Letters

Video killed the radio chopper

I enjoyed Phil Scott's story " Video Killed the Radio Chopper" (March Pilot). The story took me back to the 1970s and a part of my career with the New York City Police Department. We would fly traffic patrols and had a grant to test a black-and-white TV camera from the backseat of a Bell JetRanger. The tripod-mounted camera and long lens were so big that it stretched across the width of the ship, barely leaving room for me, the operator. Its 4-foot-tall antenna was stowed under the belly, which would extend down vertically to transmit. I would narrate my shots to headquarters as we flew along. At that time there were only two radio traffic helicopters operating in the city — WCBS Chopper 88 and WOR Chopper 710. The pilots flew solo and had to do it all themselves. Those FLIR cameras would have been great back then.

Frank Fabiani AOPA 1357445
Greensboro, Vermont

Back to the future

Memories surfaced after reading " First Look: Maule M-4-180V: Back to the Future" (March Pilot). I serviced a small fleet of Alouette II and Gazelle helicopters during the Alaska pipeline construction years for Livingston Copters using my trusty M-4, N9832M. When I was able to sneak off the job, my Maule was put into service supporting hunting and fishing trips on many Alaska rivers — or anywhere else that had 400 feet and a clear exit. Visions of stripping out to load up four caribou, the thrill of short final to a tight spot, and the un-thrill of coming out of the same (a Maule can land shorter than its takeoff distance) all come to mind. Most of the Piper Super Cub group scoffed at the kid with the Maule, but I got there 30 mph faster, hauled more, and stuck with them pretty well on the more common landing zones. Always the M-4 was better in rough air, and safer to land in gusty winds.

Mark D. Rose AOPA 908498
Albany, Oregon

Alexander Jefferson

Kudos to Phil Scott for profiling Alexander Jefferson of the famed Tuskegee Airmen (" Pilots: Alexander Jefferson," March Pilot). Let's have more such articles of those brave men. It never ceases to amaze me why African-Americans, referred to then as Negroes when whites were being polite, would risk their lives for a country that treated them as little better than slaves. It's a testament to their character.

On another note, I must take exception to Marc K. Henegar in his article " Keeping the Client Happy" (March Pilot) for talking out of school. It's fine to applaud those stars and public figures who are considerate by name, such as Gloria Estefan, Denzel Washington, Steve Martin, Bette Midler, Michael J. Fox, Ernie Els, and Tiger Woods, among others. To bad-mouth Mariah Carey seems to me to be unprofessional. I am neither a fan nor a detractor. It would have been more appropriate to refer to her as "a well-known person." If I were his employer, I would have taken him to the woodshed. Let's have more stories of the Tuskegee Airmen and other brave pilots of World War II as well as those from the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

Joe DiBlanca AOPA 1290417
Highland, New York

Trough talk

The article " Wx Watch: Trough Talk" is the best exposition on this phenomenon that I have ever read (March Pilot). I am 67, and I have been troubled by the concept of the trough aloft and similar phenomena for as long as I have lived. I hear the people on The Weather Channel talk about it, and I hear it discussed by flight service. I have read numerous books on weather, and I got to the point where I could parrot the right talk, but at a deeper level, I never really understood why low pressures aloft could generate weather. In a couple of paragraphs you solved the riddle: The colder the air, the lower the altitudes on constant pressure charts; the sharper the gradients, the more the difference between warm and cold air; the greater the difference, the worse the weather. Seems simple now.

George Mead Hemmeter AOPA 448026
Las Vegas, Nevada

A sad state of affairs

Barry Schiff's article about his hangar situation at Santa Monica Municipal Airport prompted me to respond (" Proficient Pilot: A Sad State of Affairs," March Pilot). I feel angry at the airport authority and the State of California for allowing such a situation to even exist. Schiff did a great job of pointing out all the pitfalls of being the average Joe in a world where money and status determine who wins and who loses. It's just another example of the loss of the little guy's voice in the modern society that America is today. Time for Schiff to move somewhere he can enjoy the retired lifestyle he worked toward, and not be at the mercy of political puppets of commerce. Find someplace with great flying weather, and less population density, and get out of that rat race called California.

Will Rossi AOPA 1247746
Riverside, New Jersey

I never thought I would think, let alone write, this about Barry Schiff: He is a whiny, spoiled pilot. He justifies selling a perfectly good, thoroughly enjoyable aircraft because he can't easily keep it pristine, pampered, and hangared, while 98 percent of us would give our wives, children, or dogs for the chance to even consider ownership of any airworthy machine, let alone one in a hangar. And where does he think this airplane will end up? In all likelihood, on a flight line or a school, hopefully with a cover, unless someone with far more money can afford to keep his little toy hangared next to his Socata TBM or Beechcraft King Air. While I am struggling to maintain ratings, rent, and squeeze in what flight time I can afford, and pay for AOPA membership and insurance, Schiff is jumping ship, in my mind, for a specious reason. Two pages later, Mark R. Twombly laments those pilots who fail to fly their airplanes sufficiently for proper maintenance because of a perceived cost (" Pilotage: The Cost of Not Flying," March Pilot). And in the same issue, Steven W. Ells discusses the limited availability and excessive costs of hangars (" Airframe & Powerplant: Give Me Shelter," March Pilot). New airplanes with just the panel equipment exceeding the value of my house are monthly paraded through my mailbox, taunting me, reminding me that unless I win the lottery or the AOPA Commander, take a chance on an overpriced used machine with tube radios and venturis, or settle for Tinkertoy light aircraft with no instrument capabilities, I will forever be limited to the rental fleet. A rental fleet that mostly sits outside (but that, in my case, is a newer and exceptionally maintained aircraft from Air Orlando Flight School at Executive Airport). I bless the owner of the Cessna 182 I rent every time I fly for having the money and guts to lease his airplane. I treat it as my own, and respect his investment. But I would prefer to own it. I would fly daily if I could, at least weekly, and hangared or not, make sure that bird was content and well cared for. Outside airplanes just need a bit more attention. And appreciation. Something Schiff seems to have lost. Truly, a sad state of affairs.

Eric Kuritzky AOPA 535509
Orlando, Florida

I was sorry to hear of Barry Schiff's loss of hangar space. The FBO at New Bedford Regional Airport in Massachusetts, where I keep my Beechcraft Debonair, just displaced 12 aircraft for a Bombardier Challenger. The Challenger will never have any work done by this FBO, and only buys a limited amount of heavily discounted fuel because of runway length. The FBO also spent more than $50,000 for a new door so the Challenger could get inside. All this for the same rent as the 12 displaced aircraft. Most of the 12 displaced aircraft had their annuals done by this FBO, were loyal customers for many years, purchased most of their fuel there, and brought their friends to this FBO to share in the fortunes of what they thought was a good place to do business. The worst indignity was that the FBO only gave the renters a few weeks' notice at most, some a few days, all the while knowing for the past few months this deal was in the works. The issue of Schiff's frustration over the mixed use of hangar space at the airport is a valid one. This past year a friend of mine became the airport manager at Nantucket Memorial Airport in Massachusetts. One of the first things he did was to serve notice to all the people who had hangars that were storing things such as cars, boats, and other nonaviation-related items. Some were running carpenter and plumbing shops as Schiff mentioned; all were told they had to move or the hangars would be taken from them. The federal funding that the airport used was not meant to support that type of use. He was also able to point out that the Homeland Security Department would not be happy with the shop personnel coming and going unchecked from the airport property. This could pose a security problem on the field. The end result was more hangars for airplanes — what an idea. I hope Schiff finds a way to keep his Explorer.

Jim Stevens AOPA 1082619
East Freetown, Massachusetts

Errata

In " Never Again: Failure to Flight Check," January Pilot, two errors were introduced in editing. The author did not operate the FBO in Hillsboro, Oregon. He was the operator of the FBO in Wenatchee, Washington, and was a Cessna dealer at Hillsboro; and in the second-to-last paragraph, the reference to "two pull strings" should have read "two pull springs."

Extreme Simple Green aircraft cleaner meets Boeing specs, not military specs, as was reported in February's " Pilot Products."

Pilot regrets these errors.

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 number on all correspondence, including e-mail. Letters will be edited for length and style.