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Talk back

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Autumn is in the air; chase after the last few summer sunsets. #flywithaopa @flywithaopa

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As the world slowly progresses away from fossil fuels, the race is on to determine what will replace them. While much of the focus thus far has been on battery-powered electric aircraft, a new company is betting that hydrogen will be the way forward.
bddy.me/2UrPGm4
@AOPA

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In this episode of ASI’s ‘There I Was,’ on a routine transport flight from Naples to Niagara Falls, Capt. Bruce Monnier and co-captain Gerald Downs experienced a dual engine flameout in their Cessna Citation II. #DEF #DieselExhaustFluid
Listen now: bddy.me/34eSZSrfacebook.com/aopapilots

Thanks for the memories

coms talk backSeeing the photo of Jill W. Tallman’s old airplane (“Bye-Bye, Baby,” September 2019 Flight Training) awakened many good memories. I shared similar sentiments after parting with my first airplane.

I also owned a Piper Cherokee 140. Like her, I made many long, wonderful flights in that airplane including Montgomery Field in San Diego to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and a round trip from Wilkes-Barre to Sun ’n Fun. Yes, they were slow, but I was trying to increase my hours! I earned my instrument ticket in that terrific little airplane. Like Tallman, I upgraded the panel, but ultimately wanted to upgrade my airplane. That Cherokee now has a good home at a neighboring field. The current owner uses my field for maintenance, so I often see my old friend when an annual is due.

Dave Speranza
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Job security

Great article and great message in “Job Security” (August 2019 Flight Training)! I am that guy you wrote about: spent way too much money for college and I actually did graduate with a degree in sociology (after changing three times in five years). I even went on to get my master’s degree, but while I was in school I worked part time as a carpenter. I enjoyed it so much for the next 35 years I was a carpenter/general contractor.

I have great respect for trade school. It’s a perfect fit for many, many high school graduates. Thanks for your encouraging article.

Flying? Oh yeah, I got my helicopter private pilot certificate last year at age 67. Never too old to try something new and difficult.

Steve Zimmerman
Camas, Washington

On a roll

First, thanks to Jill W. Tallman for all of her good writing. I’ve read her stuff since she started flying and working at AOPA and I think she does an outstanding job. Please keep it up!

As a CFI and aeronautical engineer, however, I take umbrage with the headline, “Ailerons: The Little Wings That Turn You” (September 2019 Flight Training). Had she said, “The Little Wings That Roll You,” I would be perfectly happy. The common misnomer that ailerons make an airplane turn make teaching good coordinated turns a huge challenge. Deflecting an aileron by some amount commands a particular rate of roll. Small aileron deflection, slow rate of roll; large aileron deflection, fast rate of roll. When the desired bank angle is achieved, the ailerons are returned to neutral to stop rolling. It’s then back-pressure or the horizontal component of lift that turns you. Turning and rolling are not the same thing.

The best article I’ve seen written anywhere regarding turns was Budd Davisson’s “The Common Turn,” in the February 2018 issue of Flight Training magazine.

Thanks for all you do!

Neil Cahoon
Camas, Washington

We welcome your comments. Please email [email protected]. Letters will be edited for style and space.

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