P&P Dec 2012.pdf - Plane & Pilot News

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Page 8 PLANE & PILOT NEWS December 2012 Flyin’ Around Jim Opalka Where Did All The Airplanes Go? JIm OPALKA My sister started me wondering. Regarding super storm Sandy she said: “Where do all the airplanes go?” When she asks questions I attempt to give her answers, not necessarily to the specific questions she asks. This is what may be called a brother / sister thing. If you have a brother or sister you know exactly what is being said here. Antagonize at all costs. It is usually meant in jest; not a bad thing. It is a throwback to childhood. The first answer I gave her was that airplanes go where the winds take them if they do not have the proper tie downs and / or appropriate knots to hold them in place. Of course she was referring to those aircraft we saw on charts heading from west to ease – quickly. I pretended I did not understand her query. I continued my explanation that was of course not related to her question about aircraft flying to escape a nasty storm. It must be said here that sister is very intelligent. Certainly she is brighter than the writer of this article. I kid you not. But I could not resist playing. It is in our blood. Amazingly, aircraft can withstand winds in the triple figures - if aircraft and owner are lucky. And we haven’t even factored in water as a condition of displacing aircraft; floating them from point A to B. Whether or not your Piper Cub stays put as opposed to performing an unauthorized, un- piloted, take off depends upon a multitude of factors. There is of course wind direction, type of tie down (no brand names mentioned), the angle at which the tie down sets relative to the aircraft and the wind, the tensile strength of the rope, frequency of gusts, their velocity and on and on. To say the least, tie-downs are important, so much so that they are required at AirVenture. To my knowledge though, at least at OSH, there are no requirements in terms of minimum tensile forces the ropes etc. have to withstand. The standard for single engine aircraft is 3,000 pounds. In other words the aircraft tiedown must withstand winds producing up to 3,000 pounds of pressure that is placed upon the hardware. Are we wondering how much the aircraft can withstand? In other words even if you have the proper equipment and can withstand 10,000 pounds of pressure, at what point does your 172 snap the rope and fly? The above reference to storms, winds, and water brings to mind an article from our local paper about helicopters and water rescue training at our community college. This of course became especially relevant during the frightening days of storm Sandy. As part of the Department of Public Safety Training the college has partnered with the PA Air Guard. Choppers, namely, the UH-60 Black Hawk, a four-bladed, twin engine utility helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft, have been chosen for the water rescue training. The course and training go by the mnemonic HART, or the PA HART Team; (Pennsylvania Helicopter Aquatics Rescue Team). The group will be one of only five helicopter-based water rescue teams in the nation. The PA HART Team came close to deployment during the Sandy tragedy. They were pre-deployed to the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport (KJST) and Fort Indiantown Gap (KFTIG), an active National Guard Training Center and headquarters for the Pa. Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and the Pa. National Guard. Speaking of air / water rescue and Oshkosh, there is a particular topic that comes to mind that was shared by a Coast Guard Air Rescue crew member at an excellent FAA forum. This point of information could save our collective lives. Many pilots probably know this but yours truly did not until attending the seminar. If we ever went (God forbid) down in water in our little GA aircraft and subsequently flipped over, leaving us hanging from our trusty harnesses, here is how to keep your body and your mind in the same place at the same time. More so, here is how to know which side is up and how to get safely out of your aircraft. First, do not tightly wrap your hands (especially your thumbs) around the yoke. Of course it would be common to do, knowing you are about to make you first water landing. It would seem that a prudent pilot would hold-on-for-dearlife. Don’t do that. You will in all probability break your thumbs. You will need them in good working order to exit your newly acquired amphibious aircraft. Hold gently. And more importantly, do not lift your feet off the floor and begin thrashing around as water fills your craft. You lift one limb at a time and sort of walk, step, hand hold, and creep slowly to your best exit. If you let go of everything and lift your feet thinking it is time to swim you will have no idea where the exit is. I will certainly tell my sister the above. In addition I will try to WINDSOCkS "cUSTOm PRINTING AVAILAbLe" Replacement windsocks available starting at $8.95 A I R P O RT W I N D S O c K c O R P O RTAT I O N 218-493-4307 1-800-579-5135 www.airportwindsocks.com figure out where all that heavy metal was heading from east Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia to west before the nasty storm. Photo Compliments of Wikipedia Again, Courtesy of Wikipedia
My OPiniOn I have said that besides GPS I believe that the IPad is the second greatest invention for the cockpit. For approximately $1550 one can have an IPad, app with moving map and ADS-B In which helps display weather and traffic. Not bad considering built in glass costs around $15,000 or more. When everything works all is well, when it doesn’t all hell can break loose. I have flown with Foreflight and WingXPro7 for a year each. Foreflight was always reliable and WingX unreliable. Thats why I still use my Garmin 396 in the cockpit. That brings us to the premise of this month’s column. I had an update for WingX a couple of days ago. After completing the update I was asked to accept a disclaimer. You cannot operate WingX without agreeing to the disclaimer. In my opinion if someone took WingX to court they would win as you have already paid WingX for the use of the program, therefore the disclaimer is not worth the paper it’s written on. The question is why did WingX add a disclaimer to it’s program. The disclaimer says WingX might work and it might not, but WingX is not responsible for something they produce and sell for the purpose of aviation navigation. No pun intended but this will not fly in court. If WingX is selling a product for a purpose and it does not work, WingX is responsible. I do not have any information, but I believe that someone or some group have brought suit against WingX. If they have not then they should. I have always believed that WingX has the best features of any aviation app, but WingX has the worst reliability. I am stuck with WingX as I purchased a Sky Radar ADSB-In unit that only works with WingX. Therefore I carry paper approach plates, old paper charts and my Garmin 396 with me. I have been aRtHuR ROsen LAWSUIT? aRtHuR ROsen in important situations where WingX did not work. If a lawsuit has been filed, it will be common knowledge soon. It is too bad that a leading company in aviation apps has very little quality control. ANGeL FLIGHT WeST I have signed up to fly for Angel Flight western division. Angel Flight West (AFW) was founded in Santa Monica, CA; and in 1983 and in 1984 they flew 14 missions. This year AFW is on track to fly 5000 missions. AFW mission statement is to fly people and their families in need of medical care that they can not receive at home. AFW also fly physically challenged children to special needs camps. These people are in need of transportation that they can’t afford. All passengers must be able to fly without assistance. AFW is not an ambulance service. Pilots donate their time, airplane, fuel and any other expenses incurred for the mission. Missions can’t be longer than 300 miles for one pilot. Sometimes there are 2 and 3 legs to a mission that have to be coordinated. Pilot requirements are 250 hours, at least 50 hours of flight in the last 12 months or a BFR each year. IFR rated is not a requirement but recommended. Night currency is needed for a mission that will start before sunrise or end after sunset. AFW website, angelflightwest.org, list available missions where a pilot can sign up for a mission. The web site gives the distance of the flight, weight of the passenger(s) and departure time. If it is a multiple leg flight the pilot contacts the other pilots to make sure they can carry the weight and when they expect to arrive. Being located in Scottsdale, which is not a central location most missions are long with a majority going to Santa Monica (SMO) for people to receive treatment at UCLA Medical Center. It can get expensive flying these missions. One pilot has already flown 94 missions this year, but that is not the norm. I expect to fly around 6 missions a year mostly in the fall, winter and spring because of the high temperatures in Scottsdale’s summer. There are a variety of aircraft flying; and I have met people flying Cirrus’s, Piper Saratoga’s and Bonanza’s a lot faster and newer than mine. Air conditioning really helps as our morning lows can be in the 90’s and highs in the 110’s plus. I feel that’s too hot to fly someone in my Bonanza in the summer that takes a long time to climb out to cooler temperatures, and returning when it is 110 it is very hot in the airplane. Once a mission is accepted, the pilot contacts the flyer(s) and they review a lot of information together on the phone. AFW is there just to list the flights and the pilot does the rest. AFW pilots donate $4 to every $1 spent by corporate. A meeting place is agreed to at the airport, and all passengers must sign a waiver. The waiver is either mailed to corporate or the pilot can take a picture of the signed waiver with a camera phone and email it to corporate. If there is no cell phone coverage or FBO service, the pilot leaves the waiver where it can be picked up by another AFW volunteer. Each leg of the flight, if multiple legs, must have a signed waiver. Once the passengers are briefed it’s time to go. Ground transportation is prearranged, and the pilot must wait until the passengers are picked up before returning home. Some missions might require an overnight stay by the pilot at their own expense. After returning home from the mission the pilot reports to corporate the total time round trip and any other expenses incurred on the mission. At the end of the calendar year AFW will send the pilot a form PLANE & PILOT NEWS December 2012 Page 9 used for tax deductions. I’ve always believed in charity, and as a pilot, this is a great way to give back to my community. I’m thankful to be able to perform this task for AFW. Arthur Rosen is a retired Judge living in Scottsdale, AZ. Arthur is AOPA-ASN for Scottsdale Airport (SDL), was Chairman of the Scottsdale Aviation Commission, served on the Super Bowl Committee for Aviation, past President of Arizona Soaring Association and Aviation Expert for ABC TV-Phoenix. Arthur can be reached at Judge613@gmail. com, followed on Twitter at Judge613 and his BLOG: http://aviation-myopinion. blogspot.com. Carroll County Airport Restaurant Home of the Best Pie Around! Open Daily 7 AM to 7 PM Call for Great Fuel Prices! Good Home Cooking Private Parties Delicious Homemade Pies Daily Specials Reasonable Prices Carroll Co. Airport (KTSO) 330-627-5250 plAne power AlternAtors lAmAr VoltAGe reGulAtors HArtzell produCts inCludinG lAmAr stArters
Page 1 and 2: Vol. 36 No. 12 Plane & Pilot News D
Page 3 and 4: AIRPLANeS beech: 58; Fuel cell Seal
Page 5 and 6: It’s easy to get caught up in the
Page 7: Air To Ground by ROse MaRie keRn Pi
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Page 13 and 14: PLANE & PILOT NEWS December 2012 Pa
Page 15 and 16: eAA SAFeTY eFFORTS AIm TO LOWeR GA
Page 17 and 18: Pilot Weather Reports continued fro
Page 19 and 20: Corbi Air Offers The Alto S-LSA wit
Page 21 and 22: AIRCRAFT INSURANCE SKYSURANCE Aviat
Page 23 and 24: Cuyahoga Co. Airport 216-241-2127 W

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