Letters

Recalling Poplar Grove

I returned home today from the successful completion of my checkride at DuPage Airport in Chicago, new private pilot certificate in hand, and picked up the September issue of AOPA Pilot. I was very happy to see your article about Poplar Grove (formerly Belvidere) Airport. My first job, at age 15 in the summer of 1976, was working for Dick Thomas as a line boy at the airport. Dick gave me the choice of getting paid or taking flying lessons, and I foolishly took the money. The memories of meeting the pilots and mechanics and riding in the Piper Cub at Belvidere stayed with me and were the driving force that led me to take flying lessons 23 years later. It's obvious that a lot has changed at the airport over the years, and it's great to see that it is flourishing, thanks to the creative management of the Thomases and local supporters.

Mark Hamer AOPA 1409189
Evanston, Illinois

I just finished reading Denny Cunningham's article and found it to be a wonderful story about the life of an airport. I grew up in Illinois and learned to fly at Schaumburg Airport (06C). My cross-country work included flights to Rockford, Janesville, and Madison. All these trips used the Belvidere Airport as pilotage and dead-reckoning checkpoints. I was very glad to read about home in your magazine.

R.G. Fitch II AOPA 727688
North Charleston, South Carolina

Kennedy aftermath

Phil Boyer hit the proverbial nail on the head in " President's Position: Media Mania" (September Pilot). Beatification of Kennedy just about says it all. But I have yet to talk with another pilot, from ultralight to heavy iron, where the first word out of their mouths is "vertigo," followed by various and sundry comments on the foolishness of it all.

But there's more to it than that. Personally, I want to know that if you or I go down at sea, are our family and friends going to get to see a Pentagon briefing on the search-and-rescue operation on network TV? Is a naval vessel and its crew going to be dedicated to scattering our remains at sea after we're found? I think not.

Paul Burch AOPA 552547
Hixson, Tennessee

Turbulence talking points

Rod Machado's article about turbulence in the September issue of Pilot thoroughly explained the technicalities of G forces, but it really didn't get to the point about relieving anxiety about turbulence.

There are two things I always explain to new passengers, especially those who have never flown in a small airplane before. First, that any "bumpiness" in the flight is caused by abrupt but normal changes in the direction or velocity of air currents as the airplane encounters them (known to pilots as wind shear). This can be caused by gusty horizontal wind, or by updrafts and downdrafts due to uneven heating of the earth's surface. I do not fly close to thunderstorms, so that is never an issue. The second point I make is that we feel the turbulence simply because instead of resisting the sudden air movement, the airplane is going with the flow a little bit, thereby reducing any structural stress that might otherwise occur to the plane. When passengers understand that "safety valve" concept, they seem to immediately relax and enjoy the flight more. My explanation may not be the most technically correct, but it works.

By the way, although I do not fear mild to moderate turbulence while flying, crosswind landings, or even aerobatics, I must confess that I do not enjoy thrill rides at amusement parks or being at the top of tall buildings.

Dan Gibson AOPA 883593
San Marcos, Texas

Information is the key

" Craniums Up!" by Peter A. Bedell (September Pilot) was a great article — well, mostly. I am a very active GA pilot and CFII/MEI, as well as a military fighter pilot. Quoting from page 65, "AOPA is opposed to the proposal [lights-out night operations in military operations areas] because of the obvious safety implications that this could pose on civilian VFR traffic transiting a MOA at night." Hello? This is counter to the very safety-oriented focus of the article.

Bedell does a great job of explaining why it is hard — in fact, almost impossible — to detect rapidly maneuvering, high-speed military traffic in broad daylight in some of the country's best visual meteorological conditions. It doesn't matter how many, if any, lights are on at night — you will not see a fighter in a MOA at night in time to do anything about it. Look to your FAA Flight Training Handbook, Advisory Circular 61-21, for a partial explanation of visual illusions at night. It is virtually impossible to determine the range and closure of a light that you do see.

AOPA would be much more effective in promoting safety around MOAs by dropping this fight and making it easier for the GA pilot to determine a MOA's status, day or night. There are many hours that MOAs are idle, but you do not want to be there when they are "hot."

I urge AOPA to lobby to persuade the FAA to publish air-route traffic control center frequencies on all sectional and world aeronautical charts, just as they are on IFR en route charts. Frequently, I have had ATC provide VFR traffic advisories through a MOA when only a portion of it was active. This would provide a much healthier environment in which fighters could peacefully coexist with our GA aircraft, whether their lights are on or off. It would also make it easier for lost student pilots to contact an ARTCC, and for all VFR pilots to find the right frequencies for traffic advisories.

James McIrvin AOPA 879413
Columbus, Mississippi

Grand Canyon concerns

As a pilot and long-time resident of Arizona, I am deeply concerned about further restriction of general aviation aircraft over and around the Grand Canyon. Having hiked and rafted the canyon since I was a teenager, I am firmly of the opinion that it is the noise of commercial airliners at 30,000-plus feet that creates the most unnatural noise within the canyon and thus detracts from the experience of solitude. The very occasional overflight of a privately owned GA aircraft is not offensive. And the tour operators have shown considerable responsibility by limiting their operations to areas not frequented by hikers.

Further constriction of the use of the Grand Canyon airspace by GA has all the appearances of a political whitewash, with the FAA appeasing the environmentalists at the expense of responsible pilots while ignoring the powerful commercial airline industry.

James E. Stark AOPA 1145560
Sun City, Arizona

An indicator of what's to come?

I read with great interest John Yodice's " Pilot Counsel: FAA's Ticket Program" (September Pilot). When discussing the Streamlined Administrative Action Process (SAAP), he states that a person's "poor attitude" will be taken into account in deciding what, if any, enforcement action should be taken.

I have been a police officer with a large metropolitan police department for 27 years. It has long been written policy that an officer must decide what enforcement action is to be taken prior to exiting the cruiser. This ensures fair and equitable treatment as the officer is acting on circumstance and fact, not on attitude. I would hope that local government would not be held to a higher standard than the federal government. I also hope that this is only Mr. Yodice's opinion or a twist on the new program, not an indicator of what is to come. If this is so, we are the SAAPs.

Jeffrey L. Puls AOPA 955086
Orient, Ohio

Declaration dilemma

Thank you for " Never Again: Where There's Smoke…" (September Pilot). I'm glad that you reported on this precautionary emergency declaration to encourage others to ask for priority treatment in certain situations while a safe landing may still be possible.

We occasionally hear about "fearing" or "not fearing" the possibility of paperwork associated with declaring an emergency. Most of us have never declared an emergency and do not know exactly what this paperwork is. I would like to encourage you to cover in an article the steps involved in the after-emergency bureaucracy (where to file, what to file, and what to expect). By taking the mystery out of this process, pilots have one less item to worry about when the emergency comes.

Axel Merk AOPA 1375234
Providence, Rhode Island

The Federal Aviation Regulations do not mandate the filing of a report when a pilot declares an emergency. Many pilots have declared emergencies, landed safely, and never heard from the FAA about the incident. However, if an emergency requires that a pilot deviate from any rule under Part 91, FAR 91.3(c) specifies that the pilot "shall, upon the request of the administrator, send a written report of that deviation to the administrator" (emphasis ours) — Ed.

Fog flashback

Just the title, " Fast-Forming Fog," of Bruce Landsberg's "Safety Pilot" (September Pilot) made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

As a student, I had been trying for two weeks to do my first long-distance solo flight out of San Jose (California) International Airport. It seemed that Mother Nature just didn't want me to get this flight in. Every time I pulled up the weather, my instructor would ask me if I thought I could make it on any of the trips I had planned. Fog in the Sacramento area always canceled trips in that direction.

The day came that the Salinas Valley opened up, but the weather at Santa Maria only had a three-hour window of opportunity — clear of fog from noon until 3 p.m. I jumped at it. If I arrived at 1 p.m., I could fuel and be back in the air before the fog rolled in.

Arriving at the run-up area, I found that I had a fouled plug. Going back to the hangar, getting an instructor who went with me to the run-up area, and leaning the mixture and holding RPM at 1,700 until it cleared took 35 to 40 minutes. I was about 50 minutes late getting in the air, which put me late getting into Santa Maria. It was clear as a bell when I got there, but I knew that fog was going to roll in at any minute even though I couldn't see any along the coast.

I fueled and was back in the air in about 30 minutes. As I climbed out off Runway 20, turning south to head for the Salinas Valley and San Luis Obispo, I noticed something funny. I now had haze in the air. But it wasn't haze. It had been perfectly clear when I came in. I was in developing fog and knew that it was getting worse behind me. I knew that I had to keep climbing and keep it level.

With my very limited instrument instruction, I kept "Pac-Man" (the attitude indicator) level and made sure my climb rate and airspeed stayed stable. And I sweated buckets. When I broke out and had that clear Salinas Valley in front of me, I was only about 10 degrees off course and soaking wet.

My instructor had told me of a student who had panicked while taxiing toward a perimeter cyclone fence, forgot how to apply the brakes, screwed the prop into the fence, and then called home for instructions on what to do. I wonder what the reaction would have been if I had called home and told them I just screwed their best Cessna 172 into the ground. Not a pretty picture.

John F. Callison AOPA 1340860
Milpitas, California

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.