The in-and-out traffic was the usual mix of Kansas City-based training flights and some travelers refueling or taking a break. A Beech Bonanza A36 was in, a Cessna 172 stopped and a Piper Arrow parked for a bit. Bob Grant refueled Saturday morning, out of St. Charles, MO in a Grumman Yankee he was ferrying to Santa Fe, NM. He would need a couple of more stops.
Local flyers included Kainen Nance in a Cessna 150, Jim and Diane Ferguson traveling in their Cessna Skylane and Les Gorden giving his grandson a lesson in a 150. Victor Goicoechea came down from Belton to take a flight review.
This coming Saturday morning will be the time for the Fliar’s Club to meet, so if you’re so inclined, be on the Butler airport ramp at 0700 hours, at which time we’ll determine an appropriate course of action.
The City mowing crew has given a needed haircut to the Butler Airport Native Prairie park, at the northwest corner of the property, in preparation for the annual burning of the underbrush. It needs to be done by March 1 to encourage wildflower regrowth.
Delta Airlines has announced that, due to its need for pilots, it will no longer exclude applicants who do not have a college degree. Most airlines have had such a collegian policy, just to thin out the numbers seeking an interview, as they usually had plenty to pick from. Experience in professional flying is much more important than academics, so it makes sense to waive the college prerequisite. Airline flying is learned on the job, not in a classroom.
Brigadier General Charles McGee died last week at age 102, one of the Greatest Generation and a Tuskeegee Airmen pilot who was one of the first black fighter pilots in the Army Air Corps. He joined up in 1943, flew 100 missions over Europe and went on to do combat tours in Korea and Vietnam, winding up with more combat hours than any other U.S. pilot. He was a true gentleman and patriot, a role model for a new generation of Air Force leaders. May he rest in peace.
For the weekly question, we wanted to know why an aircraft commander never uses the term “takeoff power”, if it were ever necessary to make go-around while landing. Reader Lance Casaday of Sterling, Virginia, knew; it’s because it could be misunderstood to mean “reduce power to idle”, so he would say “max power.” Now, tell us it means to have “P-51 time” in your pilot logbook. Send your answers to kochhaus1@gmail.com
