Portfolio The Hopper Pirated

BOMBER JACKETS LIFELINE TO THE PACIFIC A DESIGNER’S STOLEN SCHEMES

The Voice of General Aviation www.aopa.org/pilot | November 2015 | $6.95

November 2015

Made to Order
CIRRUS CUSTOMIZATION p. 88

Going Vertical
AMPING UP STOL
WITH A GYROCOPTER p. 82
Twin Bonanza | The Hopper | Bomber Jackets

Beech Beauty
eauty
Serving Up a Rare T-Bone p. 66
www.aopa.org
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 AOPA PILOT

CONTENTS
November 2015 | Volume 58 | Number 11 | www.aopa.org/pilot

FEATURES

66
Man’s Best Friend
Twin Bonanza restoration.
By Ian J. Twombly

82
STOL Searching
Gyrocopters combine fixed-wing
attributes with helicopter-like
performance.

74
By Claudius Klimt

88
Cirrus Gets Personal
Factory-custom designs.
By Dave Hirschman

94
Island Hopping Portfolio: John Slemp
A photographer tells the
Not your typical airline route.
story of World War II
By Chip Wright
veterans through their
weathered leather jackets.

ON THIS PAGE: B–17 tail gunner

Albert McMahan wears the patch of the
“Fightin’ Bitin’” 369th Bombardment
Squadron. Photo by John Slemp.

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 1
 AOPA PILOT

CONTENTS November 2015 SECTIONS

38
54 Frugal Flier
VFR ferry kit.

56 Musings
2015 versus 1985.

58 High School Initiative

31
Helping STEM students reach
new heights.

60 ASI Chart Challenge

Checkpoints versus waypoints.
PILOT BRIEFING
30 Good Reads 62 Test Pilot
Wrights chronicled in new book. Strike one.

31 Powered by Red Bull

Kirby Chambliss wants another win PROFICIENCY &
for the USA. EFFICIENCY

32 AOPA Action 100 Ownership

Notam jam. The most imitated man in avia-
tion.
36 Giving Back
CAP shows compassion. 103 Savvy Maintenance
Blame the hardware.
COMMENTARY DEPARTMENTS 38 On the Road
Flying South Africa. 106 Dogfight
4 President’s Position 10 Letters
The best training.
Acts of service. Do VGs work?
40 Product Review
14 Waypoints 124 Fly by Wire Go, go gadget. 108 Wx Watch
Morning flight. Index of advertisers. So long, area forecast.
42 2015 Sweepstakes
16 Proficient Pilot 125 Tips from PIC AOPA sweeps airplane is home. 110 ADS-B
Big Bang theory. Charity flights. ADS-B on glass.
44 Budget Buy
18 Safety Pilot 128 Pilots Elegant economy. 114 Never Again
The annual brush-up. Galen Hanselman. Into the teeth of a cold front.
46 Interview
20 License to Learn Airplane built from cans powers MEMBERSHIP
Slow town. hobbyist. NEWS & NOTES
22 Fly Well 50 Aviation History 118 Products and Services
Don’t let the lunatics run Doc’s heart is beating again. Costly mistakes.
the asylum.
52 Flying Clubs 120 AOPA Foundation
“The sky’s the limit.” Under pressure.
24 Pilot Counsel
Aircraft lights. 122 AOPA Insurance
Portfolio
BOMBER JACKETS
The Hopper
LIFELINE TO THE PACIFIC
Pirated
A DESIGNER’S STOLEN SCHEMES
Get in the game.
The Voice of General Aviation www.aopa.org/pilot | November 2015 | $6.95
November 2015

Made to Order

BEECH BEAUTY
CIRRUS CUSTOMIZATION p. 88

63
Going Vertical
AMPING UP STOL

Chris Rose photographed Dale Egan’s

WITH A GYROCOPTER p. 82
Twin Bonanza | The Hopper | Bomber Jackets

Beechcraft Twin Bonanza to accompany

Ian J. Twombly’s story “Man’s Best Friend,”
which begins on page 66.
PILOT PRODUCTS
Club Glove’s Beech Beauty
eauty
Carry-On II
Serving Up a Rare T-Bone p. 66
www.aopa.org

luggage.
Contact us at 800-USA-AOPA (872-2672)

2 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

“ Earlier this year, I replaced my Garmin GNS530W with the
Avidyne IFD540. It was a simple, slide-in replacement
and I was able to recoup most of the cost of the upgrade
by selling my 530W. And what an upgrade! The IFD540
does everything far better than the Garmin it replaced.
Entering complex IFR flight plans is much more intuitive

”
and takes a fraction of the time it used to.

Mike Sutton IFD540 Customer

Cessna 210 Owner

IFD540 FMS/GPS/NAV/COM
Call Brian at
800-299-7582
www.IFD540.com to learn more Flying Made Simple™
PRESIDENT’S POSITION
AOPA PRESIDENT
Mark Baker is an
active pilot and
enjoys introducing
others to flying.
4 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
Acts of service
General aviation pilots give back
THE HOLIDAY SEASON IS UPON US AGAIN—a wonderful
time to bask in the joys of family and friends. And, for
me, the Thanksgiving holiday is always a time to step
back and be grateful for the people and experiences
that enrich my life.
General aviation has been a cornerstone of my world
since I was a kid sitting at the airport fence, bumming
rides. I can honestly say that GA has played a big part
in making me who I am. And I’m grateful to be able to
give something back.
As a group, pilots are some of the most generous
people I know. And because we tend to feel passion-
ately about GA, we want to share it with others.
If you feel that way—and I know many of you do—
there are almost limitless ways to do good while you do
what you love. Not every mission is suitable for every
pilot or every airplane, but regardless of where your
interests lie, there’s a group of pilots just like you who
are making the world a better place. (AOPA awards
grants to charitable organizations doing good each year;
see “Giving Back Grant Recipients,” p. 36.)
Pilots nationwide routinely connect patients with
potentially life-saving medical care. For people who live
in remote locations or must travel for specialized medi-
cal tests or treatment, GA can make getting care possible.
And for those receiving treatment far from home, spend-
ing time with family members and loved ones can make
a huge difference in their recovery. Many groups also
bring patients, like wounded veterans, home for visits or
help family members get to patients in distant locations.
Groups like Air Care Alliance, Air Charity Network,
Angel Flight, Children’s Flight of Hope, Corporate
Angel Network, LifeLine Pilots, Mercy Medical Angels,
Miracle Flights for Kids, Northwoods Airlifeline, Patient
AirLift Services, Veterans Airlift Command, Volunteer
Pilots Association, and Wings of Mercy work with pilots
to provide free transportation.
Other charitable groups help coordinate humani-
tarian relief and crisis response in the United States and
abroad. When a hurricane, earthquake, or other natu-
ral disaster strikes, GA pilots may be among the first
who can reach victims with food, supplies, and medical
personnel aboard. Groups providing this kind of coor-
dination include Bahamas Habitat, Flying Samaritans,
LIGA International/Flying Doctors of Mercy, Los
Medicos Voladores, Mission Aviation Fellowship, Orbis,
and Wings of Hope.
BY MARK BAKER
AOPA President and CEO
For lost hikers, downed aircrews, and others who
can’t make their way to safety alone, there’s no more
beautiful sight than the flash of wings and no more
beautiful sound than the hum of an aircraft engine. The
Civil Air Patrol performs aerial search and rescue opera-
tions, disaster relief, and humanitarian services through
formal agreements with groups including the American
Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency,
and U.S. Coast Guard. As the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary,
the group also runs extensive programs to introduce
young people to aviation and has squadrons nationwide.
GA also is uniquely suited to support wildlife obser-
vation, aerial surveys, aerial imaging, and other forms
of study that provide data to researchers and advo-
cates in the field. Because aviation provides a special
perspective, it plays an important role in assessing
the environmental impact of everything from climate
change to animal migration. Groups that put volun-
teer pilots to work on conservation efforts include
LightHawk, SouthWings, On Wings of Care, and
Operation Migration, whose pilots help guide endan-
gered whooping cranes along their migratory route.
But Operation Migration’s pilots aren’t the only
animal lovers serving the feathered and furred com-
munity. Numerous organizations support animal rescue
efforts, often delivering unwanted or abandoned dogs,
cats, and other pets to new homes where they’ll receive
the love and care they’ve missed. If that sounds like
something you’d like to do, consider connecting with
Animal Rescue Flights, Flying Paws, or Pilots N Paws.
If you’re more interested in providing special expe-
riences to two-legged passengers, consider working
with a group that shares the thrill of flight with young-
sters. The Experimental Aircraft Association’s Young
Eagles program has provided nearly 2 million rides to
kids nationwide, giving them their first taste of GA. For
children with special needs, Challenge Air provides
life-changing GA experiences. Both organizations reg-
ularly need volunteers at locations nationwide.
As GA pilots, we’ve got something very special going
for us. What better way to give thanks in this holiday
season than to share your gifts with others? Consider
joining the thousands of pilots who give back through
volunteering and charitable flying. And if you’re
already among that number—thank you. AOPA
EMAIL mark@aopa.org
 LEAD
G E N E R ATO R
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Start your journey | CIRRUSAIRCRAFT.COM

© CIRRUS DESIGN CORPORATION D/B/A CIRRUS AIRCRAFT

 WEB www.aopa.org/pilot

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Thomas A. Horne
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DESIGN DIRECTOR Michael E. Kline

SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Jill C. Benton
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CONTRIBUTING DESIGNER
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6 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

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8 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
All prices offered through November 30, 2015. Check ATPFlightSchool.com for details and eligibility requirements.
LETTERS FROM OUR SEPTEMBER ISSUE

Do VGs work?
Dave Hirschman’s real-world test of whether vortex generators make a measurable
performance difference prompted further questions, and a few stories, from members.

One of the best modifications P&E OWNERSHIP

I’ve ever done to my Luscombe

VIEW THE
VIDEO
Great article, Dave. I have wanted proof of this
8A was the Micro AeroDynamics for years. Would you take it one step further
vortex generators.
I got a reduction in stall and do it on a STOL 172 to see if it is even bet
bet-
speed, from about 44 mph indi-
Do VGs work? ter? I fly backcountry and wondered if these
cated down to about 38 mph
two things were worth the money.
A real-world performance test
B Y DAV E H I R S C H M A N attack is so high that the airspeed indica-

indicated. But the biggest ben-

tor reads zero.
Observation three: VGs lower the
TWO NEARLY identical Cessna 172S mod- the ground roll by about 15 percent. power-off stall speed and virtually elim-

Pete Swannack
els take the runway side by side for a Climbing at best-rate airspeed, the two inate a power-off stall break. At cruise
real-world test of whether vortex gen- airplanes are well matched, and there’s power, the pilot of the VG-equipped air-

efit is the stability.

erators make a measurable performance no noticeable performance difference. plane makes a series of 60-degree-bank,
difference. The pilots release the brakes We level off at 3,500 feet and keep the 2-G turns at airspeeds as low as 70 KIAS

AOPA 5542343
together, and add full power. throttles wide open to measure cruise per- and the wing doesn’t stall. The clean-
Both airplanes have full fuel tanks, and formance. The two airplanes stay even at wing airplane stalls at about 74 KIAS in a

Previously I could slow-fly

the pilots each weigh about 180 pounds.
The only difference: One airplane has a set
of Micro Aerodynamics vortex generators
(VG) installed on the wings. The other air-
plane has a stock “clean wing.”
my Luscombe at about 50 mph
The two airplanes accelerate together
with wing flaps up, and after a ground
roll of about 600 feet, both pilots start
to pull back on the yokes, increasing the
wings’ angle of attack and generating lift.
redline rpm.
Observation two: The VGs have no
discernable speed penalty at high cruise.
We slow the airplanes side by side in level
flight with wing flaps up. At about 50 KIAS,
the clean-wing airplane stalls and the nose
drops about 25 degrees. The VG-equipped
airplane continues decelerating, and a stall
break never happens. It simply mushes and
buffets in a nose-high, wings-level descent
60-degree bank turn.
Observation four: VGs lower the accel-
erated stall speeds (and reduce turn radius).
At cruise power, the VG-equipped airplane
performs a series of departure stalls. The
Lamont, Washington
stall break is slightly right-wing down and
is preceded by the stall warning horn and
moderate aerodynamic buffeting. The
angle of attack at which the wing stalls is
so high that the airspeed indicator reads

indicated, but I had to work

The VG-equipped airplane breaks free of
the pavement at about 900 feet, its stall
warning horn chirping momentarily. The
clean-wing airplane stays on the ground
for about 150 additional feet.
of 1,000 to 1,500 fpm. An accurate airspeed
is difficult to discern because the angle of
Benefits of vortex generators
✔ Shorter takeoffs
zero at the break. Also, the ailerons remain
effective during and after the stall break.
Observation five: VGs reduce power-on
stall speeds and keep the ailerons effective
during and after the stall break. We return

hard to keep it under control.

✔ Slower stall speed
Observation one: VGs provide a clear ✔ Smaller turning radius to the airport together for landing and set
takeoff distance advantage by shortening ✔ Shorter landings up a long, two-mile final approach at full

82 | AOPA PILOT September 2015

With the VGs I can slow-fly it

about 37 to 38 indicated hands
off! I just sit there with my
arms folded. The vortex gen-
erator kit for a Luscombe costs
$600. And I installed them I just read your September You reported an apparent result in a reduction in the
myself, under the supervision article on vortex genera- stall speed reduction of about noted indicated airspeed at
of an IA. First wing took about tors installed on the wings five knots. The reduction of the top of the green arc and
one and a half hours, second of a Cessna 172. Your obser- stall speed of five knots means a reduction in the published
wing took 30 minutes. vations were as I would that additional total lift is avail- maneuvering speed. A quick
Well worth it, for the safety expect. You neglected, how- able from the VG-equipped estimate: I would expect
if nothing else. ever, to comment on what I wing. All things being equal, a these speeds to be reduced by
Trent Sanders believe is significant, but little wing modification that results about 10 knots. Alternatively,
La Canada, California
AOPA 1482002 considered. in a lift increase should also perhaps the Utility category
certification of the 172 might
“I make my living as an airline pilot, be reduced to Normal cate-
but I’m a general aviation guy at gory only.
heart,” says contributor CHIP WRIGHT I certainly hope Micro
(“ISLAND HOPPING,” p. 94). “The Air AeroDynamics has addressed
HANGAR TALK

Mike/United Airlines Island Hopper is

this issue in their certification.
about as general aviation as you can John L. Geitz
get flying a 737. Because of the criti- AOPA 410696
cal need for the service we provide, Trophy Club, Texas
the Hopper is much more than just a
trip to fly; people count on us. It’s the An airspeed indicator change
South Pacific version of what avia-
is only required for those STCs
tion provides in Alaska. For the pilots
and flight attendants, the Hopper is in which Micro AeroDynamics
a long day, and it’s a lot of work that has a applied for and received an
may take place under some trying official stall speed change. —Ed.
circumstances. That said, the reward
(depending on the trip) is a two- or
three-day layover in Hawaii. I’ve also spent a week each on Chuuk and Kosrae
Aviation legends:
diving. If you’re of the right mind for an adventure to a place that most people The world according
will need to Google in order to learn where you went, this is the place for you. to Clay Lacy
The people are wonderful, the water is clear, and the food is fantastic. And I Reading my latest issue of
know how you can get there.” AOPA Pilot magazine, I noticed

10 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

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LETTERS

PILOTS

an article on Clay Lacy. The

AOPA ADVOCATE

Paul Heintz

Simply put, the magic, utility, and pure fun of flying

LOGBOOK

magazine forgot to include

A life of service WHO | Paul Heintz, attorney
and member of AOPA
B Y I A N J. T W O M B LY
Board of Trustees
HOURS | 4,300
FAVORITE AIRCRAFT | Cessna
IT’S BEEN A LABOR OF LOVE. There’s no other 210
EXTRA | Heintz’s book,
way to describe 40 years of volunteer service Flying for Fun, was
working to preserve the freedom to fly. published in 1995.

one other significant accom-

When Paul Heintz retires from AOPA’s
Board of Trustees on September 11, 2015, he
can look back on a career helping to over-

will always exist and hold a strong core of like-

see the association through all five of its
presidents, dozens of advocacy wins, and a
changing pilot population that foretells of
many challenges ahead.

plishment Mr. Lacy achieved:

Heintz’s connection to flying was strong
from a young age. “I don’t remember ever
not wanting to fly,” he says. It’s in his DNA.
His father was a pilot in World War II, his
mother flew gliders, and his grandfather took
lessons in 1912. While in school he took his
then-girlfriend Jane for a ride in his Aeronca

that of scab. minded people.

Champ. They continue to fly together today
in their Cessna 210. “I’ve been very blessed,”
he says. “She’ll fly with me any time and in
any weather.”
Their four children have enjoyed flying
with him over the years, and one is now an air
traffic controller at Martha’s Vineyard, which
leads to the occasional broadcast reunion.

Lacy was put on the master

“Are you coming for dinner tonight, dear?”
Jane once asked soon after landing.
Their trips originate at Heintz’s beloved
Wings Field, AOPA’s birthplace. In fact, it was
through hanging out at the airport and meet-
ing three of the association’s founders that
he was invited to join the board. As the years

scab list in 1985 for crossing

passed he went from tenant to advocate as the
airport faced closure a few times. Putting his
passion for preserving airports into practice,
Heintz gathered investors to buy the airport
some years ago. It’s now a vibrant field with a
unique aviation country club. Upstairs in that
club AOPA was formed some 77 years ago, and

the United Airlines picket

eating there with Heintz reinforces that his
history and the association’s story are one.
Heintz continues to work in a prominent
Philadelphia law firm, taking on everything
from nonprofit law to the occasional avia-
tion case. He makes time for trips with Jane,
including what he describes as his favorite
flight yet—they took a month last year and flew all across the country. “Flying gives
me a joy and release that no other hobby could,” he says. “To this day I will tear up
going through clouds, a sunset, or just looking out on a beautiful day and wondering
how those wings are holding me up and giving me such joy. That feeling has never left
me and I don’t think it ever will.” AOPA
EMAIL ian.twombly@aopa.org

line. If AOPA wants support

112 | AOPA PILOT October 2015

for third class medical reform

from as many members and
nonmembers as possible, they
probably should rethink arti-
cles glamorizing individuals
such as Lacy.
Tom Messer
AOPA 6159621
Coarsegold, California
I read your article on Clay
Lacy—great job. He’s his own
Wikipedia—well done boiling
it down to a fascinating por-
trait of quite an aviator.
Marc K. Henegar
AOPA 1073441
Bend, Oregon
Pilots: Flight of Passage
Author
Having read Flight of Passage
several years ago, I particu-
larly enjoyed Jill Tallman’s
article on Rinker Buck (“Pilots:
Flight of Passage Author”).
The departure airport for the
intrepid Buck boys was the
(long gone) Somerset Hills
Airport in Basking Ridge, New
Jersey. I was taking my first
flight training there in the mid
1950s and soloed Piper PA–11
N4589M on October 13, 1956,
after being signed off by Tom
Lowden. At that time, the air-
port property was owned by
Harry Calvin, who was a flight
engineer with Pan Am. I never
met the Buck brothers because
I had other obligations by
the mid-1960s. However, the
article rekindled many fond
memories of that era.
John Pace
AOPA 1096053
New Bern, North Carolina
A hiking GPS in the sky on East-West Highway as I
Welcome aboard. I pur- walked home from Bethesda-
chased an eTrex when they Chevy Chase High School. That
first came out and were yel- was enhanced by my first flights
low. It has lived in my flight as a teenage CAP cadet in a
bag ever since. It, a handheld Stinson L–5G from the (now
radio, and a Swiss army knife closed) Congressional Airfield
have branded me with the nick- just up the road. That connec-
name MacGyver. All have come tion was strengthened by my
in handy on various trips. fortunate meeting, and becom-
Jeff J. Jacober ing personally acquainted, with
AOPA 686171 three of the five AOPA found-
Bensalem, Pennsylvania
ers, Laurence P. Sharples, J.
Story Smith, and Alfred L.
A Trustee’s Thanks “Abby” Wolf, in the late ’60s
Editor’s Note: Paul Heintz when I became a lawyer in
(“Pilots: AOPA Advocate,” Philadelphia. The fact that
October 2015 AOPA Pilot) AOPA headquarters ended up
served on AOPA’s Board of on Frederick Airport, the very
Trustees for 40 years. In airport from which I soloed
September he retired as an a J–3 Cub and obtained my
active board member and private ticket in an Aeronca
was elected by the board to Champion 7AC over 57 years
an emeritus position, joining ago, seems more than a
Andy Pew. coincidence.
In the over 60 years since
I was overwhelmed by the I first took the controls of that
attention given me on the occa- L–5, I have seen the ascen-
sion of my retirement from the dancy and the decline of
board. The outpouring and general aviation and AOPA
honor were both unexpected membership. Notwithstanding
and deeply appreciated. Thank the decline in numbers in the
you so much. last few decades, though, I
Anyone who knows me is have always remained opti-
well aware of my lifelong pas- mistic about the long-term
sion for flying. However, few prospects of GA. Simply put,
know of the length and depth of the magic, utility, and pure
my connection with AOPA and fun of flying will always exist
the mixed emotions that I felt and hold a strong core of like-
and still feel upon my retire- minded people. I believe we
ment as a trustee. It started are just trending toward a
when I was 15 with my visits to more sustainable, and proba-
the then-AOPA headquarters bly healthier, new normal.
I have always remained
optimistic about the future
of AOPA, too. GA has needed,
and will always need, an
organization to eliminate or
manage the typical challenges
it has faced since its earli-
est days, including airports,
airspace, aircraft and air-
man certification, and aircraft
equipment issues.
However, where AOPA
now seems more important
than ever is handling a chal-
lenge that could not have been
fully envisioned by the found-
ers: the need to attract and
retain both pilots and mem-
bers. Obviously without both,
AOPA’s advocacy clout and the
very vitality and viability of GA
will be threatened.
It has been a privilege and
honor to serve as a trustee,
indeed, to serve as one of the
stewards of that most pre-
cious organization, for almost
40 years and to have played
a role in passing along to a
future generation of board
members the principles held
so dear by our founders.
Thank you again for the won-
derful farewell.
Paul Heintz
AOPA 173148
Radnor, Pennsylvania
We welcome your comments.
Editor, AOPA Pilot, 421 Aviation
Way, Frederick, Maryland 21701
or email (pilot@aopa.org). Let-
ters may be edited for length
and style before publication.

12 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

WAYPOINTS
Morning flight
A Super Cub on floats teaches new lessons
WHEN I PULLED THE PIPER SUPER CUB’S throttle con-
trol to idle I had one of those, “Oh, yeah,” moments as
I reacquainted myself with seaplane flying. There’s a
lot of drag in those amphibious floats. Pull the power
all the way back and you’d better look directly down
for your landing spot—except my desired landing area
was just ahead, so I nudged the throttle in a little and
As we shut down to enjoy the early morning quiet,
a pair of bald eagles played tag among the treetops
at the south end of the strip.
soon was touching down on the St. Croix River east of
St. Paul, Minnesota.
My first water landing in more than a year was OK,
but only with some coaching from the backseat where
I think I heard Darin Meggers give a sigh of relief after
we touched down safely. A brisk breeze provided a bit of
chop on the river—plenty of texture to judge height above
the surface. With the water rudders stowed, I pushed the
throttle all the way in and pulled back on the stick, try-
Editor in Chief ing to finesse the sweet spot. Again, with coaching from
TOM HAINES earned Meggers, the Cub climbed onto the step, and seconds later
a seaplane rating we were back in the air for another trip around the patch.
in early 2014, and
wishes he could Later we continued south along the snaking river
exercise it more. that separates Minnesota and Wisconsin, touching
14 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
BY THOMAS B. HAINES
Editor in Chief
down here and there and practicing some step taxiing.
The beautifully restored bright yellow Super Cub looks
as if it left the factory only last week, but in fact it is 62
years old and is the pride and joy of AOPA President
Mark Baker.
So, Darin, you think you were nervous there in the
backseat? How about me flying the boss’s baby?
The handsome airplane defies its age thanks in
part to Meggers and his father Roger, proprietors of
Baker Flying Service in Baker, Montana. The father/
son partnership restored the Super Cub for Mark
Baker years ago and keep it looking young with occa-
sional touch-ups. Their most famous airplane, though,
is Super Cub number one, which they restored to like-
new condition two years ago and now showcase at
aviation events. The work was the focus of a story in
the June 2014 edition of AOPA Pilot, “Craftsmanship:
Yellow Marvel.”
The float practice was in anticipation of the chance
to do some floatplane flying in Alaska the next week.
Where I find my seldom-used seaplane skills corrode
the most is on takeoff—nailing the step attitude—and
in on-the-surface maneuvering. Airplanes are far less
maneuverable on the surface than boats and personal
watercraft, but are expected to give way to those craft.
So maneuvering on the surface, and especially close to
docks, is always a big concern. Throw in a breeze and
some current, and life on the water gets complicated
quickly. Remind me to tell you sometime about the guy
in the bass boat who motored up near the propeller of
our idling amphibious Caravan….
After a few splash and goes, we left the St. Croix
and headed west toward the Mississippi River.
Tucked into a grove of trees in the river’s bend is an
immaculate grass strip owned by Wipaire, the famed
float-building company headquartered nearby. With
the wheels down this time, I brought the Super Cub
in over the river, just above a levee, and plunked down
on the grass, smooth as a fairway at Augusta. As we
shut down to enjoy the early morning quiet, a pair of
bald eagles played tag among the treetops at the south
end of the strip. A bucolic and memorable morning
for certain. AOPA
EMAIL thomas.haines@aopa.org
SOCIAL Follow on twitter @tomhaines29
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PROFICIENT PILOT
Big Bang theory
Noisy incidents and the rule of threes
WITH DEFERENCE to Belgian cosmologist Georges
Lemaître, I have my own version of the Big Bang the-
ory, and it states that big bangs occur in clusters of
three. My basis for this is that I had three big bangs
during my airline career, and I am grateful not to have
had more.
My first occurred when our Lockheed L–1011 was
halfway between Los Angeles and Honolulu on Track
Delta in clear, glassy air. My first officer, flight engi-
neer, and I were enjoying crew meals at FL350 while
marveling at a magnificent subtropical sunset. Life
doesn’t get much better, I recall thinking.
The tranquility was shattered by a truly loud bang.
The airplane shook once, but hard, as if a cosmic fist
had given it a body blow—but it was over almost as
quickly as it had begun. My crew and I exchanged
startled, quizzical glances, wondering what had hap-
pened. It was similar to flying through the wake of
a crossing aircraft, but this, we agreed, was like no
wake encounter that any of us had ever experienced.
We checked cabin pressure and then the other gauges
and systems. Everything was normal, as though noth-
ing had happened. The only lingering effect was our
elevated pulse rates. I quickly explained to our passen-
gers over the PA that we had flown through the wake
turbulence of another aircraft, even though I knew
better. What else could I say—that we had entered the
Twilight Zone?
Twenty minutes later, we made a routine position
report on HF and reported what we had experienced
earlier. The ARINC operator said nonchalantly, “Oh,
you must’ve been hit by a supersonic shock wave.
A British Airways Concorde passed over you about
20 minutes ago.” A warning about this would have
been nice.
My second big bang occurred shortly after takeoff
from Newark, also in an L–1011.
Although the captain advances the thrust levers
for takeoff, it was the flight engineer’s job to trim the
throttles, to fine-tune them to precise power settings.
As we lifted off, I noticed the engineer slowly and
gingerly pulling back the Number Two throttle. He
BARRY SCHIFF
has flown 351 kept pulling until it was completely closed, yet the
different types of center engine continued to develop in excess of take-
aircraft, most off power.
recently a four-
place Yakovlev “Hey, Barry,” he said. “We’ve lost control of
Yak–18T. Number Two,” demonstrating this by moving the
16 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
BY BARRY SCHIFF
thrust lever fully fore and aft without any change
in power.
“Well, we can’t continue this way,” I said.
“Landing with an engine developing full power
would be way too exciting. We’ll have to shut it down
and land.” Shutting down a large turbofan engine in
flight is ordinarily no big deal, but this was the first
time any of us had done so while it was producing so
much power.
Turning off the fuel switch produced such a loud
bang in the tail that it aroused major anxiety (in
the cabin and the cockpit). The passengers were so
relieved to hear that this had not been a tragic explo-
sion that few of them were upset about what would be
a serious interruption of their travel plans.
My third big bang was the most dramatic.
We were at 16,000 feet dodging cells at night in a
Boeing 727, trying to find a safe approach into Kansas
City. We were on instruments in lumpy, wet cumulus.
Saint Elmo’s fire first appeared not atypically as spider
webs of electricity dancing on the windshields. Soon,
though, the static electricity began to extend forward
from the nose of our airplane. It continued to grow
and eventually was as long and as thick as a telephone
pole, electricity swirling crazily around it. It was a
riveting, mesmerizing display. At the same time, it
caused our weather radar to fail—not a good thing
when trying to steer clear of thunderstorms.
The “telephone pole” suddenly burst with a sound
like someone firing a gun in the cockpit. The electrical
fireworks were then gone and, thankfully, our radar
had begun to function again.
Then there was a series of insistent chimes, mean-
ing that we were being called on the intercom by a
flight attendant in the cabin. “What was that?” she
shouted. “What do you mean?” I asked, not realizing
that anyone in the cabin had seen or heard that stun-
ning display of Saint Elmo’s fire.
“I’ll tell you what I mean,” she blurted. “A ball of
fire about six feet across came out of your cockpit,
rolled its way down the aisle, disappeared in the tail,
and scared the heck out of everyone back here.”
I authorized her request for complimentary bever-
ages to be distributed to the passengers but could not
tell her if TWA would pay the laundry bills. AOPA
WEB www.barryschiff.com
SAFETY PILOT
The annual brush-up
Periodic training pays dividends
FEELING A BIT RUSTY? Or, perhaps you’re the self-pro-
claimed ace of the base. How about an honest second
opinion? In corporate and airline flight environments,
everybody gets a going-over at least annually. For own-
ers, this keeps the insurance company happy and skills
sharp. Those who say they don’t need recurrent train-
ing often need it the most.
A flight review every two years—if you’re doing
nothing else—results in a dry spell between practice
sessions. Routine cross-country trips are pretty basic
for pilots who fly regularly—we don’t see many DME
arcs, engine/electrical failures, or manual landing gear
extensions (thank goodness)—so organized exercise
reviews are an excellent idea.
Practicing what I preach, this year my session took
place at SimCom in Orlando, Florida, and included
time in a Beechcraft Bonanza flight training device.
Here, new Bo pilots take a three-day initial course and,
for everyone else, there’s a one-day recurrent course.
Courses largely are taught one on one, tailored to
your particular need. The training center houses class-
rooms and training devices/simulators for Cessna
Citations, Beechcraft King Airs, Mitsubishi MU–2s, all
manner of Piper singles, Socata TBMs, and Pilatuses—
so you’re as likely to meet an owner as a professional in
the break room. Owner pilots have diverse flight back-
grounds: A few are as good as any pro, some are lucky
to be alive, and most of us fall somewhere in the mid-
dle. The instructors are there to teach and counsel, and
to improve skills, no matter what the pilot brings to the
party. If someone is in dire straits, additional training
will be recommended.
Bonanza systems are fairly simple. We briefly
touched on potential trouble spots but didn’t get mired
in the minutia. SimCom provides a nice reference man-
ual that expands on the POH and covers much of the
same information—but in a more readable format. The
performance numbers on all light aircraft are engineer-
ing fact and, largely, operational fiction. Your real-world
numbers will vary, so don’t take it to the limit.
Beech revised the A36 panel in 1984 to match the
BRUCE LANDSBERG
industry-standard layout of gear, flap, prop, throttle,
is the former
president of the and mixture controls. The Frasca device exactly repli-
AOPA Founda- cates this. Pilots of older A36s or short-body Bonanzas
tion and is a senior will need some modest accommodation to adapt.
safety advisor
to the AOPA Air Having flown both aircraft, it’s not a big deal, but don’t
Safety Institute. confuse gear and flap switches! The machine has nice
18 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
BY BRUCE LANDSBERG
handling characteristics, and typical of most training
devices, good pitch control requires an active scan. In
hand-flying part of the way home, my control smooth-
ness had markedly improved. Minor ego deflation in
training seems to pay off nicely in the aircraft.
Flight instruments are typical Bonanza. A
220-degree daylight visual display allows a good view
of the traffic pattern and great realism for the inevita-
ble engine failure shortly after takeoff. Remember to
lower the nose and go to High on the aux fuel pump
immediately if the engine quits with no warning or
vibration. I didn’t, but the gear was still down on a
long runway, so the red crash screen didn’t appear. On
a short runway, I’d have been in the weeds.
I practiced manual gear extension several times—
first in visual conditions and then under instruments.
Use the autopilot if there’s not a total electrical system
failure—which, of course, was one of my misfortunes.
Depart the traffic pattern and remember to fly the air-
craft first, even when slaving over a hot hand crank.
Arriving at Daytona Beach in a simulated snowstorm
(there can be some strange weather in training), the
pitot-static system froze up, making for some unusual
altimeter and airspeed indications. I never had that hap-
pen in real life, but Northwest Airlines lost a Boeing 727
in the 1970s because of this. I had to find the alternate
static source under the panel, and while I didn’t hit the
ground, it was close enough. Good practice!
There are enough instrument approaches in a typ-
ical course to provide IFR currency, as long as you’re
not outside the 12-month window as specified in FAR
61.57(d). Beyond that, a flight in an aircraft is required,
which can be arranged. Pilots with an FAA Wings
account can get credit for a flight review without flying.
Corporate aviation’s superb safety record comes
about because of consistently high proficiency levels.
In personal flying, many pilots who cannot rack up
high annual flight hours save some dollars for peri-
odic training. SimCom’s “express” one-day recurrent
course is offered for an introductory price of $960,
which includes four hours of ground school and four in
the sim. It’s valuable to experience scenarios not seen
in the real world. Family members or friends can go see
Disney while you get your own ride in the magic king-
dom. Both experiences will be memorable. AOPA
WEB www.airsafetyinstitute.org
7 7 7 8 2 3
LICENSE TO LEARN
Slow town
Why roundout, flare should be a drag
“AFTER ALIGNING THE AIRPLANE with the runway cen-
terline, the final flap setting should be completed; in
the absence of the manufacturer’s recommended air-
speed, a speed equal to 1.3 VS0 should be used.”
That’s the FAA’s recommendation from its
Airplane Flying Handbook, and it’s a reasonable one.
Have you ever wondered why we use 30 percent
above stall speed as a reference in these instances?
It’s important to know the reason—especially if your
high-speed landings require every last grain of salt at
Bonneville to come to a complete stop.
Generally speaking, most pilots cross the runway
threshold at speeds faster than 30 percent above stall
speed (1.3 VS). Why? For them, it feels safer, espe-
cially when there’s ample salt ahead of the airplane.
The problem is that some runways are so short that
their numbers appear to overlap. Even runways of
reasonable length might not be so reasonable at the
increasing true airspeeds (thus, groundspeeds) asso-
ciated with high-density-altitude airports.
Runway length, however, is not the reason
for crossing the runway threshold at or below 1.3
VS. Higher “over the threshold” approach speeds
increase the probability that you’ll float, balloon,
porpoise, or drift while attempting to land. Crossing
the threshold at or below 1.3 VS means that the typi-
cal general aviation airplane experiences increasing
drag, not decreasing drag, during the roundout and
landing flare.
Let’s examine why this is, using the flaps-up
approach model for simplicity. With flaps up, the air-
plane’s best L/D speed (best glide speed) is found at
the bottom of its total drag curve. As you’ll recall from
ground school, the total drag curve is the combina-
tion of a decreasing parasite drag curve (as airspeed
decreases) and an increasing induced drag curve (as
airspeed continues to decrease). In a generic Cessna
172, the best glide speed is approximately 66 knots cal-
ibrated airspeed (KCAS). The flaps-up stall speed at
maximum weight is 49 KCAS. Approaching at 1.3 VS
with flaps up results in an airspeed of 64 KCAS. This
puts you near the bottom of the total drag curve. Big
surprise? Not really.
ROD MACHADO At 64 KCAS, as you increase the angle of attack
is a CFII and the during the roundout for landing, your wing throws its
owner of a Cessna
150, based in lift rearward, and induced drag increases (yes, ground
Southern California. effect reduces induced drag a bit, but induced drag
20 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
BY ROD MACHADO
still increases overall). You decelerate as a result.
Your chance of floating during the roundout dimin-
ishes because of the relatively quick decrease in your
airspeed.
Imagine what happens if you cross the threshold
at 80 KCAS (16 knots faster than best glide speed).
During the roundout, the parasite drag decreases
faster than induced drag increases as you deceler-
ate from 80 to 66 KCAS. This means that you initially
don’t slow down as quickly as you’d like, which ulti-
mately increases your chance of floating during
landing, and running off the end of the runway. This
is one instance where having insufficient salt actu-
ally increases your blood pressure. While this example
reflects a flaps-up condition, the same principle (albeit
with different airspeeds) also applies to landing with
full flaps.
Of course, floating isn’t conducive to landing in the
shortest distance possible. That’s why more than a few
airplane manufacturers actually recommend flying at
a little less than 30 percent above stall speed during
short-field landings.
Your typical Cessna 172 pilot’s operating handbook
recommends short-field landings be flown at approx-
imately 1.3 VS0, while the typical Cessna 150 uses 1.22
VS0. The 1979 Piper Turbo Arrow III has short-field
landings performed at 1.23 VS0, which is nearly the
same recommendation as for the Mooney M20J.
However, the 1985 Cessna 210R POH has short-field
landings performed at 1.18 VS0 (center of gravity at
midrange). All of the short-field landing speeds men-
tioned here place your airplane below its best glide
speed.
To be worth your salt as a pilot, it’s important to
understand how drag affects you during the round-
out and flare. While you’ll typically fly an extended
final approach at higher speeds, it’s best to cross the
threshold (perhaps at 50 feet or less) in a stabi-
lized condition, no more than 30 percent above
the airplane’s present stall speed. Induced drag
now becomes your own airspeed “arresting
device” during the roundout and flare. Running
off the runway becomes less likely as a result.
You’re also less likely to meet the airport police—
otherwise known as the “real” arresting device. AOPA
WEB www.rodmachado.com
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FLY WELL
Don’t let the lunatics
run the asylum
You can’t be too careful…can you?
UNDER CURRENT RULES, a third class medical exam is
performed every two or five years and, in between, we
all self-certify every time we fly. I have grounded myself
when physical illness or stress suggested punching a
hole in the sky was a bad idea. And I strongly support
moves to reform medical certification—as long as pilots
commit to learning more about their health and staying
well. AOPA and others have plans to support aviators
in this endeavor.
Some of those against reform say a medical helps
keep the flying public safe. So let’s separate fact from
fantasy and allow me to conduct a tongue-in-cheek
exercise inspired by recent efforts to derail third class
medical reform. Let’s construct the ideal model to mit-
igate every conceivable risk, medical and otherwise,
for passengers aboard commercial airliners to ensure
they reach their destination safely. On average, short- or
medium-haul aircraft have around 120 passenger seats;
longer-range airplanes have around 250. For argument’s
sake, let’s assume a median of 200 seats per flight.
We obviously have to sacrifice two seats for a sec-
ond crew on longer flights and maybe another four
seats for relief flight attendants.
Given the terrorist threat that pilots potentially
pose, having some experts on human behavior on board
who could constantly review pilots’ actions would be
eminently sensible, so let’s pop those clever people in
some comfy seats.
It is common practice to ask the flight crew to eat
different meals just in case one develops food poisoning.
I think it would show a very reasonable level of caution
to have a couple of food tasters on board, just as they
did in days of old to ensure the king was not murdered.
And in truth, it would be best if each meal were exam-
ined by a team of brilliant individuals to ensure that the
meal was fat free, salt free, gluten free, and poison free. I
think a food scientist and a dietitian or two, bacteriolo-
gist, chemist, and biologist would be about right.
DR. JONATHAN SACKIER Pilots need to be fit and in top physical shape to
answers AOPA command an aircraft, so it is only natural that there
members’ medical
questions through should be a sophisticated and diverse team of special-
the AOPA Pilot ists on board to check the crew’s blood pressure, heart
Protection health, hearing, and every other physical system that
Services program
(www.aopa.org/ could go awry in flight. Because medicine is an impre-
pps). cise science, we need second opinions for all these
22 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
BY DR. JONATHAN M. SACKIER
mavens. As modern health care provides the means to
confirm one’s diagnosis with sophisticated laboratory
tests, we also will need technicians and equipment.
If the pilot in command develops some chest pain at
Flight Level 350, is it a heart attack or just indigestion?
One cannot be too careful, after all.
Continuing this whimsical drill, shouldn’t every
pilot undergo stringent evaluation at several points
during a flight? For instance, why not have a neuropsy-
chologist administer a Beck Depression Inventory, a
quality of sleep test, and maybe some other tests before
flying an ILS approach in instrument meteorological
conditions? And providing pilots with access to psy-
chiatric services during flight could head off potential
issues. Psychiatrists themselves can have neuroses or
psychoses, so we better double up in that department.
Of course, having an air marshal on board makes
a lot of sense. Actually, we should have two air mar-
shals just in case one is incapacitated, is in the toilet, or
falls asleep during a crisis. And on long flights we obvi-
ously have to double that to prevent these brave folks
going over their allotted duty time. Hmmm, four seats
there. Given that their weapons may malfunction, we
should be prudent and ensure a qualified gunsmith is
around. Two actually, just in case both officers’ side-
arms develop synchronous squawks.
Years ago, Virgin Atlantic Airways used to offer a
massage to its upper-class customers, and given how
much stress everyone is under these days, wouldn’t it
be splendid to have a couple of masseurs on board dish-
ing out back rubs?
Look what we have achieved! By prudent and
thoughtful planning we have protected passengers
from every conceivable issue. Here we find the ultimate
protection—there are no seats left for any passengers,
which will ensure that none of them are killed in a pre-
ventable situation.
Please forgive my sarcasm, but life is dangerous. We
take risks and mitigate them with reasonable measures
while relishing being alive. That is what pilots do. So
please, keep diligent to ensure the lunatics do not run
the asylum and, to quote my favorite bumper sticker,
“Nothing political is correct.” AOPA
EMAIL jonathan.sackier@aopa.org
 R U G G E D VER S ATIL ITY

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PILOT COUNSEL
Aircraft lights
Being seen under ‘see and avoid’
THE FAA FLIGHT RULE that specifies the requirement
for aircraft lights is an important part of the collec-
tion of rules intended to help pilots to see and avoid
other traffic. Reviewing it here is the third follow-up
to my August 2015 column (“Pilot Counsel: The ‘See
and Avoid’ Rules”) that examined the overall “see and
avoid” requirement of FAR 91.113(b) after the NTSB
issued a safety alert on the topic. The specific word-
ing of the regulation bears reemphasizing: “When
weather conditions permit, regardless of whether an
operation is conducted under instrument flight rules
or visual flight rules, vigilance shall be maintained
by each person operating an aircraft so as to see and
avoid other aircraft.” In September, I reviewed the
right-of-way rules, and in October, VFR cruising alti-
tudes—all supplements to “see and avoid.”
The premise of this “aircraft lights” rule is
that a properly lighted aircraft is much
easier to see and avoid.
This month I review FAR 91.209, “Aircraft lights.”
This rule requires lighted position lights for any air-
craft operated during darkness (the period from
sunset to sunrise, or in Alaska, “during the period
a prominent unlighted object cannot be seen from a
distance of 3 statute miles or the sun is more than 6
degrees below the horizon”). And, for aircraft that
also are equipped with an “anticollision light sys-
tem”—as many are—the anticollision lights must be
on at all times, not just during periods of darkness.
However, there is an important qualification for
aircraft that have an anticollision light system that
includes both a rotating beacon and strobe lights. If
the anticollision system is required to be on, must
both the rotating beacon and the strobes be on? The
answer is, technically, yes—both the strobe lights and
the rotating beacon are considered part of the same
anticollision system. However, there is a safety qual-
ification: The FAA recognizes the concern that the
use of a strobe light as an anticollision light could
create an unsafe condition during certain aircraft
JOHN S. YODICE operations.
is an aviation The use of a high-intensity anticollision light,
attorney, pilot, and
longtime aircraft such as a strobe light, could create unsafe conditions
owner. by inducing vertigo and causing spatial distortion. As
24 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
BY JOHN S. YODICE
a result, the FAA included language in the rule to give
the pilot in command the discretion to control how
many lights are turned on in the anticollision system.
The regulation permits the pilot in command to turn
off the anticollision lights if he or she “determines
that, because of operating conditions, it would be in
the interest of safety to turn the lights off.” Can the
pilot turn off both? FAR 91.209(b), as interpreted by
the FAA, gives the pilot in command the discretion
to turn off the anticollision beacon and/or the anti-
collision strobe light system if he or she determines
that it is in the interests of safety to turn off either
one or both of these components of the same light-
ing system.
Another important question answered by an FAA
interpretation is whether the lights must be turned
on prior to engine start. The FAA interpretation
focuses on the meaning of the word “operate” in the
rule, and it concludes that the lights are not required
to be on prior to engine start. An aircraft that is about
to be used is not being “operated” until an engine is
actually started.
It is important to note that this FAA interpreta-
tion addresses what specifically is required by the
rule. The FAA is quick to offer a safety precaution,
recommending that—as a matter of safety—the anti-
collision lights should be on before starting an engine
or causing a propeller or rotor to move. This is a com-
mon practice among many pilots.
To summarize, lighted position lights are
required for any aircraft operated during darkness;
and anticollision lights, if installed, must be on at all
times during aircraft operation. While it ordinarily
is safer to turn on the anticollision lights prior to
engine start—that is, prior to “operation”—this is not
required, although it is recommended. For aircraft
that have both a rotating beacon and strobe lights,
while both are part of the same anticollision light
system, one or both can remain unlighted during air-
craft operation, within the safety discretion of the
pilot in command.
The premise of this “aircraft lights” rule is that
a properly lighted aircraft is much easier to see and
avoid. It is one of the rules that helps us to comply
with FAR 91.113(b). AOPA
WEB www.aopa.org/pps
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 PILOT BRIEFING 32 AOPA ACTION 36 GIVING BACK 42 SWEEPSTAKES 44 BUDGET BUY 62 TEST PILOT

Red Bull
on the move
Air races looking for a U.S. audience, p. 31
CHRIS ROSE

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 29
PILOT BRIEFING

Sponsored by Breitling

GOOD READS |

THIS MONTH IN AVIATION

November
NOVEMBER 13, 1907. French inventor
Paul Cornu flies the first helicopter
20 seconds in a one-foot hover.
NOVEMBER 22, 1909. The Wright Co.
is incorporated.
NOVEMBER 23, 1910.
Octave Chanute
dies at age 78.
November 18,
1913. Lincoln
Beachy flies his
Curtiss biplane
upside down and
performs the first
loop.
November 1918. Orville Wright
writes, “The Aeroplane has made
war so terrible that I do not believe
any country will again care to start
a war.”
November 21, 1921. Wesley May
conducts the first midair refueling
by carrying a five-gallon can of
gasoline from his Lincoln Standard
biplane to the wing of a Curtiss
JN–4.
November 30, 1925. The Douglas
Aircraft Co. is organized.
November 28-29, 1928. Cmdr.
Richard E. Byrd leads the first
flight over the South Pole.
November 19, 1932. The monu-
ment commemorating the Wright
brothers’ first flight is dedicated in
Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.
November 22, 1935. Pan Am
Airways flies the first Pacific airmail
from San Francisco.
November 15,
1942. The first
women report
for Army Air
Corps flight
training in
Texas.
November 20, 1953. A. Scott
Crossfield reaches a speed of
Mach 2.
November 3, 1957. Sputnik II is
launched, carrying the dog Laika.
November 1, 1958. The FAA is
established.
November 9, 1967. First Saturn V
moon rocket launched.
November 11, 1982. Space Shuttle
Columbia starts on its first mission.
November 10, 2005. Boeing’s
Worldliner flies nonstop 12,586
miles from Hong Kong to London
in 22 hours and 42 minutes.
November 30, 2013. Amazon
announces plans for UAV deliveries.
Wrights chronicled in new book
Bestseller David McCullough explores two of aviation’s heroes
B Y J U L I E S U M M E R S WA L K E R
SPEAKING BEFORE the Aero Club
of Washington, D.C., author David
McCullough told more than 250 avi-
ation alphabet-group representatives
that he was pleased to be addressing an
audience who knows the subject matter
of his new book, The Wright Brothers,
released in May. But McCullough—
who researched his book for more than
four years—shared many stories about
aviation’s patriarchs that most had
never heard.
“What surprised me about writing about the Wright brothers was how much I didn’t
know, and how little most of the country knows. They had a bicycle shop, lived in Ohio,
and invented the airplane, period,” he said. “But Edith Wharton wrote that she had seen a
Wright aeroplane in Paris and I was curious why a hick from Ohio was in France. Turns out
nobody believed anything at the time unless it was in Paris; it was not until Le Mans that any-
one believed the Wrights had invented the airplane. Until then they were crackpots, nuts.”
“History is a guide to navigation in
perilous times. History is who we are
and why we are the way we are.”
—David McCullough
McCullough grew to deeply respect the two brothers as he read the more than 1,000
letters they wrote on various subjects, which are housed in the Library of Congress. “They
are humbling to read,” he said. “The brothers were incapable of writing a short letter—
or a boring one,” he said. He recalled the “extremely essential” influence of their sister
Katherine, whom he said deserves long overdue credit; the insistence of their father for
the brothers to read and have purpose; and their courage, both physical and intellectual.
“They never married, never went on a vacation. They had a purpose,” he said. “After
reading their letters—and even if they had failed—I would have wanted to write about
them. There is a lot to learn from the Wright brothers. Adversity, they realized, was the
lift you need in life to succeed.”
McCullough has written many historical novels; The Wright Brothers is his tenth book.
Unlike many of his works, McCullough kept this book under 1,000 pages. But if even
the 320-page book seems overwhelming, no worries—actor/producer Tom Hanks has
purchased the rights to make the movie, much as he did with McCullough’s tome 1776.
EMAIL julie.walker@aopa.org

30 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

 Powered by Red Bull
Kirby Chambliss wants another win for the USA
B Y J U L I E S U M M E R S WA L K E R

SINCE THE COMPETITION’S INCEPTION in 2003, three American pilots have participated in the
Red Bull Air Race World Championships: Kirby Chambliss of Arizona, Michael Goulian of
Massachusetts, and Michael Mangold of Ohio. Mangold won the races in 2003 but no lon- WHAT ARE THE
ger competes. Goulian won the races in 2009 and is an active participant. Chambliss won AIR RACES?
in 2004 and placed third in 2003, 2005, and 2008. In the 2015 races he is ranked fourth (as The Red Bull Air Race
of press time). World Championship
According to Red Bull, Chambliss is determined to win the races again. “I am start- began in 2003. It is a
combination of high
ing to forget what that champagne smells like,” he has said. So Team Chambliss is making
speed, low altitude, and
modifications to his Zivko Aeronautics Edge 540 aircraft. “It’s going to be a whole different extreme maneuverability,
raceplane,“ says Team Chambliss technician Jason Resop. “We’re going to cut it down and flown by some of the
make it a lot slicker. It’s going to be pretty cool—a lot is going to change.” world’s best pilots. The
Some of those changes will appear on the aircraft in the final race of the season at the Las specially designed aerial
racetracks are defined by
Vegas Motor Speedway, October 17 and 18. “It will be cool in Vegas, but there will be even
inflatable ripstop-nylon
more changes to come for the next season,” says Resop. “We’re ready to move on.” pylons, called air gates.
The Red Bull Air Race World Championships in Las Vegas will be televised live by Fox Pilots try to fly the course
Sports and on Red Bull TV online (www.redbull.tv). in the fastest possible
For more information, visit the website (www.redbullairraces.com). time, avoiding penalties.
On race day, pilots fly
head-to-head races until
the winner takes the fast-
est time. Eight races were
Aircraft Three different gates About the gates
held in seven countries in
Wingspan: Less than 25 feet Single cone: Airplanes fly • Gates are 82 feet high,
2015, featuring 14 Master
through at a 90-degree angle spaced 49 feet apart
pilots (there is also a
Top speed: 265 mph
Challenger class). The
Double cone: Airplanes in level • Cone shape is 16 feet
final race at the Las
Track: 3.7 miles long flight at the base, two and a
Vegas Motor Speedway
half feet at top
CHRIS ROSE

was scheduled for

Chicane gate (three or four
October 17 and 18.
single pylons): Slalom flight

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 31
PILOT BRIEFING

AOPA ACTION |
Baker on the move
Notam jam AOPA President Mark Baker travels
more than 60 percent of his time, visit-
AOPA pushes FAA for more useful notices ing airports and aviation enthusiasts
throughout the country.

LAST MONTH
THE FAA HAS RESCINDED a sweeping notam regarding the reliability of OCTOBER 7—NextGen Conference,
Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) surveillance and traf- Memphis
fic collision avoidance system (TCAS) after AOPA raised concerns about the OCTOBER 9-11—AOPA Fly-In, Tullahoma,
Tennessee
ambiguous language, short notice, and month-long duration. It also issued new OCTOBER 15—Wichita Aero Club, Kansas
notams that provided greater detail and shortened the time periods of con- OCTOBER 19-21—GA in Cuba
cern from a month to, in some cases, hours. The new notams also clarify the OCTOBER 23—General Aviation Manufac-
turers Association meeting, Key West,
nature of the potential reliability issues and which systems could be affected. Florida
“We appreciate the FAA’s willingness to step back from the original
notam, which was causing considerable alarm for pilots, and work with us THIS MONTH
NOVEMBER 9—High School Leadership
to provide more accurate and useful data to the aviation community,” said Alliance, Lakeland, Florida
Rune Duke, AOPA director of air traffic and airspace. NOVEMBER 17-19—National Business
The original notam, issued September 1, announced that, from September Aviation Association, Las Vegas
2 through October 1, both ADS-B surveillance and TCAS could be unreliable in
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and airspace extend-
SEPTEMBER 12, 2015
ing approximately 200 nautical miles offshore, as a result of military exercises
in the area. The wording of the notam led many pilots to believe that traffic “It was great to be part of the
information might not be available. But a new notam valid on September 5 and Triple Tree Aerodrome Fly-In.
6 made it clear that during the affected hours, ADS-B might be “less sensitive” There’s no better way to
than usual and that only 1090 MHz ADS-B systems would be affected. Another
notam valid for several hours on September 9 provided a specific radius and
spend a weekend than at an
altitudes of concern. According to the new notams, the military activity would event like this where we can
not generate false TCAS targets and pilots should treat traffic or resolution celebrate and share general
advisories as valid. “This is the kind of solid information pilots need to make
informed decisions when they’re planning and conducting flights,” said Duke.
aviation. Whether you’re new
WEB www.aopa.org/advocacy
to GA or you’ve been flying for
many years, seeing these
historic aircraft take to the sky
HEADLINES THAT AFFECT YOU | is a thrill that brings
Recent news from the aviation world
the past alive.”
MOVE TO ICAO FLIGHT PLAN number of exhibitors “underscores
DELAYED UNTIL 2016 the strength of the business avia-
The FAA announced it will delay tion industry.” —Aviation Week
plans to require all flights use the Third class medical reform update

ICAO form until October 2016.
—AOPA Online
VOTERS OPPOSE PRIVATIZING ATC
Survey shows 55 percent are
against “taking it away from the
FAA and turning it over to a non-
profit organization.” —AOPA Online
TEXTRON TO ANNOUNCE TWO
BIZJETS AT NBAA
The National Business Aviation
Association convenes November
17 to 19 in Las Vegas, where the
NASA, FAA DISCUSS FORMAL
COLLABORATION ON DRONES
RTCA to develop performance
standards for small commercial
drones. —AIN Online
FAA MAKES UPGRADING ATTITUDE
INDICATORS EASIER
A change in FAA policy now
makes replacing vacuum-driven
attitude indicators with electrically
driven models a minor alteration.
—AOPA Online
67
U.S. senators are now co-spon-
sors of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2
(reform third class medical and
provide legal protections for
pilots facing FAA enforcement actions).
“This is certainly significant progress but it
does not mean we are done,” said Jim Coon,
AOPA senior vice president of government
affairs. “Having more than 60 co-sponsors can
help ensure that if PBR2 makes it to the floor,
there are enough votes to stop a filibuster and
keep the process moving.” There are 67 Senate
and 136 House co-sponsors in support of third
class medical reform.

32 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

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PILOT BRIEFING
ACTION IN THE STATES
|
GA airports contribute $967
million a year to Louisiana’s
economy and generate payrolls
of $297 million.

ALASKA REGION
AOPA Alaska Regional Manager Tom
George worked with the Secret Ser-
vice, TSA, and the FAA to minimize
the impact of the president’s visit in
September. With the Alaska Airmen’s
Association and others, AOPA got allow-
ance for seaplanes to use the Lake Hood
seaplane base in Anchorage. George
attended a conference on unmanned
aircraft systems hosted by the University
of Alaska in Fairbanks. AOPA encour-
ages the FAA and UAS operators to pro-
vide pilots with information about UAS
operations to allow pilots to coordinate
with UAS operators when needed.

NORTHWEST WESTERN PACIFIC CENTRAL GREAT LAKES SOUTHERN REGION EASTERN REGION
MOUNTAIN REGION REGION SOUTHWEST REGION Pilots in Florida In New Hamp-
AOPA is working California Sen. AOPA Great Lakes learned how to shire, Eastern
REGION
with the FAA to Jean Fuller, a Regional Manager fly more for less Regional Manager
According to the
help pilots who fly longtime general Bryan Budds spoke thanks to a “Maxi- Sean Collins took
Louisiana Airports
in Salem, Oregon, aviation supporter, in support of mum Fun, Mini- part in a public
Economic Impact
after an expansion is in the influential Michigan H.B.4727, mum Cost: How to hearing regarding
Study released this
of Class D airspace position of Senate which requires Form and Operate seaplane access
year, GA airports
around McNary Republican leader. that meteorologi- a Successful Flying to the Bellamy
contribute $967
Field Airport. An aircraft owner, cal evaluation tow- Club” seminar, River, opposing a
million a year to
AOPA asked for pilot, and AOPA ers be marked and presented by petition seeking to
the state’s econo-
cutouts to allow member for more registered with the AOPA Ambassa- prohibit seaplane
my and generate
operations at than 30 years, state’s tall struc- dor Jamie Beckett access to a sec-
payrolls of $297
nearby Christ- Fuller has spon- ture database. at Vero Beach tion of the river in
million, distributed
mas tree farms. sored numerous AOPA met with Municipal Airport. Dover. He is taking
among 9,307 jobs.
AOPA Director of pieces of GA- legislative leaders The friendly, casual part in a series of
In Oklahoma,
State Government friendly legisla- from Indiana to atmosphere gave conversations with
AOPA worked
Affairs Jared Es- tion. As founder discuss AOPA ini- pilots a chance the Connecticut
with state law-
selman discussed of the California tiatives and ways to ask questions, Airport Author-
makers to create
GA at the National Aviation Caucus, to strengthen the share ideas, and ity as it seeks
permanent rules
Conference of she has helped state’s airport make contacts ways to boost the
on meteorological
State Legisla- grow support for system. AOPA met with other inter- economic impact
evaluation towers
tures in Seattle, GA in the state. with airport com- ested aviators in of the state’s GA
to help protect
Washington. At AOPA Ambassa- munity members their area. AOPA airports. In Maine,
pilots flying at
the Democratic dor Kay Sundaram from Illinois, Wis- Southern Regional AOPA is work-
low altitudes from
Governors As- presented a new consin, and Min- Manager Steve ing with officials
hitting the towers,
sociation policy seminar on flying nesota on ways to Hedges spoke at from Bar Harbor
which often were
summit in Aspen, clubs at McClellan- strengthen airport the Kentucky Avi- Airport who are
unmarked and dif-
Colorado, Essel- Palomar and Ful- offerings, in- ation Association concerned about
ficult to see.
man met with Gov. lerton Municipal crease community meeting, deliver- a marine aqua-
John Hickenlooper airports. involvement, and ing an update on culture proposal
and Montana Gov. grow the econom- third class medical that could create a
Steve Bullock. ic impact of their reform and FAA wildlife hazard.
airports. reauthorization.

34 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

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PILOT BRIEFING
GIVING BACK |
CAP shows
compassion
Civil Air Patrol pilots add compassion flights
B Y J E F F VA N W E S T
ANNIE BEAULIEU looked at a group of
parked airplanes and saw potential. “You
could tell they were maintained, but
weren’t being flown much. I thought, Does
anyone do anything with these airplanes?
Then I thought this might be the solution
we were looking for.”
Beaulieu was in search of pilots and air-
craft for Patient Airlift Services (PALS),
to fly patients with noncritical medical
needs from across Maine to and from the
medical Mecca that is Boston. Beaulieu
and her PALS partner, Jim Platz, can log
1,000 hours a year in Platz’s Cessna 414,
but there’s even more need. There usually
are 200 PALS flights a month from Maine
alone.
The seemingly idle airplanes belonged
to the U.S. Air Force. They were Cessnas
operated by the Civil Air Patrol. Beaulieu
told Platz she would simply ask CAP if its
pilots and airplanes could be used for com-
passion flights, such as PALS missions.
CAP Col. Dan Leclair, commander of
the Northeast Region and a Maine resident,
said he liked the idea and would present it
to CAP leadership. “Our organization likes
to see 200 hours a year on an airplane,”
36 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
said Leclair. “Sometimes we have to place
an aircraft somewhere for strategic rea-
sons and it’s hard to get proper utilization.
Helping our local citizens was my primary
motivation.”
He coordinated with PALS and Angel
Flight—a similar compassion-flight orga-
nization—as well as the CAP national
commander, CAP Operations, and the
USAF General Council. Requesting a CAP
aircraft for compassion flights is now
an option for CAP pilots in all 50 states.
Pilots sign up for a mission on the PALS
or Angel Flight website. Then they submit
a request to the CAP National Ops Center,
as they would for any CAP flight. When
the approval comes back—usually within
24 hours—they’re set.
CAP’s training and currency system are
accepted by PALS and Angel Flight in lieu
of those organizations’ training require-
ments. However, pilots still must meet the
experience minimums of the medical air-
lift organization they’re partnering with,
which may be more stringent than CAP.
“Most of our pilots like to fly with a
purpose. This is another mission that gives
pilots a reason to fly,” Leclair said.
AOPA FOUNDATION |
Giving Back
grant
recipients
The AOPA Foundation awards Giv-
ing Back grants of up to $10,000 to
worthy causes that help promote
aviation education and safety, help
preserve airports, increase the pilot
population, and/or facilitate chari-
table work being done through
general aviation. These organiza-
tions and their missions will re-
ceive grants in 2016:
• Build A Plane. AOPA Foundation
grant funds will be used to imple-
ment an aircraft-building project
designed to be a gang intervention
program. Participants will refurbish
an Aeronca Champ to airworthiness
over a 12-month period. Upon com-
pletion of the project, participants
will be given flight training in the
completed Champ, which qualifies
as a Light Sport aircraft.
• Hope Flight Foundation. The
Hope Flight Foundation provides
lifesaving flights for seriously ill
children and AOPA Foundation
grant funds will be used to cover
upcoming flights in California,
Nevada, and Oregon. When costly
ambulance rides and commercial air
transport are not an option, Hope
Flight provides a solution.
• Sophie Gerson Healthy Youth.
AOPA Foundation grant funds will
fund a weeklong Aviation and Space
Camp at the New York City Center
for Space Science Education. The
camp will be available to more than
30 low-income students from New
York middle schools. Students will
explore the principles of flight, train
on flight simulators, build and fly
model airplanes, and take part in
simulated space missions.
www.aopafoundation.org/giving-back
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PILOT BRIEFING

ON THE ROAD |

Flying South Africa

A great place to train, explore
BY EDWIN REMSBERG

FLIGHTS from Brakpan, South

Africa, allow pilots to view a
variety of landscapes (above).
The “big feet and long teeth”
(below left). A Sky Africa
trainer (below).

SOUTH AFRICA offers year-round flight training

thanks to its ideal weather patterns, varied ter-
rain, and costs lower than in most of the world,
thanks to an increasingly favorable exchange
rate. Within the region, Sky Africa in Brakpan is
one of the best flight schools around.
“I think standards and flying and airmanship
in South Africa are as good as any in the world,”
said Karl Finatzer of Sky Africa. “Sometimes bet-
ter, because of the remoteness.” South Africa’s
landscape has a few challenges that a pilot used
to flying in a more developed area would not
encounter. “That’s one of the reasons why South
Africa is a big training ground for foreign pilots.”
The flight school offers a variety of opportu-
nities to those wanting to explore South Africa
by air. It has 50-, 100-, and 200-hour time-build-
ing packages flying various types of aircraft. The
school also offers self-fly safaris, in which the
traveler gets to pilot his or her own airplane,
and bush pilot training courses that take pilots
to areas with long, short, narrow, grassy, gravel-
filled, uphill, or downhill runways.
“Africa is filled with big feet and very long
teeth,” said Finatzer. “The goal is to make a con-
fident and competent all-around flier. In all
locations and in all conditions.”
The school familiarizes pilots with the ani-
mal and plant life—how to recognize what is
safe, and what is not; when to
run and when to freeze in posi-
tion; and how pilots can protect
their airplanes on the ground.
“There is no country in
the world, no continent in the
world, as versatile and pictur-
esque to fly in,” said Finatzer.
EDWIN REMSBERG is a Maryland-
based photographer currently
flying and photographing
South Africa.

38 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

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PILOT BRIEFING
PRODUCT REVIEW | INTEGRATED
ELECTRONIC SHIFTING
programmable with
touch button
PORTABILITY
collapsible design
PIT STOP WHEEL
easy flat-tire
changing
Go, go gadget
Electric bike helps you get around
B Y M AT T H E W O R LO F F
EXPLORING DIFFERENT places is part of what makes flying so enjoyable.
Once you arrive at your destination, though, you can’t exactly park your
airplane on Main Street. For the savvy pilot with deep pockets who may
not feel like breaking a sweat, the Gocycle is a nice option to get around
after tiedown.
Collapsible electric bikes have grown in popularity among pilots because
they are able to fit in the baggage compartments of most airplanes. The
Gocycle, a lightweight electric bicycle from Karbon Kinetics Ltd., is loaded
with new technology and state-of-the-art design features.
As far as bicycles go, this is a Rolex. Designer and founder Richard
Thorpe brought his experience in designing lightweight race car compo-
nents to the design of the 35.4-pound magnesium alloy e-bike. This flashy
electric bike probably wouldn’t appeal to the budget-conscious bush pilot
looking to get a good workout while mountain biking. It’s more suitable for
the convenience-minded pilot who likes to stick to the pavement.
Some of the Gocycle’s features include pedal torque sensing, a variety
of riding modes, an LED dashboard display, electronic predictive shifting,
proprietary 500-watt drive motor, and the Gocycle Connect App via wire-
less Bluetooth. The adjustable seat post and frame are designed to fit most
riders at the same contact points as a large-wheel bicycle. The Gocycle can
40 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
DASH DISPLAY
speed, gear selection,
and battery charge
ERGONOMIC DESIGN
adjustable for
all body types
LITHIUM POWER PACK
In-frame Lithium-ion
battery
travel up to 40 miles on a charge, depending on pedal
input. It collapses to about 24 inches by 30 inches by
12 inches for stowing.
What’s neat about riding the Gocycle is the way it
can sense your current speed—so long as you are con-
tinuously pedalling (it doesn’t matter how hard you’re
pedalling so long as you are doing it)—and maintain
that speed as if it were a car in cruise control. It’s fun
to use the Gocycle Connect App to control your pedal
effort versus speed ratio and riding modes (which
include City, Eco, On Demand, and Eco+). Folding it
up and putting it back together again isn’t too challeng-
ing a puzzle to solve.
All these features, along with its visual design, are
impressive, but the real question is: Is all this really
necessary? The answer to that question is up to you. If
you are considering buying a collapsible electric bike,
do you want to roll up to that $100 hamburger joint in
style? If so, for $5,000, the Gocycle will do just that.
MATTHEW ORLOFF, a student pilot, served as an
editorial intern for AOPA Pilot.
WEB www.gocycle.com
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PILOT BRIEFING
AOPA 2015 YOU CAN FLY SWEEPSTAKES
AOPA sweeps airplane is now home
It’s been a year of flying excitement
B Y D AV E H I R S C H M A N
THE AOPA 2015 Sweepstakes
“Reimagined” Cessna 152 has
returned to the association’s
headquarters in Frederick,
Maryland, and it’s ready for deliv-
ery to its winner early next year.
During an eventful year, the
1978 trainer remanufactured by
the craftsmen at Aviat Aircraft
flew from the mid-Atlantic to
Florida, California, Wisconsin,
and back. It was displayed at
EAA AirVenture and AOPA Fly-
Ins in four U.S. time zones. It’s
crossed the Continental Divide
several times and logged more
than 200 flight hours.
Most important, it has
proven the viability of refur-
bished trainers as tough,
reliable, attractive, and eco-
nomical alternatives to new
aircraft for flying clubs and
flight schools. Companies such
42 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
|
as Premier Aircraft, Redbird,
Sporty’s, and Yingling Aviation
have started their own Cessna
Skyhawk refurbishment and
diesel conversion programs
driven by the same economics.
AOPA President Mark Baker,
who learned to fly in a Cessna
150 and bought a 10-year-old
model as his first aircraft in 1979,
said the trainer fleet has plenty
of life left in it. “Cessna 150s and
152s are the best trainers that
have ever been built,” he said.
“They’re the Piper J–3 Cubs of
our generation—and their time
has come, again.”
N152UC had logged about
6,200 airframe hours when
AOPA purchased it in early 2014
and flew it to Afton, Wyoming,
for restoration. There, it was
disassembled; the Lycoming
O-235 engine was overhauled;
and the airframe was pains-
takingly rebuilt using all-new
pulleys, cables, wiring, and
hardware. A new interior was
installed, all the windows were
replaced, and the instrument
panel was rebuilt.
It also has modern improve-
ments such as a Garmin GTR
225 radio, an aera 560 touch-
screen GPS, and a GDL 39
ADS-B receiver. It will go to its
winner with two new Bose A20
headsets and a subscription to
Jeppesen Mobile VFR, a flight
planning and navigation app.
I f e r r i e d N 1 5 2 UC t o
Maryland from the AOPA
Fly-In in Anoka, Minnesota, and
the combination of a delight-
fully responsive airplane and
a tailwind made the 900-nm
AOPA MEMBERS are automatically entered to win the 2015
You Can Fly Sweepstakes. Members on Automatic Annual
Renewal receive additional entries (www.aopa.org/sweep-
stakes).
LY
F
O
Y
U N
C A
trip easily doable in a day.
Thunderstorms in southern
Wisconsin and northern Illinois
made a direct route impossible,
but the situational awareness
provided by in-cockpit weather
allowed an end run through
central Illinois and Indiana.
After a fuel stop in Ohio, a climb
to 9,500 feet led to a smooth trip
across the Appalachians and
into western Maryland.
Pilots who see N152UC can’t
help noticing its bright yellow
paint, and it’s meant to stand
out. Baker says he wants it to be
a “conversation starter” for avi-
ation enthusiasts everywhere.
Mark Evans, an AOPA pilot
and active flight instructor, has
taken many people flying in
N152UC—from rusty pilots who
haven’t flown in years to flight
instructor candidates seeking
spin endorsements. “It’s a really
honest airplane and a reliable
performer that really gives a
good, warm feeling about the
act of going flying,” Evans said.
“This is much more than just
another airplane. This one’s
special because it does some-
thing few others can do. It
can go out there day after day
and produce good pilots, and
that’s something aviation needs
right now.”
EMAIL dave.hirschman@aopa.
org
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PILOT BRIEFING
BUDGET BUY | VREF VALUE
Vref, the AOPA partner
offering aircraft value esti-
mates, suggests a base price
for the Beechcraft Skipper of
$17,000 for the 1979 model
to $19,000 for a 1981 model.

RECENT ADVERTISED PRICES

At the time this was writ-
ten, no Beechcraft Skipper
airplanes were listed for
sale in Trade-A-Plane, but a
1979 model had sold a few
days earlier in mid-summer
2015 for $23,500; a 1981
model with GPS was
sold four months earlier
for $18,000. A search of
Controller.com also showed
no Skippers for sale, but the
Barnstormers.com website
listed two pilots who want
to buy a Skipper. Neither has

Elegant economy
had any luck.

INSURANCE COSTS
AOPA Insurance Services
estimates an average-cost
Skipper flown by a low-
time pilot will cost $900 to
Beechcraft Skipper is a classy act $1,000 per year to insure.
www.aopainsurance.org
B Y A LTO N K . M A R S H
HOW MANY IN THE FLEET?
BEECHCRAFT HAD a reputation as the next level up in piston-engine aircraft—a classier act— AIRPAC PlaneBase shows an
and that certainly applies to the elegant Model 77 Skipper. It was introduced at Beech Aero FAA-registered fleet of 143
Beechcraft Skipper aircraft.
Centers in 1979, at the beginning of the end of the general aviation boom in the United States,
and went out of production three years later with only 312 built. FINANCING
The Skipper ended up looking a lot like the more numerous Piper Tomahawk and was AOPA Finance estimates
$282 per month to $315
spinnable; the Tomahawk could spin, but you weren’t sure you wanted to during its early per month at 6.5 percent
service. It had a great safety record but a poor record for fatalities associated with spins, a for a $17,000 to $19,000
problem that was corrected. The Skipper turned heads with a roomy and comfortable inte- loan on a Skipper. The loan
requires 15 percent down
rior, a few knots more speed (at 97 knots true airspeed), and a slightly slower stalling speed. and a term of five years.
www.aopafinance.org
THE REAL WORLD
AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVES
Solo Flight Training, a school at Ellington Field in Houston, has two Skippers—one with a No dark clouds.
training history that has worked perfectly since it was bought, and one that sat in a garage with
deferred maintenance issues that took a while to bring up to date. Both have good records at BIGGEST PLUS
Large-size Americans can
the school. The owner of both Skippers, Kevin Gabriel, estimates an operating cost—including get in them.
fuel, oil, maintenance, an engine reserve fund, tiedown fees, and insurance—of $65 an hour.
The aircraft rent for $105 an hour with a discount for block-hour purchases. BIGGEST MINUS
Slow.
There aren’t any really nasty things to say about them. The aircraft skin is thinner than a
beer can in Gabriel’s estimation, meaning a hail storm might cause slight damage to the Skipper
while a Bonanza sitting next to it goes unscathed. Both Skippers like to draw down the left tank THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR
In the right light, you can
first. The fuel valve is either On or Off, so tanks can’t be switched—which is good in a training see dings from a hailstorm if
environment. Instructors like the airplanes because they are easy to fly, and easy for students. there are any. Tanks drain un-
The Skippers wag their tails in bumpy air, probably because they are happy. They look and evenly. Door hinges are thin
and break easily, especially if
feel like a bigger airplane, and they make a favorable impression on students who compare someone loses control of the
them to a Cessna 150. Air vents in the panel are inadequate, but extra door in high winds.
WHOM TO CONTACT
aftermarket vents are available. On a hot day, Skippers do not climb Beech Aero Club; 855-933-
eagerly with two large people aboard, but they do it. 5923; www.beechaeroclub.
WHAT ELSE TO CONSIDER
org; bacadmin@beechaero
Cessna 150/152, Piper
club.org
EMAIL alton.marsh@aopa.org Tomahawk

44 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

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PILOT BRIEFING
INTERVIEW |
Airplane built from
cans powers hobbyist
Beverage cans may put pilot back into the air
B Y A LTO N K . M A R S H
CAN CANS FLY? Sure, if you throw them hard enough.
Wayne Mathis of Helena, Montana, makes airplanes
from beer and soda cans that really can fly. His custom-
ers who have purchased a set of his plans discovered
if you add a model aircraft engine, they fly just like the
real thing. B.C. (beverage can) Air Originals was started
46 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
by Mathis, a retired printer with a pilot certificate, who
offers plans for 53 models that cost $10 to $20.
How did you get started?
I had built airplanes out of everything from twigs to
cardboard, plastic, and paper since I was 5 years old. A
friend knew this and asked if I could make an airplane
out of a beer can.
How long have you been doing this?
Since 1984 I have offered plans for 53 designs, from $10 to
$19.95, and have 1,500 squadron members. I call my cus-
tomers squadron members. I have 10 grandkids and they
all have one or more, depending on how often they visit.
Why do you do this?
If I sell enough airplanes I can return to flying. Also, I’m
just plane nuts.
EMAIL alton.marsh@aopa.org
WEB www.bcairoriginals.com
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©2015 Bank of America Corporation ARGYB8WH-07112014

PILOT BRIEFING

FIRST LOOK |

FILMMAKERS Henry Saine

(left) and Colin Ebeling
(right) want to make a full-
length film of Rinker Buck’s
Flight of Passage. Buck
(center) told the story of how
he and his brother flew coast
to coast in a Piper PA–11 Cub
Special as teenagers.

Looking for a the adventure, the discipline,

wider audience
Filmmakers want to bring ‘Flight of Passage’ to the big screen
B Y J I L L W. TA L L M A N
TWO FILMMAKERS want to bring Rinker
Buck’s iconic Flight of Passage to the silver
screen, and they have cleared the first hur-
dle by acquiring funding to make a short
film that will be shown to investors.
Colin Ebeling and Henry Saine and
their production company, Just Chorizo
Productions, used the crowdfunding site
Indiegogo to raise $36,370 to make a short
film that they’ll pitch to investors, actors,
and studios.
Buck’s memoir describes how he and his
older brother Kernahan flew a Piper PA–11
Cub Special from New Jersey to California
in 1966. At the time, they were 15 and 17
years old, respectively, and were the young-
est pilots to make the cross-country trip.
Flight of Passage resonated with
Ebeling, who read it while learning to fly in
2007. “Flight of Passage just basically spoke
to everything I was experiencing in learn-
ing to how to fly. It was all of the adventure
and excitement and also the discipline, and
I just sparked to its message and everything
it said about flying and life in general,” he
said. Ebeling earned his pri-
vate pilot certificate and flies
out of Whiteman Airport in Los
Angeles, California.
Much loved in the aviation
community, Flight of Passage
needs to be brought to a wider
audience, Ebeling said. “Its
appeal is much more univer-
sal. It’s a coming-of-age story
[with] family relationships,
brotherhood, adventure, and
coming to terms with yourself
and the hand you were dealt in
life. It’s one of these wonderful pieces that
didn’t quite break out…it deserves to. We
want a larger audience to be a part of it and
be able to experience [Buck’s] work.” Buck is
profiled in the September 2015 AOPA Pilot
(“Pilots: Flight of Passage Author”). His 2015
book, The Oregon Trail: A New American
Journey, is on the New York Times bestseller
list for hardcover nonfiction.
The full-length film could inspire a new
generation “to see what flying’s all about,
the camaraderie of pilots,”
Ebeling said.
In the meantime, a
short film is being produced
because “pretty much the
only thing that gets green-
lit these days is existing,
proven properties,” Ebeling
said. That’s why you’re see-
ing mostly superhero films
and sequels at local cinemas.
“It’s hard in Hollywood
to get an agent or a film exec-
utive to sit down and read
105 pages of a feature-length
script, but if you send them
a link to a short film they
instantly understand what
the project is about, and they
can see and hear and imag-
ine how to market it,” Ebeling
said. The short film will
showcase some of the book’s
best moments, including a flying sequence
shot by Bill Richards, one of Hollywood’s
aerial cinematographers. Filming was set
to begin in October.
Just Chorizo Productions produced the
2013 action science-fiction thriller Bounty
Killer in this fashion. “Within a week of put-
ting [a short film] out, we had gotten the
green light,” Eberling said.
EMAIL jill.tallman@aopa.org

48 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

 AOPA PILOT PROTECTION SERVICES

Dear AOPA,

On September 8, 2011, I had bypass surgery. When I woke

up, I asked the nurse the fastest way to get discharged. She
said I had to be able to take a walk. So I said “Let’s walk.” My
routine became walking my daughter’s dog, Chloe.

When my wife Darci said, “Carl, you realize you may never fly
again?” I knew she meant well, but that left the dog as the
only one who believed that I would fly again. We had some
long walks and long talks—and Chloe always agreed with me.

I contacted Dr. Warren Silberman at AOPA, who spoke with

my doctor on my behalf. We met in Oshkosh—I rode my
Harley to meet them. With their help—and lots of emails
and phone calls and perseverance and assistance from
AOPA—on September 8, 2014, I learned my medical would
be reinstated.

I think the lesson is to never give up. There are many of

us pilots throughout the country who are over 50 and
concerned about our next medical. We assume that we
get high blood pressure or something and we’re done. My
advice is to not let a negative ruling from an aviation medical
examiner discourage you. Get a second opinion. Don’t give
up. Some cases will be overturned and some won’t, but you’ll
never know if you just surrender.

Sincerely,

Carl Neuzil
12,000-hour pilot
Dallas, Texas

See Carl’s story at

aopa.org/flywithcarl

Call 1.800.872.2672 or
visit aopa.org/pps today. PILOT PROTECTION SERVICES

LEGAL | MEDICAL
 PILOT BRIEFING
AVIATION HISTORY |
Doc’s heart
is beating again
One of the Seven Dwarf B–29 bombers returns to the skies
B Y A LTO N K . M A R S H
WHEN IT WAS OVER, T.J. Norman, supervisor of the
restoration of Doc, the B–29 bomber in Wichita,
leapt from the pilot’s seat and extended half his
body through the window, applauding in the direc-
tion of the volunteers who put Doc back together
again. Then he reached down to the cartoon draw-
ing of one of Snow White’s favorite dwarfs and
patted the head of Doc.
That pat was mostly for Doc’s willingness
to start engine number two, the one hiccup in
the first engine start for the bomber in many
decades—nearly seven. Engine number two is
inboard on the pilot’s side of the aircraft, the left
side. The first engine start is a huge milestone
toward the first flight, which the restoration team
hopes will occur in October.
First,there are many more engine starts and
tests at higher revolutions per minute. Engine
number two will have to be looked at. It appears
it was a sticky throttle-mixture lever that provided
too much fuel during the start attempt, flooding it.
Motoring, or turning the engine with the starter
motor without ignition, was used to pump the
50 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
excess fuel out of the engine. The start took place
across from McConnell Air Force Base, which
owns the runways Doc must use for first flight.
Actually making that first flight involves two
steps. The FAA must approve an engine runup
demonstration, and the Air Force must grant an
exception to allow Doc to land after the first flight.
At the moment the rules say that once Doc takes
off, he’ll need to go somewhere else to land because
returning to the Air Force base isn’t permitted.
Present in the co-pilot seat was Tony Mazzolini,
who wrestled Doc away from the U.S. Navy (it
wanted another warbird as a trade and he got it
for them) and out of the California desert. It was
a bombing target, last of a group of B–29s each
named after one of the Seven Dwarfs. Another of
that group is in an aviation museum in Arizona.
“Tony’s a kid again,” said Norman. “He’s 25
again.”
“All of the quality work paid off,” said 81-year-
old Mazzolini.
EMAIL alton.marsh@aopa.org
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PILOT BRIEFING

FLYING CLUBS |

‘The sky’s the limit’

A gem in Middle Tennessee
B Y A R M A N D V I LC H E S

TUCKED INTO the rolling hills of Middle Tennessee is a flying club that is creating excitement
in the local flying community. In the course of a year, the Lebanon Flying Club has more than
doubled its membership and has added a third aircraft to its fleet. There is a membership wait
list, and it too is growing. The driver of the club’s recent growth and success is the combination
of dynamic club leadership and three very well-maintained and -equipped aircraft.
The club’s first airplane, a 1970 Cessna 172K, was purchased in 1978 from the FBO at Lebanon
Municipal Airport (M54). The airplane is still in the fleet and flying out of the same airport. Over
the years, the Skyhawk has been upgraded. First, a 180-horsepower engine was added, and then
glass avionics were installed. Now, the 45-year-old airframe is equipped with an Aspen EFD
1000 PFD, a Garmin GNS 430W, and an S-Tec Fifty autopilot with altitude hold.
In 1995 the club members wanted to add an additional airplane to carry them faster and far-
ther. Staying true to the club’s mission for economical flying, a 1978 Gulfstream Aerospace AA-5B
Tiger was chosen. It’s speedy, simple, and fun to fly. The Tiger also had its panel upgraded, and
it now has the same avionics as those in the Cessna 172.
At each monthly dinner meeting there is a safety officer briefing followed by detailed main-
tenance reports. This is a welcoming club, and by tradition monthly meetings are open to any
nonmember interested in attending. It is not unusual to have one or two guests at each meeting.  
The club found a limit of 12 members per aircraft is the perfect balance. Cross-country trips
are encouraged, and members can take an aircraft for up to 72 hours without prior approval.
The club’s leadership dedicates the necessary time to plan for the future. Financial and debt
management plans, membership recruitment, and the ability to take advantage of opportuni-
ties are always discussed openly. Recently, the club learned of a pristine 1977 Cessna 182Q that
was for sale. The leadership, with member approval, acquired the aircraft.
With three aircraft, 36 members, and an active wait list, every member is busy keeping the STARTING A FLYING CLUB
Ready to start a flying club at
club moving forward. Club members have a positive and enthusiastic attitude about the future
your airport? AOPA can help.
of GA. Club Secretary T.O. Cragwall said of the club’s future: “The sky’s the limit.” The AOPA flying club initia-
tive can help (www.aopa.
ARMAND VILCHES is a commercial pilot, flight instructor, and member of the Lebanon Flying Club. org/flyingclubs).

52 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

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 PILOT BRIEFING
FRUGAL FLIER |
VFR ferry kit
My dozen ‘essentials’
B Y D AV E H I R S C H M A N
FLYING LIGHT VFR AIRCRAFT on long trips
requires reducing the contents of your
flight bag to the absolute minimum. There
simply isn’t room for excess stuff.
During ferry flights this year in air-
planes such as an American Champion
Citabria, Piper J–3 Cub, Pitts S–1, and the
Reimagined Cessna 152, I’ve gone from
Alaska to Arizona and Wyoming to Maine—
and brutally pared the contents of my flight
bag. Here are my 12 travel “essentials.”
An Oregon Aero seat cushion. It’s
expensive ($173) but worth it, especially
for marathon trips. I feel silly toting the
memory-foam “child seat” through TSA
inspections, but the state of a pilot’s back-
side profoundly affects his or her state of
mind. And simply being comfortable and
MFD 650 free from back pain greatly enhances one’s
enjoyment of flying.
An ADS-B receiver. They all have
pluses and minuses, but my Garmin GDL
39 has become a trusted friend. In-cockpit
54 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
weather is the greatest safety feature VFR
pilots have ever been granted. And the
$100 accessory battery pack can power the
receiver for four hours at a stretch. When a
cigarette lighter adaptor isn’t available (or
fails), that battery pack is worth its weight
in gold. (And the attitude and heading
reference system that provides synthetic
vision via Bluetooth is good peace of mind.)
iPad. The darn thing is indispensable.
I resisted for the first year or so, but now
I can scarcely imagine making a long ferry
trip without it.
Personal locator beacon. I carry an
ACR model, but there are many fine offer-
ings in this area. I’m also intrigued by the
new generation of satellite phones/mes-
sengers (especially the DeLorme inReach
and Iridium GO!) but haven’t sprung for
one yet.
Noise-canceling headset. Loud cock-
pits can be tremendously fatiguing, and
reducing the noise level can vastly enhance
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THE SKY
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mental acuity by the end of a long flight.
Bose generously sponsored the AOPA 2015
Sweepstakes Reimagined Cessna 152 by
providing A20 headsets for the winner. I

THE LIMIT.
started wearing the Bose while making a
technique video in the airplane, and now
I want to bring it with me wherever I go.
Halo in-ear headset. This unit is incred-
ibly small and light, and it’s easy to take
along—although I usually carry it as a
spare. When I bring a companion, I let the
passenger use the noise-canceling headset
while I wear the Halo.
Afrin. Especially in the spring, a pre-
flight shot clears the sinuses and keeps
them open all day long.
Let us show you why.
Sunglasses. I prefer Flying Eyes
because they fit well with a noise-cancel-
ing headset.
Flashlight. Actually, two of them, both
using the same double-A batteries as my
headset—so I only have to stock up on one
kind of battery.
Kneeboard. I bought my trifold model
from Sporty’s more than 20 years ago, and
it’s held up remarkably well. Now, it’s as
much a good-luck charm/comfort blanket Try as you might, you cannot see the end of the sky.
as a notepad. That’s the view we take at Phillips 66® Aviation. One that’s
Portable GPS. There are lots of good
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I don’t use the XM Weather feature any- leave the aviation business, Phillips 66® Aviation stands
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I’m embarrassed to say the aviation data
is years out of date. But ADS-B provides since 1927. Going the distance. That’s our vision.
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Dynon D2 Pocket Panel. This all-in-one,
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airplanes. It clips into, or onto, any instru-
ment panel, and it provides immediate
and reliable groundspeed, ground track,
and attitude information. When flying at
night, in hazy conditions, or with a less-
than-perfect vacuum system (and let’s face
it—they’re all less than perfect), I’ve come phillips66aviation.com
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EMAIL dave.hirschman@aopa.org
Phillips 66® and Phillips 66 Wings logo are registered trademarks owned by Phillips 66 Company.
© 2015 Phillips 66 Company. All rights reserved.

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 55
PILOT BRIEFING
MUSINGS |
2015 versus 1985
Back to ‘Back to the Future’
BY CHIP WRIGHT
I WRITE THIS as we enter the latter half of
the year 2015. This is also the thirtieth anni-
versary of the hit movie Back to the Future,
and 2015 is the year in the (then) future that
characters Marty McFly and Doc Brown
visit during the movie’s first sequel. I was a
teenager when the movie came out in 1985,
and the idea of a flying car was thrilling.
To me, it romanticized the idea of flying—
period. I hadn’t actually taken a flying lesson
yet, and had been on only a handful of flights
as a passenger—but movies like BTTF and
Star Wars fed what was already an insatia-
ble desire to fly, not just ride.
Looking back, it’s amazing to see just
how much of aviation has changed—and
how much is the same. In the mid-1980s,
deregulation was still sorting the winners
and the losers among the airlines. Industry
stalwarts such as Eastern and Pan Am were
56 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
on their last legs, Braniff was gone, and
Southwest had barely left Texas. Back then,
you bought tickets—actual, printed tickets,
complete with actual carbon copies—from
a travel agent or at an airport ticket coun-
ter, and you could transfer them from one
individual to another. It also was common
practice to call the airline the day before a
flight to confirm your schedule and reser-
vation, and you talked to a real person, in
the United States. The hub-and-spoke sys-
tem was widely in use but had not been as
perfected as it is today.
The backbones of most domestic
fleets were the Boeing 727, the Douglas
DC–9, and early (and loud) Boeing 737s.
Lockheed had just shut down the L–1011
line, but the DC–10 was still being built.
The only twin-engine widebody at the
time was Boeing’s 767.
In the general aviation world, Cessna
was the heavy hitter, but the end of an
era was approaching because, in 1986, it
would stop building piston aircraft. Pipers,
Mooneys, Lakes, and Beechcraft all still
were in production. It was common to see
twin-engine training at most flight schools,
using Piper Apaches and the Beechcraft
Duchess.
There probably is no greater example
of the changes in aviation than the instru-
ment panels. Gone are the days when an
IFR airplane had an actual “six pack” of
instruments. Further, there was little in
the way of redundancy. If something broke,
especially in instrument conditions, you
needed to have a fair amount of proficiency
in order to safely return to terra firma.
Speaking of terra firma and cumulus gran-
ite, terrain awareness wasn’t provided by
computer displays, but by the ability of the
pilot to correctly interpret his or her charts,
which were printed on actual paper. VOR
to VOR using an OBS was standard fare
for navigation, and NDBs were numerous
enough that flying NDB approaches was
considered fairly standard practice. Today
we consider it a bor-
derline emergency.
If you had the
spare change, you
could buy a long
range navigation
(loran) unit, which
allowed for direct
navigation before
such was common.
GPS was still a pie-
in-the-sky dream for
the private pilot, and
glass screens and
digital displays were
strictly the purview
of the airlines and
the rich guys. That
said, the dramatic
drop-off in general
aviation production
MATT HERRING
capacity from the
late 1980s into the
1990s allowed the
 robinson_r44_autopilot_ad_2015_aopa_pilot_resized.pdf 1 9/18/2015 8:36:06 AM

Experimental world to thrive, and along

with Experimental airplanes came exper-
imental and high-tech avionics, eventually
leading to the certification of many of the
lightweight electronics we are so familiar
with today. The automation in general avi-
ation has, in many ways, surpassed what
the airlines have. Where one door closed,
another presented opportunity.
Training has evolved as well. Instead of
a few nights a week in a traditional class-
room environment to learn ground-school
materials, most students can learn at home
online at their own pace. Simulators and
flight training devices are now available to
a wide swath of pilots. In fact, we now have
simulators and online training just for the
electronics in the airplane, thanks to the
complexity of modern systems. C

The influence of the Experimental and M

the kit world that took off after the general

aviation slump began is easily seen in the
Y

success of such companies as Cirrus, which CM

began with a kit airplane. The Van’s line of MY

kitplanes has become a model of success. CY

Necessity does indeed become the mother

R44
of invention.
CMY

Today’s fleet, like today’s cars, con- K

sists of safety features and enhancements

almost unheard of in 1985. Airbags, better
seats, and whole-aircraft parachute systems now with
Autopilot
proliferate today. VORs are more frequently
reference points for GPS, and NDBs are all
but gone. Roads? We still need those to get to
the airport. But the Skyhawk and, recently,
the Mooney lines are back, and where The R44 combines the latest technolo
technolo-
they’re going, they don’t need roads. gy with high performance and proven
reliability.
CHIP WRIGHT is an airline pilot and frequent
contributor to AOPA publications.
The optional Genesys Aerosystems’
HeliSAS autopilot includes basic
stability augmentation, heading hold,
navigation signal tracking, and

$82
Drone use will generate approach guidance.

Locate a Robinson dealer

www.robinsonheli.com

billion and 100,000 jobs

by 2025—Association for Unmanned
Vehicle Systems International.

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 57
 PILOT BRIEFING
=PZP[\ZH[5)((
IVV[O
5

HIGH SCHOOL INITIATIVE |

;OL\S[YHSPNO[^LPNO[+*796?
OLHKZL[^P[OZ\WYHH\YHSYLZ[VULHY
KLZPNU^LPNOZQ\Z[V\UJLZ
;OH[»ZQ\Z[HUV\UJLVY[^VTVYL
[OHU[OPZTHNHaPUL`V\»YLOVSKPUNPU
`V\YOHUKZ6ULVM[OLSPNO[LZ[TVZ[
JVTMVY[HISLM\SSMLH[\YLK(59
OLHKZL[Z`V\JHUI\`)\[KLZWP[L
P[ZSPNO[^LPNO[^LOH]LU»[ZHJYPÄJLK
K\YHIPSP[`^P[OHY\NNLKSPNO[^LPNO[HSSV`Z\ZWLUZPVUZ`Z[LT
(UK`V\»SSHSZVNL[ZLHTSLZZ)S\L[VV[O JVTWH[PIPSP[`MVY
Helping STEM
students reach
new heights
AVIATION MAKES science, technology, engi-
neering, and math (STEM) come alive. A
consortium of high school principals, pro-
gram leaders, school superintendents, and
guidance counselors will join AOPA in its
High School Aviation Leadership Alliance,
which will have its first meeting November
9 in Lakeland, Florida.
OV^SPNO[& If you’re an educator or aviation enthu-
siast who wants to help introduce aviation
to students, plan to attend. This is your
opportunity to network with other edu-
cators and learn more about aviation
education in and out of the classroom.
This one-day symposium will help
educators find out how to launch an avia-
tion education program. The symposium
will be held Monday, November 9, at the
Florida Air Museum on Medulla Road in
Lakeland.
“This one-day symposium will help us
begin the conversation of how to grow gen-
eral aviation through the high schools,” said
Pat Cwayna, CEO of the West Michigan
Aviation Academy and AOPA director of
the leadership alliance. “We want to bring
the shortage of GA activity to the attention
of principals and school leaders. We need
to show them how GA can benefit their
students and let them know the massive
®

amount of jobs in aviation.”

`V\YWOVULHUKLSLJ[YVUPJKL]PJLZHUKV\[Z[HUKPUN/`IYPK “There’s no magic bullet that will
,SLJ[YVUPJ5VPZL*HUJLSSH[PVU(SSMVYO\UKYLKZVMKVSSHYZSLZZ reverse decades of declining pilot num-
bers, but we’re committed to welcoming
[OHUJVTWHYHIS`LX\PWWLK(59OLHKZL[Z
new people into aviation,” said AOPA
6YKLYVUSPULH[.6+*796*64VYJHSS President Mark Baker. “The AOPA High
School Initiative is one more way we’re
  acting on that commitment.”
Made In USA If you have questions, contact AOPA
via email at HS@AOPA.org or visit the
+H]PK*SHYR*VTWHU`0UJVYWVYH[LK
®.YLLUOLHKZL[KVTLZHYLH+H]PK*SHYRYLNPZ[LYLK[YHKLTHYR W W W. D A V I D C L A R K . C O M
website (www.aopa.org/education/
national-aviation-high-school-initiative).

58 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

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 PILOT BRIEFING

NEWS |

ForeFlight now
connected to
Garmin data
GARMIN OPENED its Bluetooth door to
data for outside apps at EAA AirVenture
2015, and now the results are beginning
to appear. ForeFlight Mobile has enabled
two-way flight plan transfer between its
app and Garmin GTN and GNS panel
radios. There are additional benefits as
well.
ForeFlight Mobile can now display
subscription-free Automatic Dependent
Surveillance-Broadcast weather and
traffic information as well as GPS posi-
tion from the Garmin units on iPads and
iPhones. ForeFlight’s synthetic vision
now has pitch and bank information that
comes from Garmin’s data path, called
Flight Stream 210.
ForeFlight Mobile customers who own
a Flight Stream simply need to update
their app at the iTunes store, and the new
Garmin connectivity appears.
Now flight plans can be created on
the home computer using ForeFlight
Web, then transferred via the cloud to the
iPad, and transferred again via Bluetooth
It’s a world,
w into the Garmin panel-mounted radios.
Changes made to flight plans on the panel
d ’t your audio
shouldn’t di be
b too? are synced to the iPad or iPhone.
Procedure preview, a feature already
Get the Most out of your Audio System! found on ForeFlight Mobile, makes
creating complex routes easier. For exam-
ple, arrival and departure routes can be
displayed graphically on the iPad. When
one of the routes is assigned, it can be
selected from displayed graphics in
ForeFlight and that will be transferred
instantly into the Garmin navigator’s
Learn what IntelliAudio® flight plan.
can do for you! Garmin also has cleared Jeppesen
Call or visit our website. users to receive ADS-B data on the Mobile
800-ICS-AERO (800-427-2376) FlightDeck app. Jeppesen also connects
www.ps-engineering.com via Flight Stream. —Alton K. Marsh

60 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

 Elevate your flying.
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Weighing
checkpoints
versus
waypoints
B Y M AC H T E L D S M I T H

CURIOUS ABOUT the assorted small

magenta flags on VFR sectional and ter-
minal area charts? These represent VFR
checkpoints and VFR waypoints, but what
exactly is the difference between the two?
A VFR checkpoint (red arrow) has a
pronounceable name and can be used in
ATC communications. A VFR waypoint
collocated with a VFR checkpoint (red
circle) can be used in ATC communica-
tions and assist with position awareness
using navigation equipment. The five-let-
ter identifier beginning with the letters
“VP” (as in “VPCOH” in this image) can
be entered in a VFR flight plan route sec-
tion if there will be a course change at
that waypoint. However, standalone VFR
waypoints—depicted by a four-point star
symbol similar to their IFR counterparts—
are used only for navigation, not in ATC
communications.
It’s a good idea to turn on landing lights
to be visible to other aircraft when operat-
ing near VFR waypoints.
*Purchase of Jeppesen navigation services at $299 per year.
EMAIL machteld.smith@aopa.org

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 61
 PILOT BRIEFING

TEST PILOT | BY BARRY SCHIFF

1. What is the difference between a squawk and a squit?

2. A pilot preflights his airplane after a clear night and just

before sunrise. There is frost on the wings, but no ice or moisture
on the ground. How is this possible?

3. From reader Bill Havener: During World War II, certain

members of the U.S. Army Air Forces referred to certain other
members as their “little friends.” Who were the “little friends,”
and who referred to them in that manner?
7. The FAA recently announced that there were ______ bird
4. True or false? The minimum safe altitude for an airplane over strikes at U.S. airports in 2014.
a congested area is 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a a. 1,003
horizontal radius of 2,000 feet. b. 4,003
c. 8,003
5. From reader Vince Scala: What is the world record for the d. 12,003
highest altitude ever attained by an airplane powered by an air-
breathing (turbine) engine, and what was the type of aircraft used? 8. True or false? When a pressurized airplane is in cruise flight,
the amount of air entering the cabin is greater than the amount of
6. A person can take dance instruction, martial arts instruction, air leaving the aircraft.

JOHN SAUR
or various other types of personalized instruction. Why, then, is it
62 |  said that a student pilot takes dual instruction? ANSWERS on page 64

WATERDOG
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Reduce stopping distance and turning radius, see for yourself:

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 PILOT PRODUCTS |

Worth the weight

Club Glove’s Carry-On II luggage

AS SOMEONE who spends more than 100 days each year on the road,
quality luggage is as much a necessity for me as it is a luxury for some.
No Louie V or Prada here. Give me tough, practical, and overhead
compliant. Club Glove’s Carry-On II fits the bill. The size is perfect
for several days on the road, and riveted Cordura 1000 construction
means that even the angriest baggage handler is no match. The high-
impact plastic wheelbase houses a pair of high-quality inline skate
wheels that are replaceable—trust me, this is important because they
do wear out. Overall dimensions are 22.5 inches high by 13 inches
wide by nine inches deep, and the bag comes in at a reasonable nine
pounds. At $379 it’s not cheap, but it’s a downright bargain compared
to a comparable bag from luxury makers such as Tumi. If you haven’t
heard of Club Glove, don’t worry, many haven’t…yet. Some pay for a
name; I’d rather pay for $379 worth of product—and this one is worth
every cent. If a flashy name is important, you can also have it embroi-
dered with the AOPA logo.

CHRIS ROSE is a photographer for AOPA Media. | 63

Approx. $2,000 lower than Lycoming*

No Risk Overhaul Pricing**
Overhaul Includes New Cylinder Assemblies,
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OEM Quality PMA Components by Continental Motors
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PILOT BRIEFING

TEST PILOT ANSWERS from page 62

1. A squawk is a transponder’s
response to an interrogation. A squit is
a burst of data automatically transmit-
ted by ADS-B Out, approximately once
per second. Each such squit (or burst)
can contain numerous bits of informa-
tion (aircraft identification, position,
altitude, heading, track, turn rate, indi-
cated airspeed, et cetera).

2. There are several possible reasons,

but the most common is that metal
wings lose (radiate) heat more rapidly
than the ground and get colder.

3. Bomber pilots referred to their

fighter escorts as their “little friends.”

4. False. The statement is not com-

plete. The aircraft also must be high
enough to permit an emergency land-
ing in the event of power failure with-
out endangering people or property on
the surface.

5. Zoom climbing a Soviet MiG–25RB

Foxbat flying under its own power, Al-
exander Fedotov achieved an absolute
altitude record of 123,520 feet. That
altitude could not be sustained in hori-
zontal flight.

6. Early pilots were given instruction

in airplanes that had only a single set
of controls. When airplanes became
available with dual controls, instruction
in such airplanes became referred to as
dual instruction.

7. (d) Bird strikes encountered by air

carriers in 2014 caused approximately
118,000 hours of airline downtime and
repair costs of $187 million.

8. False. If that were so, the cabin

would inflate like a balloon until the
pressure vessel (cabin) eventually rup-
tures. Partially open and modulating
outflow valves allow excess air pres-
sure to vent overboard.

64 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

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 Man’s
best friend A new owner remakes a classic

66 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

 B Y I A N J. T W O M B L Y

DALE EGAN is not foolhardy, and he’s certainly not impulsive. He’s a
patent and corporate attorney with the necessary mixture of tech-
nical know-how and attention to detail. So how does a guy with a job
rooted in logic spend a big chunk of money on an airplane restoration
project that can compete only for most dollars per knot?

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS ROSE AND MIKE FIZER

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 67
 LAUNDRY LIST
Details of the restoration

Here’s a list of some of the restoration tasks on This is a project primarily justified by emotions, and one
Egan’s airplane: with which the owner must have an unhealthy obsession.
• New custom paint scheme That’s not to say it’s all irrational; there is a small bit of logic
• New interior to the Twin Bonanza. This is especially true when you com-
• New floorboards pare restoration costs to new choices on the market. But more
• New interior panels than anything, Egan’s project was born of a love affair with the
classic, cool, stout twin from Beechcraft.
• All new avionics
• New engine control cables
• A dozen new skins
THE EMOTIONAL ARGUMENT
• New flight control surfaces
It was love at first sight. Egan was a relatively new pilot with
• New LED and HID lights about 600 hours, and Skyhawks and Archers didn’t light his
• New windows fire. Milling around a hangar with some friends, he noticed
• New wing tips an old Twin Bonanza in the back—the first he had ever seen.
• Removed vacuum pumps He was completely drawn to the beast lurking in the shadows.
• Removed remote avionics boxes Egan’s friends, whom he says were anxious to leave, didn’t see
• Removed radar the appeal. Maybe they knew of its geared and supercharged
• Installed new landing gear actuator brackets engines, complex systems, and unremarkable cruise speed—
• New yokes and considered the underlying statistics uninspiring.
But Egan wasn’t deterred. He lingered, studying every
• New tires
inch. In the years that followed he researched everything he
• Overhauled brake master cylinders
could about the T-Bone (one of a few affectionate nicknames).
• Installed new gas caps
Although nicely restored examples come on the market
• New augmentor tubes
occasionally, Egan decided he wanted a challenge. He settled
• New antennas on a 1961 model that had a few hundred hours on each engine;
• Installed Rosen sun visors the rest of us would have considered it a great fly-away air-
plane. He immediately turned over the keys to a shop to rip it
apart. It’s not that Egan has champagne tastes—he’d just pre-
fer to grow the grapes. With a history of restoring cars, boats, and houses, it’s that process of tearing
down and building back up that drives him. He considers restoration an art form. “I like to get in the
mind of the guys who designed it,” he says. “And to do that you have to take it apart.” The goal was to
use the image of the T-Bone as it was when it came out of the Beech factory as a guide.
To that end, the finished product was the primary goal, and money was a second or third consider-
ation. “About 20 percent into it, we decided we had to go all-in,” Egan says. “Sometimes in restorations
you spend more time figuring out what’s good enough when everyone knows what is the best. It can

ALTHOUGH it has a
glass panel and a
pristine leather
interior, Dale Egan’s
Twin Bonanza is as
comfortable on grass
as it is on pavement.

68 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 69
70 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
 SPEC SHEET
Beechcraft Twin Bonanza D50E

be easier to just do the best option right SPECIFICATIONS Max level speed, 2.500 ft | 186 kt
Powerplants | (2) Lycoming GO-480-G2F6 Cruise speed/endurance (fuel
away. ” In all, it took more than two years
Recommended TBO | 1,400 hr consumption, ea engine) w/45-minute
and well into the six figures. There was
Length | 31 ft 6 in reserve
paint, interior, and a new panel, which is
Height | 11 ft 6 in @ 65% power | 175 kt/6 hr
a bit of an understatement.
Wingspan | 45 ft 11 in 9,000 ft | (13.1 gph)
Let’s start outside. Egan commis- Seats | 7 Maximum Service ceiling | 20,000 ft
sioned Scheme Designers (see “P&E: The Cabin width | 4 ft 6 in Single-engine service ceiling | 8,700 ft
Most Imitated Man in Aviation,” p. 100) to Cabin height | 4 ft 4 in Landing distance over 50-ft obstacle |
create a custom look that gives a nod to Empty weight | 4,100 lb 1,455 ft
the airplane’s military past without imply- Max gross weight | 6,300 lb Landing distance, ground roll | 700 ft
ing it’s a poor man’s warbird. Fuel capacity | 180 gal VS1 (stall, clean) | 73 KIAS
It goes deeper. Egan said he made a VSO (stall, in landing configuration) |
pledge in the beginning that he didn’t want PERFORMANCE 62 KIAS
any skin patches. Years of avionics changes Takeoff distance, ground roll | 905 ft
and upgrades meant the airplane’s skin Takeoff distance over 50-ft obstacle | All specifications are based on manufactur-
was starting to look like an old inner tube. 1,260 ft er’s calculations. All performance figures are
Every panel with an existing patch was Rate of climb, sea level | 1,450 fpm based on standard conditions and maximum
replaced—and then some. Surprisingly, Single-engine ROC, sea level | 365 fpm weights unless otherwise noted.
every one of the dozen or so pieces he
needed was available from Beechcraft. “Sometimes it wasn’t necessary to replace a skin or other part,”
he says. “But when you start to skimp, you are giving the impression to the artists that do this work that
they need to skimp, too. Maybe not financially, but emotionally and with their time.”
The rudder, flaps, and ailerons were replaced, as were the wing tips. New LEDs adorn the inside
and outside, and the few antennas that remain are new. So are all the windows.
THE GEARED Lycoming
Inside is where things get to another level. Egan personally fabricated new Russian Baltic Birch engines keep some
floorboards. The headliner and bulkhead panels are new. The seats are a beautiful cream-colored potential owners away,
leather, and the Beech emblem on the seatbelt buckles adds a stately touch. but many operators
say they only take a
The front office is a perfect mix of modern technology and classic styling. The yokes are new. bit of know-how and
Almost 170 pounds of old avionics were removed, including the radar and many remote boxes. What a careful hand. The
remains is a nice, relatively modest panel centered around an Aspen primary flight display and two tasteful stars and
bars are a nod to the
Garmin GTN 750s. Egan says this is an interim step. “We’re waiting for technology,” he says. The airplane’s military
goal is to have an integrated retrofit solution in the same vein as the Garmin G1000. heritage.

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 71

CREATURE COMFORTS,
such as the USB ports
and overhead task
lighting, bring the
stately design into this
century (top left and
center). The augmen-
tor tubes are among
the dozens of new or
overhauled parts (top
right).
72 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
HISTORY LESSON
A well-done T-Bone
Despite the name, a Twin Bonanza is not a
Bonanza with two engines. Take a Bonanza
fuselage, cut it lengthwise, stick in some extra
metal before sewing it all back up, and you’re
close to the cabin size. However, the wing,
landing gear, and engines all were new to this
model. To truly appreciate a nice T-Bone, you
In fact, it was the T-Bone that, with the have to see it in person. The ramp pres-
addition of a larger cabin and engines, became ence is extraordinary. From far away it
the Queen Air. Add turbine engines and you
looks like any other small twin, but as you
have a King Air.
The Army purchased the first 216 of the get closer it starts to fill in the scene, and
nearly 1,000 Twin Bos built, dubbing it the it looms over you. It is big in every way.
L–23 Seminole. It served primarily as a utilityIt’s tall; the gear is massive, the wingspan
transport in Korea. broad, and the cowlings fat. You enter,
Today, thanks to the steep drop in twin
not through the front or up on the wing,
prices and the daunting geared and—for some
models—supercharged Lycoming GSO-480 but through a proper airstair door. You sit
engines, you can find one for anywhere high and straight up front; flying it evokes
between $75,000 and $150,000. –IJT the feelings of a much larger airplane.
When he first bought it, Egan says
there was a moment that he stared at the airplane, thinking, Where the heck am I going to put it? Its
massiveness definitely speaks to a past era, he says, and there’s no question an airplane like the Twin Bo
would never come out of Wichita today. Which, strangely, leads to the logical arguments for the project.
THE LOGICAL ARGUMENT
Egan’s Twin Bonanza is—give or take—the same investment as a new Skyhawk. It’s less than half the
cost of a new Baron. This is where things start to make sense. No, he could never sell the airplane for
what he has in it, but neither could the owner of a new airplane. The T-Bone is exactly what Egan wants,
and the performance—while it’s not going to set any records—does have some interesting footnotes.
Developed for a military contract, the Twin Bonanza is much more a baby King Air than a Bonanza
with two engines. In fact, the name is a bit of a misnomer because the landing gear and wing became
the Queen Air, which then became the King Air. A Baron is a twin (lowercase) Bonanza.
There’s a legend around the airplane’s strength that appears to be as true as it is funny. When dem-
onstrating the Twin Bonanza for some military procurement folks, Beech factory pilot Claude Palmer
pancaked in over a tall tree and landed so hard that there were fears of serious injuries. Palmer needn’t
have worried about his passengers and his job, because everyone walked away. Beech won the contract.
The Twin Bonanza, then, fit one of Egan’s requirements for an airframe with the strength that comes
inherent in a military pedigree. He also looked at the Navion, but living in Milwaukee means he spends
a lot of time flying over the Great Lakes—where a second engine provided some stress relief. The abil-
ity to bring, as he says, five fat buddies and go fishing sealed the deal.
This is no hangar queen. On his third flight after the restoration, Egan flew some friends to a gath-
ering in a barn next to a cornfield—and he has no hesitation taking it in and out of soft, short strips.
In that sense it’s a wonderful utility aircraft. Have a Super Cub but wish you could bring five more
friends? It’s that kind of airplane.
It’s also incredibly roomy inside and has long legs, which makes it a nice traveling machine. Just
make sure to have your passengers bring lots to read, because you’ll only be doing about 160 or 170
knots along the way. That spacious interior has enabled Egan to complete some of his favorite flights
thus far—transporting two Medal of Honor recipients to Washington, D.C., for special events.
The counter argument is that for the same money one could buy a different twin and a lot of avgas,
or a smaller twin, lots of avgas, and a fun backcountry airplane. Egan would say that’s all irrelevant—
and he’s right. Pilots tend to spend lots of time debating performance specifications, breaking down
everything from cruise speed to best-economy, long-range endurance. You don’t buy an airplane like
this and go on a multiyear quest to make it yours just because it gets you from Milwaukee to the Motor
City five minutes faster. You do it because it speaks to you, it fits your specific mission, and—most of
all—when you walk up to it you can’t help but say, “Cooool.” Because it most certainly is that. AOPA
EMAIL ian.twombly@aopa.org
www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 73
LEROY ROBINSON, G-1, “Ripper”

“He couldn’t speak,

he was frail, but he flew
in World War II and Korea
and did 32 years as a Delta
captain, too.” The jacket has
a fur collar and is totally
devoid of the cuffs on both
sleeves. A menacing green
dragon on the jacket’s right
chest is tearing Japan’s flag
apart, representing Robinson’s
fighting squadron. “They were
called the Rippers.”

74 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

 JOHN SLEMP:
| PORTFOLIOS |

B Y D AV I D T U L I S

THE IDEA for documenting weathered flight jackets came to Atlanta-based

photographer John Slemp on a corporate assignment photographing
91-year-old World War II veteran Leroy Robinson. “I’m in a small Georgia
town in a house built before the Civil War. The wood floors kind of sag and
he’s not in good health. He’s lying out on the bed, fully clothed, feet and knees
together. His hands are crossed over his chest and his eyes are closed, and I think,
We’re too late.” (The former ace was only sleeping.) “All of a sudden it dawns on
me; I’m trying to tell their story through their jackets. To me it’s all about their
story and this is a conduit to that.”

WEB aerographs.com

WELL WORN www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 75

 HAL WEEKLEY, A-2, “Hell’s
The B–17
Angels” bomber was
no stranger
to Hal Weekley,
who flew serial
number 2102516
on its last combat
mission over La
Manoir, France,
in 1944, before the
Flying Fortress
was shot down.
Weekley wrote
about his
missions from
Nuthampstead,
England, in his
book, The Last of
the Combat B–17
Drivers. He flew
the Experimental
Aircraft
Association’s
commemorative
B–17 Aluminum
Overcast for years,
and Weekley’s
name is written
on the airplane’s
aluminum skin.

U.S. ARMY AIR CORPS pilots

and crews personalized their
standard-issue A-2 flight jackets
with squadron patches and
artwork. The Navy version
of the jacket, which had a fur
collar, is commonly referred to
as the G-1.

76 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

“Hal Weekley wore these items when he was shot down on his twentieth mission over
France. With the help of a farmer, he evaded the Germans closing in on the farmhouse and
eventually returned to his base in England.” Weekley gave the bracelet to the French family
as a token of his appreciation. Years later, it was returned when Weekley and his wife visited
the family. The pilot’s logbook, dog tag, and watch are preserved, but his flight jacket is
frayed on both cuffs. Note the 1944 logbook entry “shot down” at La Manoir, France.

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 77
Bob “Punchy”
Powell got his
nickname from his
boxing days. “He
was a bomber escort
specialist and flew
three cover missions
in 16 hours during
the D-Day invasion.”
Powell, based in
Bodney, England,
piloted either the
P–51 Mustang or a
P–47 Thunderbolt
on more than 80
missions. His
unofficial biography
lists six destroyed
enemy aircraft. “His
original flight jacket
is in the Mighty
Eighth Air Force
Museum in Pooler,
Georgia.”

BOB “PUNCHY” POWELL, A-2

(replica)

78 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

 JOHN SLEMP

Slemp says the artwork on the jackets he’s photographed varies from a professional
look to Crayola-crayon designs. “When these guys came back from a mission, the last thing
they wanted to do was paint their own jacket. Even if you came back without casualties, I’m
sure they were wiped out.”

“This jacket belonged to Frederick G. Smith, of the 100th Bomber Group, 351st Bomb
Squadron, and The Bloody 100th is their nickname. The jacket has 15 bombs in two columns of
threes on its back, in the shape of a V, with five more at the bottom for 35 total missions.”

FREDERICK G. SMITH, A-2, “Century

Bombers”

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 79
KENNETH D. WILLIAMS, A-2,
“Murder Inc.”

“This guy showed up in Europe with the Murder Inc. design and got shot down.
So he rubbed it off the best he could the day he was captured because the last thing you want
to do in prison camp is draw attention to yourself. But someone in the camp had already
photographed Williams wearing the jacket with that insignia across its shoulder blades. The
Luftwaffe pulled him out and questioned him in Berlin before sending him back to the prison.
He painted it back on after the war.”

“He wore the jacket on every mission he flew, which was pretty unusual
from what I understand. He probably had a flight suit on over that jacket, and you know I
thought his jacket was just gorgeous. A swastika is for a German fighter they shot down.”
Mitchell passed away about a month after the photograph was taken.

ROBERT (BOB) M. MITCHELL JR., A-2,

“Little Joe”

80 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

“Keller was R.P. KELLER, G-1, “Blood Chit”

the former
commander
of the Black Sheep
squadron. The way
I understand it,
the word chit was
picked up by the
Brits and it means
‘ticket.’ The Flying
Tigers came from
the China-Burma-
India Theater and
a lot of those guys
flew C–47s over
the Himalayas
supplying the
Chinese. The
translations say,
‘I’m an American,
my plane is
destroyed, I
can’t speak your
language, I’m
an enemy of the
Japanese. Please
give me food and
take me to the
nearest military
post and you will
be rewarded.’”

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 81
 VIDEO EXTRA
View the video.

SEARCHING
One pilot’s quest for performance leads to a gyrocopter

BY CLAUDIUS KLIMT

GYROCOPTERS AND THE PROMISE

of efficient, economical vertical flight first
captivated my imagination in 1996 when I heard
Jay Carter, founder of CarterCopters, give a
NASA-sponsored presentation. I’m a fixed-wing
pilot, and I built, own, and fly an AirCam—a twin-
engine STOL airplane with virtually unlimited
visibility made for flying low and slow. But
a modern gyrocopter promised even greater
performance in those areas.

P H OT O G R A P H Y B Y C H R I S R O S E

82 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 83
 After years of watching gyrocopter technology mature, I finally took the HOW FAST?
step of learning to fly gyrocopters that incorporate some of the latest aero- While gyrocopters combine
nautical design, materials, and construction techniques. near-vertical landing
capabilities of a helicopter
I met ArrowCopter designer Dietmar Fuchs in 2011 and was so intrigued with performance attributes
that I soon found myself making arrangements to travel to the factory in Austria of an airplane, rotorcraft
with my two grown sons to build one and bring it home. Like other European cruise speeds are limited by
designs, the ArrowCopter is made from carbon-fiber materials and produced an imbalance in lift between
the advancing and retreating
by a company that has its roots in Formula One auto racing. It’s gorgeous as well
blades. Carter Aviation
as functional, with landing gear that act as an airfoil and provide lift in flight. Technologies, formerly known
Ours would be the first of its kind to fly in the United States. But before as CarterCopters, set out to
building it, I had to become qualified to fly it. That meant traveling all over break the µ-1 barrier, where
the country for professional gyrocopter flight instruction in a wide variety of airspeed equals rotor tip
speed relative to the aircraft.
aircraft that included the Air and Space 18A, a 1960s gyro that originally was
Led by founder Jay Carter, who
certified in the Standard category. Altogether, I flew with nine instructors in inspired the author to delve
seven types of gyroplanes, culminating in a commercial gyroplane rating from into the world of gyrocopters,
Ron Menzie in Searcy, Arkansas. the company broke that barrier
Gyrocopters are a tiny niche of general aviation in the United States, but by slowing the rotor of its
prototype. Carter Aviation
they’re wildly popular in Europe, where more than a half-dozen manufactur-
hopes to scale up its slowed-
ers push to advance the state of the art. The best of them adhere to the highest rotor technology, which
aviation construction standards. They typically use carbon fiber extensively, minimizes rotor drag, and
and parts are made in autoclaves with embedded radio-frequency identifica- create rotorcraft that achieve
tion (RFID) chips to certify the proper cure cycles. In Austria, regulators require airplane-like cruise speeds and
efficiency.
aircraft with a maximum gross weight of 1,230 pounds to show that they can
sustain a 7,500-pound load in the fuselage while being lifted by the teeter bolt
(the center point of the rotor head assembly).
In the United States, gyrocopters available on the market today are lim-
ited to the Experimental/amateur-built category, so we couldn’t import an
FAA-certified factory-built aircraft. Instead, my sons Eric and Carl—both

84 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

 TYPICAL LANDING
1,000 ft

900 ft

800 ft

700 ft
Engine idles
Vertical descent
600 ft

500 ft

400 ft
Flare to a
normal landing
300 ft
Acceleration
to 60 mph
200 ft

THE ARROWCOPTER’S aerodynamically shaped landing gear strakes provide lift in horizontal flight and serve
as fuel tanks (left). An engine monitor (above) keeps close tabs on the health of the Rotax engine in flight.
Exceptional visibility is a hallmark of modern gyrocopters.

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 85
 CALIFORNIA TO FLORIDA TO CALIFORNIA IN THREE DAYS
Several new gyrocopter records set

Going from California to Florida and back in three days by gyrocopter has netted Missouri phy-
sician Paul Salmon a handful of gyroplane records now pending before the National Aeronautic
Association and Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. The flights took place in late August.
The previous record, set in 2003, was 19 days.
Salmon, also a helicopter and gyroplane instructor and Robinson Helicopter Co. dealer in
Cape Girardeau, Missouri, flew at speeds between 49 and 59 knots true airspeed. He and a
partner own Cape Copters at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. For 90 percent of the round-
trip, he had tailwinds of 10 to 20 knots both ways, as though the weather system was willing to
reverse itself in less than 72 hours to help him out. He used an Italian-built Magni M–22 Voyager
from Magni Gyro, powered by a turbocharged Rotax 914 engine, for the attempt.
The route started and ended at Torrance, California, where Robinson is located, and its mid-
point was Jacksonville, Florida. He used Robinson’s computers to complete filing for the record.
Salmon’s experience as an emergency room physician who gets little sleep served him well.
He slept only a few hours at a time, except once when weather gave him a six-hour delay.

teachers who get summers off—

and I spent five gloriously busy
weeks in Austria building our
aircraft under factory super-
vision. Then, we disassembled
N266AC; boxed up the parts;
and sent it home to Maryland,
where we reassembled it and
obtained an Experimental air-
worthiness certificate. Test pilot
Sören Pedersen helped with the
initial flights and taught fellow
gyrocopter pilot Desmon Butts
and me to fly it.

FLYING THE ARROWCOPTER

The ArrowCopter has much in common with fixed-wing STOL aircraft—
but there are some key differences. A gyrocopter’s lift comes from an
unpowered rotor overhead. The engine, attached to a smaller pusher
propeller, provides the thrust; that forward motion spins the rotor. In
flight, gyrocopters can perform vertical descents and tight turns that go
far beyond anything a fixed-wing aircraft can do.
Here’s how a typical flight in the ArrowCopter begins.
Before engine start, engage the pneumatic rotor brake, which holds
the stick forward and keeps the rotor from drifting into the propeller arc.
To make sure a gust doesn’t push the rotor into the prop, hold the stick
firmly fully forward during engine start and taxi. Steering is with toe
brakes and differential braking; the nosewheel is free castering.
Once in position for takeoff, hold the brakes, hold the stick forward,
and push a button on the stick to engage the pre-rotator. This pneumatic
control tightens the pre-rotator belt to connect the rotor to the Rotax 912
iS engine, and this starts the pre-rotation. Slowly increase engine power to
4,000 rpm as the rotor accelerates to 200 rpm. Release the button to discon-
nect the engine from the rotor, pull back on the stick, and apply full power.
As you accelerate down the runway, look for 60 mph and 340 rotor rpm.
Climb out at 60 mph. Cruise speed is 99 mph; never-exceed speed is 120 mph.

86 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

 A RACE-CAR-STYLE SEAT (below) isn’t a coincidence. The Austrian
manufacturer of the ArrowCopter also makes components for Formula One
race cars. The pilot can adjust pitch trim, use the radio, and pre-rotate the
rotor using switches on the hand grip (bottom left). The Rotax engine is
both liquid- and air-cooled (top left).

During the takeoff roll, climb, cruise, approach, and landing, the controls
are similar to those of a fixed-wing aircraft. There is no collective, because
the rotor pitch is fixed. The aircraft hangs from a single teeter bolt, so control
inputs take time to change aircraft attitude—wait for the effects of an input to
take hold before adding more. Power changes require rudder input to main-
tain coordinated flight. Turns require subtle rudder inputs to counteract the
effect of the engine torque and the propeller’s gyroscopic forces. An easy task.
In maneuvering flight, the big differences in flight profile become appar-
ent. The ArrowCopter cannot stall. The familiar fixed-wing accelerated stall
is not possible, no matter how hard you turn. Turns can be unbelievably tight.
My favorite feature is the vertical descent. At 1,000 feet over the approach-
end numbers, pull the engine power to idle and descend vertically to 300
feet agl. Nose over gently to gain 60 mph and flare to a normal landing. You
will stop 500 feet beyond the numbers, and any headwind will dramatically
shorten that distance. This is well within the normal operating envelope.
Wind does not present the same limitations as it does on light fixed-wing
aircraft. Gyrocopters can land directly into high winds without difficulty.
Landing is very similar to that of a fixed-wing STOL aircraft. The approach
speed is 60 mph. Adjust the descent rate with power. Align the aircraft with
the runway—but for a different reason. A light fixed-wing aircraft may touch
down at 40 mph; the gyro touches down at about 5 mph, but with a spin-
ning rotor overhead. Neither likes sideways motion on touchdown. The
ArrowCopter’s eight-foot wheelbase is more forgiving than most, but it is
still important to line up properly and avoid side loads.
In severe winds, gyrocopter pilots can land into the wind on a taxiway or
a grassy infield. Some of my best landings have been into winds of 30 knots or
more. Check the descent at 10 feet and flare to land. The ArrowCopter touches
down between zero and 5 mph.
The landing is not complete until the rotor stops, however. After touch-
down, wait until the rotor slows below 200 rpm and sheds its lift. Then, engage
28 feet, the rotor brake and taxi with the stick full forward.
2 inches
All gyrocopter landings are autorotation landings. This is not the high-skill
emergency maneuver that it is in helicopters. During an emergency engine-
out, no split-second action is required to lower the collective. Maneuver to
arrive at the flare point at 60 mph and perform a normal landing.
Most gyrocopters can land in a very small area, but they still need about
500 feet of runway for takeoff on a standard, no-wind day.

GYRO FUTURE
Gyrocopters have long held the promise of combining fixed-wing speed,
mechanical simplicity, and safety with helicopter-like vertical takeoffs and
landings. For a variety of reasons dating back more than 70 years, they have
2 feet, never realized their full potential.
8 inches
With the focused and ongoing efforts of European businesses, however,
gyrocopters may soon gain broad market acceptance in the United States—
just as they’ve already taken hold across the Atlantic. AOPA

19 feet CLAUDIUS KLIMT is a retired physician and commercial pilot with gyroplane
and fixed-wing single- and multiengine ratings.

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 87
FROM THE Scottish flag on the tail
to the N number, every detail has
been thought through and made
to order for one specific customer.

88 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

Cirrus gets personal
Customization program takes a page from high-end cars
B Y D AV E H I R S C H M A N
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS ROSE

THE SUNLIT LOBBY AT CIRRUS AIRCRAFT

is a poor place for keeping a secret. Customer
David Kidd and his wife, Tara Dayer-Smith, have
come to Duluth, Minnesota, to meet their new
SR22. The airplane they spent weeks helping to
customize is ready—and partially visible in the
adjacent hangar bay. But, for a few more minutes,
it remains tucked away and off limits.

VIDEO EXTRA
View the video.

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 89
90 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

“I’m trying not to look, or act, like a
6-year-old on Christmas morning,” says
Kidd, an exuberant golf course designer
from Scotland who lives in Bend, Oregon.
“I know I’m doing a miserable job, but I
just can’t help it.”
At the appointed moment, the door-
way to the hangar opens for the big reveal,
and Kidd beholds an airplane whose paint
scheme, colors, and interior details he
and Dayer-Smith dreamed up but, until
now, had only seen on computer screens.
Now that it’s a tangible reality, their once-
distant plans for flying on business and
adventure trips seem to have arrived, too.
The hangar fills with Cirrus employ-
ees who come to wish them well, but
Kidd seeks out one in particular: designer
Alex Alequin, who mills quietly in the
background.
Alequin, 31, is an artist whose hipster-
style untucked black shirt, impeccable
jeans, and pointy shoes seem totally out
of place in the steadfastly non-flashy upper
Midwest. The seven-year Cirrus veteran is at
the center of the company’s efforts to cus-
tomize aircraft, a process that can add
$40,000 or more to the price of a new SR22.
The company that touts the term “per-
sonal aviation” believes that, when done
right, customization can tighten the bonds
between owner and aircraft—and there’s no
DESIGNER Alex Alequin (right) worked
with owners David Kidd and Tara
Dayer-Smith (above) to create design
details such as the custom blue stitch-
ing on the yoke and sidestick (left)
that were meaningful to them.
denying that the roughly 5-percent
price bump helps the company’s
bottom line.
The process can also create
powerful ties between the Cirrus
staff and their customers.
“Tremendous job, Alex,”
Dayer-Smith, a professional golfer
from England, tells Alequin. “You
got this exactly right.”
The X on the tail is inspired
by the flag of Scotland, and the
numbers 386 are both easy to say—
with one syllable per digit—and
spell out FUN on a telephone key-
pad. The G for Golf requires no
explanation.
The only unusual design ele-
ments are a purple accent stripe
and Kidd’s corporate logo embroi-
dered on the headrests. If the
airplane is ever resold, however,
the vinyl stripe can be peeled off
and replaced with something more
standard, and the headrests can be
swapped out in minutes.
For now, however, Kidd isn’t
thinking about resale. He’s effusive
in his praise of Alequin’s fidelity
and attention to detail.
“This represents things that
are deeply meaningful to me,” the
first-time aircraft owner says, “but
it does so in a way that’s not gar-
ish or over the top. It’s customized,
but it’s not totally tricked out, and
that strikes the right balance.”
FAST AND FURIOUS
Alequin approaches aircraft cus-
tomization from his experience in
the world of high-end cars—not
aviation.
www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 91

Although corporate jet firms
have offered extravagant options
to their elite customers for decades,
that specialized work typically is
performed at completion centers
around the globe. Those businesses
are often owned and operated by
third parties, and it’s not unusual
for the interior installations and
one-of-a-kind paint schemes to
take longer than the construction
of the actual aircraft.
The Cirrus Xi program is dif-
ferent. Customized features are
built into each aircraft on the
assembly line, and all the work is
done by Cirrus employees at the
Duluth factory.
“This program is modeled after
what you see with factory-custom
cars,” said Alequin, who stud-
ied industrial design at Detroit’s
College of Design Studies and
worked in the automotive indus-
try before joining Cirrus. “I pay a
lot of attention to the things BMW,
Bentley, and Rolls-Royce do with
92 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
DULUTH’S Sky Harbor Airport (above)
was an early destination during a
familiarization flight.
their customization programs, and so do
some of our Cirrus customers—who also
own those products. I’m not nearly as
familiar with the programs corporate jet
manufacturers offer.”
With Cirrus, X stands for the customer,
and i is for individualized. Alequin says he
strives to make each design reflect the cus-
tomer’s personality, not his own taste.
The customization process begins
in a conference room on the upper floor
of Cirrus headquarters, where Alequin
meets customers and questions them
about their new airplane, what it means
to them, and what it represents. It’s
meant to be a free-flowing discussion,
and Alequin seeks to learn about the things
that motivate and inspire each customer.
He also wants to know what other motor
vehicles they might identify with. Do they
have a favorite car, motorcycle, or boat?
As themes begin to emerge from their
discussion, Alequin sketches on an elec-
tronic pad connected to his MacBook Pro.
As he does so, those designs appear on a
high-definition, wall-mounted screen, and
customers can pick up electronic pens and
modify the images they see.
“The process is meant to be fun and
open,” Alequin said. “It’s an exploration.
Sometimes the ideas come out fast and
furious, and other times you have to be
patient and ask more questions. You can’t
rush through it. Usually, a theme emerges
after a few hours, and then the rest is a
matter of continuing to refine it.”
Cirrus produced a handful of Xi air-
planes in 2013, and that grew to more than
a dozen last year. The company won’t say
how many customized airplanes it expects
to deliver this year but hinted that the pace
exceeds one a month.
Design features that began with the
customization program also have found
their way into mainstream Cirrus aircraft
such as the top-of-the-line Accelero and
Carbon models. And when Cirrus begins
deliveries of Vision SF50 jets in late 2015,
a customization program will be in place
for them, too.
FACE TO FACE
This is a stark change from the compa-
ny’s origins. “When I came to Cirrus, all
our aircraft were white,” Alequin said.
“The only differentiation was in the vinyl
stripes. Now we’re able to offer a much
broader spectrum of paint, design schemes,
and materials—and that opens up greater
possibilities for our customers to express
themselves.”
Of course, no airplane is a completely
blank slate, and there are many opera-
tional and production considerations. But
Alequin encourages customers to think
big and forget about limitations during
the brainstorming phase. He’ll try to find
workarounds later in the design process.
Alequin strongly encourages custom-
ers to come to Cirrus headquarters for the
initial design consultation. (Alequin is part
of the Cirrus group relocating in 2016 to
Knoxville, Tennessee, where the company
is building a new delivery center.)
“There’s really no substitute for meet-
ing face to face and exchanging ideas in
person,” he said. “We can always swap
emails and PDFs later, but getting started
really requires sitting down at a table
together.”
Still, it doesn’t always work that way.
When financial manager Jason Vanclef
decided on a custom SR22, he arranged a
conference call with Alequin with linked
computers. Vanclef is an avid surfer, and

his company logo has a lighthouse theme.
Alequin came up with a design that put a
lighthouse on the tail with bright yellow
beams of light projecting up the fuselage
to both wings.
“I wanted ocean,” Vanclef remembers
of the conference call with Alequin. “I
wanted a lighthouse. He came up with sil-
ver and bay blue, then crafted the perfect
design. I thought about it for a week, made
a few tweaks, and it was done.” The yellow
also is meant to make the airplane more
visible in the busy Southern California sky
where Vanclef does most of his flying.
The vast majority of flying Vanclef plans
to do is business-related, and he said put-
ting elements of his company’s logo in the
THE OWNER’S
company logo is on
the center console
(left) and headrests
(right). Colors are
incorporated into the
stitching (lower left)
and seatbelts.
airplane’s design will strengthen his case to
the IRS that the airplane is a business tool.
“It’s like a bread truck with vinyl let-
tering on the side,” he said. “I’ll fly to
visit clients in places like San Diego and
Las Vegas, and I’ll commute home to the
Central Coast on the weekends.”
For Kidd and Dayer-Smith, coming
to Minnesota in midwinter for their ini-
tial consultation was essential. “I’m in the
design business, so I know that success
requires an idea, and the consistency to pull
it off,” said Kidd, whose courses at Bandon
Dunes on the Oregon coast and St. Andrews
in Scotland are among the world’s most
highly rated. “We came up with the themes
and let the designer do the creative part.”
Kidd earned his private pilot
certificate in 2013 and is pursu-
ing an instrument rating, and
Dayer-Smith recently began flight
training.
“This airplane represents
25 years of work at building my
career,” Kidd said. “It’s a dream
to be able to have an airplane
like this. It will allow us to go on
adventures, make business travel
more efficient and enjoyable, and
it will get me home to my family
more. I couldn’t be happier with
the result.” AOPA
EMAIL dave.hirschman@aopa.org
www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 93
94 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
We’re currently at 3,200 feet over the ocean,
and it’s raining so hard I’m looking for Noah on the TCAS.
We’ve slowed down to around 180 knots—not because ATC
asked us to—but because we are buying time. We’re in uncon-
trolled airspace, ATC is thousands of miles away, and so my
only concern is terrain; but the ride is smooth, even in the
weather. Getting in is, at best, questionable, but the fellow on
the ground who is reading us the weather has just advised us
that we can (currently) get in. We need a ceiling of 460 feet
and a visibility of two miles, and as hard as it is to believe, he
is reporting better than that. To my right is not only the air-
port, but the nearly 2,100 feet of mountain that is between

ISLAND
me and it.

HOPPING
We have a couple of hours of extra fuel, and as of now, we
have no reason not to try. So, without further ado, I turn the air-
plane towards the initial approach fix, execute the command
How aviation serves remote outposts

on the FMS, and watch it join the course. Meanwhile, outside

it continues to rain. Hard. I mentally rehearse the steps for a
missed approach, and then verbalize them for my own bene-
fit. The captain follows along by mimicking the hand motions.
Out my window, I begin to see the clouds break up. I see the
water below us, and even a brief glimpse of the shore. It doesn’t
last long. We turn final, and I call for the gear to come down and
for flaps 15. There is a familiar, comforting sound that an air-
plane makes when the gear extends, and then locks. The nose
pitches over just a bit to maintain the descent commanded by
the autopilot. I call for flaps 30, then 40, and we finish the Before
Landing checklist. The rain is easing off, and as we descend BY CHIP WRIGHT
through 1,000 feet, the terrain to my right becomes more visible. I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y N E I L W E B B

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 95
 It’s also a reminder not to turn right in the event of a missed
approach. That thought turns my attention to the front
windows. In my hands I can feel the autothrottles and the
autopilot working their magic. Just a few hundred feet to
go. I turn off the autopilot, because I will have to make a
turn to join the final if we see the runway. The terrain pre-
cludes a straight-in approach.
The captain is just beginning to call for a go-around
when the runway comes into view. I start a descent, and
together, we realize that this just isn’t going to work. This
is no place to try to salvage an approach.
NOT JUST AN AIRLINE
This isn’t your typical general aviation story. It isn’t even
your typical aviation story. The airport is not your typical
airline destination, and this is not your typical trip. The des-
tination was Kosrae (pronounced kose-rye), an island in the
Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)—an island nation in
the middle of the Pacific Ocean, less than 400 miles from
the Equator. This is the third stop on the Island Hopper.
The Island Hopper is a legacy of the old Air Micronesia,
an airline started in part by Continental Airlines in 1968.
Air Mike, as it was affectionately called, was based and
headquartered on the island of Guam. While other routes
eventually sprouted from Guam to cities in Japan, China,
Australia, and the Philippines, the bread and butter was the
Hopper. In time, Continental acquired complete ownership
of the company. Today, it operates as a part of the merged
United Airlines.
The Hopper is not just an airline route. It’s a lifeline, a
necessary and required part of the lives of the people in the
96 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
FSM and the Marshall Islands. It began with Teflon-coated
727s and coral runways. Today, the airplane is the Boeing
737-800 and the runways are all paved, although most are
relatively short. The longest is on the atoll of Majuro (7,800
feet). The shortest is here in Kosrae, at 5,700 feet.
Three days a week, Flight 155 leaves Guam early in
the morning and heads for Chuuk, the first leg of the trip.
The wind that whips around Chuuk makes it one of the
more challenging approaches because of the wind shear
produced. It’s also the longest leg, at an hour and 40 min-
utes block to block. Doing the walkaround will give you an
idea of just how different this trip is from most—instead of
watching the belt loaders send luggage and golf clubs into
the belly bins, there are a lot of coolers that are taped shut.
They contain food, medicine, and fragile items that are oth-
erwise hard to come by in the islands. There are dozens of
boxes of mail, live roosters, wheelchairs, even refrigerators.
Even the regular luggage is oversized. The few tourists that
we do carry often have bags of scuba gear for Chuuk, which
is a bucket-list destination for divers who come to explore
the more than 70 Japanese ships and airplanes that were
sunk here by the United States in World War II.
Also loaded before I got to the airplane was the spare
parts kit. Because of the nature of the route, we will carry
a pallet of carefully chosen parts for the airplane, includ-
ing a spare tire, in case we break down. We will also carry a
mechanic with us, who will do his own preflight inspection
each leg, in addition to the one that the pilots do. He’ll ser-
vice the oil as needed, cool the brakes with fans, and put on
the fuel at each station. Because of the long stretch of open
water with little in the way of suitable landing alternates,
 the route requires airplanes that are capable of extended-
range twin-engine operations (ETOPS). Prior to an ETOPS
flight, the mechanic will do an inspection specific to ETOPS
operations and sign it off in the logbook. The mechanic (and
the spare parts kit) are offloaded in Majuro. We also carry
an extra flight attendant and two relief pilots. The flight
crews will switch positions in Majuro.
The passengers are another indication that this a different
kind of trip. Many are returning to their islands after receiv-
ing medical care—either on Guam or, more likely, in Manila.
The carry-on bags are an extension of what is being loaded:
grocery bags, small boxes of household goods, clothes, and
shoes. The people that we are taking home generally are poor,
and what they take with them are items we take for granted.
From Chuuk we will head to Pohnpei. The numbers
of passengers on each leg from here to the end will fluctu-
ate. Very few will ride all the way from Guam to Honolulu,
but a few do. In fact, there are passengers who are living a
dream of their own by experiencing the Hopper. The folks
that we pick up from here on out are a mix of scientific
researchers, government contractors, service providers,
and missionaries. We will also bring on a number of folks
needing medical care, but these are heading primarily to
Hawaii or to the mainland for their needs. Several times
I have brought human remains back to Pohnpei. It’s a
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sobering sight as the caskets are offloaded, inspected, and
turned over to the families.
ISLAND TO ISLAND
The Hopper is a Spartan operation. There are no jet
bridges on the islands, so each has a set of air stairs.
The terminals are bare-bones. Many of the employees
at the various stations have worked there for years, and
they know many of the pilots very well. There is a team
atmosphere, a sense of purpose in getting as much pay-
load as possible on each flight. Overflights are relatively
rare, but they do happen, and almost always because of
the weather. The need to maximize payload often means
that we can’t carry a lot of extra fuel to wait out the latest
storm. My flight into Kosrae is an exception.
When flying east, Kosrae follows Ponhpei. The other
islands have their runways shoehorned into the existing
landscape, but Kosrae’s airport is on a man-made island.
I wish they’d made it longer. This is an island I’d like to
spend some time on, as it is visually stunning and is so
remote. Only 30 percent of it is inhabitable.
After Kosrae, we head to Kwajalein—which, like
Chuuk, is famous for its role in World War II. The island
is still a U.S. military outpost, so unless you are doing
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The few tourists that we do carry often have bags of
scuba gear for Chuuk, which is a bucket-list destination for
divers, who come to explore the more than 70 Japanese
ships and airplanes that were sunk here by the United
States in World War II.
can’t stay. If the airplane is overweight or if
a nonrevenue pass rider gets stuck, things
get interesting.
The flight from Kwaj to Majuro is the
shortest at 45 minutes, but the ground
times can be long because of security
procedures. Some of the galley is also
re-stocked here. Until recently, the airport
at Kwaj was the only one with a control
tower. It has since been shut down, sup-
posedly only temporarily. Time will tell.
Majuro is the last of the atolls we will
see (it’s also home of the best tuna steak
sandwich money can buy). From here, the
leg to Honolulu is nearly five hours long.
The westbound Hopper, Flight 154, will
come through tomorrow, and the kit will be
reloaded going to Guam, and the mechanic
will rejoin the westbound flight as well.
When the 727 was flying this route,
it couldn’t make the leg from Majuro to
Honolulu, so it would land on Johnston
Island for fuel. Johnston has since been
shuttered. If our dispatcher determines
that we need an alternate besides Majuro
or Hawaii, we are filed slightly north of
the airway—believe it or not, there are air-
ways out here—so we can use Midway.
This, understand, is a last resort. It brings
little peace of mind as it’s so far out of the
way and largely unattended. But it’s there.
In July 2014, a 777 en route to Guam from
Honolulu was forced to divert to Midway.
BRINGING HOME THE BACON
All radio communications are done with
high frequency (HF) radios. Clearances are
in the same format as you learn for flying IFR
out of nontowered airports in the United
States. Remember those position reports you
read about so long ago, but probably have
never done? Those are an integral part of the
process out here, and they are all handled by
San Francisco Radio using the HF radio or
the on-board satellite phone. The weather
can wreak havoc with communications
when controllers and aircraft are thousands
of miles apart, and on those days or individ-
ual legs where you can’t raise anyone on
98 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
the radio or the sat phone, it becomes nec-
essary to resort to using a landline. This is
an airline, but in many ways, it’s a pure GA
operation, which (to me) adds to the fun.
The remote aspect of what we do out
here is driven home by the fact that there is
almost never any traffic in the area. While
some airlines will stop in Majuro or Kosrae
while repositioning airplanes from the
states, there is scant traffic. The flight to
Honolulu, which always takes place after
dark, is a long, lonely one. Air Mike is, even
after 40 years of service, the only game in
town. If we don’t get in, there may not be
another flight for seven or even 10 days.
I am often reminded of the song lyric:
“Seven thirty seven comin’ outta the sky.”
In this case, the 737 in question might
be mine, and I know that these folks are
counting on me to, literally, bring home
the bacon, and nobody relaxes until the
wheels actually touch down. The Hopper
has evolved over time, and the FAA has had
to issue several exemptions in order for the
operation to be successful given the geo-
graphic challenges. The pilots are a unique
bunch, as are the flight attendants. The
days are long—the duty day is 16 hours and
the total flight time is in excess of 11 hours.
The reward is an extended stay in Hawaii.
After our missed approach in Kosrae,
we cleaned up the airplane, set up the
approach again, and flew it one more time.
There was no traffic, so there was no rush.
This time we saw the runway well before
the minimum descent altitude. With the
autopilot off, I turned slightly right, and
then back left to join the final. We’re the
first flight to land here in more than a week.
My landing isn’t too bad—style points
don’t count out here, anyway—and we taxi
to the gate. When the door opens, one of
the agents comes into the cockpit as we fin-
ish the Parking Checklist.
“Boy, are we glad to see you.” Her smile
is all the thanks I need. AOPA
CHIP WRIGHT is an airline pilot and frequent
contributor to AOPA publications.
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 PROFICIENCY & EFFICIENCY 103 MAINTENANCE 106 DOGFIGHT 108 WX WATCH 114 NEVER AGAIN

Pilots have sought to

express their individuality
through instantly
>>
identifiable paint
schemes for more than a
century. The “Red Baron”
Manfred von Richthofen
became the most well
known of World War I.

| OWNERSHIP |

The most imitated

man in aviation
Frequently copied designer
Craig Barnett
B Y D AV E H I R S C H M A N

IF IMITATION REALLY IS THE SINCEREST form of flat-
tery, then Scheme Designers founder Craig Barnett is
an object of adulation.
During 18 years in business, Barnett and his
seven-employee New Jersey design firm have created
thousands of custom paint schemes for clients ranging
from individual aircraft owners to international air-
lines. But Barnett’s copyrighted designs also have been
mimicked countless times by private aircraft owners,
commercial paint shops, and others—and Barnett says
that’s not flattery. It’s theft.
“I find it offensive when a paint shop blatantly rips
off my work and then shows it off, claiming that it is
their own,” says Barnett, a South Africa native who
owns and flies a Beech Baron. “The worst part is that
the rip-offs are usually poorly executed. My company
and my employees earn less as a result of people steal-
ing from us, and I’m getting tired of it.”

100 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

> Scheme Designers has helped to create
the distinctive look for many AOPA sweep-
stakes projects, including this year’s You Can
Fly Cessna 152. He came up with the swirly
red scheme for the 2001 AOPA Sweepstakes
Bonanza, which has become one of the most
common Bonanza schemes in the used
Beechcraft fleet. When Barnett made a cus-
tom scheme for his former airplane, a Piper
Lance, and posted it on the company website
(www.schemedesigners.com), a shop in the
United Kingdom copied it before the paint
on his own aircraft was dry.
“I’m not a litigious person, and I don’t
want to be the bad guy in the aviation indus-
try who goes around suing people,” Barnett
said. “But a copyright doesn’t mean any-
thing unless the holder enforces it, and I’m
considering making a point when it comes
to some of the most egregious examples.”
The definition of what constitutes
original, artistic work that can be copy-
righted is open to some interpretation. In
broad terms, a simple stripe on the side of
an airplane doesn’t meet the standard, but
an elaborate, multicolored, one-of-a-kind
scheme almost certainly does.
Manufacturers such as Textron and
Piper have never sought to discourage air-
craft owners or paint shops from re-creating
factory schemes. Neither have the govern-
ments or squadron artists who came up with
the insignia, nose art, and invasion stripes
so popular among civilian warbird owners.
But there’s at least one legal prece-
dent that shows Barnett’s copyrights are
enforceable.
The test came when Barnett made a cus-
tom design for a Grumman Albatross owned
by Tony Phillippi of Minnesota; Phillippi
and Barnett shared the copyright. A paint
shop representing a customer in Australia
called Barnett to inquire about hiring him
to come up with another Albatross scheme,
and Barnett sent the prospective client a
disc containing detailed drawings of the
work he had done for Phillippi and others.
Barnett didn’t get the new job, but months
later Phillippi saw Internet photos of an
Albatross painted in a scheme identical to
his own touching down in Sydney Harbour.
“Scheme Designers worked really hard
to come up with an original design—and
eventually we had an ‘aha!’ moment where
we knew we had what we were after,”
Phillippi said. “If the owner of the other
airplane had asked, we certainly could
have accommodated him. But stealing the
design was just wrong.”
Phillippi sued and eventually com-
pelled the Australian owner to pay a
licensing fee that allows him to use the
appropriated paint scheme for a certain
number of years. “Craig Barnett is one of
the good guys,” Phillippi said. “I went to
court as much for him as myself.”
Phillippi and Barnett declined to spec-
ify the exact price of their license fee, but
it’s an order of magnitude more than hiring
Scheme Designers would have cost. “For the
copier, the cost of a custom paint scheme is
trivial compared to the potential penalty for
a copyright violation,” Barnett said.
Scheme Designers’ prices range from
$1,400 for a relatively simple single-engine
aircraft to $5,000 for complex graphics on
a Boeing Business Jet.
Those rates typically discourage
Barnett and other designers from aggres-
sively pursuing potential copyright
violations, because doing so would cost
more in lawyers’ fees and court costs than
they could ever hope to recover.
The music industry faced a similar
conundrum when Internet distribution
turned its traditional business model
upside down. Its answer was to lower the
price for individual songs to $1—an amount
most customers would pay rather than seek
out pirated copies.
For now, Barnett said he is concen-
trating on sharing information about
copyrights within the aviation industry—
and especially paint shops.
Marc Rossi, an intellectual property
lawyer, general aviation pilot, and Scheme
Designers customer, said some aircraft
owners who duplicate paint schemes are
much like those who download pirated
music: They aren’t aware that their actions
are illegal, or that there’s any harm.
“Craig Barnett makes his living by
creating one-of-a-kind, custom paint
schemes—and when people copy them
without providing any form of compensa-
tion, it devalues his services,” Rossi said.
“People should respect other people’s prop-
erty. When they copy something without
www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 101
 P&E OWNERSHIP
• Low Rates
• Terms to 20 Years
permission, they’re taking something that
doesn’t belong to them. It’s basic fairness.”
• New & Used Aircraft When a potential new customer wants
to replicate an existing Scheme Designers
paint job, Barnett asks his original client
• Refinancing for permission to share it. About 80 per-
cent of the time, the original owner says
yes—especially if the new client is willing
• Avionics Upgrades to make relatively minor changes.
Permission technically isn’t required if
Scheme Designers owns the original copy-
right, but Barnett says he asks as a courtesy
and honors the original client’s wishes.
Some aircraft owners hire Scheme
Designers or other firms because they want
their airplanes to be totally singular and
instantly identifiable—and it means a great
deal to them for their airplanes to stand
out. Rossi, for example, spent months on a
Supporting
ting G.A
G.A.
A. ffor
or detailed plan for his Waco YMF–5D biplane,
Over 20 Years!
s!! and he was thrilled with the finished prod-
uct. Months later, however, another aircraft
appeared sporting an identical scheme. At
Rossi’s insistence, the second owner had his
Call for a financing quote today! airplane partially repainted.
“I’m flattered people like my paint
scheme, and I get compliments on it all
the time,” Rossi said. “They say imitation
is the sincerest form of flattery—but I don’t
want to be flattered. I want a unique and
800.390.4324 distinctive-looking airplane. I spent many,
many hours going back and forth with the
AirFleetCapital.com designers to create exactly that.”
102 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
ALBATROSS OWNER Tony Phillippi worked
closely with Barnett to produce this
distinctive paint scheme. When another
Albatross showed up in Australia with
identical paint, Phillippi sued to enforce
his copyright.
Barnett said he is encouraged that the
somewhat abstract idea of copyrighted
material is gaining traction in aviation.
He was at the 2015 Sun ’n Fun
International Fly-In and Expo when a
Piper Arrow owner came by his booth and
unexpectedly wrote him a check. Barnett
asked what it was for, and the Arrow
owner ruefully admitted that he had cop-
ied a Scheme Designers paint job from
the company’s website years earlier. After
learning more about the firm and talk-
ing with Barnett, he realized how much
thought and effort that went into each
design, and that simply lifting an image
from the company’s website had been tan-
tamount to stealing.
Barnett was “surprised and delighted”
by the pilot’s honesty, but he declined to
accept the check. “I asked him to send it to
a charity which we support—and he did,”
Barnett said. “He felt guilty for having done
something he later learned was wrong, and
he made it right. No hard feelings.” AOPA
EMAIL dave.hirschman@aopa.org
P&E SAVVY MAINTENANCE
Blame the hardware
When pilots screw up, plaintiff lawyers always seem
to sue equipment manufacturers
BY MIKE BUSCH
WHAT I REFER TO AS “MAINTENANCE-INDUCED FAILURES”
were the subject of my June 2014 post, “The Dark Side of
Maintenance,” on the AOPA Opinion Leaders blog. The post
included several examples of aircraft malfunctions that were
the unintended result of errors during maintenance.
One example involved an early model Cirrus SR22 that
was equipped with a Sandel SN3308 electronic horizontal
situation indicator (EHSI). Its owner emailed me that he had
been plagued by intermittent heading errors on the EHSI.
When I questioned the owner, I learned that these problems
had started about three years earlier, right after his shop per-
formed the scheduled 200-hour replacement of the Sandel’s
projector lamp. Coincidence?
I’d seen this same problem in my own Sandel-equipped
Cessna 310. It’s caused by inadequate engagement between
the connectors on the back of the instrument and the mat-
ing connectors in the mounting tray. It’s essential to slide the
instrument into the tray as far as possible before tightening
the clamp. It’s a bit tricky to do—and if you don’t, the stage
is set for flaky, glitch-plagued operation of the instrument. I
told the Cirrus owner how to re-rack the instrument, and his
intermittent errors went away.
Savvy Maintenance coverage sponsored by AIRCRAFT SPRUCE
Later I received an email from an AOPA member in
Kansas City who said he read my blog post with interest. “I
am the attorney for the mother of two deceased children who
perished in a Cirrus crash,” he explained, and asked whether
I’d be willing to provide expert consultation in the lawsuit. I
replied that while I do quite a bit of consulting work in the
field of aviation maintenance, it’s almost always defense work.
I further explained that I regularly do air-crash defense work
for both Cirrus Aircraft and Continental Motors, so if either
was a defendant in the lawsuit—as I suspected they were—I
could not serve as an expert on behalf of the plaintiff. I figured
that would be the end of our email exchange.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Out of curiosity, I searched the NTSB accident database and
located the factual and probable cause reports for the acci-
dent in question. The aircraft crashed while making an ILS
approach at night in instrument conditions. The pilot’s flight
instructor estimated that the pilot had about 1,000 hours total
time, about 650 in type, and just 75 in actual IMC.
Although the pilot filed an IFR flight plan via DUATS,
there was no record of him obtaining a weather briefing,
www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 103
 P&E SAVVY MAINTENANCE

either electronically or telephonically. The
area forecast called for tops to 15,000 feet
and the destination TAF forecast a 300-foot
ceiling in mist and rainshowers.
The crash occurred shortly after mid-
night, and it was pitch dark and moonless.
Despite the fact that the AWOS was report-
ing a 700-foot ceiling and eight-mile
visibility, the pilot missed his first ILS
attempt and asked ATC for a second attempt.
The controller instructed the pilot to turn
left to a 360 heading and climb to 3,000 feet.
One minute later, the pilot told ATC, “I need
some help.” That was his last transmission.
Radar track data showed that after the
missed approach, the aircraft turned left to
maintain a ground track of about 65 degrees
while climbing to about 2,800 feet. The air-
craft then entered another left turn and
descended into the ground at about 6,000
feet per minute. The debris field extended
less than 150 feet from the impact crater.
The propeller exhibited S-bending and
chordwise scratches, indicating the engine
was making power at impact. Investigation
of the airframe and engine revealed no evi-
TM
dence of preimpact failure or malfunction.
WingX Pro7 The Cirrus was equipped with a CAPS bal-
listic parachute system, but there was no
indication that the pilot tried to activate it.
INNOVATION IS JUST
A TRACE AWAY WHOSE FAULT?
Not surprisingly, the NTSB placed the
blame for this accident squarely on the
pilot in command’s shoulders, attributing
the probable cause to, “The pilot’s loss of
airplane control as a result of spatial disori-
entation experienced in night instrument
meteorological conditions.”
Something the NTSB didn’t say—but
I will—is that if you shoot an ILS in night
IMC and wind up going missed, attempting
the approach a second time is a sucker’s bet.
The smart move is to divert to your alternate
where the weather is decent, check into the
local Motel 6, and lick your wounds.
Clearly, however, the plaintiff lawyer
had a very different take on the situation.
He was determined to convince a jury that
New traca™ Technology it was the airplane’s fault—perhaps the fault
I don’t blame the attorney. His job, after
all, is to obtain as much monetary compen-
sation as possible for his client, the poor
mom who tragically lost two kids in the
crash. Unless the deceased pilot was an
extraordinarily high-net-worth individ-
ual, the only place that money could come
from would be the hardware manufacturers,
who carry lots of product liability insurance.
That’s why whenever an airplane crashes
and people are seriously injured or killed,
the manufacturers get sued.
While I can’t blame the lawyer for seek-
ing redress from the manufacturers, I can’t
bring myself to help him, either. My sympa-
thy for the mom doesn’t blind me to the fact
that the real loser in these lawsuits isn’t the
manufacturer defendants or their insurance
companies—it’s us, the aircraft owners and
pilots. Insurance companies pass the ridic-
ulously high cost of defending, settling, and
even occasionally losing such lawsuits to
the manufacturers in the form of punitively
high insurance premiums. The manufactur-
ers, in turn, pass the cost of those premiums
on to us in the form of punitively high prices
for aircraft, engines, propellers, avionics,
instruments, and repair parts.
There’s no free lunch in aviation. And
we’re the ones who seem to wind up pick-
ing up the check.
NTSB investigators found no evidence
of equipment failure, but for the sake of
argument, let’s imagine that the plaintiff
attorney was right and the Sandel EHSI
went berserk at the worst possible moment.
The way I look at it, instruments and avion-
ics are expected to fail from time to time.
That’s why our aircraft are required to be
equipped with backup instruments, and
why we spend so much time learning how
to deal with such failures during initial and
recurrent instrument training.
In cases like these, the buck still stops
with the PIC. He’s supposed to be able to
fly the aircraft even when instruments or
avionics fail. If he doesn’t prove to be up to
that task, it’s wrong to blame the hardware.
I guess it’s a good thing I’m not a plain-
tiff lawyer; I’d make a terrible one. AOPA

WingX Pro7 with our patent-pending traca™
Technology changes flight planning forever.
h�lton�o�ware�co�
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of its Sandel EHSI that might not have been
fully engaged in its mounting rack—and that MIKE BUSCH is an A&P/IA.
Cirrus Aircraft and Sandel Avionics should
EMAIL mike.busch@savvyaviator.com
be held financially responsible for the crash.

104 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

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P&E DOGFIGHT: THE BEST TRAINING
Editor Ian J. Twombly and contributor Jason Blair debate the merits of learning
to fly at a local FBO versus a high-capacity academy.
Fly local
Make connections close to home
B Y I A N J. T W O M B LY
IF I HAD A NICKEL for every time someone asked me whether they
should learn to fly locally or go to an academy setting, I would be
able to retire at 64. At the risk of losing a year’s worth of crossword-
puzzle time, I’ll give away the advice here: Stay home.
Flight academies are really good at what they do, which is one
thing only: creating airline pilots. Even then, I might be able to make
the argument for staying local, but unless you were born wearing
captain’s bars, the choice is easy. It comes down to four primary rea-
sons: cost, networking, training, and future opportunities.
Most people who learn to fly at their local airport will do it less
expensively than at an academy. Academies have a lot of overhead:
newer airplanes, a bigger administrative staff, marketing budgets,
human resources, and so on. It’s only
natural they have to charge more.
And flying locally, you can keep your
day job.
The networking opportunities
afforded simply by hanging out at the
airport are invaluable. Many acade-
mies offer airline hiring agreements,
which are valuable for those who go
that route. For everyone else, it’s an
IAN TWOMBLY unneeded benefit. Most people get
charter, corporate, and flight instruct-
ing jobs because they know someone, which is hard to do when you’re
cramming for a stage check at an airport 300 miles away.
The most reliable job opportunity from staying close is the first
instructing job. When someone earns a flight instructor certificate
at a school, the school often will offer the new CFI a job. Noncareer
CFIs will get right-seat opportunities in cool airplanes, and career
CFIs can meet charter or corporate pilots.
Most important, training at a local school cements your place in
the community. Research has shown that pilots who become part of
their local flying community will fly for longer and see more value
in their experiences. Your local CFI can be a source of encourage-
ment, throughout your training and beyond.
It’s true that academies have great success records, thanks to
their approved syllabi and structured programs. The less desirable
effect is that pilots who learn at academies often fly any airplane as
a mini Boeing 737. You may end up knowing the various VY speeds
for a Cessna 172 up through 14,000 feet, but you won’t know about
the great airport restaurant 15 miles away.
Speaking of food, that industry is encouraging diners to support
small farms, reduce pollution, and increase the variety in our diets.
They call it “eat local.” I think we should fly local, too. AOPA
EMAIL ian.twombly@aopa.org
106 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
The case for ‘pilot mills’
Go with the pros
BY JASON BLAIR
WOULD YOU RATHER have surgery from a doctor who does it on the
weekends, or from someone who does it as a full-time job? If you
want to get pilot training, you should get it from someone who does
it professionally, not as a hobby.
This type of professional training takes place at providers such
as Airline Transport Professionals (ATP), American Flyers, and
FlightSafety International, to name a few. Universities and colleges
do the same. The training is highly structured and goal oriented, and
it takes advantage of the economies of scale available to providers
that have multiple locations and hundreds of students. You can call
these places pilot mills if you want, but they get the job done and
they do it well. They train and certify pilots quickly and efficiently.
These may not be the best fit for some-
one who wants to be a hobby pilot and
only has one day a week to devote to train-
ing. But for those seeking training for an
aviation career, they offer significant ben-
efits compared to traditional local FBOs.
Many providers like these create
custom training materials. When you
show up for training (and many times
before), some will have already provided
study materials that directly relate to the JASON BLAIR
scheduled training. Most use structured,
syllabus-based training to ensure your study is focused.
Many also have extensive maintenance programs to help limit
maintenance-related training delays. A local FBO with one or two
aircraft typically cannot provide such prompt service.
Most high-capacity training providers are located in places
where weather doesn’t significantly inhibit training schedules. This
helps efficiency and training reliability.
Training is typically condensed, which interrupts less of
pilots’ lives and gets them moving toward career options faster.
Condensed training also focuses pilots, making them commit time
and resources to accomplishing their goals. Completion rates in
these environments typically are better than 80 percent, while the
national average has been cited as an 80-percent dropout rate.
Instructors at these types of providers are full-time profession-
als, not hobby instructors who work on weekends. These CFIs know
how to help a student succeed. Plus, large-scale training provid-
ers regularly develop relationships with companies that hire pilots.
High-capacity training providers offer professional, efficient,
career-based training. There is a reason that, when airlines seek rela-
tionships for filling cockpit seats, they call these providers. AOPA
JASON BLAIR is a National Association of Flight Instructors master
flight instructor and a designated pilot examiner.
AOPA FOUNDATION’S AIRCRAFT DONATION PROGRAM

“ This aircraft served us well, and now it will

help preserve the freedom to fly...
Donate your aircraft, to the AOPA Foundation
and make a big difference in the future of general
aviation. It takes virtually no time, effort or
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The sale of just one donated plane can provide
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aircraft donation could help:
ƀLJ0LJ&#0-LJ3LJ*,)0##(!LJ ,LJ- .3LJ.,#(#(!LJ As the nonprofit, charitable arm of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots
to thousands of pilots through the Air Association, the AOPA Foundation works to improve aviation safety,
preserve and improve community airports, and encourage learning to fly
Safety Institute’s cutting-edge educational for career and personal benefit – all in the interest of ensuring the future
programs. of general aviation in America.
ƀLJ,)0#LJ-")&,-"#*-LJ.)LJ)4(-LJ) LJ-./(.LJ
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P&E WX WATCH

So long, area forecasts

Love ’em or hate ’em, they’re outta here
BY THOMAS A. HORNE

A FEW MONTHS AGO I was touting the

advantages of area forecasts: how they
sum up the weather by regions, give a
quick overview of the synoptics (fronts,
lows, and highs) at work, provide cloud
layer and cloud top information, and sum-
marize any areas of precipitation—both in
the current forecast period and for a six-
hour outlook (see “Wx Watch: Different
Takes,” May 2015 AOPA Pilot).
From on high, now comes the fate-
ful word: Area forecasts will go away on
December 31. In April, the FAA requested
that the National Weather Service (NWS)
do away with area forecasts. Then a joint-
agency Aviation Weather Requirements
Working Group backed up the request.
Now it’s a done deal, like it or not.
I don’t like it. While area forecasts
(FAs) do have some shortcomings—not
mentioning low clouds and visibilities in
instrument meteorological conditions is
one (for that, you are referred to Airmets the best source of en route flight planning the AWC’s Aviation Digital Data Service
Sierra)—I think that more weather infor- weather information…. (ADDS) website, particularly its graphic
mation is always better than less. And in “The majority of the weather elements products. The FAA has asked that the
many ways, FAs serve as a quick means of contained in the FA are already available ADDS website include cloud-top infor-
one-stop shopping for regional weather to pilots and briefers through existing mation derived from the North American
conditions. For every pilot who avoids or products, including significant weather Mesoscale forecast model. This presum-
detests them, there are bound to be many (SIGWX) charts, aviation forecast discus- ably will serve as an adequate substitute
more who check them first before delv- sions, TAFs, and airmets,” Heuwinkel said. for the FA’s cloud top information.
ing into the details provided by METARs, Other FA opponents cite high meteorol- Perhaps the biggest impact of the FA’s
TAFs, and other aviation weather products. ogist workload volume and a realignment of demise affects those flying on IFR flight
The FAA believes that graphical priorities as reasons for getting rid of area plans. Let’s say you want to know if your
weather products will serve as accept- forecasts. Apparently, it’s too time-consum- destination airport’s weather will be low
able substitutes for the FA. “The text-only ing for the meteorologists at the Aviation enough to require filing an alternate air-
nature of the product does not take advan- Weather Center (AWC) to create FAs. And port. This isn’t a problem if that airport is
tage of significant digital and graphical the creation and posting of pireps and airmets covered by a TAF. But what if it isn’t? The
advances made by the NWS in recent are considered more critical briefing items. traditional guidance was to use the nearest
ALEX WILLIAMSON

decades,” said Richard J. Heuwinkel, So in the very near future, many of us region’s area forecast to determine whether
manager of the FAA’s NextGen Aviation will have to readjust our briefing routines an alternate was required.
Weather Division, in the April 30 request to give more emphasis to graphic prod- But next year, we’ll have to use the low-
letter to the NWS. “The FA is no longer ucts. This will mean a greater focus on level significant weather “prog” charts,

108 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

which are imprecise. They only delin-
eate areas of IMC and marginal VMC
weather, and they don’t give detailed

Fly
ceiling or visibility values. So, if the desti-
nation airport’s approach minimums are
high enough, “marginal” VMC may well
require naming an alternate.
True, Airmets Sierra and G-airmets,
which predict areas expected to have
IMC, can also be useful for determining
alternate requirements for the destina-
tion. But what about the weather at the
alternate airport? Sorry, but airmets and
G-airmets can’t tell you if the weather
is forecast to meet the standard 600-
and-2 or 800-and-2 minimums for
airports with precision or nonprecision

For every pilot who avoids

or detests them, there are
bound to be many more
who check them first before
delving into the details
provided by METARs, TAFs,
and other aviation weather
PUJOH[[P[\KLHS[P[\KL
products. HPYZWLLKHUKZSPW
approaches, respectively—only that the
weather will be “IMC.” So, as always, :(4®[OL4+:[HUKI`([[P[\KL
SELECTABLE 4VK\SLPZ[OLÄYZ[KPNP[HSZ[HUKI`[V
your named alternate airport must issue ORIENTATION
KPZWSH`H[[P[\KLHS[P[\KLHPYZWLLKZSPW
TAFs in order to be legal.
]LY[PJHS[YLUKHUKOLHKPUNPUMVYTH[PVU
Of course, METARs and automated
PUHUHK]HUJLKPUJOMVYTH[
weather reporting capability also would
be nice to have, and they may prove cru- FIELD :(4KLSP]LYZHULHZ`[VÄ[JVTWHJ[
cial in your decision-making. (Once you UPGRADEABLE KLZPNU^P[OZLSLJ[HISLVYPLU[H[PVU
divert to an alternate airport, that air- SOFTWARE OVYPaVU[HSHUK]LY[PJHSSPRLUVV[OLY
port’s standard published approach LUZ\YPUNHWLYMLJ[Ä[^P[OPUHU`WHULS
:(4»Z\UPX\L[^VZJYLLUKPZWSH`
minimums apply.)
MLH[\YLZOPNOKLÄUP[PVUNYHWOPJZHUK
It will be interesting to see the L_[YH^PKL]PL^PUNHUNSLZ(UKH[
LITHIUM-ION
effects of this change as pilots face an SIZ:(4^LPNOZSLZZ[OHU[OL
EMERGENCY
FA-less future come January. Will it BATTERY [OYLLPUZ[Y\TLU[ZP[»ZKLZPNULK[V
be noticed at all? What could the legal YLWSHJL.L[[VRUV^:(4[VKH`
implications be? Whatever the outcome,
it’s likely to precipitate a transition
period similar to the one that accom-
panied the switch from SAs (hourly
surface observations) to METARs, way
back in 1996. Remember that? AOPA
Å`:(4JVT
EMAIL tom.horne@aopa.org

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 109
P&E ADS-B

Pilots appreciate the large, crisp displays

in a G1000, but they won’t tell you anything
without the GIA 63. Garmin calls this an
Integrated Avionics Unit; think of it as a data
router on a computer network. “It also does
other things. The VHF nav receiver’s in there.
The VHF com receiver’s in there. The GPS
receiver’s in there,” Straub said. Flight direc-
tor computations are done in the GIA 63, and
it communicates with autopilot control ser-
vos through a digital communications link.
“We have to be careful that we don’t
independently modify software or hard-
ware in one of these boxes that might break
a communication link. Think of it like an
orchestra.” Straub said changes also must
comply with a number of standards and
tests that didn’t exist when some of the first
integrated flight decks were certified.
As a result, the type certificate holder

ADS-B on glass
has to look at how changes within the
G1000 will affect everything. Because
changes require so much testing, airframe
manufacturers often decide to add features
or fix bugs with every update. “Then it turns
The challenges with integrated flight decks into a certification program that takes a little
BY MIKE COLLINS effort to get done,” Straub said.
The majority of G1000 aircraft have
been delivered with ADS-B Out-capable
AIRCRAFT WITH INTEGRATED flight decks that incorporate large cockpit displays, such as transponders, which provide a straight-
the Garmin G1000 and Avidyne Entegra, are best positioned to display optional Automatic forward solution for the Out requirement.
Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast In traffic and weather information. But their path to (The transponder also must be receiving a
compliance with the FAA’s approaching ADS-B Out deadline often is less clear than for air- WAAS GPS signal.) Garmin understands
craft with more traditional avionics installations. that ADS-B Out compliance alone doesn’t
The manufacturers of piston aircraft with integrated flight decks are working with the cut it, though, he said. “Everybody wants
avionics manufacturers on solutions—or choices of solutions—for their customers, and to get the benefits of ADS-B In. The air-
they’re well aware of the January 1, 2020, mandate. craft manufacturers are at different stages
For many of these aircraft, an ADS-B Out solution will be easier to accomplish than a of incorporating the GDL 88 for ADS-B In.”
fully integrated ADS-B In solution, meaning one that’s capable of displaying ADS-B’s Flight Some early G1000 installations are not
Information Service-Broadcast (FIS-B) and Traffic Information Service-Broadcast (TIS-B) WAAS-compatible. Most have a service bul-
on multifunction displays. But manufacturers are committing to the availability of solutions letin path to upgrade to a WAAS GPS, Straub
for both ADS-B Out and In that can be certified and installed in advance of the deadline. said, but doing so can present interface
issues with non-Garmin autopilots. “Some of
THE CHALLENGE WITH INTEGRATED FLIGHT DECKS these variances can increase the cost of what
Updating an integrated flight deck is much more complex than updating or replacing a it takes to go from a non-WAAS G1000 to a
standalone GPS navigator or any other single box in an aircraft panel. “With a single box—a WAAS. People generally know it’s an option,
single product—there’s not a lot of integration with other things in the airplane,” said Phil but they don’t want to incur that cost.”
Straub, Garmin’s vice president and managing director of aviation. Avionics in an aircraft Garmin also is working on aftermarket
with an integrated flight deck often become part of the aircraft’s type certificate, requir- solutions that could use an approved model
ing more work for an update than the typical supplemental type certificate (STC) process. list STC process, especially in cases where
With an integrated flight deck, “you have an array of tentacles” that reach out to other manufacturers don’t step in—like older
aircraft equipment, Straub said. As a result, the type certificate holder and the avionics man- Columbia aircraft, for example. “We want to
ufacturer must work together on upgrades. make sure we don’t abandon anyone,” Straub

110 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

 MICRO VORTEX GENERATORS
• Cessna • Beech • Piper Over 500 Models
....just to name a few FAA-STC Approved

explained. “And we want to get information

as much as possible on the G1000 displays.”

A DIFFERENT APPROACH
The situation is a little different for owners
of aircraft that left the factory with Avidyne
glass cockpits. “All of our integrated flight
decks were installed at OEMs,” said Tom
Harper, Avidyne’s marketing director. “We
have a huge installed base of 4,000-plus
Cirruses,” plus a bunch of Pipers and some
Columbia aircraft, for which Avidyne fulfills Micro VGs are installed on the leading edge of the wings
aftermarket demand. and on tail surfaces to help keep air attached longer at
Avidyne did the engineering for the avi-
slower speeds. This reduces the Stall Speed, improves
onics STCs, which Cirrus and Piper then
added to the type certificates for aircraft with
controllability, improves characteristics, creates a more
Avidyne integrated flight decks. “On Release stable instrument platform and gives better aileron response
7 we code-merged all of our OEM differences, and rudder authority.
gles
so going forward, we could update everyone
ins & Sin
at once,” Harper said. “We’ll go do STCs for (800) 677-2370 for Tw
able ice
each of these OEMs so they can upgrade and 4000 Airport Road, Suite D
Avail Kit Pr$3950
to
$695
get ADS-B into their Entegra suites.” Anacortes, Washington 98221
(360) 293-8082 FAX (360) 293-5499
For Entegra installations, ADS-B Out is Vortex Generator Technology www.microaero.com micro@microaero.com
independent of the rest of the system. For the
required position source, the dual Garmin
GNS 430s can be upgraded to WAAS if they
haven’t already—or replaced with Avidyne’s
IFD440. Upgrading the Mode S transponder
to extended squitter provides for ADS-B Out.
Some owners are replacing the panel-mount
transponder with a remote-mount unit, free-
ing up enough panel space to replace the two
GNS 430s with an IFD440 and an IFD540,
which features a larger screen, Harper said.
Integrated ADS-B In should be available
later this year for Entegra 8, Harper added.
“That will add the ability to display ADS-B
traffic and weather on the big glass.” Owners
will have to install a 978 UAT receiver to get
the data; those with satellite weather capa-
bility or active traffic systems like Skywatch
will have to decide which data to display on
the MFD and on the navigator displays.
Owners who have upgraded to Entegra
Release 9—which entailed new hardware
and software—can expect a software upgrade
allowing display of ADS-B In data at the end
of this year or in early 2016, Harper said.

CIRRUS
At EAA AirVenture, Cirrus Aircraft dis-
tributed an information sheet outlining the
ADS-B status of all of its G1000-equipped

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 111
 P&E ADS-B

aircraft, broken down by model year and,
when necessary, aircraft serial number.
Cirrus Perspective-equipped aircraft
from mid-2010 and later already are ADS-B
Out compliant. For others, installing a
Universal Access Transceiver or upgrad-
ing the transponder to 1090ES will provide
ADS-B Out capability; for many, adding a
Garmin GDL 88 UAT will provide ADS-B In.
Cirrus does not have a firm schedule for
integrating the GDL 88, required to show
ADS-B In data on the Perspective cockpit dis-
plays. “That is on the near-term roadmap but
we don’t have a date,” said Ivy McIver, Cirrus’
SR products manager. The transponder
upgrades or replacements to 1090ES, allow-
ing ADS-B Out, are available now, she said.
Updates will be communicated to Cirrus
owners through the company website and
through service bulletins, she said.
PIPER
Current production aircraft, those that have
come off the manufacturing line in the past
112 |  two years or so, already are ADS-B Out
and In compliant, said Kelly Peters, Piper
Aircraft’s senior avionics electrical engineer
and software lead—except for the Matrix,
which has a defined path forward.
For many of the 80,000 older Pipers in
the fleet today, solutions exist. “There are
some STCs available that offer some degree
of integration,” she said, acknowledging that
some owners want fully integrated solutions.
“The team here is investigating a cost-effec-
tive solution for them,” talking with the
avionics manufacturers. “We probably could
come up with a solution pretty quickly, but it
might be cost-prohibitive.” Piper is very con-
cerned about making the cost affordable, she
said. “That’s paramount to us.”
The company does not have a firm time
frame for those owners today, but expects to
offer one in the near term.
TEXTRON
“The conversation does migrate to ADS-B In.
The path to ADS-B Out is more direct,” said
Doug May, Textron Aviation’s vice president
for piston aircraft. Many customers ask about
the display of ADS-B In data on a handheld
device, or integrated into the G1000 system.
“Textron Aviation’s focus is on achiev-
ing solutions for an integrated solution for
all of our WAAS and non-WAAS G1000s,”
from both the Cessna and Beechcraft prod-
uct lines. “As a team we’re working toward
having solutions in a timeframe where
our customer base has time to review the
options before them, consider the options,
and schedule an installation with the shop
of their choice before the 2020 deadline.
“We’ll be looking at both amended TCs
as well as STCs, not only for this change but
for other changes we have for the product
line,” May continued. On a highly inte-
grated system like the G1000, a change
typically includes more than just one item.
While the specifics will vary with product
lines, “the intention is to provide an ADS-B
integrated solution for the fleet of G1000
aircraft,” with ADS-B In data displayed on
integrated flight displays, he said. AOPA
EMAIL mike.collins@aopa.org

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P&E NEVER AGAIN

Into the teeth of a

cold front
An icy encounter in the Banning Pass
BY JIM HELSPER JR.

MY FATHER AND I, ALONG WITH THREE PASSENGERS, were on the

last leg of a long weekend trip to Baja California in February 1996.
My father had bought the 1976 Bonanza A36 in 1984 and had flown
N329JH extensively for more than a decade.
We cleared U.S. Customs at Calexico International Airport
(CXL) without any issues. A Bonanza A36TC was parked next to
us, and I asked the pilot about his intentions for the next flight.
He looked at the sky, which appeared to be 4,500 broken, and
said because he was going back to Fullerton, California, he would
fly the southern route to San Diego and then up the coast. The
mountains there were lower; on the other route, the Banning Pass
between Palm Springs and San Bernardino could be rough when
winter storms blew through Southern California.
My father and I discussed our flight plan. I suggested the
southern route, but that would require crossing Los Angeles
International Airport traffic to get to Bob Hope Airport in
Burbank, so my father decided, “Let’s fly the pass.” We would take
off and get an IFR clearance en route. I would fly from the right
seat, and he would handle the radios.
We started the engine and I turned on the avionics. As I
reached for the power switch on the Apollo GPS, my father said,
“We can’t use that for IFR flight, it’s not certified; use the VORs.”
So I set up for the outbound leg from the Imperial VOR and tuned
the Thermal VOR on the second nav/com. I knew we would get a instructed us to turn left and intercept the air-
clearance that would take us to an intersection to avoid restricted way. Thoughts of Mount San Jacinto—taller
areas to the west and north. than 11,000 feet and to the right of us—passed
We took off and quickly were cleared to 12,000 feet, on the through my head as I took a quick glance at
expected routing. Soon we were in solid IMC; we were flying into the windshield. Ice.
the teeth of a cold front. My father and I noticed the ice on the
I established my scan watching the second VOR, waiting for windshield simultaneously and we both
the upcoming intersection. Then ATC called and said to turn reached for the pitot heat, our fingers colliding
left immediately and intercept the Thermal VOR. We hadn’t as we flipped the switch. The airspeed indi-
reached the intersection; why did we have to turn? But turn I did. cator went to zero, and I pushed down a little
I twisted the OBS to the required radial and started to track on on the yoke to make sure we didn’t get close
that. Probably some military traffic—yeah, that’s it. to stall. Now we were not climbing, and while
A few minutes later we passed Thermal and started toward the the airspeed needle recovered quickly, the ice
Palm Springs VOR. That’s when things started to unravel. on the windshield was still there.
First ATC cleared us to 14,000 feet, but we hadn’t reached ATC called again, “Climb and maintain
12,000 yet. The front passing over the mountains was causing 14,000 and you are now left of course.” My
a respectable downdraft on the leeward side. Even with all the father and I looked at each other in disbelief.
SARAH HANSON

power the Continental IO-520 could muster, we were barely mak- The needles were centered; the gyrocompass
ing any progress at 11,500. matched the magnetic compass—something
Next ATC said we were three miles right of course and major was wrong here.

114 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

 P&E NEVER AGAIN

“Nine-Juliet-Hotel requests lower alti-
tude,” my father radioed.
“Negative, climb and maintain 14,000,”
ATC said.
Now we were on the west side of the
pass and in an updraft. What was happen-
ing with the nav/coms? We were in IMC
with mountains on either side, and who
knew how much ice had accumulated on
the wings?
Then a slow, deep voice called us on the
ATC frequency: “OK, Nine-Juliet-Hotel,
just do what I tell you. Whatever your
course indicates, just turn how much I tell
you and fly whatever that new course is.
OK? Now turn right five degrees. Fly what-
ever that shows on the compass.
“OK, Nine-Juliet-Hotel, you can
descend to 8,000, and turn left 10 degrees.”
That deep voice sounded very reassuring.
More turns as we were vectored to
intercept the Burbank ILS and then cleared
to descend to 3,000 feet, all on the same
116 |  frequency with the same controller. We
broke out of the clouds at 4,500 feet, and
there was Runway 8 at Burbank about 10
miles away.
“Nine-Juliet-Hotel has the runway in
sight.”
The deep voice said, “Contact Burbank
Tower, have a nice day.”
Touchdown, rollout, and park the
airplane in the hangar. As the three pas-
sengers left with my father, one said to me,
“I noticed you were doing the flying, nice
job.” I struggled to keep from shaking when
I waved back.
The next day my father flew the airplane
VFR to an avionics shop in Van Nuys. The
manager flew with him to troubleshoot the
problem. As they taxied out he said, “There
is your first problem: The mag compass is
bad.” Not just bad, but 30 degrees bad. Dirt
runways in Baja are not the place you would
line up and check, but neither of us had
bothered to check at Calexico.
In the air, the RNAV system was acting
up. The power switch had failed to On, and
even though we thought it was Off, it was
sending spurious signals to the VORs. No
wonder we were all over the sky.
Back on the ground, the manager asked
why we hadn’t turned on the Apollo GPS.
Yes, why hadn’t we?
My father has long since passed away,
and now I own 9JH. My solution was
to get an IFR-certified GPS and pitch
the RNAV. Weather.gov is my most fre-
quented bookmark, and I spend a lot of
time trying to understand the weather.
The only thing I forgot to do was to find
out the name of that controller, so I could
thank him. AOPA
JIM HELSPER JR. of Rancho Palos Verdes,
California, is a private pilot. He has more
than 600 hours flying mostly for pleasure.
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 56% News & Notes
SURVEY
of AOPA members own
an aircraft.
Costly mistakes
Why a prepurchase inspection is critical
YOU’RE SO CLOSE TO MAK-
ING that airplane your own.
You’ve researched for hours,
lined up your financing, and
even rented a hangar. You’ve
flown the aircraft and trav-
elled hundreds of miles to
the seller’s airport. You want
to take your new baby home—
not wait a week or more for
an inspection. Plus, you’ve
spent enough money as it is. You trust the
seller, so maybe it would be safe in this case
to forgo an inspection. Right?
Wrong! Skipping a prepurchase
inspection could be one of the most costly
decisions you’ll ever make. Corrosion could
be eating this airplane alive, and once you
buy it, it’s your problem—not the seller’s.
So, as anxious as you are to start fly-
ing your “new” airplane, you must take the
time—and spend the money—to obtain a
thorough prepurchase inspection. This will
CONTACT AOPA
ADDRESS CHANGE?
Send your new address and AOPA
membership number to AOPA:
421 Aviation Way
Frederick, Maryland 21701-4798
Fax: 301-695-2375
www.aopa.org
TOLL-FREE PILOT
INFORMATION CENTER
800-USA-AOPA (872-2672)
www.aopa.org
AOPA PILOT INFORMATION CENTER HOURS
Do you have questions or need information about an aviation topic? Access the team of aviation experts in our Pilot Information Center
during our convenient weekday hours. Call 800-USA-AOPA (872-2672) Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. Eastern time, with
your questions and our staff will be happy to assist you.
WEB Visit the website (www.aopa.org/aopapremier) to learn about upgrading to the AOPA Premier membership.
118 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
MEMBERSHIP
BY ADAM MEREDITH
AOPA Aviation Finance
help you make an informed
decision about whether this
airplane is the right buy at
the price you’re paying.
As the buyer, you have
the right to have an inspec-
tion done. If the seller tries to
discourage an inspection or
specify who does the inspec-
tion, that should be a red flag.
Even the seller may not know
mechanical problems that have developed
since the airplane’s last annual. Use your
own mechanic—or one who specializes in
the specific make and model—and provide
detailed instructions as to what you want.
Your mechanic will start by conducting
a thorough examination of the airplane’s
paperwork. That includes a valid airworthi-
ness certificate, aircraft registration, pilot’s
operating handbook, maintenance logs for
the engine and the airframe, and proof of
compliance with airworthiness directives.
AOPA FOUNDATION
800-955-9115
www.aopafoundation.org
AOPA AIR SAFETY INSTITUTE
800-638-3101
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800-523-7666
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AOPA AIRCRAFT FINANCING
800-627-5263
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Have this paperwork ready in advance.
Reconstructing any of these is costly in both
time and money.
Then your mechanic will do a thorough
inspection of the airplane. AOPA has pre-
pared a checklist of items that should be
examined (www.aopa.org/prepurchase);
share it with your mechanic.
The results of a prepurchase inspection
could lower the price of the airplane. If your
mechanic finds a problem, the cost of fixing
that problem might be deducted from the
purchase price. It’s all negotiable. And what
if your mechanic gives your new airplane a
clean bill of health? Now you have peace of
mind that there should be no surprises as
you fly and enjoy your new purchase.
Are you considering aircraft owner-
ship? If so, AOPA Aviation Finance wants to
make your purchase experience as smooth
as possible. For information about aircraft
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com) or call 800-62-PLANE (75263).
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800-622-AOPA (622-2672)
www.aopainsurance.org
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800-USA-AOPA (872-2672)
www.aopa.org/pps
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866-315-9155
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 AOPA Strategic Partners
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NEWS & NOTES AOPA FOUNDATION
“Safe pilots, safe skies”—Did you know that the AOPA Air Safety Institute’s
programs are funded through donations from pilots who embrace this adage?
Show your support (www.aopafoundation.org/donate).
AOPA AIR SAFETY INSTITUTE |
Under pressure
Develop your personal minimums
ONE OF THE TOUGH ISSUES for general avi-
ation pilots is how to combat self-induced
pressure to complete a flight. Sometimes
we get lured by being close to our desti-
nation, and we’re often motivated by the
desire to please passengers.
But pressure can compromise sound
decision making, so we should have a per-
sonal minimums checklist and identify
risks in advance, preparing a contingency
plan for each.
First, we’ll have to carefully assess how
we are doing. Are we healthy and well-
rested? Are any medications we’re taking
legal for flight? Are we feeling stress, per-
haps due to a major life event? Next, we
NEW ASI VIDEO—WEATHER WISE:
GATHERING INFORMATION
PREFLIGHT WEATHER PLANNING is the
foundation for some of our most critical
decisions as pilots. But with the volume of
weather information available, how can we
be sure we’re getting what we need?
The AOPA Air Safety Institute’s Weather
Wise: Gathering Information video is the
first in a series focused on practical weather
flying. You’ll find important information
on using aviation weather sources such as
Flight Service and CSC DUATS, along with
apps and websites that provide aviation-
specific weather. ASI also shares strategies
ASI SEMINAR: CROSS-COUNTRY CHALLENGE
Visit the website for dates and locations near you. Icons identify if it’s a fly-in or unique aviation location.
120 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
need to evaluate our aircraft’s condition,
the weather, and our route selection.
To help guide pilots, the AOPA Air
Safety Institute’s Do The Right Thing:
Decision Making for Pilots online course
(www.airsafetyinstitute.org/decision
making) is a great resource with practical
advice on how to anticipate and recognize
problems—as well as tips for avoiding cir-
cumstances that lead to really tough choices.
Next, use ASI’s Flight Risk Evaluator
(www.airsafetyinstitute.org/flightriskeval)
to take a more formal approach in flight
planning. Just input the details of the
planned flight to get an objective assess-
ment of the risks.
to gather important weather information
at the right time, using the system that fits
your needs. Watch the video before your
next planned flight (www.airsafetyinstitute.
org/weather-wise/gatheringinformation).
AIR SAFETY INSTITUTE
RELEASES 24TH ‘NALL
REPORT’
THE RECENTLY PUBLISHED twenty-
fourth Joseph T. Nall Report offers a
detailed discussion of the number,
type, and circumstances of 2012’s
general aviation accidents, including
the AOPA Air Safety Institute’s first-
ever analysis
of helicop -
ter accident
causes.
The Nall
Report cov-
ers airplanes
with maxi-
mum gross
takeoff weights of 12,500 pounds
or less and helicopters of all sizes.
Accidents on commercial charter,
cargo, crop-dusting, and external-load
flights are addressed separately from
accidents on noncommercial flights,
a category that includes personal and
business travel and flight instruction,
as well as professionally flown cor-
porate transport and positioning legs
flown under FAR Part 91 by commer-
cial operators.
The Nall Report is accompanied by
the 2013-2014 GA Accident Scorecard,
a summary of GA accidents that docu-
ments the unexpected improvements
in GA safety over the past two years.
Download both publications online.
WEB airsafetyinstitute.org/nall
ON THE
WEB
www.airsafetyinstitute.org/seminars
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NEWS & NOTES PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
INSURANCE SERVICES |
Get in the game
Your retirement playbook
IF YOU’RE PLANNING TO RETIRE in the next few years, it’s time to
assess your finances—and start planning for your life of leisure.
Consider your financials to maintain the lifestyle and activities
you have grown accustomed to. Take a few pages from AOPA
Insurance’s playbook to get started.
LOOK AT YOUR ASSETS
Take an inventory of your savings—retirement plans, bank
accounts, and investments—to determine how much money you’ve
accumulated over the years.
DETERMINE HOW MUCH MONEY YOU’LL NEED
See how much money you’ll collect each month from Social
Security and your pension, if you have one. Estimate your
expenses, and see how much you’ll need to supplement your
income. Then take into consideration money you’ll spend
on other things—hobbies, entertainment, travel, et cetera.
Consider your aircraft storage and maintenance needs, as
well as any certificates you want to add or medical certifi-
cate renewals. You can use any number of online calculators
to get a ballpark estimate. If your savings fall short, increase
the amount you save, if possible. Be sure you’re taking full
advantage of your retirement plan at work. Speak to a finan-
cial advisor or stop by your local bank to ask about other
options that may be available to you.
MANAGE YOUR DEBT
It’s important to eliminate as much debt as you can, before you
stop working. Do what you can to pay down your mortgage. Try
to pay off any credit cards and personal loans. Consider, too, any
loans you may have co-signed for a child.
ANSWERS FOR PILOTS
HOLIDAY TRIPS
IT DOESN’T SEEM POSSIBLE that the holidays are, again, right
around the corner. But with their inevitable approach comes the
opportunity to fly, rather than drive, the family to celebrate with
distant relatives and friends.
Flights with family, especially with children, may involve
some special planning and flexibility. Feeling the pressure to get
there on time, combined with increased noise and distraction
122 | AOPA PILOT November 2015
DECIDE HOW YOU’LL SPEND YOUR TIME IN RETIREMENT
Getting your finances in order is an important part of retirement plan-
ning. Equally important is deciding how you’ll spend your time. If
you’d like to volunteer, think about where and how often. Perhaps
you’d like to continue working part time. What options are available
to you? Is there a hobby you can turn into a small income? If you enjoy
playing the piano, for instance, you may enjoy giving music lessons.
As an AOPA member, you can help others by assisting with flight
planning, pilot certificate preparation, and aviation advocacy issues.
PROTECT YOUR SPOUSE AND FAMILY
At retirement, you’ll lose the benefits your employer has provided.
That may include life insurance. Most understand the importance
of having protection when their families are young, but life insur-
ance can play an important role in retirement as well. The death of
one spouse affects the finances of the one left behind. Even though
living expenses may remain the same, Social Security and pension
payments will decline. Life insurance can help offset the income
lost. If you don’t have your own life insurance, it makes sense to
purchase this coverage now—if you wait until later and your health
changes, you may find it difficult to get or afford life insurance. As
an AOPA member, you can expand coverage for your spouse as
well through the 50-plus Term Group Life Insurance Plan.
If life insurance is missing from your retirement playbook, take
advantage of the options available to you as an AOPA member. AOPA
Insurance takes the work out of searching for a trusted insurance
partner, and finding coverage that meets your needs and budget.
Many insurance carriers exclude any type of aviation-related
accident from their policies, and as an AOPA member you want to
be sure you’re covered when you need it most. Learn more about
your AOPA life insurance options online (aopainsurance.org/life).
in the airplane, can be challenging. Read tips for managing the
excitement in this month’s Answers for Pilots (www.aopa.org/
Pilot-Resources/Answers-for-Pilots).
As always, please contact the aviation technical specialists in
AOPA’s Pilot Information Center with your questions, Monday
through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time, at 800-USA-
AOPA (872-2672) or by email (pilotassist@aopa.org).
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AOPA Aviation Finance T-11, 117 www.aopafinance.com • 800-62-PLANE King Schools 7 www.kingschools.com • 800-854-1001
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AOPA Pilot magazine (ISSN: 0001-2084), November 2015 (Vol. 58, No. 11), is produced and distributed monthly by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, Maryland 21701. Distribution
restricted to AOPA members, those in aeronautical education (faculty and schools), libraries, and the news media. U.S. membership dues are $59, of which $18 is for an annual subscription to Pilot. Canadian mem-
bership dues $64. All other foreign membership dues $79. Single copy price $6.95. Subscription rates to qualified organizations are $21 per year in the United States, its territories, and possessions. All funds payable in
U.S. dollars only. Periodicals postage paid at Frederick, Maryland, and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to AOPA Member Services, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, Maryland 21701.
Publications Mail Agreement No. 41147511. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: PO Box 1051, Fort Erie, ON L2A 6C7. For change of address: Call 800-USA-AOPA or email memberassistance@aopa.org

124 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

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TIPS FROM PIC

Charity flights
BY FERDI MACK

WITH THE HOLIDAYS approaching,

Aviation
pilots may consider offering flights
as a gift to the nonflying public or to
their favorite charitable organization.
However, the transition from non-
compensated private pilot activities to
those that may involve payment, such Bachelor Master
as in a silent auction, should give a pilot
Scan Here Aviation/Aerospace Aviation Science
– Aviation Safety – Airport Operations Management
pause—even if the payment is never pro- – Aviation Security – Business Administration
vided to the pilot. Consider that from – Flight Operations – Aviation Security
the perspective of the auction winner, – Management Business Administration
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he or she has bought a ticket on a flight. – Aviation Maintenance Management
FAR 91.146, “Passenger Carrying
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vides the requirements for such flights
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command: They must be day VFR local
sightseeing flights, within 25 miles of
the original airport, in an airplane or
helicopter. The private pilot must have
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pilot is exempted from the commercial
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fuel, oil, and rental and airport fees.
Beyond the operational stipulations,
information must be provided to the
local FAA flight standards district office
at least seven days in advance, including
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and copies of pilot credentials such as
pilot and medical certificate. No more
than four such flights may take place
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www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 125
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126 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

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www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 127
PILOTS FLY IDAHO! AUTHOR

Galen Hanselman
A backcountry-aviation living legend
B Y C R I S TA V. W O R T H Y

AS GALEN HANSELMAN descended between
jagged mountains toward the wilderness air-
strip at Sulphur Creek Ranch, Idaho, he had no
idea what he was getting into. Touching down
about halfway down the strip, he stomped on
the brakes, skidded past the lodge, and came
to a halt just a few feet from the end. Knees
shaking, Hanselman went in, had some pie,
and decided he’d better get more information
and some backcountry instruction before try-
ing that again.
Raised in Idaho and educated as a physi-
cist, Hanselman started flying in 1980 at the
age of 32. He often heard his flying buddies
talk about their experiences in the backcoun-
try. Hanselman had newly transitioned to a
Cessna 182, and he decided to fly to Sulphur
Creek. After his near-accident he got the
specialized training, but he couldn’t find
detailed, accurate airstrip data—it was all
word of mouth.
Having recently sold his home security business, he decided to document as many
of Idaho’s airstrips as possible and publish his findings in a book. This would give
pilots accurate information to help them decide whether or not they had the skills
and equipment to fly safely into each airstrip. He personally flew to all the airstrips
in his book, photographed them from above, and measured the length, width, eleva-
tion, and condition of each runway. He developed a system to assess each airstrip’s
difficulty—the Relative Hazard Index—that assigned a number between 0 and 50 to
each airstrip, taking into account variables such as elevation, terrain, obstructions,
runway length, and surface condition. He made diagrams of each airstrip and its sur-
roundings, and added recreational and historical information, all told in his folksy,
tongue-in-cheek style.
First published in 1994, Fly Idaho! was an instant success and could be
found in virtually every backcountry pilot’s cockpit. In the years that fol-
lowed, Hanselman published books on airstrips in Baja California, Montana, and
Utah, as well as beautiful state aeronautical charts, selling them on his website
(www.FlyIdaho.com).
By 2010, some of the data in Fly Idaho! were outdated. Hanselman spent five
years photographing and surveying 81 airstrips for the newly released third edition.
Fly Idaho! is now 946 pages in two volumes, completely updated—including the new
diagrams—and full of humorous anecdotes that make it an entertaining read as well
as an indispensable guide. AOPA

LOGBOOK
WHO | Galen Hanselman, back-
country pilot and author of Fly
Idaho!
HOURS | More than 4,000
FAVORITE AIRCRAFT | Cessna 182
EXTRA | While researching air-
strips for Fly Utah! Hanselman
found airstrips where no one
had landed for decades. Given
the overgrown condition of the
strips, he said he had to adjust
his Relative Hazard Index, giving
ratings in the low 50s.
CRISTA V. WORTHY

128 | AOPA PILOT November 2015

 Amelia Rose Earhart, Aviatrix

Why Amelia flies with the Bose A20 headset.

For her epic journey around the world, Amelia chose the Bose A20
Bose A20 ® ®

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Aviation Headset for its clear communication and comfortable fit.
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she hears the critical information she needs the first time around.
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 BLUETOOTH WIRELESS

3-D AUDIO

VOICE CONTROL

It brings music to your ears.

Phone calls to your headset.
And voice control to your radios.
Introducing the new Garmin GMA 350c digital audio panel1. It’s got built-in Bluetooth™ wireless connectivity. So, you can use it with
your smartphone (or other compatible devices) to make calls from the ramp or stream audio entertainment and Garmin Pilot® alerts
through your cabin headsets. Other highlights include: background noise level sensing for automatic volume adjustment, enhanced
auto-squelch capability, clearance recorder, and Garmin’s unique 3-D audio processing that makes it easier to identify and focus on the
top-priority communications coming into your headset. Better still, our patented Telligence™ voice control feature can even activate certain
key functions in response to spoken commands. So, by simply pressing a switch on the yoke and saying “Comm One” or “Comm Two,” you
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To learn more, visit our website: Garmin.com/aviation

GMA 350c
™
1
NOTE: A remote-mount version of this audio system, the GMA 35c, is also available for use with the GTN 750 series of
touchscreen avionics. It provides all the features of the GMA 350c, while preserving stack space in the panel.
The Bluetooth® word mark and logos are owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Garmin is under license.
©2015 Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries