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In Flight USA Articles
AOPA Air Safety Institute Releases Video Aimed at Collision Avoidance
Guest Editorial: More on Drones
By Ray Manuel
Edited By Ed Downs
In Flight USA got lucky. Interest in flying safety comes from all quadrants. For our October commentary, a perspective is offered from a pilot who flies everything from classic racing planes to the most advanced attack jets, but he is not a licensed pilot! The world of radio control (RC) model flying is as diverse as manned aircraft, and like those of us who fly big planes, RC modelers share the same airspace we fly in and have maintained a safety record that us big guys should envy.
Modelers are, for the first time, facing a raft of regulations being proposed by the FAA (and demanded by Congress) to keep our airspace safe for joint use by manned and unmanned aircraft. RC flyers have long abided by guidelines fostered by both local clubs and national organizations and have never been a part of the emerging “drone problem.” This writer met Ray Manuel through the Hiller Museum of Aviation as Ray’s airshow display team performed at a recent Museum event. Ray currently has more than 20 RC planes, most of which are powered with high tech electric fans that duplicate the spectacular performance of their real counterparts, such as the F-16 Fighting Falcon, F9F Panther, Mig-15, and F/A-18 Super Hornet, just to name a few. While the jets are neat, his present favorite is a Gee Bee Model Y. Ray is a flight instructor at his local flying field, and recently entered the airshow arena, with spectacular RC model demonstrations.
As a longtime fan of model airplane flying (I owned a hobby shop), this writer explored what is going on in the RC flying world, as rules, which could affect both general aviation and models, are tossed around by the FAA and various groups studying the fast growing market of “drones,” Ray agreed to attend the recently held 2015 Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management Convention, held at NASA’s Ames research Center and give our readers a first hand report as to what is going on in “drone world.” Take a look at the following contribution and be informed as to the scope of this new technology that we generically call “drones.” For more about Ray and his passion, visit https://www.facebook.com/baylandsrcairshowteam or https://www.facebook.com/baylandsrc.
NASA 2015 Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management Convention
By Ray Manuel
There has yet to be a single day where the word “drone” is not used in a news story describing some act of stupidity. Hovering over a homeowner’s property, invading their privacy, and putting their family at risk of it falling out of the sky are just a few of the headlines that make the news. Why? Because it was shot down by a shotgun… or better yet, an amateur brings their newly acquired 3D Robotics Iris+ to the ball game without proper flight training and promptly crashes it into the grandstands.
Safe Landings: November 2014
Non-Towered Aircraft Operations
At an airport without an operational control tower, sometimes referred to as an “uncontrolled” airport, communication is one of the key elements in maintaining proper aircraft separation. Use of the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) helps to assure the safe, orderly flow of arrival and departure traffic. FAR 91.113 cites basic right-of-way rules and FAR 91.126 establishes traffic-flow rules at non-towered airports. The Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) and FAA Advisory Circular 90-66A expand on these regulations to define procedures for operations at non-towered airports. Staying visually alert is the final measure of defense against aircraft that may be operating without a radio or without regard to the standard non-towered airport procedures. The following ASRS reports highlight some of the problems commonly associated with non-towered airport operations.
Unexpected Opposition – Two Opposite Runway Takeoff Incidents
A C680 Flight Crew had to abort their takeoff when an aircraft made an unannounced departure on the opposite runway. It is not known if the “other airplane” failed to use a radio or did not have one. For aircraft without a radio installed, the use of a hand-held transceiver is highly recommended at busy non-towered airports.
Editorial: Stick and Rudder
By Ed Downs
Does that title sound familiar? For many, the book, Stick and Rudder, written by Wolfgang Langewiesche, appears on nearly every bookshelf of aviators around the world. First published in 1944, this book became the quintessential word on the “art of flying,” stressing the need to develop well-understood skills to be used in controlling the aircraft. Those of us who teach Flight Instructor Refresher Clinics (FIRC’s) are hearing the term “stick and rudder” again, but not in reference to this classic book. This time it comes from the FAA, having added mandated content to approve FIRC curriculums that addresses the subject of “stick and rudder” skills, or more accurately, the lack of such skills. But let me take a step back and explain the issue at hand.
Every CFI must undergo classroom (or today, web-based) training once every 24 calendar months. The course undertaken is approved by the FAA and must contain a specific amount of FAA mandated content. Companies that conduct such courses maintain an FAA approved status, as do their instructors, like this writer. The program (class or web) MUST contain a minimum of 16 hours of actual training, and significant paperwork is involved. Failure to attend a FIRC every two years and pass two written exams means the CFI loses the privilege to instruct. Once a FIRC is missed, the CFI must attend a FIRC and take an FAA check ride to reinstate CFI privileges. Stop and think about it, how many other licensed professions (medical, legal?) have such requirements?
Contrails
Remembering Orion
By Steve Weaver
Steve and the flying school Citabria in 1969. (Courtesy of Steve Weaver)He walked through the office door at the airport on a hot July afternoon in 1969, looking like a farmer in his late fifties that had climbed down off his tractor and come directly to the airport. All of this turned out to be good detecting on my part, because that was exactly what he was and what he had been doing before he took a ride to see us.
Orion as it turned out had something bothering him, and it had been eating at him for almost twenty five years. He had returned from the big war, gotten married, raised a family and become a successful farmer and business man, but this little piece of his past was always there and it still nibbled away at the little secret spot where a person lives, even after all those years. He confessed to me that afternoon, sitting in the big armchair in my office, that he had washed out of the Army Air Corps flight training. Even after a generation, I could still see the regret and the shame in the faded brown eyes.