Holiday travelers over the Thanksgiving weekend had to contend with the usual dreariness of late fall, even the first snowfall. General aviation didn’t fare so well, given the active fronts draped across the mid-section, Even airline flights were scrambled; icing was reported at all the middle altitudes, and runways needed plowing from St. Louis northward.
Accordingly, not much traffic came through the local airport last week. I had a call from a Columbia-based pilot looking for a parking spot where fuel was available; when I told him our pump was still shut down he opted to land at Harrisonville. A Mooney M-20E came in and a Piper Warrior visited, and that was the week’s observed traffic.
We reported about an Airbus A320 airliner suffering a sudden drop in altitude last month, which injured 15 passengers. The 320-series ‘Bus is the most popular airliner in the world, with over 11,000 in service, thanks to European subsidies, and it’s very high-tech, being computer-flown rather than hand piloted. As it turns out, investigators of last month’s incident found a flaw in the software that allows solar flares to interfere with the fly-by-wire controls. So 75% of the Airbuses are having mandatory reprogramming work done, until new hardware can be made; no passengers can be carried until the update is done. American Airlines alone has 480 of the type.
An unrelated incident took place a week-ago Sunday when an American Airlines A321 had to divert to Houston because of fumes in the cabin. Four stewardesses and a passenger were taken to the hospital while another Airbus was employed to continue the flight.
In more high-tech flying, a West Virginia outfit that’s a subsidiary of Boeing has come up with a “stealth” optionally-piloted airplane that has no moving controls, instead it’s to be flown by puffs of air squirting out of nozzles. It’s supposed to be less detectable by radar than aircraft with conventional control surfaces. To be flown in 2027, the prototype will have both types of flight controls, in case it the reaction controls don’t work.
Remember when Chicago’s mayor dismantled the Meigs airport on the city’s lakefront, back in the 1990s? Well, now it’s Cleveland, Ohio’s turn. The venerable Burke Lakefront airport, long a convenient landing spot on Lake Erie’s south shore, is being threatened with closure. Some in the City think it would be a nice park. Never mind that it provides access to Cleveland by general aviation aircraft and vital emergency services. We hope Burke Lakefront can be saved.
Out of Canada comes a report that Transport Canada, the equivalent of our benevolent FAA, has been cracking down on commemorative fly-overs, when pilots get together to make a pass over funerals, celebrations and fly-ins. Deemed “airshow performances,” they’ve been forbidden without an on-site government supervisor. Now there’s good news that exemptions will be allowed, but with lots of criteria to be met and two week’s advance notice. So far, the FAA hasn’t bothered memorial formation flying like “missing man” demonstrations, but we’d better be careful if we want to keep free and open skies.
Our question of the week asked the duration of a Private Pilot’s medical certificate. There’s more than one answer: For pilots under 40, it’s five years, even after they turn four-oh. Over 40, it’s two years, except if flying under BasicMed provisions, then the exam is good for four years. Next time, tell us what caliber bullets were fired by most British fighter planes during World War 2? You can send your answers to kochhaus1@gmail.com.
