GUEST EDITORIAL By DAVE HOOK
Each time I read of a new security proposal that will impact general aviation, I feel like keying the mic button and saying, “Washington, we have a problem.” You know, just to see if anybody’s listening.
That’s because our freedom to fly is at risk.
By ALAN ARMSTRONG
Imagine having to get permission from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) before taking off in your aircraft with your friends or family members. Imagine having to vet your family members by way of a watch list service provider that you would pay for before you could board people in your airplane. Imagine having to develop a security system for your airplane, including an aircraft security coordinator, an inflight security coordinator, and ground security coordinator.
Imagine you operate from a remote airfield and a large aircraft (which the TSA deems a weapon of mass destruction) lands at your airport and your airport has to be closed until the large aircraft departs or is otherwise secured. Imagine being required to have multiple badges to operate on various areas of a single airport and further consider that the security badge you have for your home airport is not valid when you land at other airports deemed reliever airports by the TSA.
Imagine that TSA personnel appear at your airport, empty the contents of your car, empty the contents of your hangar and subject you to searches of your person. Imagine the TSA bypassing the Administrative Procedure Act and promulgating security directives without any opportunity for the American public to comment on them, much less oppose them.
All of this could soon become a reality if pilots do not take action.
On March 27 at 2 p.m. EST at the Peach State Airport (GA2) southwest of Griffin, Georgia, there will be a town hall meeting where members of the general aviation community can learn more about the TSA. Ron Alexander has offered his facilities at the Peach State Airport where pilots can learn more about the TSA’s Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP), Security Directives SD-8G and SD-8F, and the TSA’s classified program called “Operation Playbook.”
For more information: 770-451-0313 or AlanArmstrong@bellsouth.net, put Town Hall Meeting in subject line.
By R. KURT BARNHART, Ph.D., CFII-MEI, A&P/IA
For those pilots who haven’t noticed it, there is an emerging trend in aviation that is sure to impact most Americans — whether they know it or not — and most assuredly will impact the general aviation community.
The Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), as it is known in the industry, is a technology developed primarily to support military operations and help keep humans out of harm’s way in the operational theater. Now there is a growing call for this technology to be used at home for similar purposes. Although pilotless aircraft have been around for decades, their use has been restricted primarily to restricted airspace as they served as aerial targets or carried airborne cameras. Now, whether in support of law enforcement, firefighting, or for routine aerial surveillance, these vehicles are being eyed as an efficient way to accomplish many of the same tasks as manned aircraft, while keeping humans away from the dull, dangerous, or dirty missions (the 3 Ds or realms of potential UAS mission suitability), which means they will need to be safely integrated into our National Airspace System (NAS) in the coming months and years. Not limited to aerial use, unmanned vehicles are making their debut in virtually all modes of transportation, including on the ground (Unmanned Ground Vehicles-UGVs), on the water (Unmanned Surface Vessels-USVs), or under the water (Unmanned Underwater Vessels-UUVs) for many of the same reasons.
For many pilots, the obvious concern centers around the anticipated hazards of sharing the skies with “flying robots,” so to speak. It is important to note that the word “unmanned” is really not the best choice to describe how these systems function. There is already a move afoot to a more appropriate term, such as the word “drone,” which is already accepted in much of the English speaking world.
On average, there are more people directly involved in the operation of UAS than are typically involved with almost any general aviation flight.
SPLOG By DAN JOHNSON
No one doubts the leading position of Rotax engines among LSAs. Of course, most European producers use the Austrian brand, but so do many U.S. builders, even Van’s Aircraft. However, despite their dominance, some GA pilots have scoffed at the brand, saying it isn’t a “real” aircraft engine partly as it didn’t match the 2,000-hour TBO (Time Between Overhaul) common to American brands like Continental or Lycoming.
Well, that argument has evaporated. Rotax not only upped the TBO on its flagship four-stroke 912 engine, the company even made it retroactive. Those following an optional Service Bulletin issued Dec. 14 can increase the life of the 912 they already own by performing what is essentially a detailed inspection; some older models may require some updates. The change applies to the 80-hp model, the popular 100-hp version and the turbo-charged 914 model.
As the company gained more field experience, it gradually increased the TBO. Given the considerable cost of overhauling, a TBO increase represents a gain in value for all owners. In fact, used airplane prices depend heavily on remaining time before overhaul; the longer the time remaining, the more value in the airplane. Finally, as the long-term supply of 100LL fuel falls increasingly in doubt, the company notes, “The Rotax is designed to burn Premium 91 octane auto fuel with ethanol.”
For more information: Rotax.com.
SPLOG By DAN JOHNSON
If you study FAA’s registration database as I do, you’ll quickly discover that Flight Design and its various CT models have a strong presence in the USA — and the world for that matter, with 1,500 flying, according to the company.
Since CT was first certified in April 2005 — the second LSA to win Special LSA certification after Evektor’s SportStar — the German brand has steadily planted CTs across America. You can see a CT at more airfields than any other brand by more than double; the next closest is the American Legend Cub.
An online map recently developed by the company shows the locations of more than 300 CT aircraft in the United States.
Guest Editorial By STEVE BILL HANSHEW
It’s all Tom Midgely’s fault, so quit knocking him for ridding us of the knock.
That was the problem a chemist named Thomas Midgely was tasked to resolve in the early 1900s. His bosses at General Motors were making better engines with higher compression and higher horsepower output. Unfortunately, the gasoline going into those engines was little better than crude coming out of the ground. Pre-detonation, backfiring in plumes of acrid black smoke, and generally acting like a lope-eared jackass in heat plagued the early automotive engine. But knocking was the thing that irritated drivers most. It just didn’t sound right and, what’s more, it seemed like a bad thing to have in a device with hundreds of moving parts.
Midgely’s peers tried ethyl alcohol, but it was expensive and hard to blend. Then came iodine, red dye, and even organic derivatives from plants, but nothing seemed to help. What’s more, the additives stunk so badly that most drivers would rather stand next to an open septic tank than near an exhaust pipe.
Then in 1921 Midgely added a small dose of tetra-ethyl lead. Bingo! No knock and the engine purred like a kitten. It even smelled strangely nice. Lead became known as the “anti-knock” cure.
Story and Photos By HOWARD LEVY
Woody Saland’s career is all about jets, but when it’s time for fun, he’s all about flying low and slow.
Saland is manager of technical programs for Teterboro, N.J.-based Falcon Jets, the U.S. division of the French Dassault organization that produces Falcon light jets and fighter aircraft. Besides dealing with all cabin interiors, communications and avionics, he supports the corporate jet sales teams in answering questions about avionics, options and more. He has personally worked up advanced avionics systems for customers. His position also has resulted in his being checked out and flying the latest model Falcons, including the 900EX, 900EX EASy, and the model 2000.
But when it’s time for fun, Saland flies an AirCam — but not just any AirCam, one that is decked out with the latest in avionics.
SHORT FINAL By DEB McFARLAND
Today, the man I married nearly 30 years ago, the man who suffered through my flight training and later patiently taught me to fly his Luscombe 8A, retired. After 35 years of service to the federal government, my best friend has come home to stay.
It’s not a coincidence that a young Henry McFarland learned to fly the same year he became an engineering trainee. His boss and mentor with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Felton Flournoy, flew Stearmans in World War II. He never advanced to more complex aircraft since the war ended, and he didn’t carry his new skills into civilian life.
So while he and Henry traveled the roads of rural Georgia servicing the farming community, they talked. They talked about the job. They talked about their lives and the world in general, but after a while, they exhausted their knowledge of noteworthy topics and decided to spice up their days of roaming the roads in the country. They decided to take flight lessons.
The challenge was on. Since Flournoy had already flown, he soloed in seven hours in the Cessna 150 that the flight school at the Perry-Houston County Airport used in 1975. Henry wasn’t far behind him. He soloed in nine, and since his brain matter was still young and pliable, he aced the written as well.
BOOK REVIEW By J. DOUGLAS HINTON
Even for non-military pilots, “The Rescue of Streetcar 304, A Navy Pilot’s Forty Hours on the Run in Laos,” by Kenny Fields is a real page-turner.
The scenario is the Vietnam War in 1968. Flying A-7 Corsairs, Naval Aviator Lt. Kenny Fields (call sign: “Streetcar 304”) and his wingman are dispatched on their first combat mission from the carrier USS America to bomb a target in Laos.
The flak (called triple A) along the Ho Chi Minh Trail is so heavy one could get out and walk on it. Fields is hit on his second bomb run, loses part of his wing and has to eject.
With his back and leg injured from the ejection, what follows over the next 40 hours is both gripping and terrifying as Fields lands right in the middle of the North Vietnamese army withdrawing from Ke Sahn, at the end of the Tet offensive.
SPLOG By DAN JOHNSON
OK, aviation fans, it’s time for a new year that will hopefully be a great turnaround from 2009. No one expects a quick return to the halcyon days of 2006, but aviation has been picking itself up off the floor for a few months. Many are starting to see signs of returning energy, despite a still-troubled economy with too many citizens — some of them aviators — still unemployed.
If you are a enthusiast of Light Sport Aircraft, one of the bright spots of the year is right around the corner (Jan. 21-24). I hope you’ll make plans now to join the party in Sebring, Florida, a fine place to go when the northern states have been blasted with winter snow storms even well before Christmas. Sebring is in central Florida, roughly an hour south of Lakeland (where Sun ‘n Fun occurs). Last year’s Sebring U.S. Sport Aviation Expo drew even more visitors than AOPA’s Expo and a repeat is expected.
Sebring has spawned no less than three other significant LSA-only events (all of which are planned for a repeat in 2010), and the hope is high that Sebring 2010 will help to kick of a strong new year, followed three months later by Sun ‘n Fun, which is also shaping up to be a strong event with the return of the Air Force Thunderbirds.
Now that you’ve put the holiday season of 2009 behind you, plan on a new dawn for aviation in America. Happy New Year to all!
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