Pilot, mountaineer dies
Ed Hommer, a man who could overcome almost any setback, died on September 23 after being hit by a large rock on Mount Ranier in Washington State. Hommer, 46, a double amputee and pilot for American Airlines, was training to climb Mount Everest. His life story was that of triumph and survival despite long odds. In 1980, Hommer was flying a small airplane that crashed into the side of Mount McKinley. He spent five days in subzero temperatures along with one other survivor before they were rescued. Battling depression and alcoholism, it took Hommer 20 years to recover from the crash and the resulting amputation of his feet. Using modern prosthetics, Hommer learned to run, bike, and mountain climb. In 1999 he climbed Denali (Mount McKinley), the mountain that almost took his life. He also returned to flying. He is the author of The Hill and was featured in " Pilots" in the October issue of AOPA Pilot.
Vacation of a lifetime: 5,000 miles in Africa
Growing up in the backwoods of Alabama, Barbara L. Feader was a lonely child who longed to fly. After some initial discouragement, it wasn't until she was in her late 40s that she learned to fly.
But she had another dream. This one would take her on a month-long aerial safari in South and East Africa three decades later. It would be the ultimate vacation involving nearly 5,000 nautical miles of flying and some landings in the rugged outback. Planning for the journey began at Smith Travel in Feader's small hometown of Easton, Maryland. The travel agency linked up with Ubuntu Safaris of Johannesburg, South Africa. To fund the trip in the summer of 1998, Feader had to come up with $50,000 — this was no weekend outing. Her sister kicked in $20,000 and the rest came from maxing out a credit card, getting a home equity loan, and scraping together whatever else she had. "I stretched myself to the limit," she said.
Once the money was in place, Feader had another obstacle — her age. Since she was about to turn 79, the insurance company for the aircraft she was going to lease, a Cessna 182RG, required a copilot for the entire journey. She hired Kym Morton, a consultant for Ubuntu and a 15-year African bush pilot. As a flight instructor, Morton validated Feader's U.S. commercial certificate so that she could fly an aircraft of African registry.
Feader's safari included a hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti along with a champagne breakfast in the middle of the desert, a two-hour elephant ride in Zimbabwe, a flight over the Indian Ocean to the Spice Island of Zanzibar, followed by flights to a military base in Tanzania, the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, and the sands of the Kalahari Desert. Feader wrote about her journey in a self-published 203-page book titled Self-Flying the African Bush. It is available from Xlibris.com ( www2.xlibris.com).
Wake up, GA industry, the sun is rising
Aviation may be the last frontier the Japanese haven't conquered, and one insider warns that it's about time for a storm brewing in the Pacific to make landfall on U.S. soil. The question is whether American manufacturers are ready to take on super-wealthy foreign corporations with track records in mass production.
With continuing complaints about airline travel, there is more and more talk about a paradigm shift where small, easy-to-fly airplanes will cater more to the transportation market than the enthusiast market, thus creating a new breed of customer. This concept was recently captured in James Fallows' book Free Flight (" Pilot Products," September 2001 Pilot). There have been early indications of Japanese interest in the new aviation paradigm with Honda developing a jet and, more recently, Toyota successfully flying a four-place piston composite aircraft in California earlier this year. Not surprisingly, neither company will say what its future plans are, but business consultant A. Sandy Munro, of Munro and Associates, who specializes in the auto industry, says aviation is part of Toyota's 100-year plan. (Japanese companies often plan far into the future.) "They have a standard, predictable battle plan that has always worked because the traditional American businessman always falls for it," Munro said.
This plan is rooted in the teachings of W. Edwards Deming, an American consultant who, among others over many decades, dramatically revolutionized Japan's level of quality and productivity and was famous for his "14 Points for Management." Deming's work was largely ignored in his own country until the early 1980s. Deming spent his life — as he once put it in an interview — "trying to keep America from committing suicide." He died in 1993. "He taught them [the Japanese] how to measure, identify, and ultimately produce quality, and how to eliminate waste," Munro said. "Deming's thumbprint is everywhere in every Japanese product."
Twenty-five years ago the United States led the world in the production of electronics, crude steel, ships, and passenger vehicles, but now it has fallen behind Asia. In short, Deming's teachings are Japan's secret weapon. They have shown simply that quality costs less, not more. In a paper he delivered to a Society of Aircraft Engineers conference in April, Munro suggested how that weapon might be applied to general aviation: "They [Japanese companies] will hire the best minds, whatever the cost; avoid conventional wisdom; build product samples and enlist input from tough customers, outsiders, and noncustomers; produce superior products with bewitching features designed to coax customers from established brands; use American lobbyists in Washington, D.C., whose tactics will be viewed by politicians as threatening for the country, but good for states where the manufacturing will be located; reduce prices while increasing quality; sell on the spot; attract the frugal buyer; and use the media to avoid advertising costs. They will then move up to personal jets and repeat the process." It will continue, Munro said, until Boeing and Airbus get scared.
So how much time, in Munro's mind, will it take for the storm to hit? It took the Japanese three years, he said, to dominate the motorcycle market after the first Honda appeared in North America and less than two years for outboard motors and generators. "I predict you have two years tops in GA after the first Japanese sale," he said.
One company that wasn't surprised by all of this is Cirrus Design. Munro has worked with the company but would not say what his role was there. Cirrus knew something was up more than three years ago when Toyota started placing ads in the local Duluth, Minnesota, newspaper, seeking employees for its aircraft division in California. Cirrus spokesman Ian Bentley sees Toyota's business plan as similar to that of Cirrus: a market expansion for personal air travel. Eclipse Aviation is also banking on the paradigm shift and has been studying the latest techniques to improve quality.
Some other American GA manufacturers have already started changing their ways, but not entirely because of a foreign threat. This past summer Cessna Aircraft announced that it has adopted something that was pioneered in Japan, lean manufacturing — minimizing waste and maximizing sellable products — at its piston factory in Independence, Kansas. Cessna has consolidated three production lines into one for the 172, 182, and 206 models. Aviat Aircraft has created a new automated manufacturing process that will take the company from its tube-and-fabric heritage to computerized construction and paperless documentation for a new family of aircraft. And The New Piper Aircraft is working on its "Factory of the Future," a plan to modernize manufacturing methods that have changed little in 40 years.
If Toyota does decide to crank out Lexus-inspired airplanes, Munro said one thing that the aviation industry has going for it is time to plan for a new competitor — and a new customer, for that matter — more time than any other industry has ever had.
Team breaks unofficial record in Hughes Racer
A small team from Oregon put Howard Hughes' H-1 Racer back in the record books but for a different feat this time around. After four years and 35,000 man-hours of work, on September 13 the team unofficially broke the C1-d record for speed over 3 km in a replica aircraft with a speed of 304.07 mph.
At the Reno Air Races, pilot Jim Wright broke the record on the sixty-seventh anniversary of Hughes' much faster Unlimited category record of 352 mph in 1935. Because of a mechanical problem, the Oregon team, not wanting to damage the rare engine, could only use 65-percent power, but it was apparently enough to accomplish the goal. The FAA has designated the replica aircraft as Serial No. 2. The original aircraft sits at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Hughes built the aircraft in secrecy and used it to become the fastest man alive at the time. At press time, the record still needed to be certified by international authorities.
Dago Red once again wins Reno Air Races
Dago Red claimed victory at the National Championship Reno Air Races for the fourth year in a row. Piloted by Skip Holm, the P-51 Mustang (named by an Italian) flew to victory in the Unlimited Class Gold Race at Reno, Nevada, with an average speed of 466.834 mph on September 15. Holm also piloted the aircraft to victory last year. Bruce Lockwood took top honors in Dago Red in 1999 and 1998.
In the new Jet Class it was the battle of the L-39s with Curt Brown finishing on top in American Spirit with a speed of 456.54 mph. Moving down the airspeed indicator, Darryl Greenamyer won the Sport Class in a Lancair Legacy with an average speed of 328.967 mph; in the Formula One Class Gary Hubler was the victor in a Cassutt III M called Mariah with 249.56 mph; Thomas Campau won the AT-6/SNJ Class in Mystical Power with 231.614 mph; and David Rose once again won the Biplane Class Gold flying Rags, a Rose Peregrine, with a Biplane Class record of 224.20 mph.
Sadly, this year's competition was not without incident. Veteran pilot Tommy Rose of Hickory, Mississippi, died during a Sport Class race in a Questair Venture 20 called Ramblin' Rose. Witnesses told the Reno Gazette-Journal the airplane was starting into a turn when it suddenly pitched down and crashed into the sagebrush less than 100 yards from the home pylon. Rose was making his fourth appearance at the races.
ePILOT HEADLINERS
Headlines pulled from the recent editions of AOPA's e-mail newsletter.
OMF secures $5 million investment
OMF Aircraft, based in Neubrandenburg, Germany, announced that it had secured $5 million in investment funds. A combination of bank financing with a German government guarantee and an infusion of cash from parent company Stinnes Group will be used to seek out a new powerplant designed to run on Jet-A, and to develop a new aircraft model.
Interest up in Be A Pilot program
Despite the effects of last year's terrorist attacks, interest in taking a Be A Pilot introductory flight lesson is up 4.2 percent this year. "Many flight schools report business close to normal or better, a surprisingly good year," said Drew Steketee, Be A Pilot president. "Moreover, FAA data shows that 2002 student pilot certificate issuances hit 39,733 in July, also up 4 percent — the best pace since 1993."
Model-airplane team to try again
A team of five engineers from Maryland who attempted to fly a "true" model airplane (one weighing less than 11 pounds) across the Atlantic Ocean and set an international record say they will try again. (A 30-pound drone has previously crossed the Atlantic.) Three of the four models they took to Canada for the attempt lie at the bottom of the ocean. One made it 479 sm before encountering a storm that it couldn't handle.
Vickers Vimy sets sights on Atlantic
The Vickers Vimy replica team is planning to launch next year on its most historically significant journey, a transatlantic flight. To honor the first 100 years of flight, the team plans to re-create the 1919 flight on which John Alcock and Arthur Whitten-Brown flew from Newfoundland to Ireland in 16 hours and 12 minutes under extreme conditions.
Wright Flyer may launch from carrier
It's not exactly a first-line fighter, but a replica of the world's first powered aircraft may appear on the flight deck of the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier in February or March, according to the Dayton Daily News. There are even plans to fly it down the deck. The Navy has invited Dayton-area resident Nick Engler, founder of an educational program called the Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company, to display a replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer on the ship.
To sign up for the free AOPA ePilot or to view the archive, see AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org/members/files/pilot/epilot/).
New jets, improved turboprops at NBAA
Cessna's introduction of the new Citation Mustang highlighted the National Business Aviation Association's (NBAA's) annual trade show in Orlando, Florida, in September. The smallest in the current Citation lineup, the $2.3 million (2002 dollars) jet is designed to compete in the emerging personal jet market. It is to carry two pilots and four passengers in the club configuration. Certification is expected in mid-2006. Cessna also introduced the Citation CJ3, a stretched version of the CJ2.
The New Piper Aircraft, meanwhile, announced a gross weight increase that translates into a higher useful load in new-production Malibu Meridians. The 235-pound useful load increase comes via aerodynamic and airframe mods — adding vortex generators and making structural beef-ups to the wing spars. New Meridians will have a maximum gross takeoff weight of 5,092 pounds, up from the earlier versions' 4,850 pounds. The useful load upgrade will not be offered as a retrofit on Meridians produced to date.
The launch of EADS Socata's new TBM 700C2 has been confirmed. The new airplane will offer a maximum payload with full fuel of nearly 900 pounds. Compared to earlier TBM 700s, this allows a considerable expansion of the airplane's payload/range envelope. The new C2 can fly as far as 1,678 nm with NBAA IFR reserves. Stronger wings, wheels, and tires make the increase possible.
And Williams International has initiated development and certification of its Williams-Rolls FJ44-3 turbofan engine at its Walled Lake, Michigan, facilities. It is rated at 3,000 pounds of sea-level static takeoff thrust. The engine incorporates next-generation technology, such as a new higher-flow fan utilizing Williams wide-sweep fan technology. With a thrust-to-weight ratio of more than 5-to-1, the FJ44-3 met its thrust and aggressive fuel consumption goals on its first development engine run. The FJ44-3 builds on its predecessor FJ44-1 and FJ44-2 engines.
For complete NBAA coverage, see AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org/members/nbaa02.html).
Iowa lawyer wins Sporty's Skyhawk
When Hal Shevers of Sporty's Pilot Shop called up the Iowa attorney general's office to give away an airplane, he was met with some skepticism. The winner of the $180,000 Skyhawk 172SP, John Baty, who serves as an assistant attorney general, was on vacation at the time. Shevers was able to prove that it was a legitimate deal after he directed one of Baty's colleagues to the Sporty's Web site where he could view Shevers and the company staff waving via an Internet camera. Baty's office was able to get in touch with him in England to tell him the good news. He currently owns a Beechcraft F33A Bonanza. In the past 16 years, Sporty's has awarded 19 airplanes. The 2003 sweepstakes airplane also will be a Skyhawk SP.
Squawk Sheet
The FAA on September 19 issued an airworthiness directive that mandates the inspection of 600 more Lycoming crankshafts. The new AD supersedes an emergency AD in late August that required immediate replacement of crankshafts in more than 850 turbocharged Lycoming TIO-540 engines. The new AD requires metallurgical inspection of crankshafts within a prescribed time-in-service interval, based on date of manufacture. The new AD affects all aircraft equipped with a Lycoming TIO-540 (turbocharged at the factory or aftermarket) rated at 300 horsepower or more with crankshafts installed from March 1997 to the present. The engines are found on Piper Mojave, Navajo, Malibu Mirage, Saratoga, and Aerostar models, as well as the turbocharged Cessna Stationair. Coinciding with the new AD, Lycoming announced a "customer care package" aimed at providing compensation to aircraft owners affected by the series of crankshaft ADs.
Members in the news
Jerome F. Lederer, AOPA 000021, is one of AOPA's oldest members. On September 26 the Laguna Woods, California, resident turned 100. Lederer was one of the original charter members of AOPA, No. 21, having joined in 1939. Lederer was born when powered flight was still just a dream, and was fascinated by flight from a very early age. He received one of the earliest aeronautical engineering degrees and went to work for the Air Mail Service, the world's first successful scheduled air transportation system. "Jerry Lederer's lifelong devotion to aviation and flight safety is inspirational," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "He was there at the founding of AOPA, and went on to create one of the world's preeminent organizations [Flight Safety Foundation] promoting commercial flight safety. Although never a pilot himself, he made the safety of those of us who are his life's work."
Phillip J. Poynor, AOPA 615389, has coauthored, along with Mark J. Holt, Air Carrier Operations. The book introduces aviation students to the significant FAA regulations that affect airline operations. The book focuses primarily on Part 121 air carrier operations, but other relevant parts are also covered. Poynor is associate professor of aviation at the State University of New York and was named the FAA Industry 2001 National Flight Instructor of the Year. Holt is a pilot for a major airline and holds Boeing 757/767 and BAE Jetstream 41 type ratings.
Amy Padgett-McCue, AOPA 1376580, has received a Wings of the Future scholarship worth $1,500 from The Ninety-Nines. She will use the funds toward an advanced degree in aviation education from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University through the school's long-distance learning program. She is an AOPA Airport Support Network volunteer at David Jay Perry Airport in Goldsby, Oklahoma.
Juan Merkt, AOPA 1038106, has been named chairman of Ohio University's Department of Aviation. Merkt joined the Ohio University faculty in 2000 after serving six years as director of the Aeronautics Program at Jacksonville University, Florida. Merkt is a commercial pilot and flight instructor and has more than 1,400 hours. He is currently serving a three-year term on the board of trustees of the Council on Aviation Accreditation, the agency that accredits university aviation programs in the United States.
