It will come as no surprise to regular readers that I am a huge fan of the Piper Cub.
The J-3 is a classic in every sense. It includes nothing but the basics.
If it’s not absolutely necessary to achieve flight, the J-3 doesn’t have it. There’s no electrical system. There are no lights. The panel is as sparse as the regulations allow. Little more than a smattering of round gauges providing the bare minimum of information can be found there.
I would argue that the most beneficial instrumentation on the Cub comes in the form of the plexiglass that surrounds the pilot and the passenger.
With the stick in my hand and the balls of my feet resting on the rudder pedals, I’ve got full control of the aircraft. I can hear the engine and adjust the throttle with reasonable accuracy without even peeking at the tachometer. I can see 270° or more of the horizon through that all-important plexiglass or the always open clamshell door that provides an unrestricted view out of the right side of the cockpit.
A quick glance at my wingtip against that horizon tells me all I need to know about my angle of attack. My airspeed is virtually immaterial. By setting pitch and power I know I’m in a stable cruise configuration. If the open lower door starts to flap up and down, I know I’m in a stall. If my speed on final is a bit high, all I have to do is close the throttle.
An airframe designed with all the drag in the world will slow me down as if I threw an anchor overboard. Touching down and making the first turn-off from the runway, just 500 feet from the numbers, is no problem.
If I have the opportunity to operate from a grass strip, I take it. The Cub was built for grass. It flies like a dream. My tires touch down as smoothly as if they were sliding onto a dish of butter. The slow, mechanical drone of the engine at low idle leaves me enthralled.
I absolutely, without reservation, love the Piper Cub.
I do not love NORDO aircraft, however. In fact, I will go so far as to say I believe flying without benefit of a radio is irresponsible, dangerous, and completely unnecessary.
Frankly, I would look askance at anyone trying to make the point that flying NORDO is wise. It’s not.
Yes, it is legal to fly in Class G or Class E without a radio. The regulations of Part 91 clearly allow for that freedom. We can go communication naked if we wish. Silence is acceptable, so say the rules. They do not suggest silence is golden however.
The accident record tells us otherwise.
Collisions between aircraft where one doesn’t have a radio have been unnecessarily frequent in recent years. Collisions between aircraft that have radios but are piloted by individuals who choose not to use them are equally unsettling.
That’s how a PA28 came to meet a NORDO Pitts S-1S while airborne in Westminster, Maryland.
A CFI issued an Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) report that detailed a near collision between his PA-28 and a C-172 whose pilot chose not to use their radio when in the pattern at a Class G non-towered airport.
There is the case of a C-172 flying the wrong pattern, then landing on top of a C-150 flown by a student pilot on his second solo flight. The student was making radio calls. The CFI in the C-172 was not.
The worst aviation accident in history occurred on a towered field between two transport category aircraft, one taking off in fog while the other was back taxiing on the same runway. One aircraft initiated takeoff without clearance. They neglected to make a call announcing their departure, which would have alerted the other aircraft and the tower controller to the danger. The result was the death of nearly 600 people, all due to the lack of a radio call.
NORDO aircraft had their time in the sun. In fact, there was a period of several decades when installing a radio in an airplane made little sense. Electrical systems and radios were often sketchy and always quite heavy. In smaller general aviation aircraft they were impractical from a cost perspective, as well as a weight consideration. With the limited air traffic of the time and the plethora of non-towered airports and grass strips popping up across the land, allowing NORDO operations made sense as a practical decision.
If asked to express my personal opinion, I would reply that is no longer the case.
Recently I sat down for lunch at a local restaurant with Tim and Ann Baker, along with their son-in-law Jonathan Rowe. Missing from the table was Faith Baker Rowe, daughter of Tim and Ann, wife of Jonathan.
Faith was killed, along with three others, when her aircraft collided with a NORDO aircraft. It was very nearly a classic low-wing, high-wing accident. The PA-28 banked and descended directly into the J-3 below. Nobody broke any rule. Neither pilot acted rashly, or impulsively, or with reckless abandon. Yet they met in flight and paid an unacceptably high price.
I fault nobody for owning a NORDO aircraft. I’ve owned more than one. But I do not fly without a radio, handheld or otherwise. Sometimes I take a handheld along in my bag as a back-up even if the aircraft has a panel-mounted model on board.
The handheld weighs less than a pound. Cost is not a factor — my headset cost several times as much as the radio. I get safety, security, emergency communications should I need it, and the peace of mind that my wife and kids will likely not have to share a meal with a stranger while telling the story of how I was lost for lack of an easily obtainable communication device.
We can do so much to protect ourselves and our passengers in flight. Let’s do that voluntarily, lest some governmental body choose to foist a new requirement on us due to our unwillingness to put safety first.
Mr. Beckett,
I’m a pretty new pilot so excuse me if I am being naive. You recently wrote about how anybody who flies without a radio is a danger to general aviation. I personally took exception to that idea. I fly a small open cockpit airplane, and while I agree that anything that improves your situational awareness is a good thing, I have yet to find a headset solution that is both secure and audible. I’m working on it but in the meantime will continue to fly in silence.
My original home field was a small but very busy grassroots training airfield where nobody uses radios. Everyone pretty much follows the pattern rules, looks out the window. Avoids each other and falls in line. I’ve never had any problems or close calls.
Then I moved to another very busy training airfield where everybody is on the radio. I assumed it would be similar and civilized. But man, I really quickly found out that is not the case. I feel like I’m now in the wild west! I’ve had folks descend down on me in the pattern. I’ve seen people cut across midfield at pattern altitude. I’ve seen random three-sixties on final. People take off and immediately turn for their heading. Sometimes folks just up and decide to back taxi if they miss the middle intersection. I guess if you announce it on the radio you can do whatever you want? Sorry, I know that’s not what you meant in your article, but to us NORDO folks that’s what it feels like.
Maybe the safety issue isn’t just folks without a radio, or the folks using a radio. Maybe it’s when you combine the two. If you have a radio and announce that you’re going to do some something or other, you probably have an expectation that people around you heard and understood you. On the other hand if you ain’t on the radio and you follow the standard traffic pattern you likely have an expectation that other people are doing the same and “seeing and avoiding” .
So I reckon maybe the take-away would be-
If you’re on the radio, then don’t expect that anybody hears you,
and if you’re out the window, then don’t expect that anybody sees you.
While I do agree, in most areas flying without a radio is not a good decision. But worse s to have one and not use it. I retired from 42 years in aviation…36 with an airline…and pretty much gave up flying. The other side of the radio controversy is the constant, and often extraneous beetle-babble that assaults the ears from the radio. I vowed never to have the radio on again, but that was not a valid decision either, so I found a lot of other ways to occupy my time and interests…and no radio babble allowed!
Mr. Beckett, it sure reads like you are really hoping for “… some governmental body (to) choose to foist a new requirement on us…”.
You should have tried a Fieseler STORCH!
How does a small drone automatically avoid obstacles so well? If this system was incorporated into aircraft, wouldn’t that pretty much make mid-air collisions a thing of the past?
Have a good friend who made a IFR approach and landing at Houston Hobby airport in the late 60’s in a J3 Cub with 85 HP engine. It had a wind generator and basic instrument panel with radio custom made for IFR flight.
This topic is a good one. Not sure anyone will be convinced to think the other way on this topic, but it is good to see people explain what they think and WHY they think it.
Flying out of fairly congested airspace = home airport is under Class B shelf; a neighboring busy GA airport is only 1.5 miles away SE (literally, our patterns are arranged accordingly), an Alert Area (McGuire) only a few miles past that, and a very busy Class D only 6 miles NW, I have a healthy paranoia and bought a handheld as a backup while I was still a student.
Aside from that, it’s come in handy on the airport grounds a couple times when something unusual was going on and I could be the eyes and ears on the ground. Also there’s a fun factor – I was at an aerobatic practice once elsewhere and was able to tune in to the ground-pilot comms and learned a lot about something I previously knew nothing !
A final story about ADSB – my second scariest moment (while still a student) I had a near head on while departing to the north. I spotted and turned sharply to the right. Later after I landed I was approached by the experienced pilot I had the encounter with. He said he didn’t see me on ADSB – at a time it had only been required for about a month. Clearly he had his head down too much and trusted the system too much. He admitted as such – He got a shock when he looked up and saw the bottom of my airplane. Neither did I hear any calls about his approaching the airport. I also may not have toggled the nav lights (ADSB cxn) correctly, but to me the big obvious thing is keeping your eyes outside, and use ADSB as an assist, but don’t depend on it.
Any device in the cockpit that requires fiddling with is a distraction and distractions take away your “see” time. In addition there’s a false sense of security with each of these devices (radio, ads-b, tcas, etc.). Quit playing with the heads down toys and fly the airplane.
Yup, minimum ‘fiddling’ in the air. Which is why I set the radio frequencies and standby freq., tune the vor and set the radial on the ground.
My gps tablet has the map up before I taxi.
So, I only need to key the mic, while looking outside before takeoff. [ 1 finger and the mark 1 eyeball ].
I have a list of the needed frequencies as the flight progresses, so no ‘fiddling’.
I found this article annoying since I’ve never heard the term NORDO and it never once explains what it stands for. It’s obvious it refers to aircraft without a radio, but that’s it.
It stands dor NO RaDiO and is a standard aviation term.
If we could fix all ADS-B to do anonymous… You see I don’t see why the FAA needs to know where I am at all times. Or for that matter, Apple, google and the rest.
You give me a squawk code, I put it in, and the ADS-B reflects it like mode-S and we now have the ability to have RAs. Which would be more safe than what we have now.
Meanwhile, a simple radio just makes sense for all of us. Until one of us has a dyslexic moment and gets 180 degrees out and says we are 5 miles to the North east when we are 5 miles south west…. sigh.
You can legally set your transponder to transmit VFR instead of the N number. Obviously, only when flying under visual flight rules.
Yet more dangerous than flying an airplane in todays airspace without a two way radio is the decision making my those individuals that decide to continue to fly without a radio. These are the same people that drive their cars without using seat belts, exceed the speed limit continuously, and then getting to the airport will take to the sky with an airplane that has no radio !!! because a long time ago someone decided that a radio is not necessary in an airplane doesn’t mean its safe today, So many things have changed in the last 60 or so years that prompts having a radio in all airplanes a very smart thing to have both for safety and for saving lives. No ifs or buts about it, it is the safe thing to do by all responsible flyers.
Amen
In a nutshell—better to have a handheld than nothing. If you can afford an airplane, you can afford a handheld for a few hundred bucks (Check out Sporty’s 2 models).
I find it curious that many pilots will happily spend $1100.00 for an ANR headset but will think that a handheld is an unnecessary expenditure. With or without an in-panel com installation, it’s good to have a handheld. (AKA complete electrical panel failure backup)
I bought an ICOM handheld in the mid 70’s and it is still going strong.
In addition, get a PLB. Again, these are affordable, reliable (better than an ELT) and can save your bacon.
ICOM has been a staple of emergency first responders for decades. A truly amazing and reliable brand. To the point that several people making under 16k/yr bought them as personal radios, seeing as our lives depended on them in a crisis as a paramedic.
Without as strong of language, I generally agree with Jamie here. I learned to fly not so terribly long ago (~15 years) and learned in a NORDO Cub. The intercom system didn’t allow for a radio to be patched in at the time; it’s subsequently been replaced with one that incorporates a radio.
I would hesitate at the folks calling NORDO aircraft cowboys, reckless, etc. I would also hesitate at saying the radio-equipped airplanes ought to just look outside. The answer is somewhere in the middle. I fly out of an airport that has constrained airspace due to the towered airports nearby. It’s got a wider mix of traffic than where I learned to fly. Ergo, I got a handheld so I can listen in. Due to the limitations of my airplane, I don’t yet have a good mounting place so the radio is not accessible for calls but I can listen in and do my best to stay out of the way.
All that said, there is definitely a shift in training where students are not being taught to look outside. ADS-B is a wonderful tool but not a crutch. It’s especially bad where I’m based because we are near ADS-B required airspace so there are some definite assumptions that everyone has ADS-B Out and In. They complain and make snide remarks over the radio when someone isn’t making the calls they’d like. These pilots also need to look inward and make some improvements in their own flying and operations.
I recently had not one, but two instances of loss of separation while flying a radio-equipped airplane, making regular calls, with ADS-B In and Out, and all the lights on. Situational awareness remains a task for instructors to both practice and teach.
Portable ADS-B Out exists in Europe and is an interesting concept. I wouldn’t mind exploring it for my aircraft so long as I can avoid the electrical system requirement.
I agree, but the debate int he article ignores the far more numerous mid-airs with planes that have radios or ADS-B and don’t keep their eyes out the windshield or their situational awareness. Electronics will not replace the human brain or decision making in GA. People worship their ipad and iphone screens.
Folks, if you can afford to own, maintain, and operate a 7AC, Cub, T-Craft, or other plane which has no electrical system, you can afford $450 or less for a headset and a hand-held transceiver. You will be able to monitor the local CTAF, transmit on 121.5 in an emergency, and have a means of communication if you are forced to land in the woods. How much do you spend on streaming channels for your TV per year?
Whenever important contraction/abbreviation(s) is(are) used… an in-depth definition is very useful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NORDO
“A NORDO aircraft is an aircraft flying without a radio, which can be caused by a radio failure or a radio-equipped aircraft not being available. The term originates from the code \”NORDO\” on controllers’ radar scopes when an aircraft transmits the \”radio failure\” code on its transponder. Learn more about the origin, meaning and treatment of NORDO aircraft from this Wikipedia article.”
WK Taylor,
As convenient as Wikipedia may be, it is not an agency that pilots, mechanics, or administrators refer to in aviation when precision is the goal. The FAA defines NORDO as, “Aircraft that cannot or do not communicate by radio when radio communication is required are referred to as NORDO.”
While radio communication is not required in Class G airspace, the term NORDO is well understood in the industry to indicate an aircraft that is not communicating (in or out) by making use of radio communications.
Jamie, for the most part I agree with your article but I don’t think this subject has a simple black or white solution.
I fly an ultralight and I have a portable so you can see I agree that not having any kind of radio is irresponsible. But I fly from an uncontrolled airport were sometimes gets busy. However, in the past, I did fly it from a fairly busy field were we had an ultralight club as well as regular GA operations and we did fine with no radios. But it seems that people had a bit more common sense back in the old days (or at least they were used to having more NORDO aircraft).
I think that in this one the FAA is considering that some people may fly from a fairly quiet field and for once they are letting us decide whether we need a radio if we are going to be the only ones in the air. Also, if we force the FAA hand to regulate this, they may not simply say a handheld is enough. Although my setup in the ultralight works well enough, at times I get complaints that some people have a hard time understanding me (maybe 55 mph of wind hitting my face have something to do with it). If we let the FAA set forth regulations, there is the risk they will require TSO equipment and certified installs (unlikely but who knows).
And BTW, some of the examples you present are not NORDO cases. In some of those cases the aircrafts had radios, but pilots didn’t use them properly. That is the problem we have in our busy uncontrolled field were conflicts are common even though everyone has radios.
So, I do agree with you that everyone should equip their NORDO airplanes with at least a portable radio. Just a little concerned about the FAA going ahead with regulations on this.
Chris
And if the FAA orders handhelds, it will come with expensive checks and mandated extras.
Anytime the government (aka: FAA) gets involved, you can bet, even with good intentions, they’ll go way beyond common sense, and some group will suffer for it. Sounds like an opportunity to ground all non-electrical system aircraft and by default, all ultralights.
Jimmy Cricket, you’re right. And starting now, no car without ABS braking should be allowed on a road. And that goes for vehicles, without USB ports and rear mounted cameras. We’ve got to stop classic and antique terrorists from inflicting pain and suffering on travel.
And once the cars and aircraft I alone choose are the only ones moving, some kind of benefit will be derived. Of course, we’ll need to eliminate operators, too. But you know, aircraft can fall on people, and self-driving cars have killed. So it’s horse and buggy time, without the horses!
Please stop! Aircraft with the best equipment known, flying in the most restrictive airspace and with the most proficient pilots have been in midair collisions. And the examples you used could easily be accounted for by more than the absence of a radio. Think of it this way.
There are pilots out there who could be flying the aircraft equivalent of Radio Shack and Circuit City put together, and they would still present a hazard. I’m not arguing against radios. I am arguing against people with an opinion and misplaced enthusiasm getting to rule the world.
😎100%!
I raise and double that 100%
😎
This is probably the most opinionated area in aviation today. The NORDO guys say “leave us alone, we don’t need radios”, the rest of the guys say “we share the airspace we just want to hear where you are”.
If you live in the middle of nowhere and only do touch and goes at your private strip, no one cares what you do. If you are anywhere near other aircraft, especially any city, then please get a radio and use it. If all you can do is listen that is better than nothing. But the days of not needing a radio are long gone.
I agree, but the last thing you want is another FAA mandated law. A simple hand-held radio with headgear would be one means of extra safety.
What the author missed is that in order for a radio to work in an aircraft with older engines such as the A65 in a J3 Cub, the ignition system must be replaced with one that is “shielded”. Otherwise, any transmission they make sounds like Donald Duck. They can receive radio calls, just not receive them. The best radio in the world will not get past the ignition issue.
Ok. Get the ignition replaced.
Not so easy, as the owner of a classic plane. It’s very easy on the internet to order others do things.
New,shielded wire harness assemblies are $500 on aincraftspruce. An a65 still flying probably needs new ignition wiring anyway, the Eismann or Scintilla mags.
The Slick mags usually include shielded wires.
Communicate, communicate, communicate, we need to understand that there is only one airspace and if we do not communicate constantly, the increase in mid-air collisions will continue to increase. ADS-B is not enough.
I will bet $$ that there have been MORE close-calls and/or accidents between aircraft that DID have transceivers onboard than between aircraft that either one or both did not. The #1 cause of accidents is distractions; whether it’s a distraction preventing the PIC to properly perform their pre-flight research and/or inspections, to miss-understanding confusing radio transmissions, to miss-using avionics they’re not familiar with, to language barriers with controllers, (yes, everyone speaks English, but poor English is a second cousin to no English), …. back to distractions, passengers, inoperative or worn out gauges, sensors on modern electronic displays not sensing properly, Pilots intentionally using wrong direction patterns, Airport Managers not comprehending regulations and allowing part 137 aircraft to use taxiway for runway operations, pilots using the wrong frequency, (as pointed out in an article in this same issue), cheap headsets not operating properly, dirty headset plugs, LED segments burned out on radio display causing wrong frequency to be tuned in, using outdated airport info with wrong radio frequency, Instructor trying to point out details about how to judge distance from runway, when to turn base, how to judge glide distance and having volume turned down so student can hear and comprehend. I’ll argue that NOT having a transceiver onboard gives the pilot FAR LESS distractions, and therefore they’re MORE likely to comprehend the concept of seen and be seen. I routinely turn radio off when the frequency is so congested, that logic dictates there are other aircraft nearby whom do not have a chance to get a word in edgewise. Bad or incomplete information is worse than no information at all. How many times have you seen a pilot, who hears a call on the radio, and then they start focusing on this one airplane that they can see, yet is NO factor to them? I see it almost every time I fly as a CFI. I try to stress it’s the guy you don’t see, and don’t hear that you should be looking for, not the guy you’ve already determined is no factor.
Yes – I’m skeptical that radios should be required. What are the statistics? Are NORDO aircraft causing more accidents than their numbers represent? Based on accident reports right here in GAN’s daily newsletters, there have been multiple accident reports where commenters pointed a finger at the pilot for over-relying on either the radio or ADSB or both. And there’s always the possibility of an aircraft being in distress with all that equipment turned off or inoperative because of the emergency.
Well said, and a very good point!
.my pop’s first plane was a Taylor Craft. Had paper skin.
Isn’t that the co. Piper bought and changed the name
No, Taylorcraft was when the designer of the -2 Cub disagreed with Mr. Piper and left and formed his own company.
“See and avoid” doesn’t work.
The FAA needs to approve battery powered ADS-B transponders. That could be combined with a handheld radio to provide traffic information and communications in one device.
Heh? See and avoid is the only thing that works without concern for technical failure. Seriously… we added radios and still have collisions… we added ADS-B and we still have collisions. So, let’s go back to square one and add more radios…?
That’ll fix it…? What the heck is wrong with you?
The one and only thing to do is raise and lower your wings to see above and below, keep your eyes outside, and scan for traffic when in the vicinity of a traffic pattern.
This is not instrument flying where ATC is babying you, this is VFR when everything is on you… it’s your responsibility to see and avoid!
The FAA needs to add a new rule similar to the ‘Mandatory Frequency’ rule in Canada;
” MF/ATF Communication Procedures (see TC AIM 4.5.7)
Arrival: (CAR 602.101)
• Report position, altitude, arrival procedure
intentions and estimated time of landing (ETL)
at least 5 min prior to entering the area… ”
This requirement is used at busy, non-towered airports.
As noted a handheld radio is inexpensive and will operate for hours in the internal batteries.
For improved range, an external antenna can be mounted on an external surface, since the HH radio transmitter is typically 1 watt vs panel mounted radios having 10 to 20 watts transmit power.
No one he FAA dose not need to mandate more rules!
That’s stupid.
Anyone comparing the US aviation system to NavCanada has no grasp of the difference in traffic volume and relative density of the two country’s national airspaces. Our NY sector alone handles more traffic in a busy peak afternoon than all of Canada handles in a day. We have 15,000 densely populated airports compared to Canada’s territories where you can fly for hours with no landing zones.
Canada aviation is a child in a baby pool compared to the US.
But go ahead with your absolute lame brain idea… make sure absolutely no one can get a word in on CTAF at any of the 35 airports within radio range that share the same frequency because everyone is now mandated by regulation to talk all the time on CTAF. I simply cannot believe the naivety of this comment.
More traffic at US airports is more reason to require radio use.
BTW, at most, 3 airports within 50 miles share a ctaf frequency.
Are you actually a pilot ?
BS!
This is a great article regarding radio’s and NORDO situations. Being an avionics shop owner, Light Sport pilot we listen to ground and tower in the office. It is remarkable how many C172’s/PA28’s used by the local flying schools and clubs have terrible comm radio transmissions.
The degradation of antennas, coax cables, connectors and the old KX, and Cessna radios need to be addressed. If tower states you are garbled and unreadable, please find out why. I upgraded my 1996 Avid Flyer from a handheld to a Garmin GTR200 to gain better radio functions.
I appreciate ADSB as we are constantly in Class B airspace at KMYF Montgomery Airport, but the outlying airports are either non-tower or Class D. Please provide more articles regarding new avionics and the safety it provides. And how the cost of avionics upgrades saves lives. So many people have been lost due to poor radio’s and not having ADSB these last few years, and it is time the older GA’s come up to the 21 century as my son said for me to do with my Avid.
A more effective option would be to equip all GA aircraft that don’t have ADSB with PowerFLARM. It is used in the US by glider pilots and in Europe by gliders and GA power aircraft. There are portable options. It is affordable.
Ensure that all aircraft have receivers for 1090ES, UAT and PowerFLARM and everyone will see everyone. … even when someone is accidentally on the wrong frequency or when the frequency is over run by people talking too much. With audible warnings, there is no need for anyone to be heads down.
https://www.flarm.com/products/powerflarm/
The FAA was wrong when they made ADSB a big brother surveillance tool instead of an anonymous safety tool. That unfortunate choice severely reduced the safety value of ADSB.
FLARM ? I never heard of it before ! And this is big with the glider community? OMG, I am a low time newbie (4 years) pilot and live in a very congested area (Philadelphia) and there are a lot of glider activities here to the north mainly. Once I wound up in a “glider furball” with gliders suddenly rising up all around me, scariest moments of my short flying career. (I have learned my lesson – I now avoid anywhere near a glider airport on weekends, LOL)
You have me thinking of asking our flying club to look into whatever equipment is needed. Can you ballpark the cost?
I thank you for this information.
Im 80 still sharp and started at 20 yo no excuse for nordo get one to be in the airspace for everyone’s protection