A treacherous goodbye

Dave Hirschman

I’m going with option two: This tribute flight can be done safely as practiced, but only if both the takeoffs and landings are made into the wind on Runway 30.

Runway 23 is out of the question. A crosswind gusting to 28 knots exceeds the demonstrated limits of both Bonanzas and RVs, and an icy runway means it’s even farther out of bounds. If Runway 30 is available, the cold temperatures and strong headwind will dramatically shorten takeoff and landing rolls, so icy patches shouldn’t matter.

Mechanical turbulence is likely to make the formation portion of the flight unpleasant, but not unsafe. A standard practice for formation flying is to separate the airplanes both vertically and horizontally, and adhering to that rule in the bumps is especially important. If maintaining standard separation becomes difficult in the bumps, we have the option of increasing separation for safety.

The upside of the nasty conditions is that we’re likely to have the pattern to ourselves. Who else is going to be foolish enough to buzz around the airport on such a cold, blustery day?

Let’s provide our fellow aviator a fitting sendoff despite the weather adversity.

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Ian J. Twombly

The commitment to perform the flyover obviously makes this a difficult decision. For a crowd made up largely of people knowledgeable about aviation, performing the flyover has special meaning, further heightening the pressure. In these situations, it’s a good idea to ignore the commitment and focus on the risks.

Like a hard math problem in school, we can use the process of elimination. Choices three, four, and five can be thrown out. Three negates the point of the mission, four doesn’t sufficiently reduce the risk, and five is a perfect demonstration of those hazardous attitudes the FAA is always going on about.

The wind is unsuitable for Runway 23, but if Runway 30 becomes available, the takeoff and landing shouldn’t be a problem. Since the runway operations of a formation flight are staggered, there’s no risk of being too close together on such a blustery afternoon. That leaves number two as a potential option.

Now we need to consider the formation portion of the flight. What is the collective skillset of the group, have they flown before in these conditions, and have they worked well together as a team in the past? I’d also want to see the winds aloft because conditions like this on the ground don’t always mean gusty, treacherous conditions aloft. Conversely, sometimes it’s even worse up there, and I’d want to know that as well.

If the team has flown together before, or each member has been trained to a standard and flown formation in similar conditions, I think I’d be fine with the second choice. But if any member believed canceling is the right call, I’d fully support them.

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