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Editorial: Just Because I’m Paranoid
Win A Luscombe
GAMA: User Fee Opposition
Editorial: Just Because I’m Paranoid
By Ed Downs
Is there anyone reading this who cannot complete the title of this editorial? Sure, it goes, “just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they are not out to get me.” Now, according to our friends at Wikipedia, the word paranoid, or paranoia, is defined in somewhat negative terms. It includes, “Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself.” Wow, that definition looks a lot like the guy looking back at me in the mirror every morning. But the fact that I continue to see that reflection is, perhaps, an indication the my “paranoid” behavior has served me well for an aviation career that has lasted well over half a century.
Early in my flying days I read a quote by Wilbur Wright that ended with the concept of “deliberately accepting risk.” Indeed, that is what we do in aviation. We exercise a metered level of paranoia and try to figure out what is out there, “conspiring” to get us. This could be weather, aircraft design, marginal skills, carelessness, overconfidence, human error and many other gremlins that can conspire to spoil your day.
Have I convinced you that “paranoid” can be a good thing? If so, you are invited to direct your “paranoia” to the future of ownership and private use of personal and business aircraft, an activity typically clumped together by the term “General Aviation,” or “GA.”
Reno 2011: Our Coverage
NTSB Premilinary Report
NTSB Identification: WPR11MA454
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, September 16, 2011 in Reno, Nev.
Aircraft: NORTH AMERICAN/AERO CLASSICS P-51D, registration: N79111
Injuries: 11 Fatal, 66 Serious.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.
Flying a Full Circle
By Pete Shirk
Air racing is a high-risk game but all the safety precautions and care usually keep it safe. Sometimes the best intentions are just not enough, and that happened in a horrible way on Friday, Sept. 16, 2011.
Jimmy Leeward, a veteran pilot and air racer, had taken all the precautions, and yet on lap three of the Gold Race, coming off pylon eight on the west end of the course and heading down the home stretch in front of the flight line, crowd, bleachers, VIP tents, trailers, food and beverage concessions, FAA trailer, and control tower, all the care, safety precautions, experience and expertise gave way to catastrophe.
What's Up? - October 2011
Reno…
By Larry Shapiro
I suppose there wasn’t any way this column could have been written without the mention of Reno. After all, this is an aviation publication, I write about aviation, and you would have to live in a cave not to know about Reno 2011.
Okay, my aviation friends, here’s what I have to say about this. People much more qualified than me, since they were there and witnesses, are telling their stories on other pages in this issue of In Flight USA.
Here’s what I know for sure. Reno is the “Super Bowl” of aviation. Without Reno the Reno area will take an economical hit worse than a flood. Furthermore, general aviation and professional air racing would simply not be the same without all Reno offers, from the thrills around the pylons to the live entertainment to the promotion of great skilled and talented pilots.
Safe Landings - October 2011
See and Avoid
The number of midair collisions in the United States has averaged 30 per year since 1978.1 These accidents primarily involve General Aviation aircraft, but Air Carrier, Corporate and other operators are by no means immune from potentially serious airborne conflicts.
In the preceding 12-month period, more than 4,000 in-flight traffic conflicts were reported to NASA ASRS. Of these, 235 met the ASRS criteria (within 500 feet) for a Near Midair Collision (NMAC). Nearly half of these NMACs involved Air Carrier, Corporate and Air Taxi operations.
Technological advances such as the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) and Conflict Alert (CA) have enhanced the ability of pilots and controllers respectively to resolve airborne conflicts before they become critical, but the following ASRS reports show that the “see and avoid” principle remains a crucial aspect of collision avoidance in visual conditions.
The Pylon Place - October 2011
September 16, 2011 – The Saddest Day
By Marilyn Dash
Peace Jimmy (Tim Adams)By now most of you have heard of our tragedy at the Reno Air Races on September 16. I have still not come to a point where I can talk about what I saw and what I experienced. But, I wanted to tell you a story.
They say that extraordinary people do extraordinary things. And I will say that every single one of the pilots and crew at the Reno Air Races are extraordinary people. They breathe a little deeper, love a little harder, stand closer to the edge. We know there are dangers in doing what we do – but we never thought our activities would hurt anyone else. Losing one of our own is a tragedy. Losing people who were only there to cheer us on is a catastrophe. Sometimes, these extraordinary things go extraordinarily wrong.
Goodies and Gadgets - October 2011
9-11 Remembrances at Wine Country Airshow
By Hayman Tam
A piece of Ground Zero was on display next to the “First Responder” F-15 Eagle. (Hayman Tam)Close to 25,000 airshow fans came out for the Wings Over Wine Country Airshow put together by the Pacific Coast Air Museum (PCAM) in Santa Rosa, Calif. This two-day show takes place at Charles Schulz – Sonoma County Airport (STS) and is the museum’s major fundraising event. The cloudy skies cleared and the temperature warmed up to perfect, just right to put in earplugs and sunscreen and enjoy the festivities.
This year’s airshow honored two national occasions occurring this year, the Centennial of Naval Aviation and the 10th Anniversary of the 9-11 attack.
The Navy theme was echoed on the ground by the museum’s F-14A Tomcat, F-16N Viper, F-5E Freedom Fighter, A-4E Skyhawk, F-8 Crusader and A-6E Intruder. Wings of Gold took to the air in the form of flybys with several USN T-28 Trojans and a very rare C-1A Trader, a long-retired carrier onboard delivery aircraft. The popular Greg Colyer traded his normal USAF T-33 for one with a U.S. Navy “Blue Angels” motif, exciting the crowd as the only featured jet performer, showing how nimble a fifty-plus year old jet can be.
Film Critic and Author Leonard Maltin On Some of His Favorite Aviation Films
By S. Mark Rhodes
Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guides have been a great resource for filmgoers to discover new favorites and re-visit old chestnuts. His most recent addition (Leonard Maltin’s 2012 Movie Guide from Signet) is nearly 1,700 pages and weighs in at nearly two pounds (it can crush the Kindle!).
Embedded within this guide are insightful, capsule interviews of some of the most noteworthy aviation films that Hollywood turned out in its golden age. Mr. Maltin was nice enough to speak to In Flight USA’s Mark Rhodes about some of his favorite aviation films and how the aviation film genre might make a comeback.
In Flight USA: Once upon a time the aviation film was as much a part of Hollywood genre films as the Detective film, the Western, the Science Fiction film and so on. What do you think are the reasons that the genre declined?
Leonard Maltin: (Long Pause) “I am just guessing mind you, but I think a lot of it has to do with gaming (video games) which maybe has taken the place of the excitement audiences used to get with aviation movies. When Top Gun (1986) came out in the 80s there was a lot of comment then about how some of the combat flying sequences resembled video games. And in those intervening years, those games have become really vivid and even realistic. This (the rise of gaming) might have replaced some of the thrill that films like Top Gun used to provide movie audiences.”
Author Jack Whitehouse’s Fire Island History Sheds Light on an Early Chapter of U.S. Military Aviation
By S. Mark Rhodes
Embedded within the pages of Jack Whitehouse’s new book, Fire Island: Heroes & Villains on Long Island’s Wild Shore (History Press) is the fascinating, but mostly forgotten story of the creation of one of the first U.S. Naval Air Station’s on Long Island near the community of Bay Shore, New York in 1917. Whitehouse, an author/historian with a fascinating resume that includes graduation from Brown, a stint as the commanding officer of a patrol gunboat as well as having had the honor of being the first Naval Officer to participate in an exchange program with the Royal Norwegian Navy was nice enough to check in with In Flight’s Mark Rhodes about his book and this unique chapter in not only Long Island, but U.S. aviation.
In Flight USA: Bay Shore was basically the second American community to get a United States Naval Air Station. What do you think the rationale for locating it there was in particular?
Jack Whitehouse: “The Navy had several good reasons for selecting Bay Shore, located in approximately the geographic middle of the south shore of Long Island, as a location for a U.S. Naval Air Station. First, in 1916 the Second Battalion of the Naval Militia of the State of New York had built an eight-acre base in Bay Shore on the edge of the Great South Bay. The purpose of the naval militia base was to train naval volunteers in flying and aviation mechanics; thus to a great extent the site was already functioning as a naval air station.”