Letters

Smiling pilots

The article " Ercoupe Pilots Smile a Lot" (November 1998 Pilot) was excellent. Credit for the complete restoration of this beautiful blue 'Coupe goes to John Wright Sr. and John Wright Jr. of Springfield, Illinois. They are well known by most Ercoupe owners.

At Springfield Capital Airport, we have five Ercoupes, and a lot of smiles.

James Miller AOPA 782670
Springfield, Illinois

Rick Durden's article was well written and was thoroughly enjoyable, but I must correct one statement. The Ercoupe does have mixture control. The difference is that, because of the thought-out design of the aircraft, the mixture will not shut down the engine, either at idle or in flight. The control is set such that fuel cannot be fully shut off by use of the control; it does allow leaning at cruise settings.

I was the proud owner of N3868H (a 1947 CD415) for about three years in the 1990s and built some 150 hours in what we called Baby. She now resides in the Western North Carolina Air Museum in Hendersonville, North Carolina. When we went to events with her, my partner and I enjoyed the status normally given to warbird drivers. It would take days to describe all that we felt and enjoyed being the pilots of this machine.

Thank you for such a fine story, albeit too short.

John Stewart AOPA 1071941
Asheville, North Carolina

More than a passenger

Having begun my flying career in 1939, I have always been elated when I learned of a nonflier's crossing over to the ranks of the fliers. Joni Fisher's " New Pilot's Journal: Not Just Along for the Ride" (November 1998 Pilot) was quite uplifting because she has begun to share pilots' pleasures with the rest of us, and she mentioned two of the favorite people of my entire life.

It was her reference to Eleanor Roosevelt and her flight with one of the Tuskegee Airmen (in a Piper Cub, mind you) that touched a tender spot in me. That Tuskegee airman was Charles Alfred Anderson, an early pioneer for African-American aviators in this country.

Anderson later became "Chief" Anderson when he was named chief pilot of the civilian flight instructors employed by Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. I was one of the civilian flight instructors under his supervision from 1942 through 1945. We provided the primary training for the Army Air Corps cadets in the flight training detachment at Morton Field in Tuskegee.

Fisher accepts the many idiosyncrasies of the pilot's existence and rightly suggests that more women learn to fly. I agree with her belief that the many achievements of women in aviation prove that they should be accorded the respect and consideration that men have always enjoyed.

Roscoe Draper AOPA 023867
Haverford, Pennsylvania

I found Joni Fisher's article entertaining and well written. I'm sure that it will provide inspiration for some folks to take that first step toward a rating.

I did have a problem with the article, though. In one paragraph, she states, "Helicopters, seaplanes, skydivers, hot air balloons, gliders, and birds ... offer a variety of hazards to pilots." With the exception of the birds, all of these activities involve rated pilots, each of whom is governed by the Federal Aviation Regulations just as she is. Fisher (as well as many other pilots) needs to realize that we all share the sky together. We all have the responsibility to be aware of each other's procedures in order to be the best and safest pilots possible.

Carol Walker AOPA 977698
Caddo Mills, Texas

Valuable lesson

After reading " AOPA Access: Self-Medicated Maladies" (November 1998 Pilot), I wanted to comment on how true the contents of the article were.

Before a recent flight, I was feeling the effects of what I thought was a cold. I, like the others mentioned in the article, thought nothing of it. How wrong I was! After flying on instruments for about half an hour I became dizzy and disoriented. I could not do anything. Fortunately for me I was on a training flight with an instructor who took over. After a few minutes of straight and level, my malady cleared up. This had not happened before. Needless to say, I went to my doctor's office right away. It turned out that what I had thought was a cold was the beginning of a serious sinus infection that caused inner-ear pressure and the resultant problem.

I shudder to think that, if I had been alone in actual instrument conditions, I probably would have been one of the statistics that Gary Crump mentioned in his article. It was a lesson learned that was reinforced by reading the article. Thanks for an excellent publication and association.

Joseph Sferruzza AOPA 1332115
Wayne, New Jersey

Affordable alternatives

Please tell me why I should spend almost $188,000 for the new Piper Archer III as described in the November 1998 Pilot (" The New Piper's Archer III: Primary Piper"). For about $50,000 there are early 1980s Archers with respectable panels and high-time engines. Replace the engine; provide new paint and an updated interior. Splurge on avionics upgrades and speed mods for a total of $122,000.

I now have a very nice Archer that performs as well as the III, and a net savings of $66,000 to pay for a lot of flying. For the kind of money that Piper (and Cessna) are charging for what is essentially 50-year-old technology, they must come up with a lot more airplane.

Philip C. Baker AOPA 1055084
Amawalk, New York

The perfect airplane

In reading the November 1998 Pilot, I was especially taken by Thomas Haines' " Waypoints: The Perfect Airplane." His comments on thunderstorm avoidance and his wishes for a Stormscope, Strikefinder, or just plain radar in his dream airplane struck home.

I have flown and instructed in his home area for more than 20 years and have experienced the same rapid, unpredicted cumulus buildups as he. However, I have developed techniques for navigating safely around them without the benefit of those dream avionics. In all of our instrument trainers, as well as in my own Cessna 210, we sport the granddaddy of all thunderstorm detectors — an automatic direction finder!

The procedure that I use and teach is absolutely accurate and unbelievably simple in operation. Best of all, it works every time to point out a dangerous area of thunderstorm activity.

All one has to do is turn on the ADF and tune it somewhere within the lowest frequency range available (200 to 400 kHz). Make absolutely sure that there is no carrier or station broadcasting on the frequency selected. Observe the ADF needle. It should be slowly rotating, randomly and freely. Turn up the ADF audio (volume) control until you hear background static. Whenever you hear a loud static crash, quickly glance at the ADF needle and observe where it is pointing. If it points straight up on every static crash, the thunderstorm is directly ahead. If it points off your right wing, that is where the storm is located. With a little practice you will be able to quite accurately determine the distance and severity of lightning strikes, even when flying in zero-zero conditions.

The reason that this technique works so well is that lightning itself emits powerful electromagnetic energy similar to a radio station. The ADF receiver in your aircraft thinks that the static crash originates at another radio station, so the instrument's needle simply points to that station. The "station" is the bolt of lightning within the mature thunderstorm that you must avoid. The technique works every time and the cost is right.

F.S. "Pete" Humphrey AOPA 631727
Hagerstown, Maryland

Instrument alternatives

Peter McLean (" Letters," November 1998 Pilot) stated that the real terror is losing your only altimeter in solid instrument meteorological conditions. No doubt true, but your Mode C transponder is already in service as a backup. While IFR, you're already talking to a controller, whose scope displays your current altitude. I've never lost an altimeter and imagine that failure recognition takes time; but once you declare the problem, you should expect frequent altitude updates. If your vertical speed indicator is operating, so much the better.

The Mode C sensor, while independent of the panel altimeter, is set to 29.92 inches and reports pressure altitude. When handed off to another controller, we report our current altitude for Mode C verification, but this is one-way data flow. How many of us, when in level flight, when the frequency's quiet, think to ask the controller what altitude he's reading?

Ned Mayo AOPA 1368789
Gulf Breeze, Florida

Don't depend on the radio

I believe that David Pitts is on the wrong track in his letter concerning radio use in the traffic pattern (" Letters," November 1998 Pilot). While radio use is certainly a good idea and should be practiced by every pilot, it is not the "end all" of pattern safety.

In fact, pilots who depend on the radio as their primary tool in locating other traffic might be in for a rude awakening. Worse, pilots who announce their position and intentions, then fly happily along "knowing" that everyone is looking for them, can be downright dangerous.

The program is "see and be seen," and there's no substitute for the human eye in collision avoidance. There are airplanes that have no radios, radios accidentally tuned to the wrong frequency, and the occasional radio failure. Eyes out of the cockpit and head on a swivel provide the best method of making sure that you don't have an unscheduled meeting with another airplane.

Keep using that radio, as it certainly adds to your total safety package, but keep looking, too. Don't depend on the radio as your first line of defense against a collision.

Joseph Norris AOPA 653030
Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin

Errata

A Cleveland CBS network affiliate was misidentified in "News Hawk" (December 1998 Pilot). Channel 19 is WOIO-TV. Its Robinson R44 Newscopter is owned by Metro Traffic Control and managed by Helicopter Flight Inc.

The correct street price of the Telex Echelon ANR headset ( "Headset Roundup: Earily Quiet," December 1998 Pilot) is $290. Also in that article, the telephone number for Joyce Telectronics in Clearwater, Florida, should have read 813/461-3525.

Barbara Harper, who accompanied Chanda S. Budhabhatti on her speed record flight from Tucson to Guaymas, Mexico ( "Pilot Briefing," November 1998 Pilot), is a former Continental Airlines pilot. Budhabhatti was incorrectly listed as having once flown for Continental.

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.