Girls and Aircraft - Volume II
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Snautzer01
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- Mar 26, 2007
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The local tycoon and chief egotist at the small airport I instructed at one summer had a 195 with a "shaky jake" 350 HP Jacobs and crosswind landing gear that he could barely stay ahead of. Over the years it was in the shop three different times for crumpled wingtips or collapsed landing gear. The first week I was there (young and foolish) he offered me a ride while he practiced crosswind touch and goes. The airport was in a valley with wicked turbulence, the paved runway was only 30 feet wide, and the grass alongside was soggy and soft. He barely kept the plane under control and came close to losing it at least three times on every circuit. I managed to hang on and keep my mouth shut through 3 T&Gs until he decided he'd had enough, but I never did that again. Years later, he became an instructor, and a pretty good one, but he never truly mastered the 195, and never sold it either. When he couldn't fly anymore he parked it outside his bedroom window.
MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
Maybe it was the perfect airplane to put on floats.
There was a DGA in the big hangar at our field several years back. It had been wrecked, probably a groundloop.
Too many people do not respect the strong winds out of the NE we get in the winter at COI. I have seen two T-6's groundlooped under those condtions in the last 20 years and one day, with the PAFB ATIS reporting winds 29 kts G 35 kts out of 060 a guy in a Cessna 210 decided the correct runway to use was 29. He did a great job getting it on the numbers but then could not stop, and foolishly decided to try to make a 90 deg turn at the end of the runway rather than just going out onto the ample grass overrrun. He took out a runway sign, smashed a runway light, and ended up in a shallow ditch, which he climbed out of by adding a lot of power. They had to pull the prop and I am not sure what else.
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He had a Super Cub for that.
He probably foolishly thought he could avoid buying a new prop, engine, and nosegear assembly. 210s have minimal prop clearance with the nose strut compressed and lots of weight on the nosewheel. If taxied off pavement onto soft ground at anything faster than a cautious slow walk, they are apt to dig in the nosewheel causing a prop strike, and possibly a nosegear collapse, a sudden-stop bent crankshaft, and maybe even a buckled firewall. Hull value drops to near zero for anything other than a brand new bird.
OTOH, with all that power, a 210 can make a right snappy go around. "Target fixation" strikes again!
MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
Well, he no doubt did not think to check the AFB ATIS for WX; I did it every time I flew, before we got an AWOS. How he decided a strong quartering tailwind was preferable, I do not know. When I saw him fly by, I turned on the radio, heard him announce downwind for 29 and thought, "Nothing to do now but walk down to the end of the hangar row and watch the wreck."
When I realized he was going to make a very high speed turn toward my side of the runway, I suddenly wished I had not decided to attend the festivities.
When I realized he was going to make a very high speed turn toward my side of the runway, I suddenly wished I had not decided to attend the festivities.
There've been times when I've picked up the mike and asked if a "tailwinder" had looked at the tetrahedron or one of the windsocks and then suggested it appeared the wind wasn't favoring the pilot's chosen runway. We frequently got students stopping in on solo cross countries who would make that mistake.
You had a radio, and didn't make a call?
Better hope the pilot's lawyer didn't know you had that option and didn't use it!
Tort law dictates that we all ARE our brother's keeper. Inaction is as culpable as negligent action.
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I watched a Hawker Hunter land wheels-up, with one of the ground crew watching with hand-held radio held firmly in his hand. He didn't last much longer after that.
This can be a case of double jeopardy. If you are not an (airport, FBO, FAA, operator) employee and pick up the Unicom mike to issue what amounts to an "Airport Landing Advisory", you have committed an FCC.and an FAA violation. If, OTOH, you are a trained person, knowledgeable of aviation operations, and you fail to make a radio transmission that could have prevented an obviously preventable accident, you can, and likely will, be civilly liable to lawsuits. The lieyers will be gunning for you.
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We've had exactly this discussion with our CAA regarding airshow control. But, telling a pilot his gear isn't down isn't a landing advisory, likewise, re-iterating information that is on the ATIS is ensuring that the pilot has current info.
But, there aren't any girls or women involved in this discussion....
But, there aren't any girls or women involved in this discussion....
MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
I turned on my scanner to listen to the CTAF. I had a comm radio in the airplane, which was in the hangar with the door closed. I would have had to slide open the door, roll the airplane out of the hangar, turn on the master switch, turn on the radio, and make the call. I did not think I had time to do that, and at the time I had suffered an injury to my leg that had me hobbling around at low RPM.
Another day, years Iater, I was filling up a portable air tank at the hangar when I looked up and saw a Cessna Cardinal on very short final, gear up. I thought, "Surely he is not...." When I saw the fire trucks arrive I realized that he had indeed. No chance to stop that one! Afterwards I gave some thought to hooking up one of the old tube type transmitters I have on hand and having it on whenever I had the scanner on, but that turned out to be too complicated. If I had been in my car at the time I would have floored it down the taxiway to try to get the pilot's attention.
I heard of a case where at an A-7 base in the 70's the pilot detailed to sit at the end of the runway with a radio and prevent gear up mishaps had an appointment and had to leave. His replacement was late. The replacement had just arrived, saw an A-7 approaching gear up, and ran for the radio. He, the CT, and a pilot in another A-7 all hit the mike button simultaneously to warn the pilot. The landing pilot heard the warnings just as he felt the belly start to scrape the runway, and unfortunately tried to extend the gear. The gear hit the runway as it was extending and that totally trashed the hydraulic system.
And here are your girls!
Another day, years Iater, I was filling up a portable air tank at the hangar when I looked up and saw a Cessna Cardinal on very short final, gear up. I thought, "Surely he is not...." When I saw the fire trucks arrive I realized that he had indeed. No chance to stop that one! Afterwards I gave some thought to hooking up one of the old tube type transmitters I have on hand and having it on whenever I had the scanner on, but that turned out to be too complicated. If I had been in my car at the time I would have floored it down the taxiway to try to get the pilot's attention.
I heard of a case where at an A-7 base in the 70's the pilot detailed to sit at the end of the runway with a radio and prevent gear up mishaps had an appointment and had to leave. His replacement was late. The replacement had just arrived, saw an A-7 approaching gear up, and ran for the radio. He, the CT, and a pilot in another A-7 all hit the mike button simultaneously to warn the pilot. The landing pilot heard the warnings just as he felt the belly start to scrape the runway, and unfortunately tried to extend the gear. The gear hit the runway as it was extending and that totally trashed the hydraulic system.
And here are your girls!
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True, but if you're at an airport with no tower or ATIS, where Unicom is the CTAF, and you transmit wind, runway, or altimeter information over the Unicom, you have just given an airport landing advisory, like it or not. Pilots accustomed to ATC will take it as a directive rather than an advisory, and you can be held responsible for the consequences. That's why I always refrained from giving specific wind and runway information and cued pilots to observe indications and conditions and act accordingly.
Sorry about the girls. The "Photos" and "Drive" apps are on strike on my android today and I can't do anything with images. I had a good one to post, but I can't seem to access it.
My mother, "Jinx" Brown, with a Howard built Fairchild PT-23 and a new Frazer with a Continental Red Seal engine. Taken at Beacon Field, Virginia, probably fall 1949 so the Frazer may be a new 1950 model. There were some yearly changes in the bumper and grille but I've seen conflicting information on that. The PT-23 had a Rawdon canopy and cost $350. While the PT-23 was better than the PT-19 & PT-26, I'd probably rather have the Frazer today.
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MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
Beacon Field! On US 1 south of Alexandria. Now Beacon Mall - or least it was when I lived near there. The owner of the field bought Hyde Field in Maryland across the river; I kept my Ercoupe there.
Harry Lehman's son still lives near there. My father grew up on Beacon Hill Road and got his first airplane ride from Franklin Reid whose father owned the airport.
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