What’s Up by LeRoy Cook

Hitting A Drone, A Building, and Almost A Runway

Now that summer has heated up, it’s the doldrums season for aviation activity. Few sport and recreation flights came and went last week, owing to the excessive heat and humidity. As we’ve always said, you can cool the plane’s occupants by climbing to a higher altitude, but the air-cooled engine will suffer if it doesn’t get airborne with sufficient airflow right away. I always wince when I see a fancy modern sky-barge running at a high idle sitting still on the ramp, pulling an air-conditioner while the pilot fiddles with setting up the radios and navigation system.

We observed several B-2 Spirit bombers leaving their signature noise imprint last weekend, and the sprayplanes were out everywhere, at Butler and surrounding airports, tending to crop needs. Former Butler airport manager and mechanic Tom Winters was over from California, MO, on Friday, visiting friends and acquaintances from his days here. 

If you’re up for a great Fly-in, the Tarkio, MO airport group is putting on its annual breakfast and show this coming Saturday, July 11th. Festivities begin at 0800 hours; Tarkio always puts on a well-staged event. 

In international flight news, a small two-seat sport airplane was flown into a 1700-foot skyscraper in Beijing, China, week before last, in an apparent suicide statement. The light Chinese-built plane caused little damage but rained debris down on bystanders below. Flights in the area are forbidden, and references to the incident were quickly scrubbed from Chinese media. Reportedly, all sport flying has been grounded throughout the country, no doubt a precaution against copy-cat actions.

In the U.S., a no-doubt last act of defiance was performed by the pilot commanding a Boeing 777 cargo-converted airliner on Wednesday, when he buzzed Horseshoe Bay Jet Center airport’s runway in Texas at less than a wingspan height. The big jet was on a predelivery positioning flight from Indiana to Dallas before being handed over to Qatar Airways; it was formerly operated in passenger service by Delta before undergoing conversion to a freighter. The miscreant will no doubt be rewarded with revocation of pilot credentials.

A JetBlue red-eye airliner coming in to New York’s Kennedy airport from Las Vegas last week reported taking a hit above the cockpit by a drone, flying at about 1000 feet. Reportedly, no damage was found and the plane was returned to service. No doubt the little drone didn’t fare so well.

Starting on September 3, the FAA is going to start making good on its threat to decommission Remote Communication Outlets, used by pilots to talk with Flight Service briefers to get weather and other routine information. Some 674 radio links will go away, nationwide, with 262 left in place due to objections raised, probably those in remote mountain areas where low altitude communication is sketchy. Use the RCOs while you can, like 122.4 at Clinton.

The question from last week asked “What’s the weight of a big cumulus cloud that’s one kilometer tall, thick and wide?” Counting the weight of the air at an average 10,000 feet, it’s 1.5 billion pounds, including the water droplets. For next week, tell us why the Beechcraft Model 17 of 1932 was nicknamed “the Staggerwing?” You can send your answers to kochhaus1@gmail.com.

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