Frankenplane, a Cessna Skymaster that thinks it's a hang glider, first emerged as a hush-hush secret a few months prior to the 2003 Centennial of Flight. Senior Editor Alton K. Marsh waited a year until testing was nearly done before traveling to Daytona Beach to see it for himself. At the time, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University was between hurricanes, but a lull in the weather allowed three quick romping, bucking flights down the runway beneath a large fabric wing. Another hurricane hit days later but Frankenplane survived — it takes a lot to bring down a monster, after all. As you'll see in the story (see " Eagle Works," page 83), there is still secrecy about the project, but here's a hint: Some night if you should see commandos running out of your alley and you wonder how they got there, the answer is that they flew. And can a Skymaster do 300 knots? Stay tuned.
Some degree of risk is inherent in any venture, however benign. While we intuitively know this, quantifying the risk is often relegated to gut feel and guesswork. In " Turbine Pilot: Taking the Risk Out" on page 89, author John Sheehan has been examining ways to deal with risk in aviation through a lifetime of military, commercial, and private flying. Sheehan is now a consultant working with corporate flight departments on management and safety issues, regularly helping these operators refine risk management techniques. He says, "Most pilots rely on instinct and experience to avoid risky situations. Risk management techniques take go/no-go decisions out of your gut and put them into your brain."
Frequent contributor Rick Durden traveled to Ada, Oklahoma, to visit Tornado Alley Turbo to discuss its modification to the Beech B36TC Bonanza (see " A Performance Bonanza," page 76) that boosts its performance to the point that the airplane will carry four people for 1,000 nautical miles at 200 knots while burning only 17 gph. He then flew with the owner of the first airplane to go through the modification process, Kirk Heiser, and confirmed that it may be just the airplane for those who want to travel long distances rapidly without having to buy all the oil in the Middle East.
"It would have been hard to conceal my F-15 ride," relates author Tim Wright (see " How Low Do They Go?" page 70). "Between my ear-to-ear grin and the fact that my beard was suddenly missing, it was obvious to anyone who knows me that something was up." Wright (center) needed to shave his beard to fit his oxygen mask to accompany Air Force pilots Capt. Jared Santos (right) and Col. Creid Johnson (left) through a hot military operations area (MOA). "Invariably I was asked two questions in this order: 'How was it?' and 'Did you get sick?' The second question was obviously the most important as everyone took great glee in my response. But as the lady at my local Starbucks put it, 'It was worth every hurl.' By the way, my beard (which was old enough to vote) is well on its way back. Funny thing, though. My mom didn't even notice it was gone."
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