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The VOR Approach Is Gone
Free airplane washes were offered last weekend, as scattered showers moved through. For the most part, aviation went on as usual, plunging through the light precip. A total of three Fliars turned out for the Saturday morning excursion to Miami County, despite the rain.
Traffic seen moving through last week included a Piper Cherokee 180, a Cirrus SR22, a Cessna Skylane and a Piper PA-18. Local airplanes taking wing were Jay McClintock’s Piper Tomahawk, Les Gorden’s Beech Bonanza, my 80-year-old Aeronca and the Koehn Cessna 172. Randy Miller and I flew sorties in the club Skyhawk.
After almost 90 years of offering guidance through the clouds to aircraft arriving at Butler airport, the VOR-Alpha instrument approach is no more. The latest data base updates no longer show the VOR option, only the two RNAV approaches. Now only airplanes with fancy IFR-approved GPS systems can find their way here. Evidently no public comments were sought; the FAA didn’t figure it was worth flight checking and publishing what had become largely a training procedure.
I remember when Air Force C-130 Hercules transports would circle over the airport on the approach, and there was the time a C-135 four-engine jet shook up the town with multiple VOR-A low approaches. It was always comforting to know we could get Center to clear us for a let-down from the Butler VORTAC, not just to Butler but Harrisonville and Nevada as well. Farewell, old friend.
The FAA has removed approvals for single-pilot operations for Cessna Citation light jets that were certified under Part 25 Transport-category regulations. Those model 500 airplanes were required to have two pilots, but because they were so similar to under-12,500-pound Citations that were approved under Part 23, requiring only one pilot, special waivers have been available for single-pilot operation for 40 years. But, a combination of high-profile accidents last year showing poor training and evidence of cheating by designated examiners giving bogus signoffs has led the FAA to rescind single-pilot waivers. The Citations originally certified for SP crew are not affected.
On Monday of last week, a contractor working for Amtrak dug into a fiber-optic communications line at the Philadelphia approach control facility, breaking both primary and back-up cables and grounding flights for most of the day at airports from Philly to New York. Some 1100 flights had to be canceled. When controllers can’t talk to each other, the system stops. Relocating the radar facilities for Newark and Teterboro out to Philadelphia was a bad idea.
Aviation gasoline has reached an average price of $7.69 per gallon for full-service pumping, with a peak of $11 a gallon in Alaska. Butler’s $7.01 price is higher than surrounding airports, but given the speciality status of 100-octane, we’re lucky to have it available 24-seven.
The FAA is proposing to ease the rules for wearing oxygen masks in non-commercial jet cockpits, currently required for one pilot when flying above 35,000 feet. Business jets routinely operate at 45,000 feet, and few pilots actually comply with the O2 requirement. It is true that a sudden decompression would leave only a few seconds of consciousness at 45,000, but there have been few if any documented cases of blow-outs, and the hypoxia accidents recorded have been due to slow leaks, giving plenty of time to don a mask.
In last week’s quiz, we asked about the WW-II biplanes built by the Naval Aircraft Factory. Knowledgeable Navy vet Rodney Rom actually saw one of the old N3N trainer planes during his service, so he knew the answer. For next time, our question is “Do airliners fly above the tops of thunderstorms to stay clear of bad weather?” You can send your answers to kochhaus1@gmail.com.
