Pilot Briefing

Cessna steals the show at Oshkosh

By far, the biggest news at the EAA Fly-in and Convention was the pricing of the reintroduced Cessna 206 Stationair. Production has begun on the normally aspirated Cessna 206H Stationair, while production is set to begin on the Turbo Stationair this month at the Cessna single-engine plant in Independence, Kansas.

Cessna announced prices of $289,900 for an IFR-equipped, normally aspirated Stationair, and $324,900 for a similarly equipped Turbo Stationair. Standard equipment includes a single-axis autopilot, a four-place intercom, and a VFR GPS. A $9,200 options package includes an IFR-capable GPS and ADF, and a two-axis autopilot.

The normally aspirated Stationair is powered by the 300-horsepower Lycoming IO-580, while the Turbo Stationair is powered by the 310-hp Lycoming TIO-580. Time between overhaul for both engines has been increased to 2,000 hours from 1,700 on the Stationair and 1,600 on the turbo model. The aircraft are covered by a two-year spinner-to-rudder warranty. Cessna did not show a 206 at Oshkosh; apparently it was still being tested in Kansas.

In other news, Cessna unveiled its new pilot-training CD-ROM courses developed by King Schools. The lessons will be available at Cessna Pilot Centers in 1998 as the official Cessna pilot instruction guide and cost the student about $200. Flight schools will pay from $300 to $1,300 to transition to the new instructional technique. Cessna hopes to provide pre-configured computers for the courses.

Students with the latest, more powerful computers can even take the CD-ROMs home to speed their learning and review course work. Using sound, movies, and interactive screens, students are guided through early lessons by expert instructors using simple, nontechnical language. The discs are not intended to be used for passing the FAA knowledge examination.

Finally, Cessna announced a fleet sale to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which has signed a sales contract for 300 single-engine aircraft over a 12-year period. Included in the deal are joint marketing activities and flight-training support. Embry-Riddle will continue to use Piper Seminole aircraft for multiengine and complex training.

Prototype single-level power control shown

Aurora Flight Services Corporation, working under a NASA Small Business Innovation Research grant as part of the Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments research program, exhibited a prototype single-lever power control at Oshkosh.

Fitted to a Vietnam-era Cessna O-2 (the military version of the 337 Skymaster centerline-thrust twin), the system uses onboard computers to manage a fully electronic fuel injection system, as well as a conventional prop governor. A single lever sets total percent of power by varying manifold pressure and engine rpm.

The fuel injection system uses myriad sensors — including an oxygen sensor in the exhaust stream — to determine optimum mixture settings for each segment of flight. The program is expected to run through the end of summer. No word on who might produce the system or how much it would cost. — Marc E. Cook

Mooney is flirting with the idea of producing a trainer aircraft called the M20T Predator that is capable of positive-G aerobatics. It does not have inverted fuel and oil systems. The aircraft is on display to the public so that Mooney marketing executives can determine next year whether there is enough interest to seek certification. No performance, pricing, or specifications information is available because of the preliminary nature of the program. The two-place aircraft offers side-by-side seating with a sliding bubble canopy and dual stick controls. The design was originally entered into competition as an Air Force flight screener aircraft, but that contract was won by the British Slingsby Firefly. The Fireflies were grounded in August with mechanical troubles.

Garvey visits Oshkosh

New Federal Aviation Administrator Jane F. Garvey made an unofficial visit to the EAA International Fly-in and Convention. Garvey's nomination had been confirmed by the Senate before her August 3 visit to Oshkosh, but she was not sworn in as the agency's fourteenth administrator by Vice President Al Gore and Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater before a private ceremony a few days later. Garvey is the first FAA administrator to serve a five-year term. Previous administrators served at the pleasure of the president.

Because Garvey had not been sworn in, she made a few general comments on the importance of the industry/government partnership and then stepped aside so that Acting Administrator Barry Valentine and other FAA officials could answer audience questions.

Valentine announced that he had recently signed the final rule allowing Part 135 charter operators to fly IFR in single-engine aircraft; that rule was published on August 6.

Regarding user fees, Valentine said that although the FAA needs a stable source of funding, any mechanism that "shut users out" or discouraged their use of safety services would not be acceptable.

George Donohue, associate administrator for research and acquisitions and the nominee for deputy administrator, said that within a year the agency hopes to present a plan for free or low-cost distribution of GPS database information. "A number of us became sensitive to this issue from [ AOPA Pilot]," he said. Updates might be available via the Internet or through a datalink, Donohue said, explaining that the greatest concern is possible corruption of the data.

Guy Gardner, associate administrator for regulation and certification, discussed inconsistencies between flight standards district offices that have forced some aircraft owners to go "FSDO shopping" in order to obtain approval for a modification. "We take that as a serious weakness in the way we do business, and we're trying to address that," he said. — Michael P. Collins

Lancair International received a provisional type certificate for the Columbia 300, the company's entry into the production aircraft market, from FAA Acting Administrator Barry Valentine during the EAA International Fly-in and Convention in Oshkosh. Powered by a 300-horsepower Continental IO-550, the Columbia 300 — based on Lancair's ES kit airplane — will carry four people at 191 knots. The airplane will be produced at a facility now under construction in Bend, Oregon. Company founder Lance Neibauer hopes to complete flight testing in time to receive the final type certificate at the Sun 'n Fun EAA Fly-in in Lakeland, Florida, next April. With VFR equipment, the airplane will be priced at $185,000.

Garmin rolls out new GPS III Pilot

At this year's EAA Oshkosh Fly-in, GPS manufacturer Garmin International introduced its new GPS III Pilot. The GPS III Pilot is a lightweight, pocket-sized (2.3 inches high, 1.6 inches wide, 5 inches long) unit with a base map similar to that of its bigger brother, the Garmin GPS 195.

The display can be shown in either a horizontal or vertical format. For its diminutive size, the III Pilot has a Jeppesen database and a 12-channel receiver; it can store up to 20 routes, each with as many as 30 waypoints. The III Pilot can be used in an optional yoke mount or simply laid on a glareshield or automobile dash. It uses four AA batteries, which last between eight and 10 hours. Manufacturer's suggested retail price is $799. — Thomas A. Horne

Future predictions made

The visionaries were out in force during the EAA Fly-In and Convention, and here is what they predict for the future of general aviation. NASA Administrator Dan Goldin says commercial rockets will be flying demonstration flights at Oshkosh by 2003. Highly efficient piston engines that run on jet fuel will also be present that year. Teledyne Continental is developing one under a NASA contract and should have it running in 18 months, while a Socata/Renault team is developing three new piston engines powered by jet fuel. If successful, the Renault engines will be used for Socata's Tobago and Trinidad.

The more surprising prediction was one by Williams International President Sam Williams. Most general aviation pilots want to be jet pilots; that's nothing new. But Williams and Burt Rutan predicted we will be jet pilots. The propeller is going the way of the radial engine, Rutan said. Under contract from NASA, Williams is building a 100-pound, super-quiet, 700-pound-thrust engine that will power two-, four-, and six-place aircraft in the future. Rutan designed the six-passenger V-Jet II as a testbed to develop the Williams engine (see " Pilot Briefing," August Pilot). The twin-engine aircraft flew at Oshkosh in August with more conventional Williams engines; the new ones will be installed when they are ready.

Continental crankshaft AD looks imminent

Sources at the FAA have told AOPA that the infamous Continental VAR crankshaft NPRM has left the FAA's New England Directorate as a final-rule airworthiness directive (AD) to be published in an upcoming issue of the Federal Register.

The ruling — which affects significantly fewer aircraft since first proposed five years ago, because of voluntary replacement of crankshafts in the field at overhaul — will still affect approximately 10,100 engines. The AD will require replacement of IO-360 and IO-520 crankshafts made via the airmelt process with those manufactured using the vacuum arc remelt (VAR) process at the next overhaul or the next time the crankcase is split open.

Even after a five-year fight by AOPA and other organizations, the FAA continues to contend that airmelt crankshafts have a higher failure rate than do VAR crankshafts. Ultimately, the cost will rest on the owner's shoulders. What's the cost going to be? Teledyne Continental Motors (TCM) is offering a special rate of $2,599 for VAR cranks if you turn in an airmelt version in decent condition.

"It economically forces the owner to get a factory remanufactured engine," said Mahlon Russell, production manager of Mattituck Aircraft Engines in Mattituck, New York. "If you have an IO-520-C with a light crankcase and an airmelt crankshaft, we couldn't overhaul that engine to new limits specs for less than $22,800," said Russell. A factory-remanufactured IO-520-C from TCM will cost $17,511. "[This practice] is simply the OEM's trying to generate business for themselves and take it away from the overhaulers," said Russell. TCM did not return Pilot's telephone calls for comment.

Independent overhaulers like Mattituck see no reason for an AD since the action is being complied with at overhaul because of liability concerns. "Nobody would overhaul a -360 or -520 without installing a VAR crank anyway," said Russell. That is why the list of affected engines is now so much smaller.

Solar-powered airplane sets record

In July, AeroVironment's Pathfinder solar-powered, remotely piloted aircraft — powered only by the sun — flew to a record altitude of approximately 71,500 feet and returned safely to the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands, Kauai, in the Hawaiian Islands.

This altitude is higher than any propeller-driven aircraft has ever flown. The Pathfinder airplane, whose wing tips flex to a "U" shape aloft, is a technology demonstration platform testing solar-powered aircraft for high-altitude, long-endurance flight.

Derivatives of Pathfinder, incorporating energy storage for nighttime flight, will be capable of continuous flight for weeks or months at a time at altitudes over 60,000 feet. The successful record flight in Hawaii was part of NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program.

Building on Pathfinder's previous record-breaking flight to 50,500 feet in September 1995 at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California, this flight brings closer the vision of solar-powered aircraft as low-cost surrogate satellites for atmospheric measurement, reconnaissance, and communications.

Aircraft Spruce and Specialty will give away high-performance flights in the Thunder Mustang and a Yak-54 for the mail-order catalog's annual sweepstakes. Everyone who places an order with Aircraft Spruce through June 30, 1998, will be automatically entered for the drawing. Aircraft Spruce will also give away $25,000 worth of gift certificates and products. Aircraft Spruce can be reached at 800/824-1930 or 714/870-7551.

At the Paris Air Show, Airbus Industrie, the European manufacturing consortium, announced that it, too, would build a global-range business jet. Airbus says that it will offer a variant of its A319 airliner, a 124-seat, 3,900-nm airplane in its airline configuration. Currently, Swissair uses the A319; United has several on order. The corporate jet, to be called the A319CJ, will have a 6,300-nm range, and customers will be offered a choice of either 23,500-lbst CFM56 or 22,000-lbst IAEV2522-A5 turbofans. Price will be $35 million for an uncompleted airplane, and the first deliveries are anticipated in the first quarter of 1999. — Thomas A. Horne

Revolution Helicopter Corporation has introduced the Mini-500 Bravo single-passenger helicopter to its kit helicopter line. The cost is $24,500 in the United States and Canada, or $26,500 if delivered internationally. The price includes a Rotax 582 67-horsepower engine. For information, call 816/637-2800, or see the Web site ( www.revolutionhelicopter.com).

A $6,500 flight-training scholarship is available to honor the memory of Ann Marie Morrissey, a flight instructor who was also a balloonist and glider pilot. She died in an accident in 1993, and friends contributed to establish the scholarship. Applicants must submit a one-page application listing training objectives, type and cost of training, and the school where the training is to take place. Applicants for the private certificate must have a third class medical and must have completed their first solo flight. Applicants for higher ratings must also have the proper pilot and medical certificates required for the rating. Send the one-page application to Anne Marie's Aviation Scholarship Fund, 106 Northwest Hackbery Street, Lee's Summit, Missouri 64064-1435. Applications must be received by January 1. The award is to be announced March 1.

A $1.2 million air terminal and hangar complex has been completed at the Dodge County Airport near Juneau, Wisconsin. The 6,000-square-foot, two-story terminal is attached to a 14,000-square-foot hangar.

Dallas-based Superior Air Parts filed in July for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection so that it may reorganize its debt structure and free up cash for purchasing raw materials and inventory. According to company spokesmen, Superior had become too cash-strapped to properly invest in inventory and had experienced shortages of key components in the product line, including the company's signature product, Millennium cylinders. Superior executives expect that the company will emerge from the reorganization soon, and that its creditors will be fully repaid. — Marc E. Cook

Whirl Wind Propellers Corporation has introduced a line of composite constant-speed propellers for aerobatic use. Designed for use with Lycoming 360- and 540-series and Vedeneyev M-14 engines, the two- or three-blade propellers minimize the possibility of engine overspeeding through counterweights that adjust the prop to high pitch when there is little oil pressure. The props are made from a compressed hardwood core covered with a graphite skin whose leading edge is protected by stainless steel. Prices for the props start at $6,700. For details, contact Whirl Wind at 619/562-3725.

Jeppesen has introduced its "New Series" low-altitude en route charts to improve chart legibility and customer satisfaction, says the Denver-based company. A larger scale of 1 inch per 10 nm (versus the previous 1:15 scale) and more colors make the charts considerably less cluttered and easier to read than the old Jepps. The downside to the larger scale is that, in some cases, more charts are required to cover the same area. Expect a few new charts in your flight bag if you have full U.S. coverage. However, some areas actually require fewer charts. The only complaint about the proposed change so far is the lack of a Northeast Corridor chart, but that may soon change to meet customer demands. A Jeppesen representative said that there will be less overlapping of charts. In case you liked the old charts, you'll be disappointed to find out that there's no choice between the new and the old style, but at least the price will remain the same. The New Series will probably appear in the September 5 revision cycle or soon after.

Cash infusion to boost Mooney productivity

Mooney Aircraft completed a recapitalization project in late July. The multimillion dollar infusion of cash from AVAQ Partners, Inc., will dilute the French ownership, giving the new owners control of the Kerrville, Texas, company. AVAQ was formed in 1994 by Paul S. Dopp and Charles (Pete) Conrad to acquire the then-bankrupt Piper Aircraft. The partners did not complete that deal.

The infusion is necessary to capitalize Mooney's order backlog of both aircraft and subcontract business. Mooney derives a significant portion of its revenue by building parts for various airline and military aircraft manufacturers. It plans to produce about 90 aircraft this year, compared to 74 last year.

Buying all the components for those extra aircraft and for the subcontracting business requires up-front cash that the company doesn't have available. In addition, labor costs must be borne before the revenue begins to flow back into the company, necessitating additional cash.

As part of the restructuring, Mooney has named Dopp as temporary chief executive officer. Former CEO Bing Lantis has left the company. Dopp, whose investment entity owned Mooney and Aerostar Aircraft in the early 1970s, has confirmed that a permanent president and CEO has already been identified and will be announced soon. Mooney has also announced a few name changes for its line of aircraft. The MSE will become the Allegro, and the TLS Bravo will simply be known as Bravo. — Thomas B. Haines

Most of you are aware of the FAA home page ( www.faa.gov), but did you also know about another source of special interest to flight instructors? Try www.fedworld.gov and select FAA Service, Training, and Regulatory Information. Then page down to Browse, and check out the information available. There are question banks, airworthiness directives, notices of seminars, airworthiness alerts, and more.

The first two Dassault Falcon 50EX aircraft have been delivered, one to a customer in Brazil and the other to a Midwest corporation. Another 14 are either in the process of completion at Little Rock, Arkansas, or under construction at the Dassault Aviation plant in Mérignac (Bordeaux), France.

NTSB wants temporary restrictions on Piper Tomahawks

The National Transportation Safety Board is urging the FAA to require that slow flight and stall training in the Piper PA-38-112 Tomahawk be conducted at or above the minimum altitude currently specified in the airplane's pilot's operating handbook (4,000 feet agl) pending the completion of an FAA flight test program involving the model.

The recommendation stems from 12 fatal stall/spin accidents involving the Tomahawk. The NTSB is also urging the FAA to expand the certification flight test program to include wings-level stall tests, stall warning tests, and spin tests to ensure that the aircraft will, in fact, recover from a spin within one turn after the input of correct control deflections as it was originally certificated to do in 1977.

Pilots should also be informed of alternative methods of recovery from inadvertent, possibly flat spins, the NTSB recommended. In its recommendation, the board described a flat-spin incident in which both occupants of the aircraft shifted as far forward in the aircraft as possible to move the center of gravity forward. After a few additional turns, the aircraft broke the stall and a normal recovery was made.

The New Piper Aircraft came out strongly in support of the Tomahawk, stating that it is safe, airworthy, and reliable when flown in accordance with the pilot's operating handbook. The NTSB also wants to amend an FAA-mandated retesting program for the Tomahawk to include accelerated stalls with flaps extended. The NTSB discovered that the testing was never documented when the aircraft was originally certificated.

Increase your household budget for stamps because a flurry of aircraft designs has been issued this summer by the U.S. Postal Service. They are illustrated by aviation artist Bill Phillips, considered one of the best in the world, whose paintings have become collector's items. Twenty aircraft are celebrated, including the Douglas DC-3, Beech Staggerwing, Lockheed Constellation, and Boeing Stearman. No, they didn't forget the Piper Cub. The stamps were issued July 19 at the U.S. Air and Trade Show in Dayton, Ohio. (By the way, the 60-cent stamp used for most overseas mail already features an aviation theme.) The issuance of new aviation stamps is not over. The U.S. Air Force fiftieth anniversary stamp will be issued in Washington, D.C., this month. And a stamp commemorating the first supersonic flight will be issued on October 14 at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

The United States Glider Aerobatic Team has begun training for the International Glider Aerobatic Championships taking place September 9 to 12 in Antalya, Turkey. The five-member team includes team captain Ken Hadden, Walter Parrasch, John Lumley, Charles G. Kalko, and Kim Reniska. Hadden, a former figure skater, is the reigning international glider aerobatic champion.

Squawk Sheet

The FAA has issued an airworthiness directive that requires checking the inside cabin and utility door handles on virtually all Raytheon Beech Bonanzas and Twin Bonanzas, Travel Airs, and Barons for proper locking of the handle. The action was prompted by nine reports of the cabin and utility door handles' rotating without depressing the release button. Compliance is required within 50 hours' time in service or at the next door handle removal. Compliance for proper handle operation can be performed by a private pilot in accordance with Raytheon service bulletin 2693, dated May 1996, and properly endorsed in the aircraft's log. If the handle does not comply, the AD must be complied with by an A&P.

It had to happen sooner or later — the new Cessna 172R has its first airworthiness directive. The AD requires checking the clearance between the cowling and the gascolator, and between the cowling and the exhaust pipe, for evidence of wear. The AD stems from an accident in which a factory demonstrator, which was being ferried to Paris, leaked out much of its fuel supply over the North Atlantic Ocean after the gascolator drain valve was knocked off by the cowling.

An airworthiness directive was issued on July 14 regarding Diamond Aircraft's DA 20-A1 airplanes that will require the installation of a placard and an insertion in the "Limitations" section of the pilot's operating handbook, prohibiting spins until the airplane is modified so as to not hook a pilot's shoe between the rudder pedal and the fire wall. An incident in which a pilot's shoe was caught on a battery box mounting screw during a spin prompted the action.

The United States recently won the team championship at the Advanced World Aerobatic Championships at Lawrence Municipal Airport, Kansas. Matt Morrissey, John Morrissey, and Gerry Molidor finished third, fourth, and second, respectively, in overall standings, amassing enough points for the team win. The Advanced category is the second highest level of competition. All three Americans flew the Pitts Special. The individual winner was Janusz Kasperek of Poland.

Watch for the flying Honda

You'll have to watch for a few more years, but eventually you may turn skyward to see a four- to five-passenger all-composite business jet overhead, and say, "That's a Honda." A flurry of new excitement over just such an aircraft was created by a June Automotive Industries article, in which Tokyo-based Honda Vice President Hiroyuki Yoshino was quoted as saying his company was heavily involved in research and development to become a mass producer of jet aircraft.

Honda officials in California, however, say that the author overstated Yoshino's remarks. For more than a decade, Honda has labored to produce a business jet engine that follows the company's standard rule: It must have a 25-percent cost or efficiency advantage over the competition. You saw a picture of that engine on a Boeing 727 flying testbed last year (" Pilot Briefing," March 1996 Pilot). Now, that engine, the HFX-01, producing 1,800 pounds of thrust, has been removed from the 727. The next generation engine to be tested will be the HFX-20, generating 2,200 pounds of thrust.

In the meantime, Honda has begun testing a high-lift wing design that is mounted for test flights to a Vietnam-era fighter jet based in Mojave, California.

The Automotive Industries article erroneously reported that Honda will build an all-composite airframe in a joint project with the University of Missouri. University officials in Missouri were understandably surprised; the research was actually done with Mississippi State University several years ago and has ended. The result was a fuselage design with forward-swept wings that went through a successful flight-test program.

The bottom line? The flying Honda is just a corporate dream for the twenty-first century, Honda officials insist, but one the company is working hard to realize. You may yet fly a Honda.

AOPA members in the news

Senator John Glenn, AOPA 640064, the first American to orbit the Earth, may return to space aboard a space shuttle in 1998 pending a NASA decision. If all goes as Glenn hopes, the 76-year-old former astronaut will become the oldest man to fly into space.

Three AOPA members — all FAA employees — teamed up to help a new member of Congress see what it is like to fly. The FAA's Fred Gibbs, AOPA 521854, took Representative Nick Lampson (D-TX) up for a demonstration lesson. A spokesman for Gibbs said the congressman is too busy for flight training this year but plans to start after the next election campaign ends in 1998. Lending the Cessna 172 were FAA employees Neil Planzer, AOPA 689863, and Andrea Nash, AOPA 893977.

Joe Beam, AOPA 461866, was featured in the Charleston (West Virginia) Gazette for his recently completed Windwood Fly-in Resort in Canaan Valley, in eastern West Virginia. The resort's 3,000-foot runway is adjacent to the 17-room Windwood Inn, Amelia's Restaurant, and Yeager's Lounge. AOPA members receive a five-percent discount on Windwood purchases. Timberline and Canaan Valley ski areas are within a few miles of the resort. Warm-weather visitors can be entertained with hiking, biking, golf, and whitewater rafting. Contact Windwood at 888/359-4667.

John G. Duncan, AOPA 1171509, a retired U.S. Navy captain from Palm Springs, California, was elected chairman of the Palm Springs Regional Airport Commission for 1998 and says he is looking forward to making AOPA Expo '98 even bigger and better than Expo '94.

Dave Hirschman, AOPA 1337758, has written a harrowing nonfiction account of the ordeal of a Federal Express crew that was hijacked and bludgeoned with a hammer by a disgruntled employee in 1994. The book is called Hijacked: The True Story of the Heroes of Flight 705. Hirschman is a Memphis newspaper reporter. The crew's head injuries ended their commercial flying careers, but the crew saved the aircraft and prevented the attacker from crashing it into the Federal Express headquarters. It is available in most bookstores from William Morrow publishers for $25.

The Lincoln, California, airport has been rededicated in the memory of C. Karl Harder, AOPA 124232, a pilot since 1928, FAA flight examiner, and CFI, who died in 1995.

Sophia Payton, AOPA 171997, of Clearwater, Florida, won the twenty-first annual Air Race Classic, an all-women's cross-country speed race, in a Cessna Skylane. The 40-airplane race started in Boise, Idaho, and ended in Knoxville, Tennessee. The 1998 Air Race Classic will begin in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and finish in Batavia, Ohio. For information, call 512/289-1101.

Howard Hammerman, AOPA 1276520, of Berlin, Maryland, was featured in The Daily Times of Salisbury, Maryland, for the use of his Cessna Cardinal in his computer consulting business.

Wally Olson, AOPA 994485, the owner and operator of Evergreen Field in Vancouver, Washington, for more than 50 years, died of cancer at the age of 86. Olson began flying in the 1920s and instructed military pilots in World War II. In 1946, he bought two new Taylorcrafts and instructed in the same airplanes through March of this year. Olson was a true believer that stick-and-rudder skills could be taught only in a taildragger. In fact, his students were required to solo the T-craft before being allowed to move into a Cessna 150.

Suzanne Owen Dodson, AOPA 1332901, the national Intermediate category aerobatic champion in 1995, is completing her commercial certificate and has moved up to Advanced category aerobatic competition in an Extra 300S, all in preparation for her dream of establishing an airshow career. She is receiving mentoring from her uncle, Roy Reagan.

Don T. Moore, AOPA 992532, of Golden, Colorado, president of NavRadio Corporation, was given a 1996 Laurels citation by Aviation Week and Space Technology for building and demonstrating a differential 8-phase shift keying transceiver.

Mark Galloway, AOPA 652619, owner of Galloway Aviation in Santa Monica, California, has painted his aircraft in a patriotic tint. The question now becomes, can it be flown in the rain? And should it touch the ground?