine,
52310, of Polk City, Florida, needs no intro- ily admits its the World War I airplanes that but more of an aerial scout. Early on when
duction. Kermit houses the vast majority of bring him the most joy. two opponents passed by one another in the
his collection at his aviation-themed venue I enjoy ying these treasures because its sky during those early days of the war, these
called Fantasy of Flight, located halfway be- a way for me to relive the passion of the past. Knights of the Air would simply smile and
tween Orlando and Tampa, Florida. From Its something about getting back to basics, wave at one another. Chivalry was alive and
a 1913 Benoist XIV ying boat to a 1945 Su- going back to our roots from an airplane guys well, until one of them threw a brick at the
permarine Spitre, or a 1950s Korean War- perspective. These airplanes are simple, made other. The bricks progressed into rocks and
era Bell 47, and almost everything in be- of simple materials, yet were designed to kill chains until pistol and rie rounds were red
tween, Kermit can literally hop from one an enemy airplane, Kermit said. at one another. When machine guns were
Ultimately the Albatros played a big part during Bloody April in 1917, when over 245 British aircraft
from the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) were shot down by the German Luftstreitkrfte, Kermit said.
While Peter was here in the States The Albatros fuselage is a monocoque
ALBATROS D.VA working on another lm he stopped by my type, all made out of wood including the
Manufacturer: Albatros-Flugzeugwerke
place, and after showing him the collection bulkheads. According to Kermit, Peter and
First ight: April 1917 we talked about swapping some engines, his team made the plywood themselves
Powerplant: Mercedes D.IIIa six-cylinder water- Kermit said. Peter wanted to reverse-engi- per the way the Germans manufactured
cooled inline engine, 180 hp neer them, and thats actually how the them in WWI using the original type of
Wingspan: 29 feet 8 inches
Wing area: 228.5 feet Albatros project came about. My friend ash wood. A vast majority of the plywood
Length: 24 feet 1 inch Gene DeMarco, who I knew from Old is glued on, and then original wire-cut
Height: 8 feet 10 inches Rhinebeck, got hired by Peter to help build nails were used strictly for clamping. Some
Empty weight: 1,515 pounds some steel tube WWI airplanes. After Peter of the wood is molded using steam to give
Loaded weight: 2,066 pounds
Maximum speed: 116 mph at sea level nished lming Lord of the Rings, Gene it that concave curve and then molded to
Service ceiling: 18,045 feet noticed all these highly skilled lm guys sud- fit to the fuselage, while other pieces are
Time to climb: 4 minutes, 21 seconds to 3,600 feet denly looking for work, and Gene told Peter flat wrapped.
Endurance: Two hours
that these guys could build airplanes. They This perfect reproduction of the
Crew: One, pilot
Armament: Two forward-firing fixed, synchro- ended up engineering and type certifying a Albatros, crafted by Peter Jacksons shop
nized 0.312 inch (7.92 mm) Spandau LMG bunch of airplanes. They are doing some in New ZealandThe Vintage Aviator
08/15 machine guns incredible things in New Zealand, and I am Ltd.is both a tribute to the original
just in awe of what Peter is accomplishing. designers, who were well ahead of their
The emblem is a tribute to Billy Barker, who had it on his The Snipe on its maiden ight over New Zealand.
original Snipe.
BY J. MAC MCCLELLAN
www.eaa.org77
BOTTOM LINE IS THE TBM 900 so you have 850 shp available from the engine 61 gph on a standard temperature day is
at all times. exactly right.
IS 20 TO 30 KNOTS FASTER THAN
The extra power on takeoff and the The new prop is very smooth, and the drag
THE 850, CLIMBS TO ALTITUDE performance of the new Hartzell prop are a from its huge blades helps you get down. I
FASTER, CRUISES SEVERAL HUNDRED real kick. Socata has measured a 20 percent pulled power back to idle out of 28,000 feet,
decrease in takeoff run for the 900. I also descent rate was more than 5,000 fpm, and the
MILES FARTHER AT EITHER LONG-RANGE
noticed that the new engine-prop combina- new pressure system held cabin altitude per-
OR HIGH-SPEED CRUISE, AND DOES IT tion comes up to speed smoothly with little of fectly. On landing approach the big prop helps
ALL FOR THE SAME FUEL BURN. the rpm hunting that is typical in other PT6 you slow down quickly with a power reduc-
powered airplanes. tion. I carried 100 knots or so on nal because
We couldnt get an unrestricted climb of strong winds and turbulence but still turned
cally looks in the ight management system clearance from controllers so I couldnt mea- off at the 3,000-foot point with prop reverse
to nd the eld elevation for the departure sure time to climb to 28,000 feet. But when but almost no braking.
and destination airports and controls the leaving FL 270 for FL 280 we were going up Bottom line is the TBM 900 is 20 to 30 knots
cabin pressure for the complete ight with no at 900 fpm even though the air temperature faster than the 850, climbs to altitude faster,
pilot input. was 10C above standard. With the enhanced cruises several hundred miles farther at either
As you would expect, the TBM 900 engine-prop the maximum speed cruise long-range or high-speed cruise, and does it all
handles like an 850 for taxi, but when you line altitude for the 900 is FL 280, up from FL 260 for the same fuel burn. And its all possible be-
up for takeoff things change. Gone is the 850 for the 850. cause Socata has the technology to understand
mode that limits engine power output in the The aircraft manual showed that under how those pesky air molecules behave. It could
TBM 850 to 700 shp when aps are extended. our 10C warmer than standard conditions be said the 900 gets its extra performance out of
The 850 mode is there because the TBM 850 the 900 would cruise at 320 knots burn- thin air. And air, but not fuel, is still free.
didnt always stall straight-ahead power-on ing 61 gallons per hour. The true airspeed
with aps extended. In the 900 with its many settled on 320 to 321 knots, but fuel flow J. Mac McClellan, EAA 747337, has been a pilot for more
aerodynamic improvements the airplane now was 60, not 61 gph. I have every reason to than 40 years, holds an ATP certicate, and owns a Beech-
passes the power-on stall test with aps down believe the book number of 330 knots at craft Baron. To contact Mac, e-mail mac@eaa.org.
The Road to
Forced Landings
Fuel exhaustion made simple
BY ROBERT N. ROSSIER
DESPITE THE FACT that aircraft engines are pretty reliable, engine serious emergency that takes us down the
power loss shows up regularly in accident reports. While mechani- road to a forced landing. So lets take a look
cal failures occasionally occur, power loss typically boils down to at some recent mishaps, and review those
simple pilot error: mismanaging the fuel system, not knowing the simple steps that could have prevented them
system or limitations, or not following the checklist. Usually whats in the rst place.
missed is a simple step that takes precious little time to complete. In Last July, a pilot and a ight instructor
contrast, if we miss that important step, were typically faced with a were practicing takeoffs and landings in a
Beech P35 in Bridgeport, Texas, when the
engine lost power. Unable to land on the run-
way, they made a forced landing in a nearby
open eld during which the landing gear
sheared off. According to the NTSB report,
the fuel selector was set to the left tank,
which was empty. The right fuel tank was not
damaged in the incident, and contained fuel.
Sadly, the student sustained serious injuries,
and the instructor suffered minor injuries. In
this case, carefully following the pre-landing
checklist on every circuit in the pattern might
have prevented the accident.
A similar situation occurred last October
in Beltzville, Pennsylvania, when a pilot and
instructor were returning from a local
instructional ight in a Piper Cherokee (PA-
28-140). The engine lost power, and the
instructor maneuvered the aircraft for a
forced landing as he completed the emer-
gency landing checklist. According to the
NTSB report, the instructor stated he did
not change the fuel selector position. A
forced landing was made in a eld where the
aircraft struck a row of trees, causing dam-
age to both wings. A post-accident
investigation found 18 gallons in the left fuel
tank, and only 8 ounces in the right tank.
The fuel selector had been set to the right
tank. Had the fuel selector been switched at
the rst sign of trouble, the outcome might
have been different.
www.eaa.org81
STICK AND RUDDER
BETTER PILOT
Robert N. Rossier, EAA 472091, has been ying for more than 30 years and
has worked as a ight instructor, commercial pilot, chief pilot, and FAA ight
check airman.
THERE IS NO QUESTION that a cockpit crew has safety advantages over ying time but did not indicate if any of
a single-pilot operation. But the key word here is crew not two or those hours were in actual conditions or
three pilots. simulated instrument ying.
The difference between a cockpit crew and simply having What the NTSB calls the pilot-rated
more than one pilot in the front seats is that a crew has trained passenger had a great deal more total ying
together and follows established procedures. A crew has clear experience. His logbook was not recovered
lines of responsibility, but also has been taught to use cockpit either, but on his application for his most
resource management (CRM) so that the pilots in the crew back recent third-class medical about eight
each other up and communicate clearly when one disagrees with months before the accident he listed 4,515
what is happening. hours of total experience. He had a commer-
When two pilots who are not really a crew go ying together cial certicate and was rated to y
there can be more confusion and uncertainty than teamwork. instruments in both single-engine airplanes
Pilots ying together can defer decisions to the other without and helicopters. But he did not have a multi-
knowing for sure the other pilot is really qualied to make deci- engine rating so the NTSB assumes the
sions because there are no established procedures. The situation other pilot was the pilot ying. Though the
can quickly become one of I thought you were taking care of that pilot-passenger had an instrument rating,
instead of teamwork. his wife told investigators he was not cur-
It was a winter day when two pilots who were ying together rent in instrument ying.
without being a real crew were trying to return to Central Florida The pilot-passenger, who identied him-
from the Bahamas in a Cessna 310. The weather was not good. self as the copilot, made all calls to ight
The pilot in command of the Cessna twin had a private pilot cer- service to check the weather. His rst call
ticate with a single-engine sea rating but no instrument rating. The was to check weather for a VFR ight from
pilot had earned his multiengine rating about a year and a half before Nassau to Fort Pierce (FPR) in Florida. FPR
the ight from the Bahamas. is a popular spot for pilots returning from
The NTSB couldnt locate a logbook for the 310 pilot but he the Bahamas to clear customs. FPR is as far
reported a total of 391 hours on his application for the multi rating. north as you can go upon returning from the
The application for the rating listed a total of 54 hours in the Cessna islands before stopping for customs unless
310H, which is a larger number of hours than usual training for a you can y in the ight levels or obtain an
multi rating. The pilot listed a total of only 3.3 hours of instrument over ight permit.
www.eaa.org85
WHAT WENT WRONG
BETTER PILOT
pilot was trying to see if the weather was airspace, and she gave them a new fre- meteorological conditions and his subse-
better that way instead of ying up the coast. quency to call Miami for assistance. quent spatial disorientation.
But OBE was worse with low IFR condi- The pilot-passenger never contacted It also seems obvious the more experi-
tions, ceiling at 400 feet, and visibility of 5 Miami, nor were any more transmissions enced pilot-passenger with the instrument
miles. The Bartow weather wasnt terrible heard on the Orlando frequency. The rating but no multi was heavily involved in
with the ceiling at 4,400 feet and visibility Orlando controller continued to try to help the decision-making. He made all of the
of 5 miles, but there was light rain. The broadcasting that Vero Beach airport was calls to FSS for weather and also made the
briefer also read the area forecast for the only 8 miles east of their position, but there transmissions to controllers. The NTSB
route that called for broken ceilings at was no response. contributing cause is the copilots
3,000 to 4,000 feet with widely scattered Radar recordings revealed that the improper evaluation of the weather condi-
thunderstorms, moderate precipitation, pilots in the 310 did set the assigned tran- tions after receiving several weather
and possibly severe thunderstorms. sponder code. The initial radar position briengs for the ight.
The pilot-passenger again said he was showed the airplane at 8,900 feet and only All through the accident report the Board
looking at radar and thought the storms about 10 miles southwest from the depar- calls the second pilot the pilot-rated pas-
were starting to break up a bit. He then said ture airport at Sebastian. The airplane had senger, but in the contributing cause they
something I nd surprising: He said he was own about 20 minutes but was still only 10 call him the copilot. He was not technically
trying to gure out a way to scud run to get miles from departure. a copilot because no second pilot was
home to Bartow. Not many pilots actually required for the ight, and he was not rated
announce to a briefer, where calls are always to y a twin-engine airplane. Its very clear
recorded, that they plan to scud run.
The pilot-passenger again said the second pilot was exerting considerable
At some point the 310 departed Palm he was looking at radar and inuence on the decisions, but these were
Beach headed for Bartow. The next contact two pilots, not a crew of captain and copilot.
with the airplane happened when the pilot- thought the storms were starting Instead of fully examining the actions of
passenger radioed the Vero Beach tower two pilots who were not a trained creweven
advising the controller that he was scud to break up a bit. He then said though they allude to itthe NTSB then goes
running up the coast at 500 feet to Sebastian off in a different direction. The Board nds
(X26), which is just about 10 miles north of something I nd surprising. that also contributing to the accident was
Vero. Theres the recorded admission the pilot-in-commands cognitive and psy-
againscud running. Over the next two minutes and one sec- chomotor impairment due to recent use of an
The Vero tower controller gave the pilot ond the 310 radar target descended from over-the-counter sedating antihistamine and
the current altimeter setting and told him 8,900 feet to 1,800 feet. That is an average the pilots personal pressure to get home.
transition through the area was approved. descent rate of about 3,550 feet a minute. To me thats a big stretch. Most antihista-
The pilot-passenger acknowledged, and The airplane made a right 360 while mines warn of drowsiness, but its
that was it for communications with Vero descending to 900 feet. It remained in radar impossible for me to believe the pilot of the
Beach controllers. contact, eventually descending to as low as 310 wasnt on the edge of his seat as the
The 310 made it to Sebastian, and the 100 feet while ying a meandering path weather closed in. Making the decision to y
airport manager there saw the airplane taxi toward the southwest. VFR into bad weather is not a ne motor
to the ramp. Nobody got out of the airplane The airplane crashed into a swampy skill or something any of us would doze off
during the 45 minutes it sat on the ramp. But area covered in trees killing all three while doing. But two pilots mixing and
the occupants did make phone calls. The aboard at impact. When the airplane matching opinions about the ight and the
pilots wife told him the weather was rainy ground track was compared with a radar weather with no training in crew techniques
and dark at their home near Bartow. She plot the crash site was in an area of moder- or standard procedures, now that is some-
assumed he and the others would spend the ate precipitation. At the time of the crash thing for all of us to be concerned about.
night at Sebastian. But the 310 departed. the weather at Vero Beach located about 16
About 20 minutes after the 310 left miles east of the accident site was overcast This article is based solely on the official nal
Sebastian the pilot-passenger called ceiling at 1,500 feet, 10 miles of visibility, NTSB report of the accident and is intended to
Orlando approach and told controllers they and light rain. bring readers attention to the issues raised in
were in instrument conditions and needed There is no great mystery about the nal the report. It is not intended to judge or reach
assistance. The controller issued a tran- cause of the accident. Two pilots not pre- any denitive conclusions about the ability or
sponder code so she could locate the 310 on pared to y IFR ew into bad weather that capacity of any person, living or dead, or any
radar. The pilot-passenger asked the con- they and everybody else knew was there. aircraft or accessory.
troller if she knew how high the cloud tops The NTSB official probable cause of the
were and could he climb out of them. By accident is the non-instrument-rated J. Mac McClellan, EAA 747337, has been a pilot for
the time the Orlando controller located the pilots improper decision to continue more than 40 years, holds an ATP certicate, and owns a
310 on radar they were in Miami center visual ight rules ight into instrument Beechcraft Baron. To contact Mac, e-mail mac@eaa.org.
First Ditching
A solo cross-country quickly turns into an emergency over the ocean
BY KEN KARWOWSKI, EAA 671607
THE DAY STARTED OUT with excitement. The thought of performing as I saw my oil pressure gauge read zero.
my rst cross-country solo ight kept me tossing and turning the Cant be, I thought. All the other gauges read
night before, and I could hardly wait for daylight so I could get to the in the normal range. I called Honolulu tower
airport and be on my way. The ight to Molokai from Honolulu was and told them of my oil pressure reading and
exhilaratingcrossing the deep blue ocean for the rst time all by requested the shortest route to the airport.
myself. The touch-and-go landings at Molokai Airport went as prac- Ka-nock, ka-nock was the sound that
ticed, and by the time I left for the ight to Lanai I felt like an rst alerted me to the critical state of my
experienced pilot. The short hop to Lanai brought me to a rain- engine. I quickly radioed an emergency to the
engulfed airport with only one large cloud obscuring the airport. tower, but in a matter of seconds the engine
After a few attempts to break through, the rain proved impractical; I started to vibrateso much I was concerned
decided to head back to Honolulu for the return ight home. that it was going to break apart and I would
The Inter-Island Reporting Service allows pilots to check in with lose control. Mayday, mayday, mayday, I
Honolulu tower when leaving an island and at the midpoint between shouted into the microphone while trying to
the islands, which I dutifully completed. But my heart skipped a beat control the pitch and yaw of the aircraft. I
www.eaa.org89
ILL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN
BETTER PILOT
SUBMISSIONS
SHARE YOUR CLOSE CALL so we can all learn from the experiencesend your
story to editorial@eaa.org for consideration.
Blogging My
Way to the Sky
Vans RV-12
BY DAVE GAMBLE, EAA 613190; NEW ALBANY, OHIO
FOR AS LONG AS I CAN remember, I have been intrigued with air- would be a ready market for a nished tail
planes. Like countless kids before me, I spent any time and money I should I decide not to continue the build.
could come up with on RC models. Fast-forward a few decades and Having had previous experience helping
you will nd me in a conversation with my father, the man who built with the riveting of an RV-9, I was also
my rst SIG Kadet for me. I was describing the advent of a new type attracted to the far simpler approach of
of kit plane, one that I thought I could actually build. At an estimated Vans heavy use of blind rivets in the design.
800 hours of building time, I gured that even with a full-time job Dad agreed with my logic. He also
lling the majority of my weekdays, a few hours working on the kit offered to pay for the tail kit to get me
in the evenings and weekends would have me ying in roughly three started as long as I would agree to write
years. With a purchased already-ying RV-6 in my hangar to fulll about my experiences on a blog that he
my ying needs, I gured that was easily fast enough. would have the honor of naming. It is for
This new plane was, of course, the Vans RV-12. With its detailed that reason that every hour that I worked on
building instructions, ultra-complete kit, and modern design, I was the airplane was matched by at least another
convinced that testing the waters with a tail kit was a low-risk hour of writing on the Schmetterling
investment. I would be using borrowed tools, and I gured that there Aviation blog.
www.eaa.org93
H
ANDS ON
WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE BUILDING/RESTORING
www.eaa.org95
HANDS ON
INNOVATION ON THE FLY
Rollover Protection
Innovation that saves lives
BY MARK PHELPS
THE REAR COCKPIT OF Bill Greenwoods two-seat Spitre is a tight landing open-cockpit style for that exact
spot, and with Bill ying from up front, we were headed for Grand reason. Bill had not heard that bit of trivia.
Junction Airport in Colorado. It wasnt our rst choice of destina- So thats what the notch is for, he said.
tions, but on short nal at Bills home airport in Aspen, the Spitres Then it was my turn to learn something new.
air pressure system sprung a loud and raucous leak. Without air What notch? Bill explained how the small
pressure, he knew instantly we would not be able to A) re the guns access door of each cockpit had two latching
or B) use the brakes. Problem A was not of great concern, but land- positions, one of which was offset so the
ing a narrow-legged Spitre in a gusty crosswind without brakes was door stayed cocked open a half inch or so.
not on either of our bucket lists. The left track for the canopy slide ran along
So Bill got on the radio and checked the runway alignments and the top of the door, so with it open that little
winds at airports within range. He decided wed head for Grand bit, the canopy would be unable to slide for-
Junction, where the wind was advertised as right down the middle ward. It was a safety innovation designed
of one of its long runways. It also gave us some time to discuss the into the Spitre to protect RAF ghter
coming landing. Everything looked good for a brakeless landing, but pilots, who became a precious national asset
Bill wanted to be cautious and reviewed the evacuation procedure during the Battle of Britain.
for mejust in case. That was when I asked if he wanted to slide the History does not record how many
canopies back for the landing, to prevent them from being jammed Spitre pilots were able to escape a crash
shut. Id read about Spitres and other ghters taking off and thanks to that little trick with the door, but if
www.eaa.org97
HANDS ON
INNOVATION ON THE FLY
contributors addressed the key design issues moment arm of the tail, which is obvi- flipped over, and the passenger drowned
one at a time. ously far from the CG. In my old V-tail before help could arrive. Any hinged or
The obvious goal is to ensure there is a Bonanza, the tails ruddervators could not sliding canopy will be rendered unusable
sufficiently strong structure that will keep be converted from magnesium to alumi- when the airplane is sitting on it. Gull-
the weight of the airplane off the occu- num due to the slight difference in weight wing doors are more likely to permit an
pants in a flip-over. Youll need to that far aft. easier escape, but in most cases, the only
visualize how the airplane will sit upside Taking a page from the auto racing way out will be by busting through the
down was one contribution to the discus- industry, most designers incorporate roll Plexiglas. Chances are good that the
sion. Consider the geometry of the front structure in the cockpit area itself. Vans impact of the airplane crashing down will
fuselage, vertical tail, and canopy struc- has researched the requirements exten- take care of a lot of that chore, but it makes
ture. If you can draw up a structure that sively, and structural roll protection is good sense to plan for the day when you
maintains sufficient clearance, you have built into the design. It starts up front, might have to claw your way through.
the first step. with the windshield bow. Fabricated from Peter Vollheim, who built his Glasair back
A spokesman for Vans Aircraft said robust steel tubing, it has been tested to in the 1980s, had a commando-style knife
that in 25 years, he could remember only standards Vans has determined to be strapped to the inside of his cockpit within
one fatality involving a flip-over accident. within the range of most likely rollover easy reach. Other pilots keep a hatchet
The builder had modified an RV-4 with a scenarios. The Vans spokesman said stowed nearby for the same reason. (It can
turtledeck and a lowered rollover struc- builders can count on the windshield bow also come in handy later, for chopping
ture to achieve a more pleasing visual line. to support the front end of the fuselage in firewood if your forced landing lands you
Unfortunately, the airplane experienced a an otherwise survivable rollover incident. far from civilization. Just be sure it is
forced landing, flipped over, and the pilot The cockpit rear structure is made up secured in flight, for obvious reasons.)
did not survive. of heat-treated aluminum, and varies in Finally, the importance of adequate
One question that comes up is whether configuration with each model. The side- seat restraint systems cannot be overem-
or not to rely on the vertical stabilizer to by-side designs have the beefed up phasized. Even if the airplanes structure
support the airplane after a flip. Some structure built into the rear turtledeck. is as strong as a bridge, it wont help if the
builders recommend adding reinforce- Tandem designs such as the RV-8 incorpo- bodies inside are free to bounce off instru-
ment to the structure to enhance its rate carefully configured roll protection at ment panels, side rails, sharp switches,
chances of holding up under impact. The the rear of the aft seat areaenough to and knobs. The most important tool in
variable, of course, is the violence of the keep the rear-seat passengers head pro- escaping from a forced landing is a con-
force as the tail comes crashing down. tected from terra firma. scious, uninjured pilot.
That force is affected by several factors, Of course, surviving the impact of the
mostly the speed at which the tumble flip-over is primary, but what happens Mark Phelps, EAA 139610, is an aviation writer living
begins. The trade-off in adding weight to afterward can be equally vital. In one in New Jersey. He is the former editor of EAAs Vintage
the structure is amplified by the large forced landing on a beach, the aircraft Airplane magazine.
Car Dollies
Make a Hangar
Twice as Useful
BY RICK GEORGE, EAA 139662; HOLMEN, WISCONSIN
I AM SCRATCHBUILDING a Sonex from plans. I A SIMPLE, CHEAP tool for removing the pig
noticed early in my build that when I fas- tails from plastic zip ties is the common nail
tened the skins, sometimes the Clecos would clipper. Never again will you end up with
leave scratches. My plan is to eventually pol- I knew you could buy little rubber Cleco cuts from the plastic ends as the clipper
ish the aircraft, and I felt this would magnify caps, but at about 30 cents apiece I felt they makes a perfect ush cut.
whatever small damage that was there. were too expensive (remember, Im a
scratchbuilder!). I came up with my own
solution by purchasing an adhesive roll of
double stick rectangular foam for less than
$2. I used a razor blade to cut them in half
and pierce the center so the Cleco could pass
through. As I used them for the rst time, I
just placed it on the Cleco as I installed it to
the skin. After that, I separated them from
the Clecos with no foam protector pads,
which I still use without a foam tab for the
structural pieces.
RANS S-7
So You Wanna
Build a Bush Bird
STOL kit aircraft
BY BUDD DAVISSON
FOR WHATEVER REASON, it seems as if sport aviation is polarizing: homebuilt designers have gone the route
Part of the sport population is streaking across the sky so high and Aeroncas chief engineer Raymond Hermes
fast that they are practically leaving contrails, while others are down took when he designed the Model 7 Champ.
in the trees sneaking into nonexistent runways and obviously not in He looked at the competitionspecically
a hurry. Truth is that would be me, too, given a choice. Id rather the iconic J-3 Cubmade a list of its weak-
nesse my way into a seldom visited, too-small-for-airplanes grassy nesses (blind, slow, narrow, etc.) and designed
meadow than almost anything else in aviation. And, judging from the an airplane that was none of the above. And
proliferation of my kind of airplane kits, Im not alone. This is thats the approach many homebuilt design-
what led EAA to put together a replication of the Valdez, Alaska, ers have taken when they took aim on the
short-eld competition at AirVenture this year. Were going to get to STOL/bush/utility market. The result is that,
see the hot-dog bush birds face off in a no-holds barred competition although we have a bunch of Super Cub
in which the shortest takeoff and landing wins. At the same time almost-clones, we also have a generation of
were going to see how wildly varied the selection of homebuilt aircraft designs that in many ways are totally
designs suited for the purpose has become. new. They have taken what weve learned
It used to be that the mantra of the short-eld world was If it aint about aerodynamics, engines, and structures
a Super Cub, it aint an airplane (I cleaned that up a bit), but a lot of in the last 70 years and have given the
A quick note here: I assembled this list using what sources I had,
but Im betting Ive missed some. If so, it was inadvertent, so
dont send me nastygrams. I apologize ahead of time.
homebuilder a shopping list of aircraft in the boondocks. Just about any of the
Bearhawk four-place, Patrol two-place, LSA
that can do more than almost any certi- STOL homebuilt designs that are com- www.BearhawkAircraft.com
ed STOL/utility airplane before them. monly available to us are capable of
In fact, there is such a wide, incredibly operating out of runways that almost CubCrafters
www.CubCrafters.com
varied number of kits available that mak- none of us would willingly land on. Youd
ing the what-to-build decision is hard. be amazed how many homebuilt designs Dakota Cub
http://DakotaCub.com
There are, however, some basic guidelines are happy with 300 to 500 feet of runway.
worth considering on the subject. But, if youve never seen it, youd be Javron Super Cub Kitnew oering
equally amazed at how short 500 feet http://JavronInc.com
BUSH VERSUS UTILITY VERSUS REALITY looks, when youre on nal. Just Highlander and SuperStol
It would be interesting to know how Incidentally, the length of the runway www.JustAircraft.com
many of the airplanes we see oating is only one of the challenges. The runway Kitfox
around with 31-inch bush wheels actu- surface (rough, sloped, slick, etc.) com- www.KitfoxAircraft.com
ally get out in the bush. It would also be bined with the approach (trees, mountains, Mackey SQ-2/Backcountry Super Cubs
interesting to see how many landing angled/turning approach) and the envi- www.SuperCub.com
spots actually require such big tires. We ronmental factors (wind, temperature, RANS S-7
have an obvious parallel here with the altitude, etc.) can make a reasonably long www.RANS.com/aircraft/home.html
jacked-up 4-by-4 trucks that we see on runway short regardless of how it looks. Texas Sport Cub (Legends kit oering)
the street. Almost none of those trucks www.Legend.aero/shop
actually get dirty, and few actually go WHATS YOUR MISSION?
Zenith CH 750 STOL & Cruzer
places they need four-wheel drive and Then theres the question of dening www.ZenithAir.com
tree-climber tires. I personally love the your mission: What is it that you actually
Sort of STOL
photos sent back from some of the popu- want to do with the airplane? A lot of
lar backcountry strips that showcase a folks get hung up on a design that AirCam
www.LockwoodAircraft.com/index.htm
Super Cub with hyper-fat tires. But, YouTube shows landing on the top of a
when you look in the distance, you can 10-foot-square needle of rock in the mid- BushCaddy
see a stock 182 on the same runway. dle of a mountain range, forgetting that http://BushCaddy.com
The bottom line is that you dont need only one person was on board, it was Glasair Sportsman
a hard-core, super-modied bush bird blowing like the hammers of hell, it was www.GlasairAviation.com
thats capable of landing on a tennis court cold and the airplane cruises at 72.5 mph, Murphy
to visit 98 percent of the runways and and the pilot has 6,400 hours in it. Yes, it www.MurphyAir.com/murphyair/default-2.html
landing spots that are available to us out lands and takes off short, but is that the
www.eaa.org105
H
ANDS ON
SHOP TALK
primary ingredient in your mission state- you may realize that youve just moved away time, money, and effort to develop the skills
ment? You do have a mission statement to from pure bush birds into utility machines needed. This doesnt make them bad people.
guide you in picking a design, dont you? If that need to do much more than simply get on It just means they derive their ying pleasure
not, sit down right now, pencil (or computer) and off short. Dont kid yourself, however; from more middle-of-the-road situations.
in hand, and, in 25 words or less, summarize every one of them is perfectly happy on run- That does not mean that they should stay
what you want to do with the airplane. ways that are probably much shorter than away from backcountry aviation. It just
This statement should include thoughts most of us are comfortable challenging. means they should set comfortable operating
about how your family will work into the limits for themselves and dont step across
equation and whether you actually need two HOWS YOUR FLYING SKILL? them without an experienced hand on board.
seats or if you will y alone most of the time. Actually, the foregoing is a dumb question. It The differences in the skill and hardware
Or maybe your wife and kids like to go with doesnt need to be asked because skill is one requirements between really serious bush
you, then two seats may not be enough. Or of those things that can be learned by anyone. ying and backcountry ying are huge. A
maybe you really do want to visit the back- In fact, the number of ight-training opera- well-trained private pilot can enjoy ying into
country, but you need to carry camping gear tions that specialize in teaching short-eld most commonly available backcountry strips,
with you so useful load becomes a factor. and mountain ying is steadily increasing. So but he has to recognize, accept, and mitigate
Plus maybe youre not really comfortable the question should actually be, Are you will- the elevated risks associated with doing so.
landing on anything shorter than 1,000 feet. ing to invest the time and money to learn how
Or maybe you want to y it out of your 600- to handle the airplane in all situations? HOW FAR AWAY IS THE CLOSEST BUSH?
foot backyard, so short takeoff and landing If youre not crazy about rising to the And speaking about reality, are you even
actually is the primary decision factor. learning challenge, dont worry about it within striking distance of off-airport strips?
When the foregoing mission parameters because a lot of folks really dont like walking There are very few parts of the country that
work their way into the what-to-build process, a tightrope and really dont want to invest the dont have some sort of off-airport runways,
MUSTANGGT
CONVERTIBLE 2014 YOUNG E AGLES R AFFLE
The 2014 Ford Mustang is provided with help from Ford Motor Company and Kocourek Ford, Wausau, WI.
*Purchase tickets at the EAA AirVenture Museum or during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, July 28-August 3, 2014. Drawing is
at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, August 3, 2014, at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh Show Center, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, 3000 Poberezny
Road, Oshkosh, WI. For more information and rules visit AirVenture.org/Rafe or call 800-236-1025.
www.eaa.org107
p.110 Pilot Caves p.113 News From HQ p.118 Board of Directors Nominees p.123 Gone West p.124 Members/Chapters in Action
QUESTIONS ABOUT
YOUR MEMBERSHIP?
Want to change your address
or need other assistance? EAAs
Membership Services sta is
available to assist you Monday
through Friday from 8 a.m. to
6 p.m. and on Saturdays from
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Central time).
Call 800-564-6322 (800-JOIN-EAA),
e-mail membership@eaa.org, or
visit www.EAA.org/membership.
www.eaa.org111
MEMBERCENTRAL
NEWS FROM HQ
www.eaa.org113
114Sport AviationJune 2014
MEMBERCENTRAL
www.eaa.org115
MEMBERCENTRAL
NEWS FROM HQ
EAA MEMBERS WILL HAVE the opportunity to elect seven Class I directors (three-year terms) at the organizations annual business meeting held dur-
ing EAA AirVenture Oshkosh on Wednesday, July 30, at 8:30 a.m. at the Theater in the Woods. The following 10 individuals have been nominated.
Dan is very involved with EAA and is a member of many pro- and went on to command at the squadron, group, and
grams and communities including First Wing; Founders Wing; wing levels.
Presidents Circle; Eagle Squadron; Science, Math, and Paul was an outstanding graduate of the USAF Fighter
Technology Blue Ribbon Panel; Teacher Advisory Panel; and Weapons School, and was twice named the A-10 Instructor Pilot
Speakers Bureau. of the Year. He was awarded the Lance P. Sijan Leadership
When hes not participating as a member in EAA Chapters 43, award for his combat command in Southwest Asia, and flew
101, 153, 252, 526, and 1414, Dan is speaking at the EAA Chapter more than 40 combat missions over Southern Iraq.
Leaders Academy and FAA safety programs. Dan judges at local y- Pauls first homebuilt project was a self-launching com-
ins and has own more than 100 Young Eagles ights in powered posite glider, and his current project is building a Onex in
aircraft and gliders. his garage.
www.eaa.org119
Sheet Metal for
Kit Aircraft
EAA SportAir Workshop instructor Mark Forss walks
you through the terms, tools, and skills required to build
the aircraft of your dreams. Visit ShopEAA.com or call
1-800-564-6322 to order or for more information.
$
29 .95
$29.95 is the EAA Member price.
Non-member price is $36.95.
Memorial Wall Brown Arch Compass Hill Autumn Blaze Maple Trees
Celebrate and honor the lives Purchase your brick by Become part of the timeless Beautify the AirVenture
of those who have loved and June 13, 2014 and have it tribute to the Spirit of Aviation grounds while providing
supported aviation and that placed for AirVenture 2014 and those who support it much needed shade by
have now gone west. Make to leave your mark at the by purchasing a brick at the planting one of these
your contribution by April Gateway to Aviation. summit or entry plaza of colorful trees in your name.
21, 2014 for inclusion in our this monument. With your
AirVenture 2014 ceremony. Visit AirVenture.org/arch contribution by May 31, 2014, Visit EAA.org/beautification
to learn more. your brick will be installed by to learn more.
Visit EAA.org/memorial AirVenture 2014.
to learn more.
Visit EAA.org/compasshill
to learn more.
Gone West
Not alone into the sunset but into the company of friends who have gone before them.
www.eaa.org123
MEMBERCENTRAL
MEMBERS/CHAPTERS IN ACTION
MATTHEW CALLAHAN, an 18-year-old high school senior from After much cajoling, Matts mom Kathy
Bellevue, Nebraska, will get the opportunity of a lifetime this June recalled, she and husband Bruce took him
when he travels to Shreveport Downtown Airport in Louisiana and to the airport so he could see a Flying
learns to y at Tubreaux Aviation. Matt, EAA 863129, received a Fortress up close.
complete private pilot training experience offered by Tubreaux to What was supposed to be a visit lasting
a previous EAA Young Eagle between the ages of 18 and 21. a couple of hours became an all-day affair
He received the good news when he got home from classes at as Matt could not get enough of the aircraft.
Bellevue West High School. I wasnt expecting it at all, Matt said. EAA tour coordinator Pam Workman, EAA
I really feel fortunate to be selected for this incredible scholarship. 412822, noticed the boys interest in the
I was told to be ready for four weeks of nonstop ying and to airplane and asked if hed like to come back
expect to solo within a week or so, he added. By the Fourth of in the morning to help polish it up.
July I should be a pilot. While in Shreveport, Matt will live in a Matt returned the following morning
hangar apartment provided by Tubreaux Aviation. and again the next day. During that time he
Were all really excited, and look forward to Matt coming met several chapter members, even took his
down, said Jeremy Williams, chief pilot for Tubreaux Aviation. rst Young Eagles ight in a Piper Cherokee.
Well work fast, safely, and hopefully provide him with a wide That was when I think he decided he
aviation experience so he learns as much as possible. wanted to y, Kathy said. Sealing the deal
EAA has been a large part of Matts life since the end of was the tours offer to allow Matt and his
June 2008 when EAAs B-17 Aluminum Overcast made a tour dad to y in Aluminum Overcast to help ll
stop at Plattsmouth Municipal Airport (PMB), south of Omaha. out one of the tour stops nal ights.
Soon the family joined EAA, and Matt
attended chapter meetings. Several members
took him under their collective wing, as well
as up in their airplanes. Matt also attended
four EAA Air Academy sessions and is in
the Gen. Curtis E. LeMay Offutt Composite
Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol.
The Callahans have attended EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh several times. We
just turn Matt loose in Warbird Alley and
ask him to text us when he leaves, Kathy
joked. Indeed, Matts goal is to become
qualied someday to be a pilot in command
of Aluminum Overcast. Hes passionate
about that plane, Kathy said.
Matt will begin college in the fall at the
University of Nebraska-Omahas Aviation
Institute where he plans to major in
aviation-professional ight and become a
professional pilot. If all goes according to
plan in Shreveport, hell have a pretty good
head start on that goal.
www.eaa.org125
MEMBERCENTRAL
MEMBER BENEFITS
www.eaa.org127
FLYMART & CLASSIFIED ADS
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Lycoming IO-540-J4A5 with all accessories & mount from Piper can build, includes FREE Dingy plans. Glen-L, 9152 Rosecrans Ave/EAA, Multi-Laminate Wood composite propellers for up through 300 HP.
Aztec. Includes Air research Turbocharger, 609-238-6311 or Bellower, CA 90706, 888-700-5007. Online catalog: Glen-L.com/EAA 713-417-2519
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FLOATS BY ZENAIR 750# to 2500# straight & amphib kits Ed Sterba Propellers Custom Carving for Homebuilts 513 68th St Holmes
Lycoming Overhauled IO360A3B6D $23.5K more info 203-637-9670 www.zenairoats.com Beach, FL 34217 941-778-3103
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MAGAZINE ANNUALS EAA 1956-08 $100 AOPA 1958-08 $275 FLYING MT & Homann Propellers for aerobatic, homebuilt &
Hirth Aircraft Engines: 15-110 HP. 1,000 hr rated TBO. 1 yr warranty. 1941-08 $290 EAA MANUALS-MISC $75 Details www.barraircraft.com production aircraft. Call for quote. Steen Aero Lab, (321) 725-4160.
Sales, service & parts. Highest power to weight ratio in the industry. Jim Barr 570-368-3655 www.steenaero.com
BlueMax 2-cycle aviation oil. Recreational Power Engineering 5479 East
Country Rd. 38, Tin, OH 44883. PH 800-583-3306 FX 419-585-6004. OSHKOSH/AIRVENTURE HOUSING REAL ESTATE
Visit us on the web: www.recpower.com OSHKOSH BOUND? Visit Sleepy Hollow Farm - the closest Airpark home Jackson Mi. 3BD 2BA Ranch, 25x30 heated hanger room
private RV campground to AirVenture. Call 1-877-438-6531 or for larger, 3000 grass runway 517-569-2644
VW Power from Great Plains Aircraft! Type 1 - 1600cc to 2276cc. Direct, www.sleepyhollowfarm.com
Reduction and Flywheel Drives. Kits and Parts. Engine packages for Island home for sale,1 acre private Island, .08 miles from EAA/Witt-
all VW powered aircraft. Contact Great Plains Aircraft at 402-493-6507 2005 31 RV, Super Slide, sleeps 8, Gen. A/C, Queen ,shower.$1500/wk, man. Newer stone A frame, 2 boat lifts, by owner 920-230-4240
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Custom ranch, 6K sq ft, direct waterfront, serene & private, minutes
Kawasaki pkg save 50%, engine, reduction drive, carburetor 5 bdrms, Ripon, E-side, for AV14, $75 per person/night. Call Judy to Cranland Airport (28M) & Chapter 279! $699,900 781-582-6459,
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PARACHUTES Brand New Hangars for Sale or Rent. Hayward Executive Airport (HWD),
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consultation & only quality work. Michael L Wise 914-879-4642 PLANS/KITS
www.mlwise-law.com Aircraft plans advertised in EAA Sport Aviation must have satised SERVICES
the FAA minimum requirements of the Experimental Amateur-built Patent, Trademarks, Copyrights. Robert Platt Bell, Registered Patent
MISC Category and must have been operated a minimum of 25 hours when Attorney, EAA Member, 821 Riverview Drive, Jekyll Island, GA 31527.
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designers, manufacturers, materials. Always in stock: epoxy, polyester, and should have satisfactorily demonstrated its advertised qualities.
Vinyleter resin, carbon ber, Kevlar, lightweight fairing & bonding The FAA Operation Limitation must have been amended to permit ight Caravella Aerospace: engineering design & analysis, Solidworks CAD &
compounds, Nida Core, PVC Foam Core, Vacuum bagging & vacuum outside the test ight area. FEA. www.caravella.aero/content/services
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commercial aviation. Contact Dan Maher (Individually responsible for SA900 $195 Acrolite 1B $295 Wittman W10 Tailwind $195 Wittman
the design & development of the Velocity) 772-589-0510 V-Witt Racer $95 Baby Great Lakes $295 Super Baby Great Lakes $295 WANTED
Buddy Baby Lakes $275 One Design $376. Aircraft Spruce (951) 372-9555, Donate your airplane, project, boat or RV to Samaritan Aviation, a
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65 HP Continental $1500, motor mount $500, new Sensenich wood Handbook, builders photos & Flight Reports. www.volksplane.com & Parts for Aeronca L-3 and/or TG-5 glider. Building a replica TG-5 for
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Dynon Avionics IFC www.dynonavionics.com 425/402-0433 Randolph Aircraft Products 97 www.randolphaircraft.com 800/362-3490
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2014 121 www.airventure.org 800/564-6322 Sandys Airpark 30 www.sandysairpark.com 800/908-4359
EAA Aviation Insurance/Falcon 85, 102 www.eaalowerrates.com 866/647-4322 Savvy Aircraft Maint. Management 129 www.savvyanalysis.com 702/655-1359
EAA Job Fair 111 920/426-4863 Sonex Aircraft, LLC 18 www.sonexaircraft.com 920/231-8297
EAA Merchandise 120, 126 www.shopeaa.com 800/564-6322 Sportys Pilot Shop 9 www.sportys.com/stratus 800/SPORTYS
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EAA Spring Appeal 120 800/236-1025 Stewart AC Finishing Systems 107 www.stewartsystems.aero 888/356-7659
EAA Sweepstakes 2014 112 www.eaa.org/sweepstakes 800/236-1025 Superior Air Parts 48, 49 www.superiorairparts.com 800/277-5168
EAA Webinars 106 www.eaa.org/webinars 800/967-5746 Trutrak Flight Systems 37 www.trutrakap.com 866/TRUTRAK
EAA Young Eagles 108, 114 www.youngeagles.org 877/806-8902 Vans Aircraft, Inc. 19 www.vansaircraft.com 503/678-6545
EAA Young Eagles Rae 106 800/236-1025 Vertical Power 115 www.VerticalPower.com 425/328-1658
Flight Design USA 101 www.ightdesignusa.com 860/963-7272 Wicks Aircraft Supply 37 www.wicksaircraft.com 800/221-9425
Ford Motor Company 45, 91 www.ford.com 800/392-3673 Zenith Aircraft Company 7 www.zenithair.com 573/581-9000
For more information from EAA Sport Aviations advertisers, please phone or visit them on the web, and mention that you saw their ad in EAA Sport Aviation. Visit www.EAA.org for a listing of this months advertisers.
Copyright 2014 by the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. All rights reserved. EAA SPORT AVIATION (USPS 511-720; ISSN 0038-7835; CPC#40612608) is owned exclusively by the Experimental Aircraft Assn., Inc. and is published monthly at the EAA Aviation Headquarters, 3000 Poberezny Rd.,
Oshkosh, WI 54902. Periodical Postage paid at Oshkosh, WI 54901 and other post offices. [U.S. membership rates are $40.00.] EAA STATEMENT OF POLICY Material published in EAA SPORT AVIATION is contributed by EAA members and other interested persons. Opinions expressed in articles are
solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. Accuracy of the material is the sole responsibility of the contributor. ADVERTISING EAA does not guarantee or endorse any product offered through our advertising.
We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to EAA SPORT AVIATION, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086.
www.eaa.org131
EAAS LOGBOOK
WHERE WE CAME FROM
Frank Murray, EAA 1357, Lynn Stevenson, and Roy Bowers pose with the
completely assembled, half-scale Jenny prior to covering.
T
he recently completed Little Toot Puppy Feet by Walter
H. Prell, EAA 9623, of Des Plaines, Illinois, graces the
cover of the June 1964 Sport Aviation. Inside the issue
Frank Murray, EAA 1357, discusses building a half-scale Jenny;
theres coverage of the AAA Winter Fly-In, and a detailed article
by Rem Walker, EAA 11640, breaks down the cost of building
an ultralight in that year to $3,087.49. Arthur W.J.G. Ord-Hume,
EAA 8579, describes the history of the Aeronca C-2 and C-3 in The sociable tricycle, or the Aeronca C-3, G-AEFT, gleams in the sun at
his piece An Historical Reminiscence and states that it should Denham Aerodrome, England, after being entirely rebuilt.