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At least half the week was suitable for flying little airplanes, after the low ceilings and fog moved on. There were periods at mid-week when some transient planes slipped in beneath the clouds, where 10-mile visibility prevailed. By Thursday mid-morning, good weather had replaced the fog.
The star visitor last week was a restored 1945 CallAir A-2, over from Warrensburg. A predecisor of Reuel Call’s crop-duster airplanes built in Afton, Wyoming, the two-seat cruiser has unusual V-strut bracing for its low wing. It parked at our inoperative fuel pump, where the card reader is still constantly beeping a warning to go away. Other visitors were a Piper Warrior, a Tecnam Mentor and a Cessna 182. Hunter Christophersen flew down from New Century in his Mooney 201SE and a St. Louis-based Cirrus SR22 was in.
Local movements were Sky4, LLC’s Cessna 150, off to Jefferson City and Joplin before confinement in the hangar, and the SkyDive KC Cessna Caravan, departing for the winter off-season. Other owners just stayed grounded and made motor noises with their planes.
In national aviation news, a JetBlue Airbus A320 changed altitude suddenly on Thursday during a flight from Cancun to Newark, injuring 15 occupants before diverting to Tampa. The company termed it a “flight control issue,” which is putting it mildly. Airbuses are all computer flown, so pilots have little input if the AI goes bonkers. Like modern cars, most new planes use fly-by-wire technology.
Two postponements were announced last week. Purdue University’s Amelia Earhart expedition to find the missing aviatrix’s airplane was supposed to leave this month, but permit delays have pushed departure into the Pacific cyclone season, so they’ll wait until next year. And Boeing is again putting off introduction of the 777-X super-twin airliner, after five years of test flying and FAA scrutiny; BA’s new jumbo jet won’t be put into service until 2027.
NASA finally flew its X-39 quiet supersonic test plane on Tuesday, making only a 230-knot hop from Lockheed’s Palmdale plant to Edwards AFB. It won’t be exceeding Mach 1 until next year. The X-39’s pilot has no windshield, for streamlining purposes, but “sees” through a camera-generated video screen. Oh, well, Lindbergh got across the Atlantic without a windshield in 1927.
The U.S. Navy had a bad couple of hours on Sunday, October 26, when the carrier Nimitz lost both a Sea Hawk helicopter and an F-18 fighter jet, one after the other. All crew were saved, but we’re out $70 million in aircraft. Details were undisclosed at press time.
Our weekly quiz wanted to know what Mr. Edwin Link contributed to aviation. He made the first flight simulator, a little articulated airplane-shaped device moved by air servos that pilots could sit in to practice instrument flying. For next week, we want to know at least one of the three disqualifying medical conditions that the FAA flags for special issuance workups before certifying the pilot. You can send your answers to kochhaus1@gmail.com.
