Letters from our January 2018 issue

The article about the upset glider instructor (“Savvy Maintenance: Where’s the Smoking Gun?”) struck a responsive chord with me. In my parallel world of “the doctoring business,” we see a similar issue every day.

A patient presents with a baffling complaint. The doctor listens, examines, and tests. A professional opinion or explanation is offered, but no definitive diagnosis, cure, or solution is found. The patient is unsatisfied with the outcome. Similar to the upset CFI’s blast to the club membership, the situation may escalate and become personal. In the doctoring business, if an attorney smells money and notoriety, the case goes far beyond the personal level.

I don’t have the advertised credentials of the upset CFI. Nor am I a senior A&P like the club mechanic who received the brunt of the criticism. However, I do have a lot of years in the oral surgery business, and I have something that works well for me.

Freely utter the words, “I don’t know,” without feelings of guilt or personal failure. Encourage the unhappy party that a second or even a third professional opinion be sought. Wish them good fortune and note your request that if the answer is discovered, please let us all know because we really do care.

Lastly, remind them that we are all human. As such, we are subject to shortcomings, failures, and the inability to decipher all that is wrong with the world.

Travis Witherington
AOPA 1359459
Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Just have to comment on the CFI response to the maintenance issue. I am an A&P/IA and CFII; my customers have to trust my work and instruction. Yes, I make mistakes; however, the instructor’s disregard for a mechanic’s repair and test flight is appalling. We have to trust each other, work together to keep GA as safe as possible. I suspect the CFI was newer and hopefully learned from all the trouble he caused.

Dave Forgac
AOPA 5835223
Northport, Alabama

Safety paradigm

I can’t believe I’m reading an AOPA article that advocates low flying (“Safety Spotlight: Training Paradigm”). This is not aerobatics with a waiver/low-altitude box but a promotion to fly so low as to endanger yourself and your passengers. This is the definition of buzzing.

Unless taking off or landing, the federal aviation regulations spell out altitude limitations. 

Roy Halladay was flying too low and killed himself. The proper response from AOPA is to point out how dangerous, unforgiving, and illegal this sadly was, not endorse said behavior. 

Jim Augspurger
AOPA 729140
Lake Wylie, South Carolina

Turbulent advice

Barry Schiff’s well-written and insightful column (“Proficient Pilot: Turbulent Advice”) on the significance of maintaining maneuvering/turbulence penetration speed is outstanding. It should be required reading for all flight students, as well as certificated pilots for flight reviews. Succinct and comprehensive, he stated more relevant information on one page than I’ve seen in book chapters and articles on the subject—another masterpiece. I will require my flight students to study “Turbulent Advice.”

Mike Banner
AOPA 1281885
Gainesville, Florida

Errata

A caption in “Flying Families” (February 2018 AOPA Pilot) incorrectly identified the man in a photograph held by Christian Schoemig as his grandfather. It was his father. Additionally, a line was cut off from this story; the full sentence should read, “John’s son Ron started flying at age 16 and also was instructed by his Uncle Glenn.” AOPA Pilot regrets the errors.

Additionally, a clarification: Christian Schoemig, who was featured in “Flying Families,” holds commercial privileges in airplane single-engine land, airplane single-engine sea, airplane multiengine land, airplane multiengine sea, helicopter, gyroplane, glider, and free balloon. According to FAA records, as of January 2016 he was one of five pilots to hold that combination of ratings.

Hangar Talk

“A general aviation airplane opens doors to adventure in ways no other vehicle can,” reminds Editor in Chief Tom Haines. As he reports in “Quest for Adventure,” page 52, the roomy Quest Kodiak turboprop, with its strong gear and cuffed wing, is an exceptionally good airplane for exploring remote regions, such as southern Utah.

“I’d been to Iceland many times, but usually just for a night, on a stopover ferrying small airplanes to or from the United States,” says Editor at Large Tom Horne. His 10-day stay for “Iceland Calls,” page 70, was a new way of experiencing the place. “From the grass strips to the glacier landings to flying with local pilots, it was eye-opening. And no matter how briefly you met someone, you’re instant friends. Take this guy building a homebuilt at Reykjavik. Mike Fizer and I walk up to meet him and he’s staring at us. ‘Do you remember me?’ he says. Finally something clicks—he’s the Icelandair 757 captain who flew us there! I didn’t recognize him out of uniform.”

Managing Editor Sarah Deener and her husband Matt Deener have gone skiing, biking, running, motorcycle riding, and more together—but they hadn’t gone flying and camping with their child, Naomi. “We’re both adventurous, and we have a tough kid who’s happy to be adventurous, so the first thought was fun,” Matt says. With his military background, he quickly shifted to logistics mode (“Kid Approved,” page 62). “My idea of camping was true, out-in-the-woods-by-ourselves camping. We would need food, water, sleeping equipment, et cetera. And because it was on the Great Lakes, where I’d spent very little time, I assumed it would be cold. What I found was more amenities than I could have asked for—I could have packed half the equipment that I did.”

“I really believed I’d be a natural at shooting skeet,” said Senior Features Editor Julie Summers Walker of her shooting experience in South Dakota (“The Royal Treatment,” page 80). “But I couldn’t coordinate the shot; I pulled the trigger every time I heard the handler yell ‘Pull!’ I also yelped each time I fired, so there was more laughter at me than anyone being impressed. I did eventually hit one target. That, however, was probably the beginning—and the end—of my shooting career.”