Pilot Briefing

Next-generation avionics help save pilot's life

An Alaska pilot has given credit to an electronic box for saving his life — and we're not talking about an emergency locator transmitter (ELT).

When Erick Gutierrez did not return to Bethel Airport one afternoon in late October, a search was initiated. The downed aircraft's ELT failed to activate, but the airplane had Capstone equipment. Air traffic controllers were able to look at the aircraft's ADS-B — automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast — ground track and vector a National Guard helicopter crew to pick up Gutierrez barely two and a half hours after he was reported missing.

Capstone, in which AOPA has been an active partner with the FAA, is a real-world implementation of multiple technologies in Alaska that can benefit general aviation. Capstone uses ADS-B to augment air traffic control (ATC) radar coverage. Using datalink, Capstone-equipped aircraft broadcast their GPS-derived locations to other aircraft and to air traffic control.

Controllers in Alaska are using Capstone's ADS-B capabilities to vector equipped aircraft to ILS approaches at airports without radar service. In addition, pilots can receive weather and traffic data in the cockpit via the datalink. Using the multifunction display (MFD) pilots receive near-real-time Nexrad weather radar along with textual weather. Other ADS-B-equipped aircraft are displayed on the MFD as well for collision avoidance. The datalink is also capable of receiving information from ground-based radar on non-ADS-B aircraft. An on-board terrain database displayed on the MFD with the GPS-derived position gives pilots increased positional awareness and helps prevent controlled flight into terrain.

"The more we see of Capstone's capabilities, the more we support the technology's widespread deployment," said AOPA Director of Advanced Technology Randy Kenagy. "Improved search-and-rescue capabilities are just some of the advantages this datalink offers to GA pilots. Traffic information and near-real-time weather graphics will also help improve safety."

Fire-breathing Caravan

Honeywell announced a new engine conversion for the Cessna 208 Caravan. The mod swaps out the stock Caravan's PT-6 for a Honeywell 1,060-shaft horsepower (flat-rated to 850 shp) TPE-331-12 engine. Developed by Aero Twin Inc., of Anchorage, the Honeywell engine should reduce the standard Caravan's takeoff distance by 10 percent and increase its climb rate by 25 percent, to 2,000 fpm. In a floatplane-equipped Caravan, the 850 should shrink a water takeoff run to a mere 14 seconds, down from 30 to 40 seconds in the standard airplane, according to Aero Twin. The company also cites reduced fuel consumption and maintenance costs. Honeywell says the 850's overhaul interval is "nearly double" the Caravan's PT-6 3,600-hour TBO. — Alton K. Marsh

10 aerobatic pilots chosen to represent U.S.

Ten pilots have been chosen as members of the United States Unlimited Aerobatic Team to represent the United States at the World Aerobatic Championship in Lakeland, Florida, from June 25 through July 4. These top pilots were selected at the National Championships that took place in Denison, Texas, last September. The Unlimited category is the most difficult, featuring complex flying maneuvers that test the precision flying skill and physical endurance of the pilots. Held every other year since 1960 in locations throughout the world, the World Aerobatic Championship represents the "Olympics" of aerobatics competitions. The men's team members are Steve Andelin, Robert Armstrong, Kirby Chambliss, Mike Mangold, and David Martin. On the women's side are Marta Meyer, Debby Rihn-Harvey, Julie Mangold (wife of Mike Mangold), Chandy Clanton, and Vicki Cruse.

Now Online

The 2002 AOPA Pilot "Editorial Index" of articles that have been published in the past 12 months (and which previously appeared on these pages) is now available on AOPA Online. The index and those from previous years are available electronically in the members-only section ( www.aopa.org/members/files/pilot/category_index.shtml). The electronic index includes links to the text of indexed articles. Article titles are in boldface type while subject listings appear in italics. Book, software, and videotape titles appear in bold italics.

Tricks you can use when filing GPS direct

We're in the infancy of the GPS era, an exciting time in which GA pilots are leading the way, but it's one fraught with growing pains. Controllers of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and New York City were interviewed recently for their tips on when and how to file GPS direct.

Boiled down, here is their advice: VFR? Go where you want, but stay well clear of busy airspace or use flight-following services. Controllers prefer you stay away from even those VORs just outside of Class B airspace if they are used as arrival or departure fixes. IFR? You can fly direct for hours across the hinterlands, but around busy airspace, stay on airways.

There aren't any GPS routes in and around Class B airspace, and it isn't a situation that AOPA likes very much. For years, AOPA has worked with NATCA and the FAA to solve the current problem of 40- to 70-mile reroutes around Class B areas. AOPA recently renewed the effort and is calling on FAA air traffic control officials to provide routes that won't affect other operations.

As a side issue, one controller in New York said some GA pilots know less about their location when using GPS than when flying on airways using VORs.

"Here's a common scenario," the controller said. "A pilot will report that the aircraft is 93.2 nm on a 039 bearing from J.F.K. I will answer, 'That's nice. Now, can you give me your position within three to five miles relative to an airport, navaid, or VFR reporting point so I can figure out if you are in my airspace?'" The response is usually, "Uhh, stand by," followed by five minutes of silence from the pilot.

The controller said he has perfected his response to such pilots. "I once responded, 'And I'm 1,329 miles on a 087 bearing from my mom's house. As soon as you can figure out where I'm located, I'll try to figure out where you're located.'"

What follows are some tips from Bruce Morey, a SOCAL (Southern California Approach) controller and NATCA's representative for the Western Pacific Region on RNAV (area navigation) and GPS issues.

• Do not plan to fly direct to or from an airport in busy airspace. Such routes will never be cleared as filed. This is particularly true along the East and West coasts and in Florida, but it applies to busy airspace anywhere. Outside busy airspace and away from the coastal corridors, IFR GPS direct seems to work.
• Use standard instrument departure (SID) and standard terminal arrival routes (STARs) if published for your class of aircraft. Filing a SID and then transitioning to a VOR for departure, then filing en route direct to a VOR that begins a STAR is a smart move. This route may be approved as filed.
• If no SID or STAR exists for your airport, try to determine "entry fixes" and "exit fixes" for your departure and destination airports. This takes some detective work. Look over the airway structure near the airport. Over which VORs or intersections do SIDs or STARs for nearby airports route aircraft? These can provide clues about the route to expect.
• If departing an airport in a busy airspace area, choose an en route VOR near the departure airport, and then file airways until you reach a VOR outside the metropolitan area. From that point on file direct to a VOR that is a reasonable distance outside the destination's metropolitan area, then file airways to the initial approach fix for the destination.
• Always take terrain into account. Look over the published IFR departure procedure and published approaches for your destination. Include them in your route. Check to be sure you can comply with IFR altitude minimums on any filed direct routes.
• Do not file GPS-direct routes that will take you into special-use airspace such as restricted areas, prohibited areas, or military operations areas. You will definitely be rerouted around such areas.
• When giving your position to ATC, always reference a nearby VOR or airport. Almost all GPS units have a Nearest button to provide a nearby VOR. Use it! — AKM

Robinson R44 makes history on polar expedition

British pilots Steve Brooks and Quentin Smith made rotorcraft history earlier this year when they were the first to fly a piston-powered helicopter to the North Pole. Things got a little interesting there for a while when drifting ice moved their fuel depot for the Robinson R44. Smith left Brooks on the ice with a tent, rifle, and a handheld radio so that he could search for the fuel. Ten hours later, they were back in business. The pair then flew on to the geographic North Pole.

Squawk Sheet

For the fourth time in 2002, the FAA took airworthiness action on certain 540-series Lycoming engines. Under the new airworthiness directive (AD), owners who replaced defective bolts under the previously issued AD may be required to remove and replace the bolts once again. This time, the agency issued a final AD on Lycoming crankshaft retaining bolts. AD 2002-23-06, applicable to Lycoming AEIO-540, IO-540, LTIO-540, O-540, and TIO-540 engines with part number STD-2209 crankshaft retaining bolts installed, supersedes Emergency AD 2002-20-51 issued in early October. The new AD requires operators of engines that had crankshaft retaining bolts replaced during field overhaul or maintenance from November 27, 1996, to the present — and engines repaired at Lycoming between November 27, 1996, and November 10, 1998 — to replace the defective bolt with a new retaining bolt contained in Lycoming kit number 05K19987.

ePILOT Headliners

Recent news from AOPA's weekly e-mail newsletter.

More layoffs at Cessna

Cessna Aircraft Company will lay off additional workers during the first three months of 2003, The Wichita Eagle reported. The newspaper obtained a copy of a memo from Cessna Chairman Russ Meyer to employees about the job cuts. Cessna officials confirmed the layoffs and told AOPA ePilot they have not determined the number of employees affected.

Mooney tries to boost profits

Mooney Aerospace Group's new CEO, Nelson Happy, has trimmed two top managers to improve the company's profitability. Let go were former CEO L. Peter Larson and Operations Manager Dale Ruhmel. Ruhmel's expertise was with multiengine and high-end aircraft, talents Mooney apparently doesn't require given renewed focus on single-engine aircraft production.

Embry-Riddle to train cadets

The initial delivery of six Diamond DA20-C1 Falcon aircraft to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University for use at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, took place at the Diamond Aircraft factory in London, Ontario. Utilizing 35 DA20-C1 Falcon aircraft, Embry-Riddle will train as many as 500 Air Force cadets annually. The Falcon, named in honor of the U.S. Air Force Academy mascot, is a custom version of Diamond's standard two-seater.

NTSB releases final report on glider crash

The NTSB has issued a final report on the 1999 glider crash in Nevada that took the lives of two pillars of the aviation community, Don Engen and Bill Ivans. The NTSB concluded that the probable cause of the accident was "the pilot's excessive use of the elevator control during recovery from an inadvertently entered spin and/or spiral dive during which the glider exceeded the maximum permissible speed," resulting in structural failure of the wings.

Safire finds new funding

Safire Aircraft Company, located in West Palm Beach, Florida, has received additional funding from a Swiss syndicate to carry development of its six-seat S-26 twin-engine personal jet through the first flight, scheduled to occur early in 2004.

Diamond gets gross weight increase

Diamond Aircraft's two-seat DA20-C1 has received FAA approval for a maximum gross weight increase to 1,764 pounds. This gives the aircraft a useful load of about 600 pounds, depending on the configuration. The gross weight increase is applicable to all U.S.-registered DA20-C1s and does not affect the Utility category certification, according to the company.

To sign up for the free AOPA ePilot or to view the archive, see AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org/members/files/pilot/epilot/).

Glacier Girl returns to the air

Rebuild it and 20,000 airplane enthusiasts will come. That was the estimated crowd on hand recently to watch as Glacier Girl, a Lockheed P-38 Lightning rescued in Greenland, took off for the first time after being renovated.

On a cloudy October day, test pilot Steve Hinton guided the warbird down the taxiway at the Middlesboro-Bell County Airport in Kentucky. Its twin 1,225-horsepower engines then lifted the 60-year-old plane off the runway for a 30-minute flight. Looking on with pride was Roy Shoffner, who led the drive to recover and restore the plane, and Bob Cardin, the crew chief who managed the restoration project.

It was the first time the airplane had taken to the skies since it made an emergency landing in Greenland on July 15, 1942. The plane was part of the Lost Squadron, a group of P-38s forced to land in Greenland after encountering bad weather on a flight to England. The pilots were rescued, but the planes were left behind. Fifty years later, Shoffner helped finance an expedition to retrieve one of the airplanes from beneath 268 feet of ice — that's more than 25 stories deep.

Brad McManus, one of the original pilots from the Lost Squadron, was on hand to see Glacier Girl fly. "I can't tell you how thrilled I am to see it," he said, "and to share this time with all the people who made it happen." McManus was also in Greenland the day the first pieces were recovered from the ice. Glacier Girl was raised on July 15, 1992, the fiftieth anniversary of the emergency landing.

Also on hand for the first flight was Bill Thuma. Thuma was the geophysicist who used radar technology to locate the plane in 1985. With signs welcoming first flight spectators posted at most Middlesboro businesses, he joked that the plane was easier to find this time.

"I've been involved in a number of things like this over the years," Thuma said as the plane waited to taxi onto the runway. "Usually, they don't end this way," he added, but the Glacier Girl crew "had the belief, the mission, and the money."

Cardin spent almost seven days a week for the past 10 years overseeing the restoration. He attributed the success of the project to the support of the aerospace industry. More than 150 sponsors contributed to the project.

"People used to ask me why I did this thing," Shoffner said. "I know I did it for the veterans, those who laid in foxholes, and heard the engines on those planes, and felt like everything would be OK."

Shoffner said the P-38 will make appearances in warbird shows, and he hasn't forgotten the initial mission of the Lost Squadron. He's looking for sponsors to take Glacier Girl across the Atlantic to England to complete her 60-year-old mission. The project also has been documented by a History Channel crew, and a documentary on the project is scheduled to air in March. — Karen Combs

Members in the news

Dean G. Greenblatt, AOPA 888921, has been appointed by Gov. John Engler to serve on the Michigan Aeronautics Commission. The commission is responsible for making and issuing rules and regulations governing the location, design, building, equipping, and operating of all airports and other aeronautical facilities. Greenblatt has accumulated more than 3,000 hours as a flight instructor and ATP for USAir and Kitty Hawk AirCargo. He is also an AOPA Legal Services Plan attorney licensed in Michigan and Florida.

James M. Rushing, AOPA 1031475, has been appointed Wing Commander of the Tennessee Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. He is an instrument-rated private pilot and the owner of a Cessna 182. He is also a volunteer pilot for AirLifeLine.

Clifton Berry, AOPA 787109, has published Milestones of the First Century of Flight about the history of flight both within and beyond the Earth's atmosphere. The book notes the achievements of pioneers such as Alberto Santos-Dumont, Glenn Curtiss, and Harriet Quimby. It covers firsts such as the parachute jump, jet engine, and transatlantic flight. Published by Howell Press, the hardcover book sells for $34.95. To order, call 800/868-4512 or visit your local bookstore.

David Koch, AOPA 1418149, and Christine Koch, AOPA 1062850, have published False Security. The book is a behind-the-scenes look at some of the airlines' least-talked-about dirty little secrets. Pilot suicide and pilot impairment are covered in depth. David is a former United Airlines captain and Christine is a former corporate pilot. The book is available from The Aerospace Trust Press for $19.99. See the Web site ( www.aerospacetrust.com).

The Wright power

BY THOMAS A. HORNE

The Wright brothers were the quintessential American tinkerers who hit the big time. But their creations were more original in some areas than in others. For example, the now-traditional structural concept of the airplane was fairly well evolved by the early nineteenth century, when Englishman Sir George Cayley made his manned glider flights. Cayley's wings had no ailerons, but there was a rudder for yaw control, and crude elevators could be adjusted to make corrections in the pitch axis. Cayley's wings even had dihedral. From his gliding sorties — and studies of bird flight — German Otto Lilienthal, like Cayley, understood that the wing chord must be cambered just so in order to produce optimum lift. And American Octave Chanute — a railroad and bridge engineer — devised the biplane concept and the enduring Pratt-truss method of rigging wing structures, in addition to sponsoring his own glider flights along the sands of Lake Michigan.

Many others made equally significant contributions to the Wrights' storehouse of knowledge, but there were some gaping holes. Aerodynamic stalls weren't understood (though they had been experienced firsthand), and no one could figure out a method of controlling a flying machine in the roll axis.

Propulsion systems also remained a vexing problem. French electrical engineer Clément Ader used an 18- to 20-horsepower steam engine to power his Eole Monoplane 165 feet on October 9, 1890. It was the first piloted, powered flight of an airplane, but Ader himself admitted the flight was "tentative," and in no way could be considered a controlled or sustained flight. Steam engines — state of the art in those days — were too heavy for use in an airplane.

The Aerodrome designed by Smithsonian Institution Secretary Samuel P. Langley used a five-cylinder, gasoline-powered radial engine of 45 hp, designed by Stephen M. Balzer and modified by Langley's assistant, Charles Manly. But the 730-lb (with pilot) tandem-winged, catapult-launched Aerodrome crashed not once, but twice into the Potomac River (it took off from a houseboat) on October 7 and December 8, 1903. Manly, the hapless pilot, survived both dunkings.

The Wrights, of course, triumphed on the sands of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, just nine days after the Aerodrome's last flight. What gave them the edge over their predecessors? Better control systems, sure, but propulsion — particularly the propellers — gave the Wrights advantages that no one before possessed.

Wilbur Wright wrote that his interest in flying dated back to Lilienthal's fatal glider accident of 1896. Like Lilienthal, Wilbur was a student of bird flight, and he wrote, "My observations of the flight of buzzards led me to believe that they regain their lateral balance when partly overturned by a gust of wind, by a torsion of the tips of the wings." Thus was born one of the more important seminal achievements of the Wrights: wing-warping as a method of roll control.

The Wrights' advances in propulsion were equally significant. They thought about using an automobile engine, but knew that it would be too heavy for their Flyer. So they built an engine of their own. Charles Taylor, a machinist in the Wrights' bicycle shop, did most of the engine work. The finished product was a four-cylinder, aircooled, 12-hp engine that weighed 140 pounds.

Although propellers had been used in previous designs, technical data quantifying their performance was absent. Airscrews, they were called, and people reasoned they'd work pretty much like aerial equivalents of their namesakes — the propeller screws that power boats and ships. Visits to the Dayton Public Library showed that this data was almost useless. The Wrights had to develop their own formulas for optimum propeller performance. They made another seminal discovery: Propellers were simply rotating wings.

The brothers figured they'd need 90 pounds of thrust to make their 605-lb Flyer airborne. To achieve that value, the propellers were given eight-and-a-half-foot diameters, carved by hand (using hatchets in the early steps) out of three layers of spruce, laminated, covered with canvas, and then painted. The blades were twisted so as to make them 66-percent efficient. The proper amounts of camber for each propeller section were derived from the information the Wrights used in designing the Flyer's wings — information gleaned with the help of a homemade wind tunnel.

Why two propellers? To achieve enough thrust. Why counterrotating propellers? The Wrights knew from the start that propellers created torque and turning effects. To cancel them out, one propeller's drive chain was twisted, making the propellers turn in different directions. And turn slowly. The Wrights knew that slower-turning propellers were more efficient than faster ones.

How did the Wrights know about propeller torque effects? One theory has its roots in the Wrights' childhood. In the early 1870s, Alphonse Pénaud, a French marine engineer, developed several rubber-band-powered flying toys that had crude pusher propellers. When wound up and released, the toys always flew in a circle. The Wrights reportedly had Pénaud flying toys as youngsters, and presumably remembered the turning behavior of those single-propeller devices.

Twin counterrotating propellers, efficient thrust levels, reduction-gear drives (the sprocket-and-chain arrangement), empirical data from wind tunnels, stability and control methods — all concocted by two self-taught, highly motivated bicycle manufacturers relieved of the burden of a conventional advanced education.

E-mail the author at [email protected].

This month in GA

I have a feeling that there is just about one more good flight left in my system and I hope this trip is it. Anyway, when I have finished this job, I mean to give up long-distance stunt flying. — Amelia Earhart, 1937

January 26, 1893. Bessie Coleman, the first black stunt and exhibition flier, is born in Atlanta, Texas.

January 25, 1926. The six-seat Stinson SM-1 Detroiter — the first airplane with a heated, soundproof cabin, electric starter, and wheel brakes — makes its first flight.

January 2, 1928. Charles Lindbergh is named Time magazine's first Man of the Year.

January 11, 23, 1935. Amelia Earhart becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to the American mainland.

January 13, 1936. Howard Hughes sets a transcontinental speed record in Jacqueline Cochran's Northrop Gamma 2G, modified with an 850-horsepower Wright Cyclone. He flies from Burbank, California, to Newark, New Jersey, in nine hours, 27 minutes at an average speed of 259 mph, earning the Harmon Trophy.

January 1, 1937. Howard Aircraft Corporation is formed, producing commercial versions of the DGA cabin monoplanes, each custom-built by Benny Howard and Gordon Israel.

January 5, 1939. Amelia Earhart is declared legally dead after her round-the-world flight is lost over the Pacific Ocean, reportedly near Howland Island, with navigator Fred Noonan.

January 11, 1943. Franklin Delano Roosevelt becomes the first president to fly while in office, in a Boeing 314 Clipper, the Dixie Clipper. Roosevelt flew to Casablanca and back, and on the return trip celebrated his sixty-fifth birthday. The first designated presidential aircraft was a Consolidated C-87A Liberator Express.

January 29, 1973. Emily H. Warner becomes the first female pilot hired by a U.S. scheduled airline when she accepts the position of second officer on a Frontier Airlines Boeing 737. For the rest of her story, see " Pilots: Emily Howell Warner," September 2001 Pilot.

January 26, 1988. Gulfstream chairman and pilot Allen Paulson sets an eastbound around-the-world speed record in a Gulfstream IV, completing the trip in just under 37 hours — 8.5 hours faster than the previous record held by a Boeing 747SP jumbo jet.

January 1, 1991. Phil Boyer, a former ABC television senior vice president and longtime general aviation pilot, becomes president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. He is the third president of the organization, which was founded in 1939. — Compiled by Julie S. Walker

While we cannot list all of the significant aviation events of the past 100 years, we welcome your comments and suggestions. Please send letters to AOPA Pilot This Month in GA, Attn. Julie Walker, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, Maryland 21701.