Letters from our July 2016 issue

I enjoyed Mike Busch’s article, “Savvy Maintenance: What Does ‘Airworthy’ Mean?” I don’t think Sam is responsible. He played no part in getting the airplane inspected. Bob was free to take it wherever he desired. Bob hired his own expert and relied on his opinion to make the decision to purchase the airplane. I would think that the mechanic would have the greatest liability in this case, if anyone does.

 

I also think that Bob is very lucky that things turned out like they did. Finding those problems is costly and I feel for the guy, but it’s better to find them in a shop instead of in the air.

T.G. Smith
AOPA 1234160
Austin, Texas

The shop that did an eddy current inspection of the heads is at fault in this mess. An eddy current inspection of this area is an unusual practice.

While there is nothing wrong with this, as an exercise of interest, the customer should have been advised up front about it. It should have been explained that it is beyond industry standards. The shop should not have based any decision making on the results, nor advised the owner one way or another. The owner should have been given the information, of course. But the owner needed to be advised of the experimental nature of the data and to seek a second opinion. The shop should have researched what the data presented meant.

As an aside, the owner could have withheld approval until he had performed due diligence on the issue. The owner would have found the true nature of what the shop was doing. This would have given him a clear understanding of the problem, and the value of the shop’s work.

Philip Esdaile
AOPA 1008467
Woodland, California

Excellent, very relevant piece (“Proficient Pilot: Pulling it Around”). I add decreasing energyautopilot altitude-hold operation (no auto-throttle) to the “gotchas.”
Chris Zwingle
AOPA 1231583
Burlingame, CaliforniaTraining right

I can’t think of a better “Dogfight” match-up than John King and Rod Machado (“Dogfight: The Airman Certification Standards”). Both leaders have terrific track records helping to safely increase the pilot population.

I learned to fly in the mid-sixties via a veteran CFI and Bill Kershner’s Student Pilot Flight Manual. I think the first time I actually read a regulation was just prior to taking the private pilot knowledge test. That was then. This is now.

My flying experience has shown me that the more rules that are written, the less we use our heads. We certainly need basic standards to impart, and any spike in prangs usually results in more rules. Precluding prangs is what we do, by any means that seem to work.

Douglas Smith
AOPA 263699
Hoover, Alabama

I enjoyed Alton K. Marsh’s article on the Bellanca Viking (“Budget Buy: Low-Cost Speed”). I’ve owned five of them, the first a 1969 model. Currently flying a 1998 with an IO-550. It is truly a delight to fly.
David W. Alger
AOPA 356960
Lago Vista, TexasAhead of its time

“The Eagle Rises” in July AOPA Pilot brought back many memories. I was in charge of the FAA aircraft engineering program in the Southwest Region during the certification of the Windecker Eagle. This aircraft was truly ahead of its time and composite construction was in its infancy. The prototype aircraft entered a flat spin and the company test pilot bailed out. The aircraft then flat spun to the ground. After putting the strake on the tail and removing weight from the tail section, the flat spin problem was solved. The article stated that Windecker never got into production as they ran out of money. The major problem was that they could not come up with production drawings for the composite materials and processes.

Glen W. Welsh
AOPA 863771
Decatur, Texas

Trimmed out

I understand Barry Schiff’s point of view on trim in “Proficient Pilot: Pulling it Around,” and I support it for the usual private pilot, single-engine land. As an almost exclusively glider pilot I have a slightly different view.

Most glider pilots spend the greatest part of their flying in thermals at a 45-degree bank, pulling a couple of Gs; a two- or three-hour fight can get mighty tiring in that configuration. Trimming out the stick forces relieves that stress—the glider pilot learns to handle the problems of flying two or three knots above stall. Gusty thermals teach this quickly, and a good instructor will instill the alertness to the problems. As a matter of fact, many of us frequently use the trim knob as a substitute elevator control.

Nyal Williams
AOPA 1174165
Greensboro, North Carolina

Back in the day

In “Waypoints: A Summer To Remember,” Thomas B. Haines references the declining sales of new aircraft but doesn’t mention what I believe is the major factor. When I began flying in the mid-1960s, a new Cessna two- or four-seater could be bought for less than $10,000, if my recall is correct. My soon-to-be bride had a Dodge Dart, for which she paid a grand sum of $1,800. In 2016, a new Dart or equivalent can be had for perhaps 10 times that figure, which is about in line with inflation. A new airplane, however, is more like 100 times the price back then. If a new Cessna 172 or 182 could be had for less than $100,000, many more would be sold, but when they cost the better part of a million bucks they are out of reach of most individuals.

Cost is the real reason so many are turning to legacy airplanes; they are affordable. My beautiful ’69 Cessna 182M is close in performance to a new 182, but is only valued at around $50,000 to $60,000, a fraction of what a new one would cost. I bought it in 1986 for $17,500 and will likely hang on to it until I draw my last breath.

Dwane Koppler
AOPA 450816
Springfield, Missouri

Shot down

The answer to July’s “Test Pilot” question 5 is not the last instance of an enemy aircraft being downed by a pilot with a handgun. A bit over two years later, pilot Lt. Duane Francies and his observer, Lt. William Martin, spotted a German Fieseler Storch while flying an L–4 Grasshopper. Gunfire from their Colt .45s forced the Storch pilot into descending circles until the airplane’s right wing hit the ground, the airplane cartwheeled, and it came to rest in a pasture. Francies landed nearby, and the two of them captured and held the German crew until local units of the 5th Armored Division arrived. Duane Francies eventually received a Distinguished Flying Cross for this dogfight.

William Popendorf
AOPA 1080056
Bainbridge Island, Washington

Errata

In “Cuba Bound” (July 2016 AOPA Pilot), we incorrectly identified the decade when a communist government came to power in Cuba. A communist government took control in 1959; the United States severed diplomatic relations in 1961.

In “ASI Chart Challenge: Don’t Hit the Glass Ceiling” (August 2016 AOPA Pilot), we incorrectly described the ceiling of Manassas Regional Airport’s Class D airspace in feet above ground level. It is 2,000 feet msl.

AOPA Pilot regrets the errors.

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Hangar Talk

“It’s kind of like sending your child off to college,” said Senior Editor Jill W. Tallman. “When you see him again, you know he’s going to be completely different.” The child in this case is the AOPA Sweepstakes Cessna 172, which has been at Yingling Aviation in Wichita since March, undergoing its Ascend transformation. And what a transformation. While the airplane’s exterior still wears a motley 1970s-era paint scheme, the inside is another story. “The panel upgrades to this airplane make it one of the hottest Skyhawks out there,” said Tallman (“Power Panel,” p. 72). She traveled to Wichita in July to pick up the 172 and bring it to Oshkosh for the 2016 EAA AirVenture. “It was my first time flying into the big show. That’s something I’ve wanted to do since I started going to Oshkosh—and to arrive in an AOPA sweepstakes airplane just made it that much better.”