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Super-dry air dominated our region last week, with any showers limited to mid-Kansas and southeast Missouri. We checked Whiteman AFB’s meteorological report on Friday and saw the temperature at 27 Celsius and dew point at 14 C., an extreme 13-degree spread. The afternoon fair-weather cumulus clouds faded quickly as evening approached.
All of which encouraged flying, although local traffic was sparse. Patrick Huff flew in with his RV-8 homebuilt from New Century and a Cirrus SR22 visited. We also noted a Cessna 182 and a Piper Archer on the runway. Locally, the SkyDive KC Cessna 208B Caravan was flown back to the Indianapolis, IN area for a few days, and Gerald Bauer took the club Cessna 172 out on Saturday morning. Delaney Rindal flew her Cessna 150 to visit Oklahoma destinations.
Some needed maintenance at the Butler airport was taking place last week, including work on the recently upgraded Precision Approach Path lights, which had already failed. The interior of the waiting room has been repaired, and MoDot has given overdue haircuts to its frontal right-of-way, just in time for winter. No progress was reported on the inoperative fuel farm.
A new student pilot took to the air last month, as state representative Dane Diehl made his first solo trips around the traffic pattern under the watchful eye of instructor Delaney Rindal. Congratulations are in order for his achievement, as he continues to seek progress toward the private license.
On the national front, the FAA is rushing rule-making approval for mass unmonitored drones flying below 400 feet AGL, where only technology will prevent midairs with manned low-flyers like EMS helicopters and ag planes. Congress has mandated that such rights be granted, due to a strong lobbying effort from drone users. Any other aircraft flying down there will have to be fitted with $1000-and-up warning devices as “drone repellents” or give way. Last Wednesday, two 80-lb Amazon delivery drones ran into a construction crane in Tolleson, AZ while dropping off parcels; Bezos’ company is supposedly working on a fix.
Chinese drone-maker DJI, which reportedly has ties to China’s military, sells half of the drones used in this country. The ones weighing less than a half-pound (250 grams) are exempt from regulations applying to bigger unmanned vehicles. That’s like a thrown baseball waiting to be hit.
On the airline side, two CRJ-700 regional jets operating in Delta livery bumped into each other at La Gardia on Wednesday night, while taxiing on a crowded ramp. One plane’s wing got into the other’s cockpit, creating a big mess, with one stewardess hurt. In the dark, it’s hard to judge clearance and ground control instructions can only go so far to keep planes separated.
Last week’s brain-teaser wanted to know which side of a propeller blade is termed the “face” of the prop. It’s the back side, most prone to chips from stones thrown up by the propwash. Now, for next week, tell us how many of the “Tuskegee Airmen” black pilots from WW-II are still living. You can send your answers to kochhaus1@gmail.com.