Identified falling objects

Rod Machado had the tent roaring when I saw him at Oshkosh. He's a gifted speaker with an ability to tell a story. Occasional reader "Scary" mentioned falling meat bombs in the previous post. It reminded me that things can fall from, and out of, planes as captured in Rod's article (below) which initially appeared in the AOPA magazine.

It’s falling—the sky is falling. Well, not really. It just seems that way sometimes. Unless you’ve been in cold storage the past few years, you’ve probably heard about at least some of the items that have fallen from airplanes. Landing gear, funeral urns, jet engines, and other odds and ends have made the list. I don’t know about you, but I get the willies when things drop from or off of airplanes, especially when the pilot was counting on using the newly liberated item later in the flight.

Take the story of a student pilot who recently departed John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California, in a fixed-gear Piper Warrior. The rental airplane, just released from a major inspection, appeared to be in good working order. With preflight complete, our young aviatrix completed her runup, then taxied onto the runway and departed. The subsequent conversation between the tower and the student went something like this:
"Piper Two-One-Three-Two-Bravo, this is John Wayne Tower. Ahh, ma’am, you appear to have left your main landing gear on the runway, over."
"Huh? Please repeat for Two-One-Three-Two-Bravo."
"Ma’am, your landing gear is on the runway. It fell off the airplane when you rotated, over."

Close Call

A near miss (near hit makes more sense) as a Boeing 777 came within 300 feet of a small high-wing Aeronca Chief in San Francisco. Just after wheels up at 1,100 feet, United pilots were advised by ATC that they had company. Simultaneously, the airplane's traffic collision avoidance system, (TCAS) sounded a warning.

The Boeing plane's automated collision avoidance system instructed the pilots to "adjust vertical speed" and then "descend" to clear the smaller plane's path. The first officer followed those directions and the flight continued to Beijing without further incident, the NTSB said The United flight's first officer, who was flying the 777, pushed the control column forward to level the airplane…Both crew members said they saw the underside of the Aeronca as it passed overhead, coming within 200 to 300 feet of their jet.

Not one where visibility was impeded due to the nature of the aircraft. One was a high wing with a vertical blind spot. Low wing aircraft have a few areas of blocked visibility when looking down. The Aeronca pilot must have had a commanding view of a gray monster passing underneath and I expect his pants required dry cleaning afterward. Older aircraft are not required to have radios so perhaps no radio contact was available but then he would be prohibited from KSFO airspace which surely this Aeronca must have violated. That particular area is protected from 10,000 feet to the surface. How can anyone dawdle off into class Bravo airspace-right by the airport?

I’ve had two close calls over the years within less than 500 feet. Both times with no radio contact from the pilots of faster planes. Closure rates can be pretty quick and these were VFR "See and Avoid" situations.

TCAS: Went from nice to have to something higher in my priority list.

Update: While this incident is unsettling, the good news is that mid air collisions are gratefully small in number. According to the 2009 Nall Report: Out of 1.254 accidents involving non-commercial fixed-wing aircraft only 11 were midair collisions. Eleven isn't good but certainly not a leading cause.

Blazing the Trail

Congressional Gold Medal awarded to WASP aviators, including Betty Greene.

Betty Greene was a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) of World War II but she never considered it it one of her most important achievements. As a WASP , Greene and 1,100 other women flew non-combat missions that could be hazardous.

Betty Greene's grand-niece represented her great aunt this month at a Capitol Hill ceremony that honored WASPs with a Congressional Gold Medal.

Greene joined the Women’s Airforce to gain experience in preparation to serve on the mission field. She was the first pilot for Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) and was also the first woman to fly across the Andes and the first woman to pilot an aircraft in Sudan. From its humble beginnings of three pilots and two airplanes, it has grown to a fleet of 58 bush aircraft -- including a new Kodiak . It serves 1,000 organizations in isolated areas of the world., transporting missionaries, medical personnel, medicine and relief supplies, as well as emergency medical evacuations. Every three minutes, somewhere in the world, an MAF pilot and plane takes off or lands, covering more distance in six hours than David Livingstone did in his entire 28 years as a missionary in Africa.



Amazing what a commitment to something greater than oneself can accomplish.

Build it and They Will Crash?

This whole idea of building your own bird has intrigued me. I'm a member of the EAA and the project our local chapter had begun was restoring a Stinson, as opposed to a kit plane. I think it's great for those with perseverance and a hangar, making flying more affordable (affordable being a loose definition here). I'm in favor of anything that increases the pilot population. Apparently, amateur builts can also decrease the pilot population:

Kit-built planes accounted for 18 percent of noncommercial plane accidents (in 2008) even though they logged less than 5 percent of the flight time.. The accident rate for kit aircraft, including amateur-built helicopters, is more than seven times higher than for other noncommercial aircraft.

The Lancair leads the pack in this area and was called out in this FAA safety advisory that was just released. Not because it's a bad design. It's just a really fast plane with high stall speeds and high wing loading. Without the appropriate experience and training, you can get in big trouble. On a related matter, the Mitsubishi MU-2 had a horrendous safety record for years. This eventually led to strict, specific, recurrent training requirements imposed by the FAA. The result: an almost spotless record over the past four years.

The recently released 2009 Nall Report is pretty hard on experimental/ amateur built aviation. Accidents are out of proportion to the total number of airplanes built and hours flown. Experimental and amateur built aircraft had an accident rate almost 5 times higher than certificated aircraft and a fatal rate of 7 times higher per hour flown.

The amateur builts have accident rates involving mechanical problems and unexplained losses of engine power that are about double that of certificated airplanes. This makes me much happier with a Lycoming up front in the factory builts. "Experimental" aircraft should not involve experiments with powerplants. More mentoring and oversight are needed. If you're interested, the AOPA has the 2009 Nall Report here.

Air Traffic Control Heroes

The "Archie" Awards pay tribute to air traffic controllers and the life-saving role they provide for general aviation pilots who screw up. Two times that was me. There are some who deride the FAA as those who pick nits. (We're Not Happy Until You're Not Happy).

My friend at the Chicago area FSDO would want you to know that can touch an FAA employee with a ten foot pole. Just don't hit them with it. This years awards are out and they're well deserved.

Here's a few that deserve our respect and admiration. There are many others.

John Overman (Great Lakes Region) for providing outstanding assistance on April 25, 2009, to a Lifeguard Helicopter that was transporting an accident victim to a hospital. Overman’s detailed information about severe thunderstorms and coordination with EMS personnel on the ground enabled the helicopter crew to land in a nearby parking lot and transfer the patient successfully.

Dale Taylor (Great Lakes Region) for providing outstanding assistance on Feb. 20, 2009, to the pilot of a single-engine aircraft who suffered an engine failure on a night flight in poor visibility. Taylor provided vectors and other critical information that allowed the pilot to make a safe landing with no injury.

Robert Hill Sr. (Southern Region) for providing outstanding assistance on Nov. 11, 2009, to a pilot on a flight in instrument conditions who experienced an instrument malfunction in low visibility, heavy rain, and high wind conditions. Hill provided no-gyro vectors to an alternate airport and talked the pilot down to a safe landing.

Don Nikolich and David Pridgen (Southern Region) for providing outstanding assistance on Nov. 29, 2009, to a noninstrument-rated pilot who entered night instrument meteorological conditions. Nikolich and Pridgen, through exceptional coordination and team work, were able to guide the pilot to a safe landing despite widespread areas of low ceiling and multiple attempts to land at several airports.

Larry Gardiner (Southwest Region) for providing outstanding assistance on Aug. 12, 2009, to an aircraft that was not under his control. Controller Gardiner preemptively transmitted a traffic warning, in the blind, which resulted in one of the aircraft taking evasive action and avoiding an almost certain midair collision.

New Crow Hop Record

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1fFrEuuMF8]Ladies and Gentlemen, please stay seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces the plane back to the terminal.

For those of us who have ballooned a plane with a little too much airspeed, the last thing you want is a forced landing. That's why flaring was invented. Surely the pilot would have gone around by the twelfth bounce... but no. Time for a new prop, engine tear down and nose gear.

It wasn't the plane's fault, it wasn't the pilot's fault, it was... the asphalt.

Under Water

Just like my 401k

We interrupt our regularly scheduled aviation programming to bring you…diving. Why? Because I have pictures from the Florida cave dive. Not nearly as much fun as flying but still a great sport. Similar to aviation, equipment must be in good working condition, training is required and there’s risk management. Few venues are as risky as cave diving. Not night diving on a shipwreck. Not search and recovery in near zero visibility which is plenty creepy when a freighter passes overhead. The water wasn't nearly deep enough and we could only hear the engine but not see the screws. Ice diving? Only for those who have lost their minds after repeatedly freezing their brains.

Cave diving demands redundant systems and managing acceptable risk. The most important reason: No vertical egress. If you run out of air or have an emergency (embolism et. al.) you must return the long way and ascend no faster than one foot per second. A dive computer helps but a dive buddy is a safety requirement.

Another thing. Cave diving has plenty of challenge but there’s usually not much to see compared to ocean reefs and shipwrecks. The visibility is the best, so you can basically see nothing perfectly. The deepest I’ve tried was about 100 feet with none of it straight down. Did I tell you how dark it is without a dive light?



The sign behind me reads: “STOP - Prevent Your Death-Go No Further” The fine print below reads “There is nothing in this cave worth dying for”. Which is true. Longest time in an underwater cave does not produce a winner.

Flying and diving have something else in common: You can’t rationally explain why anyone should go up in a light airplane or down in an ocean. Below, my brother is ready to lead the way.



Not recommended if you don’t like confined spaces.

NASA's New VTOL

First there was the Chance Vought Umbrella Plane which failed miserably, without aerodynamic principles applied to the design at all. This was in 1911, when much was trial and error. Fortunately, Vought later redeemed themselves with the original F4U Corsair which changed the game over the Pacific, and then the F-8 Crusader and A-7 Corsair II.

Next there was the Pogo XFV VTOL (vertical take off and landing) aircraft developed by the famous Lockheed Skunk Works in 1951. They proved it could handle transition flight but was a scary plane to fly. Fast forward to 2005. After resolving issues that caused several fatal crashes, we have the V-22 Osprey which is now one very expensive troop transport with some estimates at $70.0M per copy. There are the turbine versions too, such as the AV8-B Harrier and F-35 Lightning but, for now, I’m recounting the story of VTOL propeller aircraft.

Technological change frequently builds on previous invention. To quote Sir Isaac Newton: "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."

NASA continues the evolution with the one man electric “stealth” version named the Puffin (i.e. quiet, not invisible to radar). No one knows if it will really work but it mimics the Pogo concept without moving nacelles for transition flight along with the same landing characteristics.



Hopefully this design will autorotate on engine failure . (The Osprey cannot autorotate either). Otherwise it’s a very fast trip down. For obvious reason, ejection capability would be a bad idea. I’m still trying to understand if anyone would buy it. An electric engine will not allow a payload of more than the passenger and the “stealth” capability is lost once the blade tips reach max speed. It’s the propeller that makes most of the noise in a light airplane or helicopter with tip speeds approaching 500 mph.

If it does work, I guarantee the pilot will have one terrific crick in the neck. If it never leaves the drawing board, at least the animation was pretty good.

Can You Spot the Red Herring?

Lt. Kenneth Solosky, with 21 years in the NYPD, articulates the facts regarding general aviation as a security threat after the February light airplane crash in Austin Texas. Some politicians and a whole lot of the MSM continue to view light airplanes as terrorist weapons and a hole in homeland security. The shrill cry goes forth for more pilot and airport regulation.

As law enforcement professionals, we must ask ourselves, is general aviation a significant terror threat or just a red herring? If history is our guide, the answer is no; general aviation poses no more of a threat than any other vehicle such as a car or truck and indeed, perhaps is less of a threat. ……..Even if a plane was loaded with explosives, the damage could never approach the devastation caused by a large truck bomb such as used by Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995….The weight limitations and relatively small cabin size of general aviation aircraft certainly limit their ability to carry a similar devastating deadly payload.

An informed voice of reason. Which is nice for a change.

Build It and They Will Fly

Homebuilt aircraft approved by the FAA have the “Experimental” designation. They must be at least 51 percent built by the individual as compared to factory fabrications. There are manifold reasons: the challenge, the reduced cost, the ability to customize. Many homebuilts use composite materials which are lighter and more fuel efficient. The downside? It takes time. Lots of it. Usually 2,000 to 3,000 hours and if you have a day job it might take 5 to 10 years and beyond. If you’re spending every spare moment building, when do you fly? There are also the stories of homebuilt planes that didn’t make it past the first flights, ending in a smoldering heap of debris. All that work down the drain. Of course if you were the pilot in command, that’s the least of your worries. As recently as last week:

"It looked like he was going to give me a real neat show with a swoop. As he started to come down yellow pieces just flew everywhere, he just exploded and then crashed down”. Another eyewitness said she saw the plane do a couple of loops just before its left wing blew apart.

Part of the problem associated with quality control is you’re hand crafting a “one-off”. No benefit of lessons learned in the production of dozens, sometimes hundreds with standard procedures along the way. Therefore, a pilot must fly between 25-40 hours of test flights in non-populated areas after passing the initial FAA airworthiness inspection. It would take a very brave person to fly even once in this.

Although I’ve always subscribed to the idea that sustained effort produces results, spending ten years on a flying project is like a very long time. Yet recently, my attention was grabbed while son #3 perused one of my EAA magazines and pointed to a two passenger kit plane. “Dad, we should build one of these”, he said. Within moments, thoughts wandered to selling the current homestead, moving to the country and setting up a pole barn workshop by the house with a grass strip in back. Some, like my wife's cousin, did exactly that - rebuilding sixteen vintage planes.

There are some who seek to recreate the terrific warbirds of years gone by , albeit replicas in smaller scale. Fellow flier Tom recently discovered there’s an effort to make a mini-mini B-17.

So what do you do when you’ve already built a Kitfox and a Georgia Special and your buddies (with the help of a few adult beverages) prod you to build “one last” experimental? If you are Jack Bally of Dixon, Illinois, you build a 1/3 scale B-17 Flying Fortress replica.

Ideas hatched with the help of “adult beverages” sometimes sound a little less viable the morning after. Still, Mr. Bally has made progress. There’s mini home built Mustangs, Warhawks, and Spitfires. So why not a B-17 the size of a two seat Cessna?



Because it's very much like the Shriners zooming around in their miniature cars in parades. It looks just a little strange when it's scaled back to extra small. I hope he succeeds. With ten years invested, it deserves to be in the air, not just on the ground.

Emergency Landing at Hilton Head

Sad Landing.

A 38-year-old father of two was jogging and listening to his iPod when he was hit from behind and killed by a small plane making an emergency landing on the beach.

Who knew that running with headphones might kill you? No doubt hard for the pilot to manage with an oil covered windscreen during an emegency landing. Tough situation for everyone.

H/T to Dan

Aerobatics in a Bi –Plane

Because that’s all they had in 1918. The book “Aerobatics” (you can view all 130 pages using the link) was written by Captain H. Barber and includes flying the “cartwheel”. My current recollection of cartwheels has a certain fatal quality but they meant something different in the way back. Must have had a whole lot of rudder authority to pull that off.



They would have been amazed at the aerial antics of the Extra 300.

Check It Out

Fuel sumps are located in strategic areas in general aviation aircraft to test what’s inside. Usually, this is to look for water contamination or debris. It pays to check what’s inside. Twice I had to have the fuel drained. Once due to an endless stream of sediment. Another time for color and smell. It had the appearance of Jet-A which would never do in an engine that burned 100 low lead. It’s rare but not impossible for an inexperienced lineman to make an error in judgment when filling aircraft. Fueling mistakes have stopped hundreds of engines in flight so I always check what the engine is consuming. You wouldn't want to eat something that you didn't know in advance was acceptable (for now, I'll exclude the topic of MRE's). Neither does your airplane engine. It’s a lesson I learned long ago but not in a plane.

During my junior year at college I had the experience of sharing a house with four other guys. Not exactly animal house but we all had our habits. One of the guys would gobble up our grocery budget usually after returning home late at night despite our protests that food was to share. Another one of the guys, brave enough to cook, would prepare a bowl of chicken salad for everyone, only to find the bowl sitting empty in the refrigerator the next morning. We decided to make the next “salad” using cat food. Next morning the bowl was again in the fridge. Empty. True story, but we had nothing to do with his next culinary treat. At another time, the guy ate two cakes of activated yeast thinking it to be the same as brewers yeast (a health food supplement). It’s not. We watched in amazement as he began to ferment before our eyes. I’ve never seen anyone burp non stop for an hour.

So remember to check . You may be getting something you just don’t want.

Child’s Play

Taking your children to work usually involves observing not doing.

An air traffic controller at one of the nation's busiest airport was suspended after his young son was permitted to give radio instructions to pilots. The controller at Kennedy Airport brought his daughter into the tower the next night. The man's daughter communicated with pilots twice.

LiveATC founder Dave Pascoe said: "I absolutely believe that this is being blown out of proportion. This is just a completely controlled situation. A child was being told exactly what to say." (listen to the recorded ATC exchange here)

Controlled, yes, but probably not a great idea during one of the busier times in the tower. Distractions can have consequences in this line of work. Six months ago a controller was placed on leave after his negligence led to a fatal crash between a helicopter and plane over the Hudson River. He was recorded joking on the phone with his girlfriend and failed to separate the aircraft. While I think it admirable that someone show their son or daughter what they do for a living, it’s not one of the places with a relaxed, laid back atmosphere. There’s too much at stake. I wouldn’t want an eight year old helping Dad or Mom on the flight deck for the same reason. Also, the image of a kid at the microphone isn’t likely to inspire confidence among the flying public.

Or maybe I should just lighten up. Get the kids to join in for the next conference call with company headquarters for laughs. Let me know how that works out for you.