Table of contents for May 2024 in Plane & Pilot

Spring in Missouri means unpredictable weather—high winds, occasional tornadoes, and hail—and every so often, a beautiful flying day. If that day falls on a weekend, it also means skies full of training and pleasure missions. For me this year, it also meant renewing my third-class medical. As my renewal deadline approached, I decided to look into whether I should opt for BasicMed. A visit to my AME is over an hour round trip drive, and the out-of-pocket cost felt like a hassle. Wouldn’t it be easier to fly under BasicMed than go through the rigmarole of a regular aviation medical? My not-researched perception of the topic was that, since I had a bona fide FAA medical certificate issued after July 14, 2006, and a valid driver’s license, I could take…

Back in the early days of jet airliners, pilots long experienced in more forgiving two- and fourengine, piston-powered prop planes found themselves running out of airspeed, altitude, and ideas on the final approach to landing. The result was either an overshoot as the pilot attempted to make a large correction or an undershoot due to the slow acceleration of early jet engines. Several of these unstabilized approaches resulted in major aircraft damage or worse. Flash-forward 60 years to today, and the airline landing incident or accident is as rare as the proverbial hen’s teeth. So, what happened? Well, for sure the training of pilots in swept-wing jets has improved dramatically, and the aircraft, runway environment, and approach aids have all made significant leaps forward. However, the capstone of all these…

When discussing aviation legends, the list is long. Yet there is one who makes just about every single roll call, and many consider him the ultimate “pilot’s pilot”—Bob Hoover. A U.S. Army Air Forces aviator, flight instructor, test pilot, and ultimate airshow performer, Hoover dazzled generations of pilots and fans. And surely more than one pilot these days can point to Hoover as their inspiration. Born in 1922 in Nashville, Tennessee, Robert Anderson Hoover caught the flying bug early. At 15, he could frequently be found biking over 15 miles to Berry Field to watch airplanes. He knew he belonged in the sky, and he took a job bagging groceries to pay for flight training. While it’s hard to imagine Hoover having any issues with flying, airsickness was a concern…

Hoover’s High Bar The legendary Bob Hoover is remembered by many, and I would like to add to the “Lessons Learned” article in your March 2024 issue. On a routine flight in the summer of 1975 from KPDK (DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in Atlanta) to KHSV (Huntsville International Airport in Alabama), I rolled in KFTY (Fulton County [Airport]) tower’s frequency en route and heard the following: “Red Dog 1, give way to Red Dog 2.” Assuming an airshow was in progress, I asked, and received, clearance to land during a break in the show. After landing, and to my surprise, the next performer was Bob Hoover in his Shrike Commander. His skill set that day, with both engines shut down, included a loop beginning at an altitude of 8,500 feet, a downwind…

Piper PA-30 Farmingdale, New York | Feb. 28, 2022 Injuries: None The pilot was approaching the final landing during his commercial multiengine check ride. There was slower traffic ahead so the pilot flew S-turns on the final approach to create more space between his aircraft and the one ahead of him. The pilot reported that his attention was divided between listening to the DPE’s advisements, watching slower traffic ahead, keeping aware of traffic behind them, and listening for instruction to go around due to poor spacing. The pilot didn’t notice the amber gear-up light illuminate, nor did he hear the landing gear warning horn. The DPE advised him to not “reduce the power that much, we’re going to get behind the power curve and sink.” The pilot added engine power…

FIFTEEEN HUNDRED FEET past the end of the runway, a pilot was trapped in the cockpit of an Extra NG. They were inverted in a Florida marsh, and the brackish water was rising. Airport emergency trucks couldn’t drive into the swampy wetland. Local authority river boats had too deep a draft to operate there at low tide. They knew the plane was somewhere close, but couldn’t even see it, let alone reach it. The tower frequency had been near silent, with only the occasional pilot checking in, curtly told, “Airport is closed, emergency in progress.” Then, a quiet transmission: “Can anybody hear me?” Long pause. “Hello, can anyone hear me?” Long pause. Tower: “N100NG, the tower hears you. We’re sending help. You doing OK?” “Um, it’s not great. I’m trapped…

When we think about composite materials in production airplanes, the name Piper Aircraft does not come immediately to mind. The Cirrus and Diamond series, products of the late 1990s, demonstrated that composite airframes could achieve both production and market success. In the ’70s and ’80s, Burt Rutan’s unique designs, constructed out of light and strong plastic materials, dominated the homebuilt market. Further back, the ’60s saw the birth of the first certified composite general aviation airframe, the Windecker Eagle. Certified by the FAA in 1969, it went on to a limited production run and paved the way for future composite aircraft. However, nearly a decade before the Eagle was certified, the newly established Piper Aircraft Development Center in Vero Beach, Florida, designed, constructed, and came tantalizingly close to producing a…