Letters: From our November 2019 issue

I loved finding Snoopy in the latest issue (“Pilot Briefing: The Lone Beagle Takes Off”). As a pilot who teaches cartooning at the Charles M. Schulz Museum, I start every morning with my Sonoma County Airport mug in hand, featuring Snoopy and the tower where I took my FAA oral exam. In a few days I will be back teaching kids how to draw Snoopy flying his doghouse. Who knows? There might be a future cartoonist/pilot in my next class.

Brian Narelle
AOPA 1083738
Rohnert Park, California

Readers might be amused to fly either RNAV approach into Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport for Runway 32 or 14. Both have Peanuts character references. How fun it is to report “crossing PIGPN” or “LUSEE.” Dennis K. Johnson’s article on the adventures of Pilot Snoopy was a treat.

Chris Cowlin
AOPA 1064991
Hollywood, South Carolina

E = MC2

As a research scientist, I always enjoy Catherine Cavagnaro’s articles in AOPA Pilot and “No Equations Required” hit home. The reason is that, in addition to my aviation safety research, I also run a fear-of-flying program in the Houston area for jittery airline passengers. We’ve always struggled in giving a simple explanation (glazed eyes with any mention of Bernoulli!) as the passengers are non-pilots and of course most are nonscientists. In this regard, I particularly liked the captured video image showing air flow faster over the top aspect of the wing, which will complement my fan/paper demo. Hence, I have downloaded the video per the website she referred to, although I felt a wee guilty as I obtained it free whilst she forked over $150.

Douglas Boyd
AOPA 1404428
Sugar Land, Texas

Thank you very much for Catherine Cavagnaro’s AOPA article for November. The article and videos are awesome!

Kirk Doughty
AOPA 6976634
Grapeview, Washington

BasicMed bliss

A good friend encouraged me to go and get my BasicMed exam and take the easy online course. Both enjoyable!

After my experience I shared it with about 40 of my flying friends—most of whom, to my amazement, also went immediately ahead and got their BasicMed (“BasicMed Breaks 50,000”). Interestingly, they hesitated until they learned that they were not giving up their “type medical” and that the BasicMed was just underlying their other medical.

My flying buddies then also did what I did and they sent out an invitation for their friends to get BasicMed, with the suggestion to send it on to others that they knew. Before we knew it, those 40 friends have already turned into hundreds of pilots who now have BasicMed in the event something happens to their health.

Hopefully, this could grow and grow, thereby helping more pilots continue flying and help pilots who have not been flying to get back into the air. It would also be nice to have more AOPA members!

Kent B. Williams
AOPA 1146435
Columbus, Montana

Memorable flights

I just saw Barry Schiff’s “Proficient Pilot: Dear Diary” column in the November 2019 AOPA Pilot, which reminded me of an entry in my logbook that doesn’t count for anything—namely, I logged sitting in the cockpit of the Concorde, long ago, when it landed at Dulles. I do remember saying to myself, Hey, except for higher approach and touchdown speeds, this isn’t any different from landing my Cessna 310; first the main wheels touch down, then the nosewheel, and that’s it—not a big difference! Of course, I don’t have to lower the nose first.

Another memory item is when Sully put the airliner down on the Hudson. Long ago I flew in the New York City area and I put an airplane down on the Hudson perhaps a dozen times, and what’s more, I even took off from the Hudson—which is something Sully never did, so what’s the big deal? It won’t take you long to figure out that I was in a floatplane, a venerable Piper Cub—all routine, as I do have a single-engine sea rating.

George H. Spencer
AOPA 122610
McLean, Virginia

I read Barry Schiff’s logbook article and must admit that if I were still flying I would be keeping a paper log as well. Electronic logs just don’t seem as enjoyable. 

As a retired American Airlines 767 pilot, I logged every flight while I was active. I retired in 2013 at the age of 59 just because I could and have thoroughly enjoyed retirement.

Since retiring I have become a ham radio operator. We are required to keep a log of all our radio contacts and I use a paper logbook there as well. However, I also keep two electronic logs as a lot of other operators use the electronic logs to confirm contacts. Still prefer paper, though.

Thanks for the monthly stories.

Greg Brown
AOPA 1090143
Chardon, Ohio

Leaving a legacy

Natalie Bingham Hoover’s recent article “Leaving a Legacy” is one of the most significant commentaries to come to my attention in over 50 years of flying. You have done general aviation an important service by emphasizing common sense, experience, and thoughtfulness. I particularly like the admonition to avoid becoming too dependent on technology. It is akin to reminding our children when they actually speak to people (rather than texting them) it may produce better results.

I am certain Grant Bales would be very proud of her. Keep up the good work.

Tom Bredeson
AOPA 817638
Eden Prairie, Minnesota

‘Turn on avionics’

Thanks for the “ATC and ADS-B” article. Last summer I took off from 1G0 in Wood County, Ohio, leaving a local airshow in my Stemme S12 with ADS-B In and Out—that is, Out if you remember to turn on your transponder.

I was outside Toledo airspace and planned to stay there heading home to Fulton County Airport in Wauseon, Ohio. My LXNav LX 9070 display showed traffic around one-half to three-quarters of a mile ahead of me, moving around a bit. I strained my eyes to spot it along with the young guy with great eyes in the right seat—and we saw nothing. Then it hit me and I turned on my transponder. The instant the transponder timed in the traffic disappeared. It was us with the errors built into the radar located 15 miles to the north. It just shows how much safer we will be with ADS-B and that I should change my checklist from “Turn on avionics” possibly to listing each avionics item individually.

Rick Lederman
AOPA 9323245
Swanton, Ohio

Errata

A caption in “Fly with AOPA,” November 2019 AOPA Pilot, incorrectly identified Christin Sanders as a competitor in the STOL Drag demonstration at the Stihl National Championship Air Races. She was an attendee, not a competitor.

The spec box on the Piper Pilot 100 in “Smooth Moves,” December 2019 AOPA Pilot, included units but no numbers for the aircraft’s endurance and fuel consumption. They are 3.6 hours and 66 pph at 75 percent power, 4.3 hours and 57 pph at 65 percent power, and 5.1 hours and 49.2 pph at 55 percent power.

We ran afoul in “Events: Chickens Realize Their Dream to Fly,” December 2019 AOPA Pilot, when we used a photo of the wrong person in a bird costume to illustrate Captain Peeps, the chicken suit-wearing target of a rubber-chicken-dropping contest.

AOPA Pilot regrets the errors. 

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