Found in Ebay's Attic....Some Delaware Aviation History

It's amazing what you can find on Ebay. Anybody who has purchased a de-commisioned Kilo class Russain submarine or a Mig-17, or a peice of Britney Spears' chewing gum can tell you that. But it's the little stuff I enjoy...

I found these little peices of history recently while searching the words "Delaware" and "Aviation".



They are envelopes addressed to Elbert Nortrand Carvel, Delaware's 65th Govorner. Of course, what grabbed my interest were the transit stamps on the letters. They are dated in the year 1947, and as you can see they managed to get to New Castle airport via TWA and All American Aviation Air Mail. The latter, hailed as "Delawares only scheduled air service", was purchased and operated by the Dupont family, and was certified for regular passenger, mail and express service flying the DC-3 and the Convair 580. In 1949 they were renamed "All American Airways", until they became "Allegheny Airlines" in 1952. Ultimatly, this company became today's US Airways.

Another claims the town I live in as the "World's Chemical Capital". With the heavy presence of Dupont around here to this day, it's not hard to imagine why, although it seems that Delaware's PR folks may have since decided that isn't the best avenue of promotion for the state...

Thanksgiving.

Thought I'd use the milestone of Thursday's holiday to kind of recap what has happened in the last 2 months since I started this little flying journal...

Flying hours, (including tailwheel instruction) = 21.5

Not bad. It's short of goal, but not bad at all. I've flown several hours in the Tommy, done some XC, had some $100 hamburgers, had my Bi-annual Flight Review, received a clean medical, received tail wheel instruction, flown a Citabria, made my first take-off and landings from grass, experienced spins and aerobatics in a Cub, flown from the right seat in an SR-22, and had a great time doing all of it. Looking forward to the next 20 hours, and more challenges and experiences.

As for this scratchpad of mine, it has some pretty impressive stats of it's own:

I have had 926 unique visitors, averaging 32 per day. They represent 10 different countries, although 87% of traffic was from here in the U.S.

Childs play compared with some online journal's, but not bad for being active only 2 months, and having not planned on having much more than a place to keep a mini log book. Tip o' the hat to John from Aviation Mentor, as it seems the vast majority of my hits came from his fine web sites. Pay him a visit. Learn something...


Was hoping to take advantage of the day off this week and go flying, but as of today the weather looks to not be cooperating. Wind, rain & cold all expected to make an appearance. Guess it will be football and beer instead. There are worse ways to spend a Thursday....

Hope everyone has a safe and fun Thanksgiving.

Hostages?

I've wondered recently why I hadn't heard more about the 2 American pilots that are being held in Brazil following the Septemeber mid-air collision between a business jet and a B737 passenger jet, 37,000 feet above the Amazon. All aboard the 737 were killed, prompting the Brazilian officials to detain the surviving American pilots of the biz jet until the "investigation" was completed. They did not see fit, however, to detain any other professional involved in the incident, including the Air Traffic Controllers.

With so many questions left unanswerd, and 2 American pilots becoming all but hostages in Brazil, it was with great interest that I read a blog written by a man named Joe Sharkey, who happened to be on board the U.S biz jet involved in the incident. Here is a telling passage from the blog....


Wednesday, November 15, 2006

WHAT LIKELY HAPPENED
A preliminary report on the Sept. 29 mid-air collision that's due to be issued tomorrow in Brazil will be sketchy and imprecise, according to outside investigators who have seen it. It will also be cleverly crafted to not directly assign blame to Air Traffic Control in Brazil, which is run by the Air Force -- which in turn is conducting the investigation.So take the Air Force report for what it's worth. But remember, these are the guys, led by the Brazilian defense minister, the Wonderful Waldir Pires, who have regularly accused me of covering up for the private jet pilots who purportedly did "daredevil" stunts in the skies -- which purportedly caused the mid-air collision at 37,ooo feet that killed 154 over over the Amazon.OOPS! Tomorrow's preliminary report, you will see, will address none of that. Turns out, you will see, that was just not true. Instead, the report -- having simply ignored the loony loop-d-loops charge, supports Wonderful Walidr's contention that, as far as he could see, everybody but his Air Force and its splendid first-world air traffic control system was to blame.Independent U.S. and other world investigators have accees to the black boxes, radar data and other hard technolocal information in the crash. They are legally constrained from talking till the Brazilians get around to issuing final reports (months off, I am told). But many of them believe the Brazilian Air Force is dragging its heels for political reasons. Some ask: How could a purportedly first-world Brazil behave like such an evidently third-world Brazil in an air crash investigation? How are they getting away with this?Here is what I understand happened in this crash:

1. Neither the Legacy 600 private jet NOR the Gol Airlilnes 737 with which it collided at 37,000 feet over the Amazon between Brasilia and Manaus were following their flight plans. The 737's flight plan called for it to ascend to 38,000 feet just before spot where the collision occurred, while the Legacy's called for a descent to 36,000 feel. But both planes were told to maintain 37,000 feet by air traffic control -- in two different locations that were not in contact with one another. Under all international protocols, ATC instructions take precedence over a filed flight plan. The collision was mostly caused by a major breakdown in communications between ATC centers in Brazil.

2. A malfunctioning transponder in the Legacy might have -- but this has not yet been proven -- contributed to the fact that air traffic controllers failed to notice that the Legacy and Gol 737 were on a collision course.

3. As I know as well as anyone, since I was on the Legacy, the charge that the two American Legacy pilots were doing aerial stunts or trick maneuvers in the sky is absurd, and will be discounted as such in the preliminary report. The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder prove that the Legacy was in straight and level flight when it collided with the Gol 737.

4. Cockpit voice recorder tapes -- which the Brazilian Air Force is resisting releasing -- will prove that the Legacy made repeated attempts to reach air traffic control before and after the collision that went unanswered.

5. As international pilots have been telling me for over a month (and even telling newspapers in Brazil), there continue to be gaps and dead zones in Brazilian radar and radio coverage, expecially over the Amazon, despite a recent $1.4 billion project under contract with an American defense contractor to fix the system. The Air Force insists this is not so. The Air Force is incorrect.

6. Pilots readily speak of having to communicate on Brazilian ATC radio through idle chatter by air traffic controllers speaking to each other in Portuguese. The official language of aviation the world over is English. Cockpit voice recorder tapes will show that Brazilian controllers -- many of whom are not fluent in English -- were speaking Portuguese to Brazilian aircraft and, in casual conversations, to each other.

7. The Brazilian Government is in violation of international treaties in detaining and holding as hostages two American pilots, without having charged them or even come up with evidence of a charge.

8. Given the linguistic, organizational and workforce mess in Air Traffic Control in Brazil, it is being argued in the aviation community that American passengers flying to Brazil may be at risk unless the pilots of U.S. airliners flying in Brazil speak Portuguese -- or Brazil cleans up its act in ATC. To the extent that the aviation community publicizes this, it is a direct threat to Brazil's $5 billion a year tourism economy. Already, I am told, travelers are asking travel agents and bookers whether it's safe to fly in Brazil.

You can see the entire blog here.

Familiar Flyers

I just picked up the most recent copy of Plane & Pilot Magazine. I'm not a regular reader of this publication, but after thumbing through it and seeing a familiar airplane, I felt obligated to buy it...



Matt Chapman is another airshow pilot who hangars his plane, a CAP 321EX, at my local airport. I've had the pleasure of seeing his performance at several airshows, and he always puts on a breath taking display. Seeing his plane and his name in P&P was pretty cool, but given his bio from his website, http://www.MattChapman.com/, hardly suprising....

Matt started flying in 1979, and now has over 14,000 hours of flying time and a career flying for American Airlines.
He began aerobatics in 1984 and quickly worked his way up to the highest level of competition aerobatics – Unlimited. Recognized for his skills, he won one of only five slots on the U.S. Unlimited Men’s Aerobatic Team in 1996 and 1998.
At the Slovakian WAC in 1998, Matt was the highest ranking American pilot, finishing 3rd in the world with a bronze medal, and led the U.S. Men’s Team to a silver medal. Along with this impressive finish comes the coveted Hillard Trophy, awarded to the highest finishing U.S. pilot at the WAC.
Matt also won the prestigious IAC Championships in 1994 and the Fond du Lac Cup in 1995.
With over 20 years of air show experience, Matt knows how to thrill the crowd and work the media. He has appeared on ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports Network, Real TV, TLC’s Amazing America and SpeedVision. He was also one of six elite pilots in the Championship Air Show Pilots Association (CASPA).
This year, Matt joins ACAP, the Association of Competition Air Show Pilots (ACAP) and American, and can be seen competing for the top spot at ACAP venues all over the country.
Matt’s hobbies include building and flying radio-controlled model airplanes and helicopters.


The article was actually focused on Micheal Mancuso, another airshow pilot from New York. Matt was included as the two often perform together, as seen here. ->



Good to see another local flyer in the glossy pages of a National aviation mag. Way to go, Matt!

Pre-flight

Not much to add recently. Had a nice, albeit short flight on Sunday, as Dad joined me in the Tommy for a hop and a skip to Chester County and a bite to eat. Here's a picture Dad snapped while I was busy with pre-flight...

Building a Vagabond: Part 1

"The Piper PA-15 Vagabond was the first post-World War II Piper aircraft design, utilising the same production tooling that created the famous Piper Cub and Super Cub, as well as structural components, but used to make a new wing (generally similar to that on the Piper Cub, except shorter) and a new fuselage (with side-by-side seating for two instead of tandem seating for two). This allowed the aircraft to be built with minimal design and development costs, and is credited with saving the company from bankruptcy after the war. The Vagabond was later superseded by the Pacer, Tri-Pacer and Colt, which are all in fact variations of the Vagabond design." -Wikipedia

A project being built by Roger and Jim at my local airport. It's fun to see the progress made on every visit, and I look forward to seeing it fly when it's all said and done.

Control surfaces, doped and patched, hanging to dry.

A wing, cable assembly completed, awaits it's skin.

Fuselage

More to come as the project continues.....

Spins & Such, and 3 Planes in One Day.

"Widely regarded as one of the finest Piper Cub pilots in the air today, Roger Lehnert's first was a 1930's vintage Taylor J-2 Cub which he restored. He soloed at age 16 and, like many, his love of flying has its roots in childhood plane-watching. Roger flys a J-3 Cub in his airshow routine, as well as a Pitts Special in International Aerobatic Club competitions. His aerobatic comedy and amazing use of a platform atop a pickup truck as a "Teenie Weenie Airport" are performances worth seeing again and again." (source)

Roger keeps the Cub and the "Teenie Weenie Airport" at my home field. This past Sunday I was lucky enough to go up with him in his cub for a spin. Being that I am currently working on my tail wheel rating, Roger had me fly from the back seat, and put me through a workout of stalls, slow flight, coordinated turns, and the like. I had mentioned to him that I wanted to do some spins, since I had never done one at all. What better guy to do spins with than an airshow pilot in his airshow machine?

We took off and immedietly formed up with a fellow pilot in a Taylorcraft Cub, and flew formation out to the practice area. After our wing man broke off and cleared the area, we got to work. I learned alot from Roger, as we yelled to each other in the cockpit without the usual benefit of headsets and intercom's I've grown used to. The cub really flys like a dream! If your not in a hurry to get to altitude, of course...

While he flew us through the spins, I sat there with a dumb smile on my face watching the ground spin in the windshield, while Roger counted them off as we completed the revolutions..."One!...Two!....Three!" Truly a great experience I wont soon forget...

I got to land the Cub, and it all went pretty well, but I flared to early and we touched down alot harder than I (and I'm sure Roger..) would have liked. I hope I get another shot at that sometime...

Some pictures of Roger's Cub, "Helayne"

After standing on Terra Firma for a few hours to get rid of the spin induced dizziness, I took a Tomahawk up, for just a half hour. We were down to one aircraft in the fleet on Sunday, and while I had a couple of hours booked, I conceded the aircraft to an Instructor who wanted to take his student up for his last flight before being signed off for a check-ride. A worthy cause.

Finally, I flew in the Citabria with my Dad in the late afternoon. We shot some good video together, and had a good time flying low and admiring the fall foliage. Dad greased 3 of the prettiest landings I've ever seen him do in the Citabria, and I managed to get them all on film. You know, for proof. ; )

Flying time for the day, (and towards goal): 1.5

Fedex loses patience with Airbus

Surprise!

PARIS - FedEx Corp. Canceled its order for 10 Airbus A380 jets on Tuesday, the first customer to retract an order for the new jumbo double-decker plane that has been dogged by numerous delays.
The world's largest express transportation company cited Airbus production delays and said in a statement that its FedEx Express unit has ordered 15 Boeing Co. 777 freighters with a list price of $3.5 billion and taken options on an additional 15.

Emirates, which has ordered 45 of the A380s and is the programs largest customer, said last month it would send a team of technicians to France to assess the accuracy of promised delivery dates for the A380 superjumbo.
Virgin Atlantic Airways also said last month it would defer the delivery of the first of its six Airbus A380 superjumbo jets until 2013. (source)

I'm no economist or engineer, but In my humble opinion, the A380 was a financial disaster waiting to happen, and not just the aircraft. Talk of having to reinforce runways and ramps to hold her weight, and a 5-7 (!!) mile wake turbulance clearance requirement delaying any traffic following the A380 made it just seem like too much trouble, and not enough demand to justify it. Besides, the 747 is a beautiful, majestic aircraft, and the A380 looks like a clumsy tube sock stuffed with newspaper.

Apparently, Airbus' A350 project is also under scrutiny as whether it makes financial sense to continue building it, given the amount of capital invested in the A380. US Airways were to launch the A350, but perhaps are looking elsewhere.

While my initial thought was that it was a good thing to keep all of this money at home with a U.S builder, the obvious problem with one manufacturer building the world's fleet is that the prices will go up, orders for heavy iron will go down, and jobs in the industry will go down with it...

Time will tell.

A Renter's Dilemma

I was enjoying some hangar flying and a couple of beers with a few other pilots last night. We got on to the topic of departure stalls. One pilot, a seasoned veteran and Airshow pilot with thousands of hours and a good name in aviation was commenting on the importance of "knowing your plane" in emergency situations. Basically, he said, it helps to know the airplane well enough so that you can read it's "feel". If you have the "feel" of your aircraft down, one can make better decisions about what you can or can't do with it. (Turn back for the airport? Would she make it? Was that little buffet the edge of the stall envelope?)
I mentioned to him that of the 3 Piper Tomahawks in our rental fleet, I always tried to book the same plane. I find it better looking, cleaner, and in general better shape than those it shares ramp space with. Besides that, I had made up my own mind some time ago that it was important for me to know my airplane. Since no 2 planes are alike, the 3 Tomahawks have very different personalities, and I never got to know them as well as i'd liked while bouncing between cockpits.
During the course of the same conversation, this fellow said I should fly as many different planes as I can. You can learn something from all of them, and It's good for your skills as a pilot to mix it up, try new things, etc. So, on one hand, im getting to know 92L very well because I always book that plane. On the other, I agree there is something to be said about cockpit hopping to keep your skills sharp and your experience broad.
So, what to do?
I have 92L booked this weekend, so it will be old familiar for that ride. However, maybe on Sunday I'll take up one of the other Tommy's and put myself through the motions.
I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the topic of sticking with one plane, or constantly changing cockpits. Pro's, con's and the like.

Zero-One-Tango

This photo is about a year old, but I didn't know it existed until recently when my Dad, who took the picture, sent it to me. This is me departing runway 24 in one of the 3 Tomahawk's in the fleet, 9801T....



I haven't flown this plane in a good while. I've developed a meaningful relationship with 92L, the freshest of the fleet, and a ship sharing the same birth year as me. The 3rd ship would be 66A, the plane I completed my first Solo with. Alas, she has been sitting on the ramp without a prop and looking sad for some months now....