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Renaissance Men
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Renaissance Men

By David Brown

The dictionary Definition of a Renaissance Man is: A person who excels in various areas.

Luffwaffe Day at flying Heritage collection (FHC) at Paine Field, north of Seattle. In a cloud of oil smoke, with Bud Granley in the cockpit, the DB 601 of the Messerschmitt comes to life. (David Brown)This certainly applies to the father and son team of Bud and Ross Granley, who have both been successful in challenging careers as instructor pilots, fighter pilots, airline pilots and now fly together as Washington state-based Granley Airshows. Their displays range up and down the West Coast of the USA and into Canada.

Bud learned to fly on a Royal Canadian Air Cadet scholarship and started flying with the RCAF in 1956. He progressed through basic and advanced training in the T-6 and T-33. He flew Sabre jets at Baden-Baden in Germany for three years and was later an instructor and demonstration pilot on the T-6 at Red Deer, Alberta.  Bud’s first chance to pilot a warbird was a P-40, and he has since gone on to fly many vintage aircraft. Bud retired from United Airlines in 1997 and continues flying T-6 displays together with the Fouga Magister jet and a number of warbirds.

Ross has had a career piloting jets in the RCAF, which has included flying with the Snowbirds for two seasons, and flying CF-5 and CF-18 fighters. On leaving the RCAF in 1997, Ross started flying for United Airlines and currently flies out of San Francisco.

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China and the Flying Tigers
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China and the Flying Tigers

By Nina Jobe

The C-47is still painted up with Normandy D-Day white stripes and Buzz Buggy. The hope is to get the decals changed to CBI/CNAC in China - the new CBI/CNAC decals are already aboard for transport. (Barbara Bussler)The Chinese Theater in WWII is most famous for the Flying Tigers, a story that began with the formation of the “American Volunteer Group” or “AVG” in April of 1941, well before Pearl Harbor, under Claire Chennault through secret arrangements authorized by President Roosevelt. Pilots from the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps were permitted to resign from the military to head to China to train pilots for the Chinese Air Force under Chinese Nationalist leader, Chiang Kai-shek. Incentivized by the lure of adventure and/or high pay (approximately three times what they made in the U.S.), the first group arrived in Burma in Nov. of 1941. Once the attack on Pearl Harbor had occurred, their motivation changed to patriotism against Japan.

Japan began their invasion of China in 1931 in the far Northeast section known as Manchuria and grew to full conflict by 1937, marked by the clash at the famous Marco Polo Bridge. Japanese occupation of eastern China left the only route for bringing food and military supplies, etc., to China via the Burma road into Kunming. Once Burma also fell to Japan, the only way left was by air transport from India over the Himalayas known as the “Hump”– initially by C47s (DC3s). China National Aviation Corp. (CNAC), in which Pan Am held a 45 percent ownership, pioneered the routes and was later joined by the U.S. Army Air Forces. This operation was later successfully copied as the pattern for the Berlin airlift. 

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Annamarie Buonocore Annamarie Buonocore

Safe Landings: The Pursuit and Presumption of Balance

Weight and balance has been a critical issue in aircraft operations since the beginning of aviation. Loading errors can go unnoticed and have potential to cause great harm. Clerical mistakes that account for cargo weight and location can be subtle and equally costly.

This month’s CALLBACK examines several reports that highlight weight and balance errors. In the following accounts, all the aircraft unknowingly departed with uncertain centers of gravity and most departed with an inaccurate gross weight that was assumed correct. Many of the mistakes were not discovered until the aircraft was airborne and some, not until the aircraft landed. Other similarities included unknown cargo weights and freight that was loaded in improper locations. These mistakes might have been prevented. The ASRS report excerpts reiterate the need for attentiveness and accuracy in every aspect of weight and balance procedures.

The first three reports describe incidents where cargo was loaded in the wrong location on the aircraft. The remaining accounts detail various other errors that were experienced in Air Carrier Operations. 

The Usual Suspects 

Cargo loaded into the wrong compartment and closeout paperwork that did not specify its location allowed this B737 Flight Crew to launch with an inaccurate Center of Gravity (CG) that was not discovered until after the aircraft landed. 

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