Letters

Staggeringly beautiful

I found the article " Beech's Beautiful Biplane" (October Pilot) fantastic. I personally feel that the Beech Staggerwing is the most beautiful airplane ever built (a P-51 Mustang comes close), and have admired this plane for many years.

We lived in the Indianapolis area from 1950 to 1956, and my father based his airplane at a small grass airstrip on the west side of town. One of the other airplanes based there was a Beech Staggerwing. One day, all of the private pilots were sitting around, probably discussing flying, when somehow the discussion turned to performance. The owner of this Beech suggested that he could take off in a very short distance — my recollection is that it was less than 200 feet, but my older memory fails in this regard. So the bets were put down. The owner of the Beech climbed in, ran the engine to full power with brakes applied, and then lifted off in this prescribed distance. Everyone was amazed. He circled the field and came back in to collect his winnings. Was I ever impressed!

A few years ago, while on an airline flight connection in Albuquerque, New Mexico, we were taxiing out when what appeared but six or seven Beech Staggerwings, all lined up for takeoff.

The airline captain, probably as a sign of respect, waited for them to depart before we entered the active runway. He admitted that they had delayed us some, but then added, "Weren't they beautiful?" My thoughts exactly.

Too bad that everyone doesn't get the chance to see a Beech Staggerwing more often. Maybe more people would be enthralled with flying if they did. What an airplane! Thanks for the great article and photos.

Bob Edgett AOPA 1269608
Mission Viejo, California

Places to pitch tents

We love airplane camping, but Marc Cook's " Camp Cessna" (October Pilot) highlights one of the biggest barriers to enjoying this type of recreational aircraft usage: facilities on field. Just because it says "camping" in the airport's written profile doesn't mean that camping there will be convenient or easy. Instead we've come up with our own rating system.

My wife, our 3- and 5-year-olds, and I are based in Vermont, and we camp from spring until fall using our 1979 Cessna Skylane. We generally travel to northern New England and Pennsylvania and, although we've accumulated a list of several great destinations, the logistics need careful consideration for success. Most airplanes, ours included, don't have room for fold-up bikes and all the camping gear. Besides, with two young kids, we'd need four bikes — so for us, bikes aren't a practical solution for ground transportation.

We've classified airports into the following to help with destination planning:

1. Camping on the field with showers, toilets, and food/other amenities within easy walking distance (our favorite).
2. No camping on the field but with a campground nearby, and rental cars available from the FBO (our second-favorite situation, but the most widely available and easily accomplished).
3. Camping on the field with a toilet available, but no showers or food convenient (least desirable).

It isn't easy to find "Category A" airfields, but those that do exist are lots of fun. Some examples we'd recommend:

• Skyhaven, Pennsylvania (76N): Pull right off the strip, pitch your tent, and showers and toilets are available right there. Walk across the field to stores and restaurants. There is a big fly-in craft show once each year.
• Flying W, Lumberton, New Jersey (N14): Camp or stay in the airport's on-site motel, swim in the on-site pool, or eat in the on-site deluxe restaurant.
• Shreveport North Footlight Ranch in Wellsville, Pennsylvania (62PA, www.footlightranch.com): Camp right on field, stay in their bunkhouse, swim in their pool, eat in their restaurant. Three fly-ins annually: spring, summer, and fall.

We also like camping on fields during fly-ins. Several annual events in Maine, including ones at Boman Field (B10) and Norridgewock (OWK), work well. These are quite often the best and most entertaining weekends because there are some activities once you get there. We'd love to hear about other "Category A" destinations as this specific information isn't avail-able in any publication that we know of.

Brad Wolansky AOPA 778242
Dorset, Vermont

Overflight understanding

I would like to comment on the proposed new flight restrictions over the country's national parks, specifically the Grand Canyon. It seems to me that the solution is quite simple, and obviously one of compromise. Since there are 52 weeks in the year, what the devil is the matter with permitting unrestricted flights every other week? The tour operators will scream bloody murder, but they'd better compromise or we'll get zilch.

The natural quiet people can schedule their pack trips and floats during periods of no overflights. Let's negotiate realistically!

Kurt E. Lindner AOPA 969571
Great Falls, Montana

Selling out

I just read Thomas B. Haines' " Waypoints: Goodbye, Old Friend" (October Pilot) about Haines selling his Cessna 172. It brought back the sad memories of the day we sold our 1947 Luscombe 8E, which we had owned for 15 years. The Luscombe was the first airplane we owned totally, having previously owned a one-sixth share of a well-worn Piper J-3 Cub. With our very own plane and reasonable cross-country speed (104 mph — wow!), we were soon exploring the United States from Florida to Wyoming. A number of trips covering 1,000 miles in a day were made. Tiring, yes, but it sure beat 55 mph on the ground. As I acquired commercial, instrument, and multiengine ratings, we owned other airplanes as well, including a Cessna 172, 182, and 210; a Mooney M20G; and, briefly, a partnership in a Beech B55 Baron. Throughout, we kept the Luscombe for local as well as cross-country flying, and we enjoyed every minute of it.

We eventually decided to become a one-airplane family, looked at the kind of flying capacity we wanted — short fields, reasonable loads, IFR capability, good cross-country speed, low maintenance and insurance costs, and the ability to use auto fuel — and settled on another Cessna 182.

The day the Luscombe sold, I must have hesitated quite a while before signing the bill of sale, handing over the keys, and watching our well-loved bird take to the air with someone else at the stick. In 15 years, only one other person had flown the airplane without me in it. We still talk of it occasionally, and we will have another one someday.

Dwane Koppler AOPA 450816
Springfield, Missouri

Thank you for "Waypoints: Goodbye, Old Friend." I always thought everyone had an airplane as a kid, too. Now my two kids have the same kind of father — always one foot out the door with the intent to fly somewhere. We leave a baby seat in the airplane. It's a fabulous lifestyle.

My dad was a geologist and told me "stalagmite — G for ground, and stalactite — C for ceiling." I'll never forget. We lost him two years ago in an aircraft accident. My family still flies. It is axiomatic. That's the way a lucky few get to travel here in the Southwest.

Geoffrey Veneklasen AOPA 1196444
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Great idea

I just finished reading " Letters" (November Pilot), and James McIrvin has a great suggestion in urging AOPA to lobby for the publishing of air route traffic control center frequencies on sectional charts.

Think of it — no more looking in multiple locations; convenient access to center weather advisories, flight following, and simply monitoring for traffic. What a great idea.

Frank E. Pugh AOPA 1345536
Fort Myers, Florida

'Sparking over'

Jim Giordano states in " Never Again: The Worst Possible Time" (October Pilot) that it was determined that the left magneto had failed and was "sparking over," causing the rough engine. The mechanic said that he had never seen an ignition system fail in that manner.

I guess it must be rare, as I have never read an article about it (until now) or talked with anyone who had had it happen to them.

It did happen to me in 1960, as a student pilot, just after liftoff on takeoff in my Cessna 120, on a 2,400-foot runway with a hill and trees ahead of me. The very rough-running engine just barely allowed me to climb and come around the pattern to land. Upon landing, and catching my breath, I checked the mags, and the engine ran well on the right mag but quit on the left mag. My mechanic said that the left magneto seal was broken; it had filled with oil and was sparking erratically out of synchronization with the right magneto.

I vowed to myself that, if it ever occurred again, to check the mags in flight.

Dick Miles AOPA 175801
Macon, North Carolina

How many satellites?

In Barry Schiff's " Test Pilot" quiz (October Pilot), his answer to question six is technically incorrect. He stated that the line of position established by a GPS satellite is a circle. Actually, any one satellite establishes a sphere of position. You are located somewhere on a sphere surrounding the satellite — as determined by the time it takes for the signal from the satellite to travel to your GPS unit, multiplied by the speed of light. If you know the distance from two satellites, you are located somewhere on a circle described by the intersection of the two spheres. Three satellites result in the intersection of three spheres, thus defining two points on the circle defined by the first two spheres. Four satellites define only one point exactly.

The quiz is a favorite of mine and always spurs some research and digging on my part — which adds to my knowledge base.

Paul Van Benthem AOPA 1177865
Pinckney, Michigan

Barry Schiff responds: In the process of attempting to fit the answer to the question into a small space, I oversimplified the answer and made it wrong in the process. Each GPS satellite provides a sphere of position (as compared to a line or circle of position). One satellite, therefore, tells a pilot only that his position is somewhere on a sphere, the size of which is determined by his distance from that satellite. Two satellites provide two spheres of position that intersect to form a circle of position. In other words, the aircraft is somewhere on this circle. The sphere defined by the distance from a third satellite intersects this circle of position at two points, either one of which could be the position of the aircraft. Logic circuitry within a GPS receiver eliminates one of these two points as being absurd and selects the remaining point as the aircraft's position. Without such logic, however, a fourth satellite would be required to resolve the two-point ambiguity — Ed.

Erratum

An item about improvements at Wisconsin's Sturgeon Bay Door County Cherryland Airport (" AOPA Action," October Pilot) was incorrect. The improvement project at the airport is valued at $830,000.

We welcome your comments. Address your letters to: Editor, AOPA Pilot, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, Maryland 21701. Send e-mail to [email protected]. Include your full name, address, and AOPA member number on all correspondence, including e-mail. Letters will be edited for style and length.