AOPA Pilot Blog: Reporting Points

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.

Did you know that today is National Aviation Day? It wasn’t at the top of my mind, either, until I heard it mentioned on the radio while I was driving to work this morning.

August 19–the birthday of Orville Wright–was designated National Aviation Day by presidential proclamation in 1939. Don’t confuse it with Wright Brothers Day, which commemorates the anniversary of the brothers’ first successful powered flights on December 17.

While National Aviation Day hasn’t captured as much of the nation’s attention as, say, Labor Day, we as pilots should celebrate the occasion in an appropriate manner. Let’s go flying! And what better occasion to introduce our passion to somebody unfamiliar with general aviation?

I blog today in praise of the ice cream and hamburger joint in Oshkosh known as Ardy and Ed’s. It is to the body’s circulatory system what concrete is to the builder, yet it is an essential risk. A root beer float shoveled between the lips near Lake Winnebago is the same as cabernet savignon sipped in Napa Valley. I take pills to fight what Ardy and Ed serve, and yet I return again and again. Drivers passing by get high cholesterol just from breathing the air, even when speeding. Fry my burger in a river of grease, Ardy. Pour me a bucket of root beer, Ed. Roto-Rooter will clear my veins.

CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE (Photo by Alton K. Marsh)

What were you doing 40 years ago today? Those of you who know me know I’m not the Mike Collins who orbited the moon as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took mankind’s first steps on the lunar surface. But I certainly was among those watching the black-and-white images of those historic steps dance across the tiny screen of a black-and-white television.

It was my pleasure, however, to meet that Mike Collins one cold December on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, at the annual commemoration of the Wright Brothers’ first flights. Collins was a guest of the First Flight Society, which established the Paul E. Garber First Flight Shrine at the Wright Brothers National Memorial; the Apollo 11 crew is among its honorees. I introduced myself and we talked for 20 minutes about other people who were trying to capitalize on our good name. 

Those original videos of the first moonwalk have been enhanced and can be seen on the NASA Web site, along with other interesting links the agency has collected that relate to Apollo 11 and its anniversary. Check them out.

My column about the status of the Terrafugia Transition “flying car” (or “roadable airplane”) has drawn quite a number of responses, but one in particular stands out. Rather than me telling you, read for yourself what AOPA member Paul Gerst experienced relative to Molt Taylor’s famed Aerocar. It’s a fun read and a fascinating look back to another era:

Your great piece, “From highway to airway” in AOPA Pilot’s May issue brought back some treasured memories!

In 1956, or maybe 1957, Kaiser Aluminum sent me to Longview, Washington, to meet with Molt Taylor about Kaiser becoming involved with the Aerocar.

Oddly, I was the only pilot in the headquarters sales organization. At that time Kaiser Motors was still making its often times “thrilling” cars, the Fairchild Division was making airframe components, Kaiser Permante (the cement company, not the HMO!) was into the federal highway program, and, of course, Kaiser Aluminum and Kaiser Steel were significant world wide suppliers of metals!

I was told that Henry Kaiser had seen the Bob Cummings TV show and was attracted to the prospects of the Aerocar. He envisioned that the then-embrionic interstate program could easily lay a quarter mile of landing strips parallel to the highway every 10 miles or so. No IFR needed, with good luck!

The business plan was to sell the separable airfoil and prop assembly on a 10-year repayment plan, and sell the road-able component like a car; at that time, two or three years “to pay”. Molt Taylor had a four-passenger mock-up in his shop, but the two-place model seemed adequate. We envisioned a throng of WWII pilots who had to travel a big territory buying Aerocars! Remember, that was the era when a DC-7 was the “last word” in air travel. It used to take 7 or 8 hours for the Chicago to San Francisco junket, but the stewardesses were in their twenties so one could survive, somehow, if he had to!

Molt met me at the Portland Airport arrival gate in the car section, as I recall, and he let me drive to the part of the field where the wings were parked.The car section drove a lot like a Porsche in first gear; very “torquey”. Molt and I relatively effortlessly attached the wings, tail cone, and empanage. The takeoff was amazing. I recall a trim-tab-like control in the middle of the panel just below where the compass was mounted. It had a couple of pieces of masking tape on which were written: “Take-off” and “Fly Level”, and that’s just what the Aerocar did when the lever was moved.

Molt and I went to a drug store and he bought something his wife wanted, I guess. Maybe he just made the trip to show me that the car was usable around town. Back then there weren’t 500 shopping carts littering every strip center parking lot. I doubt if the Aerocar would fair any better than my Audi S-8 does against a shopping cart!

Those were heady times! I was a young MBA just turning 30. I and my peers felt that the world was our oyster. Anything was possible. Why not the Aerocar?

My Audi S-8 will cruise the interstates at 90 mph for six hours with the all-wheel drive sneering at rain drops, the Bose system hammering out Ornette Coleman harmonies, as I lounge in fully adjustable Italian leather seats caressed by a climate control system that even shunts off the odors from the occasional cattle feed lot.

I think I get it.

Paul “PR” Gerst

Newport Beach, California

A Toronto production company is bringing a new television series, The Aviators, to the United States in 2010. The producers have struck a deal with PBS to bring the series to 330 markets.

Billed as showing “the people…the places…the planes…of North American aviation,” the show promises to bring “a fast-paced, weekly TV series hosted and written by pilots” that will cover topics ranging from aircraft design and the latest GPS technology to accident and safety awareness, airline profiles, and remote fly-in getaways from Canada to the Bahamas. They’ll also show episodes on the Web site and publish stories and features from the series in a print format. You can view a promo here.

It’s almost June. Expensive wedding plans got you down? Rather than that lavish and highly expensive wedding hall, how about the hangar instead? For pilots and their aviation friends what a better place to celebrate a wedding ceremony than in the shadow of airplanes.

And so it went for the wedding of Keith Landrum and Jennifer Thacker. Landrum is the assistant chief instructor for Sporty’s Academy at Clermont County Airport near Cincinnati. He proposed to Jennifer from a Sporty’s airplane as friends and family on the ground spelled out the message.

With that kind of a proposal, it only stands to reason that the wedding reception would be in a hangar. In this case, the Palmer Hangar at Sporty’s. Guests enjoyed an aviation-shaped wedding cake in the shadow of Waco biplane, a Cessna Citation, and a Model A Ford.

Of course, an airplane would play a role in the honeymoon too, as the couple jetted off to to the Dominican Republic.

May Keith and Jennifer share the cockpit for many years to come.

The Southwest Airlines captain did a double take as I stepped aboard the Boeing 737 and turned right. “Mr. AOPA! I need to talk to you when we get to Nashville,” he said, spying my AOPA PILOT shirt. “Glad to,” I said as the cattle behind me propelled me down the narrow aisle. Already the cabin seemed full even though I had scored a “B-11″ seating sequence–not bad in the Southwest scheme of things.

Later, shuffling my way toward the front of the cabin in Nashville, a flight attendant near the door saw me coming and alerted the captain. “You got a minute?” he yelled from inside the cockpit.

“I’ll wait right here in the jetway,” I said, still wondering what he might want with me.

In a minute Captain Granville D. Lasseter II stepped out, his giant hand absorbing mine in a handshake. “I have a beautifully restored 1968 Piper Super Cub and I want to take more kids for rides. Any advice on how I can do that?” he asked, going on to explain that he lives in a fly-in community near Houston. The Cub is his “around the patch” airplane. An early Cessna 210 is his traveling machine. Standing there in his crisp Southwest uniform, it was clear right away that Lasseter loves to fly.

I reminded him about the EAA Young Eagles program and AOPA’s Let’s Go Flying program, all designed to introduce people to aviation, especially young people. Truth is, it can be tough to reach kids. Even the Girl Scouts shuns actually flights for their scouts for fear of liability. One way is to invite scouts, students, and other youth organizations to your airport to see your airplane. Take note of those who seem most interested and maybe make arrangements separately with their parents to take the kids for flights.

It was nice to see a pilot so enthused about reaching out to kids and using a general aviation airplane for such a noble cause.

I was still feeling the glow of the Lasseter meeting a couple of days later when I was returning back to Baltimore, this time from Dallas. After our stop in Oklahoma City, my seatmate also noted my PILOT shirt (yes, I did change shirts). “What do you fly?” he asked.

I told him about my Bonanza and Dan Linebarger of Dallas told me about his Cessna 182 with a Continental IO-550 upgrade. “It’s the last airplane I’ll ever need,” he predicted, obviously enchanted by the wonders of the highly capable Skylane wing and airframe mated to a very powerful engine. As the Southwest 737 filled up again,  Linebarger told me that he mostly volunteers his time to worthy causes these days, including flying his 182 to Mexico carrying medical supplies. Of course, while he’s there he also stops in at some of the tremendous fly-in resorts located along Baja California’s hundreds of miles of coastline. Having flown in Baja a few times myself, we compared notes on where we have visited. He knows the peninsula much better than I do, including many isolated communities in need of medical supplies that would take days to deliver over dirt roads instead of a few hours aboard an airplane.

Lasseter’s and Linebarger’s stories of how they use their airplanes inspired me, making the airline flight seem much shorter and more comfortable than it might otherwise. I couldn’t help but wonder how much good work such as that performed by these two pilots will stop if general aviation is slapped with user fees and onerous security regulations.

The chance encounters reieterated to me the need for those of us who understand the value of general aviation to shout it loudly, such as AOPA is attempting to do with our GA Serves America campaign.

I hope you, like Lasseter and Linebarger,  will continue your good use of general aviation airplanes and when you do, make sure you tell your friends, mayors, legislators, and the media about it. Together, we can secure a bright future for general aviation.

Amidst all the economic and political turmoil and the seemingly endless torrent of threats to general aviation, I feel the need every once in a while to get away from it all, don’t you?

I have a plan. Maybe you can help. I’ve discovered this cozy little 17th century place in Normandy, France, that is just the sort of escape we’re all pining for. Of course, it includes a 3,000-foot grass runway with hangar, nine buildings, a golf course, 300-yard polo field, stables, and more on 105 acres. Good news! It’s for sale. Price? If you have to ask….

But, I know that a few of you out there are in a position to not just afford, but also NEED a place like this. So, you buy it and I’ll come visit. I drive a mean lawnmower, so I can even help out a little. Let me know when the deal closes and I’ll start packing.

Need a few details before sending the deposit? Check here: http://www.bouttemont.com/

Looking forward to hearing back from you soon.

Some folks have destinations all lined up for when they get their private pilot certificates (the beach! that great golf course! a fantastic ski resort!). Others are mission-minded: Angel Flight and animal rescue come to mind.

I have destinations. I also have missions. One is to fly my children to college visits. Daughter Maddie, a high-school junior, is busily checking out colleges. She did the Boston run in the fall with her dad. On Friday it was my turn to take her to Philadelphia.

We had a perfect flight Friday morning out of Frederick Municipal to Wings Field. (You can read a lot more about this historic airport–the birthplace of AOPA–in Julie Walker’s article in the May issue of AOPA Pilot.)

What would have taken three hours by car was compressed into about a one-hour flight. Hertz was only too glad to drop off a rental car at Wings. We stayed overnight so that we could enjoy the city. And on the way home Saturday, as the Archer bumped its way to 4,500 feet amid up- and downdrafts, my daughter said, “I had fun this weekend. ” Then she fell asleep. High praise indeed, coming from a teenager. I’ll take it, along with any opportunity to spend some quality time with my daughter before she heads off to new adventures.