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Letters: From our June 2016 issue

Farewell to a friend

Barry Schiff’s discussion of mourning a beloved family pet struck a chord with animal-loving readers.

I read Barry Schiff’s column “Proficient Pilot: IM SAFE (or not)” this morning. He is correct not to fly until his grief has had time to subside. I have lost a number of dogs, and my heart was broken to the point of physical pain. I don’t have human kids, so my dogs are the love of my life. The pain he described brought tears to my eyes, I am so sorry for his loss. Nothing will ever make the pain go away, but time will ease it a bit.

My Springer Spaniel Conway flew with me. He was so scared the first time, but when he saw birds out the window, he was like, “Dad, this is the best thing in the world.” After that he flew with me many times all over the western United States. He was my best friend, and I died a little when he died. I can never get that part of my life back, and neither will Schiff over Boychik.

I still look over where my buddy once sat in my airplane, and I think good thoughts now, but is takes to time to get there.

Until then, my prayers are with Schiff and his best friend Boychik.

Mike Samac
AOPA 705708
San Jose, California

Barry Schiff’s article “Proficient Pilot: IM SAFE (or not)” is one of the most touching accounts of losing a beloved animal companion. I feel with him in his grief over the loss of his dog Boychik, as I have gone through the same trauma several times myself. Maybe he’ll find in his heart to adopt another dog; they are such loyal creatures. Thank you for sharing this personal story with AOPA Pilot readers.

Rolf H. Scholz
AOPA 1164337
Columbus, Indiana

Barry Schiff’s most recent article about Boychik was very moving and at the same time a great safety lesson. Rarely do I get emotional, but the article triggered something within myself. I am truly sorry for his loss.
Ben Breck, AOPA 960881, Grand Junction, Colorado
Navion memories

I read Alton K. Marsh’s article about Navion N4110K (“Seeing is Believing”) with interest, realizing I had flown this airplane on my fifteenth birthday in 1978. My Civil Air Patrol squadron, based at Torrance Airport, flew to a weekend outing at Holtville Airport in Southern California. I got to fly N4110K from the right seat on the way home with our squadron commander, Mr. Griffin, at the controls. I don’t think I’ve seen Mr. Griffin since.

I’ve been a pilot since 1985 and an airplane owner since 1995. It seems every airport I’ve been based at has a poor Navion rotting somewhere on the parking apron. Each time I saw one it always made me wonder what became of the beautiful Navion I got to fly when I was a teenager. I’m happy to hear N4110K escaped that fate by being lovingly restored by her current owner.

My CAP time as a teen led to enlistment in the Air Force in 1981. Over a 27-year military career I went from airman basic to lieutenant colonel, and even after retiring from active duty, I continue to serve the Air Force as airfield manager at Edwards AFB as a civilian. I bet Roger Griffin would be interested to know that.

David M. Sampson
AOPA 901607
Tehachapi, California

In the summer of 1951, a herd of donkeys charged across the tarmac of Mexico’s Acapulco airport, tearing into a row of parked, private airplanes. Most of the aircraft, made of wood and fabric, were severely damaged. When one of the donkeys crashed into the left wing of an all-metal Ryan Navion, the collision was so fast and so violent that a main landing gear was lifted 10 inches off the ground. But although the donkey was badly injured, the Navion’s wing suffered only a minor dent.

When Salvador Mariscal, Navion’s Latin America distributor, recounted the tale to Ryan’s Bill Wagner—the most prolific aviation PR man of the 1940s and 1950s—Wagner quickly issued a press release headlined “Navion Demonstrated As ‘Jackass Proof.’”

George Gould
AOPA 961650
La Marque, Texas

Career choices

I have six words for Rod Machado’s advice in the article “License to Learn: Budget Buy”: Thank you, thank you, thank you!

As a retired airline pilot, current flight operations manager, a major university’s flight team assistant coach, active CFI and, most important, pilot recruiter at my former airline and current employer, I could not agree more with this advice. Rod echoes exactly the advice I keep giving to aspiring professional pilots. Thank you, Rod.

John Barbas
AOPA 1416542
New Albany, Ohio

A Western life

I do not wish to take away any of Bill Weimann’s accomplishments in Alpine, Wyoming. However, the airport did have a paved strip when he purchased it, unlike the article “Living A Western Life” suggests. The article also states that, “Weimann is credited with turning the privately owned airpark into one of the finest fly-in communities in the country.” I believe that in addition to Weimann, there is another individual who deserves much of the credit in creating this magnificent airpark. This individual is William H. Kibbie. The whole community was bought and developed many years ago by William Kibbie. The airstrip, while narrow, was paved and many Learjets, King Airs, and Citations landed there long before Bill Weimann bought the property. When Bill Kibbie started the community, the lots were a minimum of five acres and many were sold to pilots. The airpark was a spectacular place prior to Bill Weimann’s ownership. Mr. Weimann has done a fine job of carrying on, but William H. Kibbie deserves credit as building a paved airstrip, which hosted many airshows in the 1970s.

J.R. Maxedon
AOPA 5661337
Salt Lake City, Utah

Experimental avionics

Dave Hirschman’s article on avionics (“Technique: Experimental Avionics Show the Way”) reminded me of getting my first VFR GPS. I thought I always had trouble following the ILS. Was I overcorrecting? Was the wind shifting? Then I bought a Garmin 196 GPS. On one of my first flights after purchase I flew an ILS approach on a clear VFR day. As the Garmin 196 tracked me exactly down the centerline on approach, the certified, calibrated, TSO-approved ILS consistently wandered from side to side. It wasn’t my skills after all; it was the very expensive, “approved” electronics that I was required to have.

When Dynon gets approved for Cessna 182s I hope to install one in my airplane to replace the now-ancient technology required by current TSO rules. Thanks for keeping us informed.

Dwane Koppler
AOPA 450816
Springfield, Missouri

Wet sump, dry sump

In a “Test Pilot” answer, Barry Schiff writes, “In the horizontally opposed piston engines used in aviation, oil is stored in the crankcase.” That is not true for the tens of thousands of Continental 0-200 engines that have an external oil tank below the engine, and no oil is stored in the crankcase.

Arthur Dodd
AOPA 4344482
Jacksonville, Florida

Clarification

In “The Luftwaffe’s L-Bird,” June AOPA Pilot, we said Gerhard Fieseler was first to fly inverted for a sustained period of time. French pilot Adolphe Pégoud flew upside down in 1913, although it would be some time before Fieseler’s inverted fuel system would make such flights practical.

Erratum

In June AOPA Pilot, one of the photographs accompanying a description of D-Day in “This Month in Aviation” was not from the D-Day invasion. AOPA Pilot regrets the error.

We welcome your comments. Editor, AOPA Pilot, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, Maryland 21701 or email ([email protected]). Letters may be edited for length and style before publication.

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