AOPA Pilot Blog: Reporting Points

The Washington Post’s TV columnist, Lisa DeMoraes, was patting herself on the back last month after ABC canceled plans to promote its new television series, “V,” by hiring skywriting airplanes to fly over 26 landmarks–among them the Statue of Liberty and Santa Monica Pier–in 15 cities in a four-day stretch. (Presumably the skywriters would etch the skies with “V,” or “We Are Of Peace,” or whatever the show’s slogan is. I haven’t watched it.) (And no, they weren’t going to fly in Washington, D.C.)

DeMoraes basically called the promotional campaign hypocritical in light of parent company Disney’s recently announced plans to cut its fuel emissions in half by 2012. According to her calculations–she said she sought the help of various “aviation pundits”–the stunt would have used around 400 gallons of fuel containing around 800 grams of lead and around three tons of CO2, among other pollutants, if each event took about one hour of flying time.

Good news for Ms. DeMoraes and ABC: A company at a German trade show figured out how to tie banner ads on flies and released them at the show. Here’s a video. No carbon emissions! Just lots of really tired flies. 

i’ll be in Florida all this week, scurrying around AOPA Summit, but I can’t let Nov. 4 slip by without wishing many happy returns to Evelyn “Mama Bird” Johnson, who turns 100. Johnson’s incredible career as a flight instructor and designated pilot examiner are detailed in Mike Collins’ article; he also profiled her for the November 1999 AOPA Pilot. Then and now, Mama Bird retains one of the fattest logbooks you’re likely to come across. Her 57,635.4 flight hours make her the highest-time female pilot and the highest-time living pilot in the Guiness Book of World Records.

I have just one “Mama Bird” story: Johnson was a featured speaker at a Women in Aviation conference several years ago. In a soft Southern accent–she was born in Kentucky and lives in Tennessee–she recalled just how she came to be a pilot. Her husband was serving in the military during World War II. Left on her own, she was looking for an activity to fill her quiet days. Should she try tennis? Golf? She saw an advertisement that read, “Learn to Fly” and said, “I believe I’ll do that.” What began as a whim became a career that influenced thousands of pilots. Happy birthday, Mama Bird!

With Halloween in just a few days, I was reminded this morning of perhaps the only horror movie made that features vampires, creepy reporters, and general aviation. That would be the 1997 film “The Night Flier,” based on a short story by Stephen King.

The bizarre tale focuses on a reporter for a Weekly-World-News-ish type of rag who uses his Bonanza to take him all across the country chasing sordid stories. (I know, already it strains credibility–a reporter owning a Bonanza? Maybe those pulp rags pay a lot better than we know.) He travels to a tiny field in Delaware where a brutal murder has been committed. As the story progresses, he finds himself tracking a vampire who flies a black Cessna Skymaster. Yup, a black Cessna Skymaster.

I won’t give it away, but if you’re squeamish you should know that the final scene is, in keeping with Stephen King’s reputation, pretty gory. The vampire in question isn’t one of those Twilight/True Blood pretty boys. But as far as I can tell, no Skymasters were harmed in the making of this film.

It was with a twinge of sadness that I read the e-mail press release that landed in my inbox this week. “Profiles In History To Sell Amelia Earhart’s Flight Goggles Worn During Her Historic 1932 Record-Breaking Solo Transatlantic Flight.” The auction company will sell Earhart’s goggles, along with a batch of other celebrity goodies, in a two-day event to be held Oct. 8 and 9. Profiles in History provided the photo you see here.

Sad? I’m not exactly sure why. I guess I hate the thought of someone purchasing the goggles and stowing them away in some vault along with his Fantastic Four Number One in mint condition. I’d love to see them go to Purdue University, or back to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, where they were on loan from 1992 to 1998. But the last time I checked my wallet (or my 401[k]), I’m a few cents short of the $100,000 opening bid.  Also on the auction block: Gus Grissom’s Mercury flight suit, and a baseball cap worn by Neil Armstrong after splashdown and recovery from the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. Oh, and a sparkly glove worn by Michael Jackson.

I first learned about Wasilla, Alaska, a city of about 10,000, while researching an article about mentors and student pilots. That article profiled a student pilot named Chad Speer from Wasilla, and it appeared in the May 2008 AOPA Flight Training.  In September 2008, Wasilla became extremely well known for another of its inhabitants–then-Gov. Sarah Palin, who was the Republican vice presidential nominee in the presidential election. Palin had been Wasilla’s mayor before she was elected governor. While all that was going on, Chad Speer and his dad, Rob, were plugging away at Chad’s training, flying Rob’s Super Cub in some of the most beautiful country imaginable, if the photos sent by his mom, Pamela, are any indication. (That’s Chad flying up the Knik Glacier.) On August 4, 17-year-old Chad passed his private pilot checkride. Congratulations to Chad!

Today was a spankin’ good day for a student solo at Frederick Municipal. Winds nothing to speak of, clear below 12,000, and not too hot–not yet. Density altitude 1,200, but that’s an August morning in Maryland for you.

It was also a perfect morning for a 102-year-old Frederick, Maryland, lady to take her very first airplane flight.

The white van from Citizens Care & Rehabilitation Center rolled into the parking lot promptly at 10 a.m. carrying Helen Hape and her very good friend Dave Violette. He’s a City of Frederick employee who volunteers at Citizens. A pleasant-faced man in blue jeans and cowboy boots, Violette has a ready smile. Miss Helen hung onto his hand as he chatted with her while they waited for their ride to commence.

Violette made this day possible for Miss Helen. Celebrating her 102nd birthday in July, she told him she’d like to get a chance to fly “up with the birds and closer to heaven.” So he made it happen, with the help of the folks at Frederick Flight Center.

Miss Helen sat patiently in her wheelchair, trim and petite in a white sweater and slacks, while CFI Michal Mishal preflighted the Cessna 182T. Mishal introduced herself, saying, “We’re going to have a good time.” She asked if there was any place in particular that Miss Helen wanted to see. Miss Helen thought about it and replied, “Thurmont [where she was born] and Hagerstown.” Well, the president isn’t scheduled to be at Camp David until Friday, so thank goodness for small favors.

From all acounts, Miss Helen had the ride of a lifetime. Margie Weaver, director of marketing for Citizens, rode along with Violette and Miss Helen in the 182. “MISS HELEN,” she asked loudly, “if you’re having a great time and are OK, raise your right hand and wave.”

“That hand popped right on up there,” Weaver told me.

No proper introductory flight is complete unless the passenger gets to take the controls, and Miss Helen was no exception. At 3,000 feet, she helped to fly the airplane, and even got to help with the landing, Weaver said.

What did Miss Helen do for her 101st birthday? She took a ride in her friend Dave Violette’s convertible. There’s a lesson here for the rest of us.

Let’s hear it for the volunteers at EAA AirVenture. These folks are tireless and they are everywhere. Friday’s group was tasked with basically changing around the layout of AeroShell Square, and if you’ve ever been to AirVenture you know that’s not accomplished with a couple of tugs and towbars. Here’s what they accomplished on Friday afternoon all within a two-hour time frame:

• Moved WhiteKnight2 out so that it could fly in the pattern (to the extreme delight of onlookers);
• Got out the Airbus A380 so that it could depart.
• Brought in a C-5, a C-17, and a C-130.
• Brought back in WhiteKnight2.
• And kept the huge crowds safely out of the way, but still close enough to enjoy the spectacle.

Ever since I blogged about grabbing a CFI while in Juneau, Alaska, last year, I’ve heard from lots of pilots who incorporate flying into their family vacations. And why not? Chances are there’s a nice little airport (and an FBO) not far from where you plan to play. And when you think about how much it costs to rent a Jet-Ski or a boat, take a fancy whale-watching tour, or any of the zillion other amusements you’re gonna drop your cold hard cash on, hiring a CFI and an airplane for an hour seems downright reasonable. Most recently George Janssen e-mailed to say that he got checked out in a Remos LSA while on vacation in Florida. Janssen, who lives in Connecticut and owns a Cessna 150, gave a thumbs-up to the experience and the service he got from Jim and Karen Walker at Skywalker Aviation in Lantana. “it was an outstanding experience on a beautiful summer morning,” he says.

Do you plan to fly on vacation? Have you already done so? Share your thoughts in the Comments section.   

If you can’t afford a Waco (or a fighter jet, or an SR71 Blackbird) of your own, is a giant poster that hangs on your garage door almost as good? The folks at Style-Your-Garage.com* seem to think so. After you fork over 169 Euros (roughly $235 at today’s exchange rates), please check in and let us know. By the way, the aforementioned jet is the top seller.

*Thanks and a tip of the AOPA ballcap to Aeromot on the AOPA Forums. 

Last week I told you that pretty crummy weather had ushered in the 24th annual Sentimental Jounrney Fly-in, a celebration of airplanes and especially Piper airplanes, at Lock Haven, Pa.

The warm front was predicted to hang out all day day over the second day of the fly-in, and gray skies and mist shrouded the nearby ridges. But by noon a miraculous thing happened: A patch of blue appeared in the sky. And, like children who’ve been cooped up inside for far too long, the taildraggers began to venture out. First one, then two, then three and four–all eschewing the paved runway for the simplicity of turf.

The skies stayed clear long enough to permit a spot-landing contest, which was handily won by a pilot in a J-3 Cub who touched down a mere two feet beyond the blaze orange line. How are your spot-landing skills?