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Now that the weather has turned more cooperative, flying has picked up. However, it’s still winter, and cold fronts came through almost every other day, sometimes two a day, evidenced by changes in wind direction. Maybe one of them will stir up a rain shower or two.
Among the week’s visitors were a Cessna Skyhawk, a 172 and an Army Guard Black Hawk ‘copter, shooting the VOR-A instrument approach. From the local hangars, Layne Anderson had his Darter Commander rolled out, Jim and Dan Ferguson took their Cessna Skylane up and the Koehn Skyhawk made some sorties.
For those of you who still subscribe to FLYING Magazine (there are a few of us) you may have noticed the photo spread of an F-22 Raptor pulling sonic shock waves on page 6. Only problem is, the caption calls it an F-35 Lightning II. Aviation’s old Gray Lady, always the standard of accuracy, is being edited by amateurs those days.
The U.S. Navy has finally retired its Bell TH-57 JetRanger training helicopters, after more than 55 years of service. Taking their place are Italian-designed Leonardo TH-73 aircraft, a fine helicopter with more modern systems. It’s just regrettable that our military continues to rely on foreign suppliers for its aircraft.
Once again, the FAA is being pressured by politicians to take action that penalizes private aviation. Senators Moran and Cruz have steered their Rotorcraft Operations Transparency Reform Act through the Senate and it now awaits House action. It calls for the FAA to require ADS-B In equipment in airspace where ADS-B Out is mandated, just one more expensive gadget for us to buy and maintain. All it is is a knee-jerk response to last year’s DC airliner vs Army helicopter midair, trying to make safer our legislators’ private little airport, Reagan National. Most general aviation airplanes can’t fly in there anyway.
A Washington-state man is facing FBI charges over stealing an airplane and flying it to Southern California. But wait, there’s more. He didn’t have a pilot’s license, and he was flying under the influence of meth, and the airplane’s registration had lapsed as well, making it illegal to fly. All kinds of charges to bring on the perp.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is once again hunting for a president. Darren Pleasance was just hired last year, but he lives in Oregon so commuting to the Maryland office has become a bit much. If you’re available, AOPA would like to hear from you.
Our week’s question wanted to know where tourists land when they fly to the Dry Tortugas National Park. In the ocean, next to Fort Jefferson: the last spots of land in the Florida Keys are only accessible by boat or floatplanes out of Key West. For next time, where did the Flight Engineer sit in the cockpit of Douglas DC-6 airliners? You can send your answers to kochhaus1@gmail.com.