Letters from our March 2017 Issue

I enjoyed Julie Summers Walkers’ article about Sam and Conor Dancy’s visit to Ocracoke Island, North Carolina (“Outbound to Ocracoke”). My wife, Dixie, and I—along with kids, dogs, and now grandchildren—have been fly ing down to Ocracoke for more than 20 years. We started out in a Piper Tri-Pacer, then an E model Aztec, turbocharged F model, and now a Navajo. Counting the ferry ride, it is an eight-and-a-half-hour drive from our home in Virginia. It is 1 hour, 25 minutes in the airplane. That is a great example of one of the benefits of GA. We were on the island about the same time as they were, and concur; the off-season is the best. The weather is usually fantastic, water is still warm, fishing is great, and the crowds are gone.

Jim Lum
AOPA 4208377
Winchester, Virginia
Ocracoke, North Carolina

Buyer beware

Excellent article (“P&E: Buy...or Walk Away?”). I’ve purchased two airplanes in the past four years (Bonanza A36TC and a J–3 Cub) and have been fortunate so far. After reading this article, I’m sure I easily could have missed something. Great advice!

Jim Flanders
AOPA 8957606
Corona, California

Cuba bound

The latest issue of AOPA Pilot arrived while we were on our second visit to Cuba. The most pronounced changes from our 2012 trip were the blossoming of private restaurants and a lot of “house for sale” signs, both of which hint at a slow but steady move toward a market economy—or at least a mixed one. I concur with the article’s observation that in a communist country, everyone seems to be a capitalist.

Richard B. Jacobs

AOPA 787441

South Dartmouth, Massachusetts

The fine print

Baja California is also a great destination (“Going Places”). The hotel industry there was started by pioneering aviators like Abolardo Rodriguez, one-time president and founder of the Palmilla Hotel in Los Cabos and Rancho Las Cruses near La Paz. The airports and their comandantes are very friendly to general aviation, but there is sometimes fine print in the permits (written in Spanish, of course) that can cause problems. A recent case was the inclusion of “aircraft must leave Mexico by 31 December” that was in the fine print of the multi-entry permits issued to GA aircraft.

In prior years, aircraft owners could renew their permits while in the country or at the next re-entry. This year, numerous pilots were forced to pay fines of up to $4,000 U.S. to get permission to leave the country on or after January 1.

A number of pilots are fighting this ruling on the basis that the exit requirement does not exist in the Mexican aviation law, but only in a circular issued by the DGAC (Mexican FAA) to the airport comandantes.

Read all the small print!

Brian Conway
AOPA 434854
Newbury Park, California

Behind the curve

After reading Barry Schiff’s “Proficient Pilot: Flying Behind the Mental Power Curve,” I am looking at an entry in my logbook dated February 12, 1981. We’ve departed from Lonely in our Douglas DC–3 and landed at Deadhorse. Both are on the north coast of Alaska. A notation says the weather is “-X E80 BKN, ¼ BS, IC, RVR 700, Wind 40° left Rwy, wind 30 gust 35 kt, temp -30F.” In the remarks column is another notation: “Rt mag Rt Eng inop on runup. Flew it home that way.”

Why would a sane pilot fly all the way from the North Shore of Alaska to Anchorage with one mag not working? There are no hangars at Deadhorse. The wind is blowing 35 gusting to 40 miles per hour. The temperature is 30 degrees below zero.

It would take our C–123 three and a half hours to get to Deadhorse. Daylight would be waning. The wind would blow canvas shelters to shreds. There are no hotels at Deadhorse.

We took off with three mags working. But, we told our boss that the magneto quit while we were airborne. Of course, he knew the truth. But, this is Alaska. You do what you have to do to get the job done.

Tom Gribble
AOPA 289612
Gering, Nebraska

Operator error

I just read David Jack Kenny’s writeup in March 2017 AOPA Pilot (“Safety Spotlight: ‘Not Again’”). As the wife of a private pilot, I find myself saying the same thing when I hear news of a crash. Every time, I ask my husband, “How could that have happened?” and he reassures me flying can be extremely safe. He’s an A&P mechanic as well, so he knows most airplanes inside and out. He always says it’s operator error. I’ve been learning to fly with about three hours so far, but then I see another accident and it freaks me out about flying. Could it really be operator error? I had a hard time believing this, until I read this article.

With cars or motorcycles, we tend to be at ease when taking chances, and not every outcome works out. Luck shouldn’t ever be factored in, but many of us have done it. 

It seems that thought process is being used by pilots, when there really shouldn’t be a space for it in such a sport. From what Kenny is saying, flying is by the books. Stick to proper operation and enjoy the flight with precious cargo.

Rania Linderman
AOPA 4450419
Endicott, New York

Return on investment

Thomas B. Haines hit upon a valid topic in his article “Waypoints: Stretching Your Wings.” In a college economics course the professor used the term “utils” to explain return on investment. His example was on a hot day we might be willing to spend $5 for an ice cream cone. But a second or third cone would not have that value.

Likewise, the $100 hamburger may be very satisfying in our early aviation experience, but quickly loses its appeal.

Over the years I have flown for pleasure and business, and rented and owned aircraft. I’ve taken my mother, sons, and grandsons, along with many others, for their first rides. I’ve experienced many things that would not be possible but for GA. But now an hour’s drive to an airport for an hour flight no longer seems to afford the “utils” it once did. Sadly on a CAVU weekend afternoon, the skies are quiet, indicating that many others feel the same way.

Bob Paszczyk
AOPA 622360
Tinley Park, Illinois

Clarification

I was disappointed to read about the use of 123.45 for air-to-air communication during formation flight in Tom Lecompte’s article (“Technique: Keeping Station,” February 2017 AOPA Pilot). I realize he was reporting what he observed. Perhaps, an editor’s note about which frequencies are correct should have been added. The information is in the Aeronautical Information Manual; it is a shame pilots don’t use it.

Ed Lindsay
AOPA 1060680
Sarasota, Florida