.JPG)
Regular as clockwork, every afternoon last week we could depend on cumulus buildups growing into thunderstorms around the midwestern landscape. One could fly until noon or so, but after that it would depend on where you were; cross-country flying was going to be a challenge.
One of the posters covering the cracks in my office wall reads “Lack of planning on YOUR part does not constitute an emergency on MY part”. Thus it was over the holiday weekend when an “out of gas” sign was pasted on the pump at the Butler airport. We had to divert thirsty planes to Harrisonville or Nevada until a refill activated the pump on Friday. Sorry ‘bout that. Like I’ve always said, never land somewhere to fill up without having sufficient fuel to reach an alternate; you never know.
Visitors observed during last week were a big Cessna 414 Chancellor executive twin, a Piper Twin Comanche, a Cessna Skylane, and some assorted Piper Cherokee derivatives. Local uplifts were conducted by Gerald Bauer in a Cessna 150, meself in the Aeronca Champ, Jon Laughlin in his Piper Cherokee 180C and various others.
Pay attention to the Notices To Air Missions if heading up to Kansas City’s Wheeler Downtown airport this week. It was supposed to be finished by the time you read this, but if pavement work hits a snag, the airport may be closed to all fixed-wing traffic. The job involves milling and resurfacing runway 17/35 but also closes runway 4/22 because of the intersection of the two. Night work is supposed to allow daylight operation as an alternative.
There ought to be a standing NOTAM to “beware of aerial weirdness” on all commercial airline flights. I don’t know what the phase of the Moon is, but there was the recent Korean Air incident when a guy opened an overwing emergency exit during a landing approach, giving everyone a breezy few moments. And a stowaway on a Frontier flight last Friday climbed over the airport fence to hide himself in a wheel well, a good way to get crushed by retracting wheels or frozen solid aloft. And some Ugly American on an Air Canada flight on Saturday got belligerent and broke out of restraints, so a pile of passengers had to convince him to behave until he could be handed over to the Mounties.
Washington D.C., of course, has its own standards of weirdness. It was recently pointed out to me that the FAA says we’re no longer supposed to speak of people taking flight instruction as “students.” We must now call them “learners” because terming them a student is somehow wounding their tender psyche. Now, I’ve been a student of aviation all of my life, and I’m kinda proud of it. I encourage others to do likewise; if you ain’t learning, you’re dying.
The weekly question was a two-fer, about the World War II Corsair fighter plane; why did it have its inverted gull wing AND what tire company built it, as well its parent Chance Vought firm. Well, the bent wing was so the big prop could clear the deck without impractically long landing gear, and it was Goodyear that built the FG-1 version. For next time, tell us how many tires were on the prototype Convair B-36 bomber’s maingear You can send your answers to kochhaus1@gmail.com.
