The short stories of FLY-LOW.

From the beginning, the magazine FLY-LOW was designed to be a one state magazine. We began publication in 2001, but it became noticeable in 2003, that we were going to cover more states. After that year we started reporting news from all states and sent magazines to same.

Fly-Low was active in aviation for almost twenty years. Due to my age, etc, I put out the last issue as the almost only employee. Deadlines, even once a month, became tiring. My love for aviation and the magazine goes on. I would liked to had a successor. The mag was put to bed for the last time headed for it’s twentieth year issue. This is my way of keeping it alive with some of the information we searched and published.

A Little Covid Humor!

Private pilots have it good. Really. Everybody else is sheltering in place, but PP’s can shelter at 10,000 feet doing what they love best. Of course, they must do it alone or with whoever it is they are living with rather than a bunch of other friends, but if the avgas tanks take credit cards you can pretty much keep your distance from that nasty disease.

Do you believe they cancelled Oshkosh Air Venture? I mean, yeah, ok, a half million people wandering around gawking at planes flying might be detrimental to the health of probably 50 or more nations, but there is a possible solution. They could bring enough Agri-planes and forest service firefighting aircraft to the event and fill them up with bleach and Lysol. Every couple hour they could climb to a thousand AGL and spray down the town and airfield killing every flu bug in a 50-mile radius.

Oshkosh residents would have the cleanest buildings in the nation.

Of course, everyone in the area would all have to wear white otherwise their clothes would acquire lots of little spots and it would take a whole year to get the grass to grow in the north 40 at Wittman Regional again.

Most pilots have a great sense of humor, so I am surprised I have not seen any photos of jet aircraft wearing face masks painted across the nose.

It is difficult during these times to be an active person. Working from home and getting creative with meal making was interesting during the first five weeks but lately I’ve been craving a steak in a sit-down restaurant. Too bad they don’t have taken out windows in restaurants at airports, it would lend a new connotation to the “Hundred Dollar Burger”.

I have had lots of time to catch up on my reading and one of the people I correspond with quite a bit is Bob Trumpolt who lives up near Detroit. Bob is retired now but began flying at age 15. During his lifetime he’s flown 78 different kinds of aircraft. One of those multi-talented individuals, he has been an ATC tower controller and a TWA Pilot and often sends me humorous tidbits. This month he passed on some interesting aircraft tail numbers I’d like to share with you.

As you know other countries use all letters instead of a letter/number combination…here are a few.

Italian aircraft begin with the letter I. It might be fun to snuggle up to the pilot of I-KISS, but you’d probably want to keep your distance from the airliner sporting the identification I-SMEL. Another Italian defines it best, his Learjet sports I-RONY.

A Cessna pilot from Great Britain advertises his availability wherever he flies with G-SEXI, but he shares the sky with a G-BTCH. This does not deter the piper aircraft who thinks everything is G-REAT.

Since the British took G for their first letter, the Germans decided to identify their aircraft with a D. An congenial executive jetliner traveling around the world is a flying ambassador for their country with D-ANKE emblazoned on the side. The photo I saw of a twin prop with D-IRTY on the tail was actually pretty clean. I’d be a little afraid to fly in the small single prop labeled D-EATH, especially if Skyhawk D-EVIL was floating along behind.

You may think that the US is at a disadvantage when it comes to funny tail numbers because of the alphanumeric, but if you squint a bit numbers can look like letters. For instance, N155AN is a Gulfstream belonging to the Nissan Corporation. I wonder if Stationair N16HT only flies after sunset. I wonder if the pilot of N911 must declare emergencies a lot.

As I mentioned, Bob’s been flying for a long time. A couple years ago he was forced to be ground hog, but his thoughts ranged back over the years.

Don’t let the sun get in your eyes!

Info taken from the NTSB & FAA websites in 2004

FYI July

On December 31, 1997, at 1645 central standard time, a Cessna R172K airplane, N736VQ, was destroyed upon impact with trees and subsequent impact with the ground while on final approach to Gaston’s Airport, near Lakeview, Arkansas. The non-instrument rated private pilot and his passenger were seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the Title 14 CFR Part 91 flight. No flight plan was filed for the personal flight originating from Flippin, Arkansas, at approximately 1600.

The two occupants of the airplane were reported to have arrived in the area from Wichita, Kansas, on the day before the accident. They had secured reservations for the long weekend at the Gaston’s White River Resort. The flight was not able to land at the Gaston’s Airport due to thunderstorm activity near Lakeview, and the pilot elected to land at the Marion County Regional Airport in nearby Flippin, Arkansas, where they were picked up by personnel from the resort. On the day of the accident, they were provided ground transportation back to Flippin to pick up the airplane and reposition it to the Gaston’s Airport.

In a written statement provided to the investigator-in-charge (IIC), the pilot stated that after departing Flippin, he proceeded to execute a sightseeing flight around the Bull Shoals Lake for about 45 minutes. Upon his return flight to the Gaston’s airstrip, he descended to 1,400 feet MSL and entered a left downwind for runway 24. He added that after configuring the airplane for landing, he turned final approach. The pilot further stated that “in the course of the final approach, the sun suddenly blinded me and I didn’t have any forward vision.” He concluded with the statement, “I apparently drifted to the right of course and struck a tree with my left wing [while] attempting [to] land.”

In a written statement provided by the non-rated passenger, who was seated on the right front seat, he describes the accident sequence as “hit tree with wing and plane spun around.” The passenger also stated that “on landing we were blinded by the sun.”

According to law enforcement personnel that responded to the accident site, the wreckage of the airplane was found north of the extended centerline for runway 24. They reported that the airplane impacted trees and subsequently impacted the ground in a nose low attitude while the pilot was attempting to land on the 3,200 foot turf runway. There was no fire.

Further examination of the wreckage revealed that the 1978 model airplane was equipped with sun visors for the pilot and copilot stations. Flight control continuity was established to all primary and secondary flight controls after the airplane was recovered from the accident site.

Insight: Jim Gaston, owner of the airport mentioned above ,was a good friend. The restaurant is beside the runway. I’ve flown to it ever since I receive my license in the 1980s. It is safe and easy on which to land. The runway runs east and west. Landing into the sun can be a bear no matter what runway you are landing.

Jim passed away some years ago, but his family still runs the resort and restaurant. I highly recommend flying into it. The food, view, runway, and rooms are great. Also, I recommend a pilot have a couple hundred hours of flight time, have made lots of grass field landings and have awareness of things that might reach out and bite. Like sun in your eyes. Especially, knowing when to push throttle forward and GO AROUND!!!

Please advise?

“Traffic in the area, please advise“

It’s a NO-NO!!!

By Bob Mack

Recently, Unicom frequency has seen the increase usage of “Any traffic in the area, please advise.” It seems that the FAA believes that if you are a pilot in the area, you will announce your position, without being asked to do so. That is just plain common sense. I know that as a pilot, if you announce your position is five miles north of the airport, inbound and landing…. I won’t say a word if I am five miles south (or any other direction but north) of the airport. Why should I? And it’s not necessary to request others to announce their position, either.

The inbound plane will have no affect on my flight if I remain where I am. Therefore, keep down the chatter… something that more of us should do… Our frequencies are limited for Unicom and it isn’t uncommon to hear four or five airport Unicom announcements at the same time in my local.

Making flying safer and more considerate is what we’re all about. I think the step by the FAA is well founded, now to get every pilot to comply. That will take some time. From the latest version of AIM Section 4-1-9:
==============================
Self-Announce Position and/or Intentions

1. General. Self-announce is a procedure whereby pilots broadcast their position or intended flight activity or ground operation on the designated CTAF. This procedure is used primarily at airports which do not have an FSS on the airport. The self-announce procedure should also be used if a pilot is unable to communicate with the FSS on the designated CTAF.

Pilots stating, “Traffic in the area, please advise” is not a recognized Self-Announce Position and/or Intention phrase and should not be used under any condition.
==============================

Accidents in 2001 in AR

Deaths from plane crashes

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported a rise in the number of accidents and fatalities involving U.S.-registered airline and commuter aircraft in 1999.

Of the 12 people who died last year (2000)in accidents involving commercial aircraft, 11 were aboard American Airlines Flight 1420 when it crashed in Little Rock, Ark., in June.

In the previous year, 1998, there were no fatalities.

The number of air-taxi accidents fell by one in 1999 to 76, and fatalities dropped from 48 to 38. Accidents involving general aviation – typically small, private planes – dipped by one, to 1,908, and the number of fatal accidents dropped from 365 to 342.

Although the number of general aviation accidents decreased, total fatalities increased slightly, from 623 to 628. There were 12 commuter airline deaths in 1999; there were none in 1998.

According to the report, foreign-registered aircraft were involved in only six accidents, down from 18 the previous year, and no deaths.

Since only crashes that occur on U.S. soil are included in the report, those numbers do not reflect the 100 Americans who died in the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990, which took off from an American airport but crashed in international waters.

Also not reflected are the American servicemen who died in a string of military aircraft accidents last year, mostly during training exercises.

“We’re working to continue to raise the bar on aviation safety,” said Frazier Jones, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman. “The FAA takes all accidents seriously and takes steps to see what can be done to prevent them in the future.”

In the 1420 crash several of those who died were from Russellville, AR. The crash occurred in Little Rock, AR.