“Just like flying in Florida” was one analysis I heard of the week’s weather. In the Sunshine State, every afternoon is marked by scattered thundershowers around 2 o’clock, building up in the humidity throughout the morning. Getting somewhere by air involves dodging and weaving through the thicket of thunder. Because there was warm air aloft last week, creating a temperature inversion in the lower atmosphere, pollutants and water vapor limited visibility to five miles or so.
The traffic count included a Piper Cherokee Six and a regular-size Cherokee, along with a Cessna Skyhawk and a Piper Warrior. Scott Buerge was up from Nevada in his Beech Bonanza V35B and Mike Golden came over from New Century, KS in his Cessna Turbo Centurion. Locally, I had the 1946 Aeronca out, Eric Eastland flew his Cessna 172 and Gerald Bauer took a Cessna 150 to Nevada.
The long-body Piper Cherokee Six (below) was created in 1964, by splitting the four-seat Cherokee down the middle and making it seven inches wider, in addition to stretching it out by a 3 1/2 feet to make it a six or seven-seat airplane. When we saw the first one, brought in by a Piper dealer, we said it was “long as a wagon track.” Piper then made it into a twin-engine airplane and a retractable single, then turbocharged the engine and doctored it up with a T-tail, getting a lot of mileage out of the design.
We got a rude shock Thursday morning when we went into our hangar; some low-life scum had pilfered through our stored possessions, taking whatever could be converted into quick dope money. He broke into a storage room to get a portable air compressor, grabbed up some loose cash and the company checkbook, and then took Ed Robertson’s old antique toolbox, which had some special tools for changing tires, working on radios and dressing nicks out of propeller blades. Some old chart cases and other memorabilia were taken, all stuff we’ll miss for sentimental reasons. Why people think they are entitled to just help themselves to other people’s belongings, messing up our lives, is beyond me. My Quaker heritage is sorely tested as I contemplate how I would extract penance if I could just get my hands on this sticky-fingered bum. I particularly want that old toolbox back.
Thanks to the work of Landon Cook and David Kaufman, the grass maintenance at the Butler airport was looking good this weekend. It takes a lot of mowing to keep it in shape, taking care around the lights and buildings. Presenting a good image to visitors coming into our town is important; thanks, y’all.
The week’s aviation news was dominated by the sad case of the Cessna Citation jet that crashed in Pennsylvania last week, after evidently failing to pressurize its cabin as it rose to 34,000 feet. The time of useful consciousness is less than a minute at that altitude, probably less. All examples of this class of plane are fitted with warning devices and gauges that should get the pilot’s attention if the pressurization isn’t working, but evidently nobody paid attention, and four people lost their lives in peaceful hypoxic slumber. The stable old Citation dutifully flew on by itself, until its fuel ran out, crossing over the Puzzle Palace On The Potomac to create extra excitement.
The week’s question was an odd one, about the Convair B-36 bomber’s main landing gear, as fitted to the prototype early in World War II. It was initially fitted with giant single tires taller than a man, but the production airplane carried four-wheel bogeys with more normal tires. Okay, for next week, tell us which popular high-performance single-engine plane never had a boarding step to assist passengers. You can send your answers to kochhaus1@gmail.com.
