John Cook's legacy
It was great to see John Cook's Lincoln PT–K in flight (" A Wing and a Prayer," August Pilot). As a wet-behind-the-ears 500-hour pilot (with about nine hours' total multiengine time, in a Piper Apache), I was hired in 1968 as a DC–3 first officer at Mercer Airlines of Burbank, California — where, over the next few years, I learned to keep myself alive in an airplane, what smooth flying really meant, and more from Capt. John W. (for Wayne) Cook and a few other old-style captains.
He lived in Belmont Shores, California, in those days, and I used to go over to his house during the midday layover when we flew Navy trips out of Long Beach. The bargain was that for every wing rib I cut out for the PT–K (using an ingenious jig he devised), I'd get an hour of flight time in it. We went our separate ways and he moved to Las Vegas after retirement, but we stayed in touch. After he passed away, his late wife, Gwen, asked if I could come to Las Vegas to help her organize the parts of the PT–K. She later told me that an emergency room physician had bought it.
In his amazing career, Cook set the still-unbeaten endurance record with Bob Timm mentioned in the article, flew the Hacienda Hotel's piano-lounge-equipped Lockheed Constellation and the Pregnant Guppy (a modified Boeing 377 Stratocruiser with a giant cargo bay), and retired from Mercer as a DC–6 captain. There's a little museum on the floor above the baggage claim area at Las Vegas' McCarran Field with a display devoted to the record flight.
John W. Hazlet Jr. AOPA 292095
Pasadena, California
Thank you for the wonderful article on the Lincoln PT–K. For all my years as a youngster, there was always a photo in my folks' bedroom of my father hanging on the prop of an old biplane, and it always intrigued me. Unfortunately, my father and I never talked in detail about it. After finally realizing a childhood dream of becoming a pilot at the age of 50, I decided to try to identify that airplane.
Last year we had to put my father in a nursing home. In going through his personals, I came across his "Aeronautics Instruction Log" and some gas receipts. The airplane type was listed as a Lincoln PT. Incidentally, Dad soloed that airplane after only three hours and 20 minutes of dual.
Mike Kovach AOPA 1296392
Decatur, Illinois
Battling the noise police
I hope that " The Noise Police are Here" (August Pilot) does not accurately portray AOPA's position on airport preservation, because what is espoused is a real lose-lose proposition.
As an AOPA member for many years, I rely on AOPA to protect and defend my rights and privileges as a pilot and aircraft owner. The Renton (Washington) Municipal Airport, where I base my plane, is under attack by an "airport advisory committee" established by the mayor to review airport noise issues. The mayor would prefer to convert the airport property into condos and a strip mall.
This article states, "If you're lucky the two sides will agree on voluntary noise restrictions." If who is lucky? By allowing local mandate to override the national airspace system, you've trumped years of work and hard-learned lessons concerning standardization and safety. It will lead to Balkanization of the airspace. Voluntary restrictions will never placate the antiairport crowd, at least not for long. Indeed, it will, and has, emboldened the antinoise advocates to push for increased restrictions on touch and goes, banning jets ("all jets are noisy"), and curtailed hours of operation. Give them an inch and they will take a mile.
Friendly flying techniques are OK; just don't kid yourself into thinking that they will slow down airport closures. Consider those who would profit by GA's demise: airlines, commercial aircraft manufacturers, real estate firms, land developers, and city officials salivating over the increased tax revenues generated by condos and strip malls. We are going to need tactics much stronger than friendly flying.
We need strong leadership from AOPA to lead this fight. We need legislation at the state and national levels to defend and preserve these assets. We need legal remedies when common sense fails, as it has at Renton and other places. We need to stop being friendly and realize that the best defense is a good offense.
Jeff Davis AOPA 1074656
Seattle, Washington
Forward visibility is bad enough in most aircraft at V Y, let alone V X. Flying in the pattern with my nose pointed way up is not something I like to think about. As a matter of fact, when the pattern is really busy, I sometimes fly at less than V Y to improve visibility over the nose.
I know that lots of people on the ground don't like the noise caused by airplanes flying over their homes — but I'm sure they'd like even less a couple of intertwined aircraft, possibly spewing burning fuel, plunging from the sky.
David S. Reinhart AOPA 1353690
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts
Preventing runway incursions
After 19 years as an air traffic controller, I feel the need to respond to Phil Boyer's " President's Position: Runway Incursions" (August Pilot).
Runway incursions may, indeed, be infrequent events, but not quite as infrequent as the FAA's recent report cited in the article suggests. As with all types of operational errors, controllers and FAA management have a disincentive toward reporting such incidents; blame may spread in all directions. "Less severe" or not, many general aviation events go unreported.
AOPA's call for a commonsense, back-to-basics approach is on target. Want to help reduce runway incursions today? Controllers allocate attention to individual aircraft based upon the perceived need. Pilots unfamiliar, confused, or unsure of instructions need to fess up. A simple "keep an eye on me" or "I'm unfamiliar" will alert the controller and may prevent the next incursion. And please, if you're not absolutely certain that you have permission to cross that runway in front of you — stop and ask.
Joe Nelson AOPA 1387207
Madison, Wisconsin
Budget Cessnas
I cannot tell you how happy I was to read " Budget Buys: Cessna 150/152 — The Last Affordable Airplane?" (August Pilot). Not only was it a great article, but the trusty red-and-white Cessna 150 featured was the plane I soloed back in 1991. I put quite a few hours in that little trainer when she was owned by a flight school in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. I am sure glad to see that she is still flying. Reading the article was quite literally like seeing an old friend again.
Andrew Banchi AOPA 1034501
Danbury, Connecticut
It is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so Royson Parsons can think that 1964 and 1965 Cessna 150s are "ugly ducklings." However, as the owner of a 1964 model, I see beauty in the straight-tail rudder because it really works well, unlike the eye candy on the later slant-tails. I see beauty in my OmniVision rear window when looking for traffic in and around the pattern. And I see beauty in the fact that the 1964 model has the highest useful load of the whole Cessna 150 and 152 fleet, making it not only an affordable airplane, but a practical one too. It will safely carry two average-sized adults, more than 40 pounds of baggage, and full fuel. Try that in the older or newer models and you will come up short.
Richard Spingarn AOPA 1284796
Trumansburg, New York
Understanding jet engines
Linda D. Pendleton's introductory article to jet engines (" Turbine Pilot: Suck, Squeeze, Bang, and Blow," August Pilot) is excellent.
I have often struggled with the nomenclature of the different types of jet engines. She simplifies it and provides a basis on which to dig deeper if more information is desired. The article is intelligently written and very much tailored to the reader rather than serving the ego of the writer.
Jack Jones AOPA 967515
Newtown, Pennsylvania
Suddenly single suggestion
I enjoyed Thomas A. Horne's " Ounce of Prevention: Suddenly Single" (August Pilot). There's one other point I would like to add that I've found very useful over my years instructing in multiengine airplanes.
I teach my students that, during the verification process, one of three things will happen when the "dead engine" throttle is pulled all the way back. If there is a significant change in yaw, you misidentified the malfunctioning engine. If there is a slight change in yaw, you correctly identified the bad engine, but it was producing some power. If there is no change in yaw, you correctly identified the bad engine, and it was not producing any power — feather it.
This procedure is difficult to teach in the air, but many of the new simulators allow the instructor to set partial power failures from the instructor's control panel.
Ted Beneigh AOPA 1407608
Daytona Beach, Florida
Appreciated lesson
Greg Brown's " Thunderstorms, Restricted Airspace, and a Dust Storm" (August Pilot) was fantastic! I recently got my instrument rating but am still uncomfortable with my ability to interpret and handle adverse weather. Books on the subject and articles dedicated to explaining weather phenomena usually fail to provide a good framework for decision making when actually confronted with towering cumulonimbus. Their simplistic advice ("avoid thunderstorms") doesn't provide much guidance for the gray areas of reality.
Brown's article was anything but, demonstrating how to use all existing resources (in the cockpit and on the ground) to effectively handle weather as it evolved around him. Keep up the good work.
Jacopo Lenzi AOPA 1419884
Menlo Park, California
Erratum
Because of an editing error, a telephone number for Sporty's Pilot Shop was incorrect in " Pilot Products" (September Pilot). The correct toll-free number is 800/543-8633. Pilot regrets the error.
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.
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