Cowl Plugs Might Have Helped

Mean machine? Have a look at the artwork on the 2008 Copperstate Winner.Carl Brownd of Centennial, Colo:

His RV-6 intake has something extra inside. Next best thing to a Flying Tiger . “It’s actually an air diverter and I got some decals and did it up.” said Brownd.

I've visited the Lycoming plant in Williamsport, PA and I hadn't seen any of these lurking in the weeds but I did see the IO-540 being built.

Might be related to the Gremlin that sometimes hitches a ride in my plane.

The WayBack Machine

During my visit with Al Kelch he allowed me to step into his time machine. The door to his gigantic old barn, creaked open and the first step forward transported me backward to the roaring 20’s of aviation. I saw parts of planes, old radial engines, and there under the lights: a beautifully restored Stearman Bi-Plane and a high winged Welsh OW8M. There was a J-3 Cub, the aerobatic Decathlon and his most recent project, a Travel Air formerly

owned by Robertson Aircraft and flown by Charles Lindbergh. Planes from the past, when Walter Beech and Lloyd Stearman joined Clyde Cessna to form a company with surplus WWI aircraft parts called Travel Air. You couldn’t love planes and not like being around Al. It was a close as I’d get to visiting with Charles Lindberg, who he still revered to that day. Aside from his wife Lois, planes were the most important thing and he spent a lifetime promoting aviation. During his life, he rebuilt and restored sixteen vintage planes. I am not aware of anyone matching that feat and many components were painstakingly built from scratch. He and his wife hosted numerous antique aircraft fly ins at their home (photo below).



My first flight in a J-3 Cub was after we pushed the taildragger out of his “time machine” and onto the grass strip by his home. Once inside the cockpit, I began looking for missing instruments. (Doesn’t every plane have an attitude indicator and directional gyro?) Fuel gage? It was outside and in front: nothing but a piece of red wire bobbing up and down on a cork. When the wire goes down, so do you. There was no key. Al provided the start by spinning the prop. Flying the little tail dragger with doors open was fun and it was hard. With the wheel located in the back instead of in the nose, the plane acted like a weather vane. Maintaining the centerline was like balancing a pencil on your fingers, with your feet dancing on the rudder pedals. The smell of the grassy field was in the air as we bumped down the runway alongside the barn, lifting off at 40mph. The cruise speed wouldn’t be much different as we leveled off at 65mph. Clearly this plane was for fun and not to get anywhere. My ham fisted techniques were soon rewarded with a whack on the head. The sectional chart smacked me again as Al shouted above the engine noise; “Lighter on the stick!” We were low, slow and had a stiff headwind. Al took over and had the plane smoothly gliding to a near stall. It literally hovered over a house. We were standing still. He laughed: “Actually flew this thing backwards in very strong wind” he paused: "Had traffic backed up for a mile with folks looking up”. I believed him. Before long, we were back on the ground and I was tremendously grateful to Al for sharing part of his life.

Al is now gone but his legacy lives on in the Vintage Aircraft Association which he labored to establish. He also created the EAA Lindy trophy recognized today as one of aviation's most prestigious awards for aircraft construction or restoration. Anytime I see a Cub in flight, I smile remembering the most dedicated aviator I’ve ever met.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Pilots

The Killing Zone

There have been a number of high profile air mishaps in the recent past: The Continental Bombardier tragedy in February; and in March, fatalities in the Pilatus PC-12 crash; and the FedEx plane crash in Japan. For some, it shakes their confidence in the safety of flying.

One of the oldest and most incorrect sayings in GA is that flying light aircraft is safer than driving.. The best estimate was that automobiles had seven times as many accidents but as for fatalities, GA is seven times worse based on miles traveled, according to the Air Safety Foundation. Certainly, everything is relative. Over the past five years there were 1,539 fatal aircraft accidents. During the same period, 192,069 motor vehicle fatalities occurred. So what should we think about this?

There is an excellent book available titled: “The Killing Zone-How and Why Pilots Die”. It indicates that very low time pilots, as well as those with thousands of hours, can fall prey to overconfidence, bad judgement, and lack of recent experience. The key remedy: Ongoing training and currency. Never become complacent. While there is risk, it can be managed. Virtually all accidents can be traced to pilot error, not the aircraft. Buckle up and make sure that if something goes wrong, it wasn’t something you did or didn’t do.

Fly safe!

Update:-Commercial aviation is safer than driving. "The Killing Zone" seeks to explain risks associated with the hours of time combined with the level of training in light aircraft where pilots are most prone to accidents.

Update #2: The 2008 Nall Report was Issued today

Build it and They Will Come

I like this guy’s initiative. If the state of Illinois won’t follow through than he’ll just build his own airport. And not just in any location.

Jim Bult built his airport within the very same footprint targeted by Illinois Department of Transportation officials for decades as the spot for the next major metropolitan airport in the Chicago area. "I've been waiting and waiting for the last 20-some years and they couldn't get it done," Bult said. "I just want a quality runway and hangar here."

Bult not only beat Governor Quinn to the punch, but also the last four Governors. Contrary to some of our politicians, he did what he promised. I think I'll take a hop to Peotone this summer.

Reflections on an Aviation Career

I wanted to get some perspective from someone who’s been there, done that.
Ted is one of those pilots with 15,000 plus hours that has flown most everything. First he started flying General Aviation light aircraft. Next: Hazardous military experience piloting Huey slicks and gunships over Vietnam. Then: Migrating to flying offshore oil rigs in Trinidad. Afterward he spent the majority of his career flying jets.
He’s even flown George and Barbara Bush.

I posed the question whether aviation was still “fun” once it became a routine. Below are some of his “reflections on flying” :

It was almost always fun.

I'll give you some quotes by T. West in an old Road & Track article about race driving that I carried with me throughout my career in the air:

• "---there is something thoroughly gorgeous about this manipulating of physics for precise, difficult ends."


• "The pleasure comes from knowing that, instant to instant, you alone are responsible for your decisions."


• "---bending a car or bike through a corner forcefully, accurately, in fully orchestrated control, is fundamentally a way of expressing beauty.....because to have done it very well is observably, palpably handsome."


• "But there is this other addiction, too, the addiction to doing hazardous things with orchestrated grace."

He was talking about racing, but I couldn't describe flying any better than that. It's what I believed when I flew and what I hoped to show those who came after me.
Hemingway called it "grace under pressure."

And when done right, it's a thing of beauty.

The "grace under pressure" he articulates confers great credit to Aviation. It’s what allowed a 737 crew to save 155 lives when faced with a crisis, landing in the Hudson. -or the fighter pilot who puts bombs precisely on target to save his brothers in arms. It’s a pursuit of excellence that urges the pilot to become better than he was yesterday. It’s a continuous improvement that gives General Aviation and its pilots a good name.

Ted got it right.

---

Night Flight

Photography by Mrs Wilko

Long ago I was assigned to read a book by the famous aviator Antoine De St Exupery :Vol de Nuit (Night Flight) in French, with novels distributed by the professor prior to the test in two weeks. Thinking this to be too much of a chore, I raced to check out the only version of the book in English at the University library. The book, about an airmail pilot flying the Andes Mountains at night, made a lasting impression. Much more enjoyable in English and I confess, made the test a snap.

Flying at night is still one of the Great Aviation Adventures. An after hours visit to land in downtown Chicago and view the skyline was one of the best. Thousands of lights glimmered from the massive towers scraping the sky. Cars glided by, seemingly in slow motion, as I made the approach to Meigs Field. Altitude and position were precise. Remain under the class B shelf, outside of Midway Class C and announce your position before entering the airport’s class D. In the alphabet soup of aviation, most airspace is less restrictive below FL180 but not in the “Second City”.

An engine out would offer little altitude and few options among the densely packed buildings. Blue lights raced by as the plane squeaked onto runway 18. Surrounded by water on all sides, Meigs was as close as I would ever get to landing on a carrier, which is to say, not very. It was one of Chicago’s unique treasures and well-known as the default takeoff field in early versions Flight Simulator. Now, it’s just a park. Mayor Daley bulldozed the runway in the middle of the night after 9/11. After paying the landing fee and a quick pre flight, I taxied behind a King Air and launched into the sky. I focused on best rate of climb but kept sneaking a view to the left as I saw my plane reflect off mirrored skyscrapers. I loved it. On the return west, the air was smooth as glass. No longer are hills distinguishable from plains. The cities are lit, as constellations that appear across the dusk and, in between, a luminous carpet. My navigation lights flashed back in greeting.

Later, I was invited to fly with Dan, a great guy who allowed me to be pilot in command of his 1958 Skyhawk. First impressions instilled many thoughts. Confidence wasn’t one of them. The plane had older instrumentation and seemed airworthy but I was to learn it had a few “quirks”. We took off from a remote airport before civil twilight. After traveling to nowhere in particular we returned to the airport to land. Both of us saw the interior lights flicker. “What’s that” I asked. “Dunno” said Dan. It happened again. Within five miles of the field everything went dark. No position lights. No interior lights. No landing lights. No radio. This plane had fuses and the main bus was blown. More nettlesome was the fact that the runways had pilot controlled lighting. These are turned on by the aircraft radios that… needed to be turned on. The airport remained almost as dark as a hat full of holes. We chose to make the approach anyway, using the small amount light from a quartering moon. Flashlights were used to view instruments. I hoped no other plane was in the vicinity since we could neither communicate nor be seen without electricity. Gratefully, the magnetos churned the power to keep the engine humming. I did my best to line up with the longer runway without either runway lights or the plane’s landing light to guide the way. The landing gear groped in the dark for pavement. I hoped it was somewhere down there, as the decent rate reduced to a crawl. We landed without initially knowing we were on the rollout. It was luck, not skill.

I hoped the Aviation Gremlins were through with me for a while but they were just getting warmed up. They had more fun lined up during a flight in zero visibility (IMC) for their entertainment.

---

Price Check on Runway 6, please

GA dodged a bullet - temporarily. User fees for the air traffic control system still belong squarely on those that dominate it's use: The Airlines. However, Barack Obama would like to add $7 billion in user fees to his budget. We’ll see.

The power to tax is the power to destroy. John Marshall -Chief Justice

Life, Liberty and the Right to Sue

It’s the American Way.

This update from the Air Safety Foundation:

The family of Cory Lidle, the NY Yankee ball player who crashed in October 2006 while trying to reverse course in a tight Class B corridor in NY, is suing Cirrus Design for $45 million in lost wages…The premise is that a flight control system malfunction caused the SR20 to slam into the side of a building. The NTSB found no evidence of control system anomalies.

In the 1980’s over 90,000 general aviation jobs eventually were lost as plants closed. This was due in large part to the rise in damage awards and liability insurance costs associated with the manufacture of general aviation aircraft. Manufacturers passed along costs to their customers. Private aircraft had liability insurance expenses of approximately 40% of each plane produced. Flying is not inexpensive but this trend is making it prohibitive. Here’s the amazing factoid: Lawsuits occur in the majority of all crashes even though pilot error is responsible for 85 percent of them.

Flying has inherent risk. It's not as safe as sitting on your sofa. From the evidence, it appears Cory Lidle flew into the equivalent of a box canyon and didn't have room to maneuver. The turnaround on the Hudson was poorly executed.

Almost every NTSB accident report ends with the conclusion -"pilot error". We are responsible for our safety and the safety of others. I don’t mean to marginalize the anguish of losing a loved one. My point : We have created a blaming mentality that engenders victimization. In the end no one really wins-except the lawyers.

The Airplane Car - Dream On

This whole idea of technology convergence, a car that turns into a submarine or an airplane that works like an auto doesn’t usually work due to huge tradeoffs to accomplish each mission. It will never do either job effectively. The Terrafugia made it’s maiden flight today.



I don’t know about you, but I can't imagine driving a winged monstrosity to pick up groceries? --and anything that doesn’t serve the express purpose of safe, effective flight will not be on the list for the average pilot. The take off roll on this looked sketchy at best and I never did see it fully airborne.

This is not new. The "airphibian" ConvAair car was introduced in 1946 and in 1949 the Aerocar was invented. You can still see it at the EAA musuem in Oshkosh. 60 years later the dream lives on, but I suspect that's what it will remain.

New and Improved Eagle

For those on a budget and who want to stretch their interceptor dollars there’s the latest release from Boeing of a re-configured F-15 "Silent Eagle".

Boeing Integrated Defense Systems unveiled Tuesday the F-15 Silent Eagle (F-15SE), a new F-15 configuration designed to meet the future needs of international customers... while also perhaps steering a few potential orders away from rival Lockheed Martin's F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter."The F-15 Silent Eagle is designed to meet our international customers' anticipated need for cost-effective stealth technologies.

Admittedly, I’ve crossed the line into military aviation (temporarily) but I can’t help it. We worked on the fix for the landing gear a number of years ago, so I have a personal interest. It was a retrofit for the main gear which didn't always lock on extension- bad for a 20 ton jet. (This was before the longeron issue that could lead to in flight break up. ) All better now, and new and improved. Might make sense if you don’t have the coin to spare for the F-22 at $350M each. I’d gladly settle for an SR-22 though.

The Air Force Taketh Away

Years of effort and expense have been invested in restoring several wonderful aircraft by dedicated General Aviation buffs. The B-17 Memphis Belle, an SR-71 in Minnesota and most recently, this F-82 Twin Mustang restored by the Commemorative Air Force.

The Commemorative Air Force (CAF) is dismantling and returning a rare North American F–82 termed the Twin Mustang to the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, following the rejection of a settlement offer from the CAF.

The volunteers all thought they had a deal and did their best to preserve history. Changing the rules, after the fact , will keep others from tackling worthy projects like these in the future.

Air Pelosi

h/t to Michelle.

Some of the comments from Ms. Malkin's readership seemed uncomplimentary:

• Looks like one of the Thomas the Tank Engine characters my son used to play with.Unfortunately, this one is broken and needs thrown away


• Geez, way to ruin a beautiful aircraft.


• The pentagon should use that plane to buzz Kim Jong Ill. If THAT doesn’t frighten him into giving up his nuclear weapons, nothing will


• I have seen this one before! Claire Channault and the Flying Tigers

Maybe it has something to do with her extravagant demands on the Air Force. I guess if Air Alaska can put faces on their planes, Travis AFB can too.

No Commercial Value

Flight instructors come in all shapes sizes and teaching capabilities. Ten instructors had already graced the pages of my logbook. I could have taken this personally but it was unintentional. As soon as the CFI had an opening to a regional airline, he moved on. Most were living on bread and water and probably sleeping in their car, I couldn’t blame them.

This morning, the instructor du jour was to guide me to the highly esteemed commercial pilot license. We performed lazy eights, chandelles and emergency gear up procedures. After reducing altitude he said. “I have the plane.”. After relinquishing the controls, my plucky CFI increased airspeed to Vno. There was a clearing ahead in the middle of a forest. He dropped the plane down below the level of tree height, decended into the open field area and revved the Skylane to max speed:(Vmo for you jet guys) and reduced altitude to maybe ten feet off the ground. The trees that loomed large in the windscreen were easily 50 feet taller than us. Three wild turkeys streaked across the field in front and there was a deer on the left getting ready to bolt, hopefully in the opposite direction. This might have been an interesting setting for hiking, not so much for high speed “chicken” with Oak and Pine that couldn’t alter course. The foliage ahead was getting much bigger. I stared ahead and barked: “I have the plane, Gimme the controls”. But he looked straight, commanding: “WAIT”. Just before we made it to the tree line, he pulled back hard on the yoke and the airplane shot upward, narrowly missing the tree tops, until we bled off airspeed to sustain slow flight. He looked at me and said "pretty cool huh?" I replied: “What WAS that? You trying to kill me?” I took a wild guess that wasn’t part of the curriculum. During the trek back we talked about how much fun it would have been if both of us were at once wresting for control of the aircraft. He felt that an “advanced” pilot should be exposed to unusual flight situations but actually I think he was bored. This was bad instructor Mojo.

You’d think I’d learn. But, no. Since he was the only one capable of providing commercial instruction at this airport I thought I’d give it another try, since I’m all about second chances. Besides, we had a man-to-man helpful chat on things to avoid, like “don’t scare the customer”. So, we worked through various maneuvers including engine out landings, etc. at a remote airport. On the way back he’s looking a little bored. Bad sign. Next thing I hear is: ” I’ve got the plane”. I’m hoping this is another demonstration of a commercial maneuver and since there’s no trees around I’m feeling more relaxed. Until he put’s the plane into a spiral dive, building up airspeed all the way to Vne (never exceed), then points the plane straight up. I’m sure my eyes bugged out a little as we continued a vertical climb until the airspeed began to decay. Then the plane turned hard left completing a perfect hammerhead. Now we’re headed straight down and before you know it back to level flight. This wasn’t possible in a Cessna. At least until this point, I thought so. Pitts or Extra, sure, but in a plane that wasn’t placarded for aerobatics? Besides, parachutes are mandatory. Last I looked, I wasn’t wearing one.

AOPA magazine has a column titled: “Never Again”. It seemed a fitting reminder to try another flight school.

Going for a Spin

Roller Coaster Without Rails

One of the keys to flying is preventing a bad situation from becoming worse. In General Aviation, we are taught to avoid spins at all costs. (In military aviation, spins are de rigueur). Hence, the routine training as relates to stalls and recovery. If the stall is not arrested it will progress into a spin. If too close to the earth, you will tie the low altitude record and the ground is somewhat unforgiving.

Of course, you can do this on purpose which is instructive as well as fun. Here’s what it looks like in the Decathlon, the plane I fly for this purpose. It's a Ten Turn Spin.The video isn’t me but it’s the same manuever and same plane. It's much faster in the third turn with cockpit and aerial views. Airsick bag is optional.

The Plane That Built the House of Wax

My brother-in-law flew the 1998 expedition to Brazil 15,000 Miles with this.

It had a vital role in establishing one of the largest U.S. Corporations: Johnson's Wax.

The twin engine Sikorsky S-38 was important in early commercial aviation. Charles Lindbergh flew Pan American’s inaugural airmail run from Miami to the Panama Canal in an S-38 in 1929. The airline operated a fleet of 38 of the these in the Caribbean and Latin America. H.F. Johnson, Jr. flew the amphibious plane 15,000 miles to Brazil in 1935, searching for a sustainable source of wax -- the Carnauba palm tree. In 1998, Sam Johnson, and sons Curt and Fisk retraced the expedition in an exact copy of the Carnauba S-38 Sikorsky plane. Built from scratch. It was flown round trip from Racine, WI to the jungles of Brazil, replicating the expedition of H.F. Johnson Jr. This picture of Fisk Johnson is not photo enhanced. He is outside the airplane looking in from the hatch (In flight) where you'd drop anchor.

The Brother -in Law was to fly chase using the Sikorsky S-76 Helicopter for photography but also had time in the S-38 and Falcon 900 (as one of the senior pilots).We visited the Carnauba before it flew and it's on my list of strange planes. Long flight in a wicker chair.

Update: From Brother-in-Law Ted: Fisk Johnson, is the one popping out of the hatch in flight. Also: The "Carnauba" is destined to reside in a glass memorial museum (to their father, Sam), currently under construction in downtown Racine, WI. Lastly, the original Carnuaba from 1935 was located in 90 feet of water off Indonesia.

Oh the Humanity

It looks more like a bloated Beluga than an aircraft but the folks at Aeroscraft want you to consider this as a private sky yacht

I think they're waiting for the investors to pile up. The only prototypes flown look like the Fuji Blimp. Everything else is photoshop. Jet turbo fans needed for lift?? 14 million CF of helium?? 400 ton payload?? If they really build this (and it looks expensive), “Pampered passengers” will enjoy plenty of turbulence and bad weather since it probably won’t fly above FL 100. And who wants to take an 18 hour trip to get to California?

Captain Stubing wouldn't even pilot this one.

Boldly Where No Man Has Gone Before

It’s always best to learn from someone else’s flying mistakes You’ll never live long if you intend to make them all yourself. On this particular day, as a budding student pilot, I chose to make one of my own. A few weeks earlier, I had just learned the subtle but necessary control inputs to maintain alignment with the runway upon landing in a crosswind. Today, I had taken off with steady 20 knot winds down the center. Actually, landing is pretty cool in this situation. The plane darn near seems to hover when attempting a short field landing with full flaps. This changes dramatically when the wind is coming at right angles to the plane and you’re carrying way too much airspeed and you haven’t yet developed the knack for landing on one main wheel. This chain of events was soon to be played out when I was given the latest active runway.

Everything seemed fine until I touched down. With a hefty amount of airspeed the plane just didn’t want to stay put. It had a mind of it’s own and wanted to keep flying for a while, despite cranking in full aileron into the wind and opposite rudder. It was at this point I was transformed from pilot in command to hapless amazed passenger as the plane began to veer off the runway. Not any runway, mind you, but one of four very busy runways in a tower controlled airport with jet traffic. I was only along for the ride, as my student license flashed before my eyes. As the main wheels departed the pavement, I suspected I was breaking numerous aviation regulations like stunt flying without an endorsement or mowing the lawn with an airplane. Landing on grass is normal for most light airplanes but not between runways on a towered field. Worse, I was heading toward the runway lighting and soon to be in line to strike the runway signage.

No amount of control inputs were having an impact. I was Clark Griswold on a saucer heading for the ATM machine. It seemed to pick up speed. The plane had descended into a swale between runway and taxiway and began sliding on the freshly cut grass, so I decided against jamming the brakes. As the main gear headed for the runway light, the sound of crunching metal would announce the suspension of my flying privileges. Bracing myself, I began estimating the cost for a used Piper Cherokee. Miraculously, it whizzed by, missing by inches. Next up on the menu: The intersecting taxiway and the more substantial runway sign. However, as the Cherokee began an uphill climb, momentum reduced and I popped up on the runway hold short line of the perpendicular taxiway. The plane, Lawn Boy N4257S, was covered with wet grass and looked very much like it had mowed the back forty, but it was unharmed. Sort of. After pausing for a moment I croaked at the faceless voice in the tower. 57S is clear of the active, request Echo 21 hangers. Of course, the inevitable call back would certainly include “call the tower” which means expect inevitable FAA enforcement action. Incredibly it didn’t happen. It’s a mystery to me to this day. I have actually seen, in real time, two pilots getting tagged for a violation when using the wrong runway. I didn’t even use a runway.

The Lawn Boy with wings went back to the hanger of the FBO but before tying down, I jumped out of the plane and did my level best to clean it up. Not only was grass everywhere, but it clogged up the wheel fairings on the plane. I advised the guy working the FBO that I landed on grass: “Could we check out the gear?” His reply: “Hey-These planes aren’t for grass strips”. I replied “Yes, yes, I know but grass happens. We need to check the gear”. After squawking (reporting) the fairings, they were permanently removed. It certainly wasn’t as expensive as watching a plane defy the parking chocks, roll down a hill and into a fence but that’s another story.

Running of the Scuds

It has been said that each pilot is given a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience. The key is to not run out of luck until the bag of experience is filled. Years ago, on the week after my first solo, I would be grabbing a handful of luck and making a deposit. That day the sky was haze gray, better suited to the side of a battleship than to the heavy curtain of clouds overhead. Given my hefty student pilot experience of 25 hours, I confidently walked to the line boy and asked about flying in weather that may turn to light rain. “Heck” he said” These planes can fly in a downpour”. There: It was now “good to go”. In retrospect it may have been unwise to ask for expert aviation advice from a guy whose experience was limited to adding fuel and oil to the four seaters on the ramp.

The desire to fly was too great. I rumbled down the runway with six miles visibility thinking what can go wrong on a short 30 mile hop? After 10 minutes and 3.000, ft the visibility became more ragged and I noticed light beads of rain on the windshield. Still I pressed on, flying over cornfields that all began to look the same. Mind you, my bag of experience was still empty. No way did I realize that visibility could decrease with precipitation. Could it get worse? It could. This would be an ideal time to have an instructor in the right seat but I realized that he would have told me that only an instrument rated pilot or a dimwit would fly in this stuff. Lacking the instrument rating, I quickly calculated into which category I fell. In fact, I didn’t even have a private pilot license. This would be a good time to point the plane back toward the aerodrome in the most likely direction. Unfortunately, the plane had no GPS. The Navigation radios looked helpful if only I knew how to use them which, no, I didn’t. I was relegated to “dead reckoning” (A name which didn’t sit well with me at this point) and pilotage, which is –looking out the window for landmarks.

I’m here to tell you that corn and soybeans make very poor landmarks. Mostly because they are all green. The small section of visible ground below was like watching a green patchwork quilt glide by while looking through a telescope. Looking forward was mostly a white soupy mess. I guessed where I was at in a broad sense but could not be more specific than meandering someplace in Northern Illinois. And that’s the thing. One shouldn’t meander aimlessly in a situation where you are traveling at speeds and altitudes that are at once both lethal. Until this point I hadn’t really thought about the fact you could get killed doing what has appropriately been named scud running.

I needed to land. This being a towered airport and all, one needs to ask permission prior to entering the area. With my confidence diminishing as fast as the visibility, I chose to guess my location in less than MVFR conditions and make contact with those that control the airspace. I bluffed: “Tower, November eight two eight six niner is ten miles southwest, requesting to land with information Delta” (Confirming that current airport conditions were lousy. I didn’t need the ATIS for this). The control tower responded with “make right base for runway 10”. With that chore out of the way, I begin hunting for anything familiar. I plaintively stared at my chart on the kneeboard hoping it would magically give me a clue. Nothing at all looked familiar. I reduced my altitude, which at some point is a bad idea if you nick radio towers. Needles poking randomly into the sky, daring me the dimwit pilot, to skewer the bird into a kabob. I was lost and I knew it. Dropping as low to the ground as I dared I began to see: A water tower! Banking closer I read the name. It was…. a town that wasn’t supposed to be there. This was unexpected. Suddenly, the firm voice of the guardian angel of the control tower called and said flatly “ 869er say intentions”, since I had totally blown past the class D airspace I said simply: “I really really would like to land. (I also had to request special VFR).

After giving me a heading I was on my way. I felt good. No, I felt relieved. The approach lights were as beautiful as any Christmas tree I had ever seen. I learned about flying from that. Mother Nature doesn’t play.

Americas First Jet Fighter: The P-59 Airacomet

TOP SECRET 

in 1941

This is America's first jet airplane -- the P-59 first flown in Oct.1942. Volunteers have spent 10 years restoring it. In 1942, this was a Top Secret project at Edwards AFB. When the dry lake flooded, they had to transport it by road so it was disguised with a dummy wooden propeller on the front and covered with a shroud.

Supposedly on the test flight the jet was spotted by pilots getting checked out in P-38s operating from Van Nuys Airport. When the P-38 pilots reported seeing an airplane with no propeller, their account met with skepticism but the story kept circulating, so on a subsequent flight the test pilot of the P-59 dressed up in a gorilla mask, put on a derby hat and smoked a cigar when in range of the airport. When the P-38 pilots got back to the base, they told everyone about the plane with no propeller flown by a gorilla wearing a derby and smoking a cigar.
Of course folks would chalk this up to excessive drinking and tall tales by fighter pilots (Not much has changed) so the plane remained secret.

Power plant Two General Electric J31-GE-5 turbojets
Thrust 907 kg 8.89 kN
Max. speed 413 mph 664 km/h
Range: normal 240 miles 386 km
Weight empty 7,940 lb 3,600 kg
max. takeoff 12,700 lb 5,760 kg
Wingspan 45.5 ft 13.88 m
Length 38.85 ft 11.84 m
Height 12.3 ft 3.76 m
Armament One 37 mm cannon, three 12.5 mm machine guns;
under wings 2x 450 kg bombs or 8x 27 kg rockets
Date deployed to active service: 1944
Number built 66 (incl. three training XF2L-1 for US Navy)