WHAT’S UP by LeRoy Cook

6 September 2020

 As with most holiday weekends, activity at general aviation airports was light, other than for the out-of-town travelers coming through. A lot of local flying is curtailed while family activities are being pursued. The SkyDive KC  parachute jumping at Butler stood down, due to lack of bookings.

 Among the week’s visitors were a Cessna Skyhawk, a Cirrus SR22 and a Piper Cherokee. Steve Fields was in with a 1978 Cessna 172 and Shawn and Becky Hoenshell came up from Nevada in their Skyhawk. The AirTractor agplane departed for south Texas after the post-hurricane weather cleared. Of the local residents, Jerry Burns and Roy Conley flew in their experimental gyrocopters, Jim Ferguson took his Cessna Skylane out and also flew in the Cessna Skyhawk. Several solo flights were performed by students in the Cessna 150s. 

 Thanks to efforts by the City work crews, the insurance-covered repairs from last May’s strong winds are about completed. For all too long, visitors arriving by air saw bent-up roof tin and hanging guttering. Keeping the “front door” to our town looking nice takes continual upkeep.

 We heard from former area resident Charles O’Rear this week, who keeps up on Bates County happenings on the Newswire. Charles made his first solo flight here in 1958, and it was he who painted the “Welcome To Butler Airport” lettering still displayed on the hangar front. Great to hear from you, Chuck.

 We all hope for an easing of Covid 19 confusion soon, perhaps as vaccines become available next month. The nation’s airlines are struggling to maintain some sort of service with seats only ten percent full, while forced to lay off employees and drop flights. People are justifiably uneasy about riding in an aluminum tube with a bunch of strangers, particularly when non-stop flights are hard to get. Getting public travel confidence back in the midst of pandemic hysteria is a tall order.

 Last week’s question about “who ejects first” was first answered by John Giacone, who correctly surmised that it was the backseater who probably leaves first. Now, for next time, who knows what was unusual about the ejection seats in the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, built in the 1950s? Answers can go to kochhaus1@gmail.com.