Letters

Collector's item

In praise of the Howard 500

As a 61-year, continuous member of AOPA, I have seen a lot of aircraft that not many pilots have had the opportunity to touch, smell, sit in, and appreciate. One was the Howard 500, on two different occasions. First, as a CAP cadet participating in an exercise at the Merrill, Wisconsin, airport in the late 1950s, a Howard 500 flew in from Palwaukee Airport near Chicago and deplaned passengers going to their Northern Wisconsin summer home on a nearby lake. While the airplane was being refueled and re-oiled, the Cadets were invited by the crew to look around at the interior and cockpit. I had been in a North Central Airlines DC–3, but this was much more exciting because it was a general aviation airplane. We watched them take off later in the day (much hotter) and the wheels went through the grass at the end of the runway.

I’ve seen that Howard 500 at Oshkosh a number of times and I agree it’s magnificent! Great article! —David Devries, Windham, New HampshireLater in my career (1973), as an Army aviator at Long Beach Airport, I was able to see, touch, and sit in the Howard 500 owned by Parnelli Jones Ford in Long Beach. The Howard 500 was stored in a hangar on West Cherry Street and the pilot and mechanic invited us over anytime the airplane was in the hangar. That blue and white with checkerboard patterns on the engines and tail was a sight to see. Occasionally, from our Army hangar we would hear and see it take off or land. Those engines made a beautiful sound.

John L. Keller
Rolesville, North Carolina

A Whack in the Head

Barry Schiff’s column was wonderfully reminiscent and instructive. In 1980, having just added a glider rating, I had notions of towing for my first glider club, the Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association. I needed to learn to fly taildraggers, so I found a qualified instructor at Frederick, Maryland (long before AOPA was headquartered at FDK), and we got into a Super Cub, rented from my FBO. The 19-year-old instructor demonstrated a nice three-point landing, and then turned the controls over to me. Over three lessons, I spent two hours bouncing the ship, hearing, “That wasn’t very good. Do it again.” I did, and I wasn’t improving. After spending enough money, I fired the young instructor.

Enter Bud Brinkman, the FBO’s aerobatic instructor. Our first lesson in a Citabria consisted of 45 minutes taxiing all over the airport in a 30-knot wind learning exactly where the controls needed to be positioned for the challenging conditions—on the ground. Next, we flew the Cub in a light wind right up Runway 5. Bud told me to fly along the runway in slow flight attitude at an altitude of two feet. “Now, keep the long axis right on the centerline and tap each tire on the runway, one after the other.” We did this dance for most of the runway’s 5,000-foot length. As we approached the end, Bud said, “Now pull the power off.” Landing was a perfect afterthought.

Bud wrote in my logbook one of my all-time favorite entries: “One approach, seven landings.” I learned more in those 5,000 feet than in the two hours with the less-experienced, less-talented instructor.

Tom Witkin
Sudbury, Massachusetts

Happy to help

Reading Natalie Bingham Hoover’s article “Happy to Help” in the May 2023 issue brought back an event during my private pilot three-leg solo cross-country flight in 1978. My journey took me from Akron-Canton Reginal Airport (CAK) to Ohio State University Don Scott Airport (OSU) to Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport (MFD) to Findlay Airport (FDY) and back to Akron, all in Ohio. I had difficulty finding OSU from the air and contacted the tower. The controller turned on the runway lights and was giving me verbal guidance. However, I was still having trouble. I finally told him that I was a student pilot, expecting more help if not empathy. His response surprised me. He said, “You are a student pilot? Then you should be able to do this on your own.” He then promptly turned off the runway lights and stopped providing guidance. I soon spotted the runway and landed without incident, but the controller’s attitude spoiled what otherwise was a great day and accomplishment. I never ran into a controller like that again, and hope no one else does, either.

Howard S. Friedman
Philomath, Oregon

Shake, Rattle, and Roll

I enjoyed Dave Hirschman’s report of using the Extra 300 in the wake of a Cessna Caravan to do some unique upset training; what an interesting idea to provide this training (April 2023).

I have been flying my Mooney since 2004 and have nearly 2,000 hours in this aircraft. I am pretty sure this experience prepared me for my one and only encounter with severe turbulence climbing out of Raleigh International in February of this year. We were climbing to our assigned altitude of 7,000 feet in IMC when at 5,000 we entered a cocktail shaker. Both our headsets flew off, every pocket in the aircraft was emptied of its contents; heads were hitting the cabin roof despite seat belts.

I immediately pulled the power to 20 inches of manifold pressure, had both hands on the yoke, and concentrated on keeping the aircraft from stalling, going past red line, and inverting. The analog airspeed indicator was a big help, as I could easily see the trend of approaching a stall or red line at a glance. Then just keep the blue side up, more or less. With my wife Cindy’s help I eventually got my headset back on, and returned Raleigh Approach’s calls to me; they were appropriately concerned about what I was dealing with.

In the aftermath I looked at the preflight planning and asked if I could have prevented this, and the answer is no, I really could not. There were no pireps for this level of turbulence; the weather system prior to takeoff showed just green and a few flecks of yellow precipitation into which we launched. At the end of the day, you do all the planning you can, then you fly the weather you get. I concentrated on the important parts after that: aviate, navigate, and communicate; until I could get an easy way out of the cocktail shaker.

John Mulvey
Elkton, Maryland

Oops, I Became a CFI

I recently read Catherine Cavagnaro’s April 2023 column. She described well the importance of mentorship in careers and in aviation, and how a specific conversation at a key time can shape the future of a student or mentee. Bill Kershner clearly had an impact on her teaching career, and he had reached so many through his teaching directly and by his teaching of future CFIs. The day after reading her article, my son and I wandered our way through the Smithsonian’s Steven Udvar-Hazy Center which houses so many amazing and historic aircraft. After walking by the Space Shuttle Discovery, the Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis, and the SR-71, I stumbled across a Cessna 152. Wondering how it fit among this collection, I was pleased to read about Bill Kershner and how he taught 435 students spin training in that aircraft at the Ace Aerobatic School. It was great for the Smithsonian to recognize the foundational importance of general aviation by including that aircraft in its collection.

Ryan Mattison
Madison, Wisconsin

Erratum

In regard to “That Championship Season” article by Rob Mark, he states in the first paragraph that the Institute of Aviation is now defunct. I am the program manager and recruiter for the Institute of Aviation, for the past eight years, here at CMI in Champaign-Urbana and we are very much open and not defunct. The University of Illinois worked with Parkland College to keep its doors open and have never closed. We are 100 students strong and growing. We have worked extremely hard to continue the traditions and quality of the Institute of Aviation, and articles such as this can set back on our program growth.

Wendy L. Evans
Institute of Aviation

“Meet Mace” (June 2023 AOPA Pilot) incorrectly stated that Michelle Curran was the first female lead pilot for the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds; Samantha Weeks was the first female lead solo.

AOPA Pilot regrets the errors.

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