UCAP Fodder

First...go back and read the first line of my last Blog posting...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Higdon) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:33:00 +0000

Yeah, yeah, yeah...we've heard. Some poor Controller at JFK brought the kids to the tower, coached them word-for-word and let them transmit hand-offs and departure instructions to departing flights...and yeah -- obviously, a couple of the planes flew for foreign carriers...yes, we know all that.

Now, Fox, MSNBC, ABC, everybody, hear this: This was a zero-threat act of a hard-working father trying to cope with a snow day or something...

It was not -- not, Not NOT! -- a threat to the nation's air-transportation system...the children were not managing or making traffic decisions, period. Dad told them, "say this, say that" and, wow, the children, with more articulate voices than some of the TV talking heads crying about this, repeated what Dad told them to say.

That's it, people. Oh, yeah -- Aero Mexico..."adios, Amigo..." You idiots obviously just discovered the ATC sites and don't know that a bit of friendly familiarity occurs between controllers and pilots who routinely, repeatedly talk to one another. And English is certainly a second language for many pilots of Foreign carriers..."Duh!" is not a strong-enough word for this one.

English is THE LANGUAGE of international ATC; that's why we pilots are all getting new licenses that show our English proficiency is demonstrated. Yes, international pilots actually have to demonstrate English proficiency.

Besides, the AeroMexico pilot sounded almost as young and American as the kids...certainly as good or better than Glenn Beck or George Stephanopolous...

Yes, Dad screwed up; so did a supervisor that let this continue...and they more than know that.

So please exhale -- the blue glow you TV people are giving off with your breathless inanity over this interferes with my ability to channel the Aliens laughing their antenna off listening to you folks milk this story for more than a grade-school lunch-room's month-of-March moo-juice allotment.

Geez...that feels better...

Dave

First, take a deep breath....

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Higdon) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:11:00 +0000

Now, exhale and repeat.

Yes, we had a very unhappy person chose to take their life today in an act of suicide-by-airplane that, beyond that selfishness, attempted to make it a murder-suicide act. With one person still missing and two admitted to a Level One trauma center in Austin, Texas, site of this insanity, we do not yet know whether the apparent perpetrator indeed succeeded in that part of his plot.

Thanks to what apparently is a posting of his own accounting of his life leading to today's act, we feel comfortable offering what should be one obvious conclusion -- obvious largely because it's directly observable from the news footage: photographic proof that small airplanes are ineffective as tools of mass destruction or viable weapons against modern office buildings. That doesn't take away from the very real potential for loss of life and sundry other mayhem when airplanes crash into residential buildings; actual accidents earlier this week remind us clearly. But as a machine for repeating a Twin Towers-like attack, general aviation aircraft generally lack the mass, the velocity and the fuel capacity to remotely threaten damage on the level of a wide-body airliner flown beyond redline. Look at the images.

A couple of other points seem worth noting before the hyperventilating starts to make pundits hypoxic.

First, sadly, this event shows once again that people sometimes break under the lives they endure -- and in breaking decide to lash out against the world that they feel failed them. The apparent perpetrator's own words reinforce this. Read it for yourself:

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2010/02/18/internet_note_posted_by_man_li.html

Second, nothing said or written or viewed today can change the awful fact that someone apparently employed a general-aviation aircraft to close out grievances, with horrible results for him and some of the IRS employees working in the federal building.

Today marks only the opening of this chapter. How long it will run remains to be seen; probably as long as it takes the popular press, the politicians and the conflict profiteers to run through their interest level -- or until something more horrendous bumps this off the news...whichever comes first.

But whatever comes of this, what should not come of this is renewal of misguided efforts to "secure" general aviation airports, aircraft and users. Unless someone can offer up a solution capable of preventing people from venturing over the edge -- something applicable to drivers and divers and bikers and boaters as well as pilots -- nothing could have stopped this guy.

Sadly, whether a lunchroom shooting, a mall mass murder, white guys blowing up a federal building, religious extremists assassinating doctors or bringing down airliners, or a lone frustrated citizen with a little airplane, society still lacks a tool to stop an individual determined to do harm.

It's impossible for me to put myself in this guy's shoes. And a few deep breaths to clear the mind makes dealing with this no clearer or easier. But the deep breathing does help focus the mind where it should. So let's keep the focus on the mind, not the machine; in this tragic affair, the mind behind the act is solely responsible, not the machine he chose to inflict his final statement.

With thoughts for the families of those touched by this in Austin,

Dave

Can I change one of my three airplane choices?

noreply@blogger.com (.--- . -...) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:43:00 +0000

I think a Dash Six on amphib floats would be just the thing...

(Image courtesy FlightAware.com)

UAV Recruiting Video

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Hodgson) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:30:00 +0000

Thanks Stephen Force, Airspeed Podcast

Photographic evidence!

noreply@blogger.com (.--- . -...) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 13:56:00 +0000

At the considerable risk of inflating Mr. Higdon's ego beyond its to-be-determined bursting point, I offer this photographic evidence supporting at least one reason to engage in personal aviation.

The image was taken in August 2009, in the pilot briefing room at the Henry Tift Myers Airport, Tifton, Georgia. Not coincidentally, this is the airport at which I learned to fly and still visit regularly. No; I had nothing to do with the sign, nor its placement.

Jeb

Definitions

noreply@blogger.com (.--- . -...) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:32:00 +0000

AIRSPEED - Speed of an airplane. (Deduct 25% when listening to a retired fighter pilot).

BANK - The folks who hold the lien on most pilots' exotic cars or their not-so-exotic airplanes.

CARBURETOR ICING - A phenomenon reported to the FAA by pilots immediately after they run out of gas.

CONE OF CONFUSION - An area about the size of New Jersey located near the final approach fix at an airport.

CRAB - A VFR Instructor's attitude on an IFR day.

DEAD RECKONING - You reckon correctly, or you are.

DESTINATION - Geographical location 30 minutes beyond the pilot's bladder saturation point.

ENGINE FAILURE - A condition that occurs when all fuel tanks mysteriously become filled with low-octane air.

FIREWALL - Section of the aircraft specifically designed to funnel heat and smoke into the cockpit.

FLIGHT FOLLOWING - USAF Formation flying

GLIDE DISTANCE - Half the distance from an airplane to the nearest emergency landing field.

HOBBS - An instrument which creates an emergency situation should it fail during dual instruction.

HYDROPLANE - An airplane designed to land long on a short and wet runway.

IFR - A method of flying by needle and horoscope.

LEAN MIXTURE - Nonalcoholic beer.

MINI MAG LITE - Device designed to support the AA battery industry.

NANOSECOND - Time delay between the Low Fuel Warning light and the onset of carburetor icing.

PARACHUTES - The two chutes in a Stearman.

PARASITIC DRAG - A pilot who bums a ride and complains about the service.

RANGE - Usually about 3 miles short of the destination.

RICH MIXTURE - What you order at another pilot's promotion party.

ROGER - Used when you're not sure what else to say.

SECTIONAL CHART - Any chart that ends 25 nm short of your destination.

SERVICE CEILING - Altitude at which cabin crew can serve drinks.

SPOILERS - FAA Inspectors.

STALL - Technique used to explain to the bank why your car payment is late.

STEEP BANKS - Banks that charge pilots more than 10% interest for their exotic car or not-so-exotic airplane loans.

TURN & BANK INDICATOR - An instrument largely ignored by pilots.

USEFUL LOAD - Volumetric capacity of the aircraft, disregarding weight.

VOR- Radio navigation aid, named after the VORtex effect on pilots trying to home in on it.

WAC CHART - Directions to the Army female barracks.

YANKEE - Any pilot who has to ask New Orleans tower to "Say again.

...and so we end another one...here's to the New One!

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Higdon) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:21:00 +0000

So many days -- 365, by my count -- so many great things...so little time to relate the good, the bad and the ugly of 2009.

Let's dispose of the ugly stuff first: Lost a few of wonderful friends this year; closing in on my 60th, it occurs to me that this will happen more not less.

The airline industry -- well, they had their good times and bad times and for my friends flying the line or working anywhere else in the common-carrier community, here's hoping that the coming year treats you better than your employers.

The business-aircraft and personal-aircraft segments had a distinctly ugly, ugly year with sales and deliveries and backlogs all off at levels of breathtaking depth. Those uglies in turn made the year ugly for tens of thousands of our friends and neighbors and fellow pilots working in aircraft manufacturing, component and systems supplies, aircraft sales, FBO operations -- you name it, if it was part of general aviation, it suffered this year.

Thankfully, the shortcomings of our aviation security apparatus didn't result in any airborne terrorist acts succeeding. For that we should all be happy.

Now, for the bad stuff.

We saw too many good GA pilots do bad in 2009; the figures aren't in, but it would surprise me if we had a safer year in '09 than in '08 -- which, given the drop in flying, would seem logical. But even in the realm of the survivable, we had too many pilots seem to suspend logic and common sense -- not anybody in our little circle, of course -- and, thankfully, walk away.

Other bad stuff: a baseless vendetta against non air-carrier airports by Thomas Frank and the editorial board of U(seless)S(suckup)A(ssholes)Today...guys, in 30 years of journalism you've set a new standard for bad, biased reporting; show a little bit of honesty and put the Air Transportation Association logo on your masthead...and watch your step -- your lack of balance always means the you're stumbling is getting noticed by others...sadly drunks don't notice their stumbling until they fall...

Now for the good stuff.

We saw a steady stream of people interested in learning to fly and acting on the urge...no, we didn't set any records and doubt the numbers, when finally crunched, will show that we even stayed even in new pilots compared to 2008...but we're still viable.

Other good things?

Well, the continuing growth in acceptance of, and expansion by, the Light Sport Aircraft segment and the Sport Pilot license option. Even my most hardened Old Fart friends are slowly coming around to the idea that it's not a risk to society for them to fly something small and simple -- without a medical. Can others be far behind?

Another good thing: we didn't get TSA saving us from ourselves -- which would have been a minor miracle considering the bad rap the agency unfairly received for a thwarted terrorist attempt wholly beyond the agency's control...but not happy that the supposedly supportive anti-terrorism apparatchiks' failure to perform.

Other good things? The FAA made excellent progress on the process of building the infrastructure to advance NextGen. In the Gulf of Mexico, the ADS-B system is live, as it already was in Southern Florida and in the Ohio River Valley around Louisville International (SDF). The agency seems to making progress in plans to implement the changeover and progress in drafting new rules to facilitate the move to NexGen...and we saw, finally, standards in the form of TSOs that avionics makers need to certify, sell and install the hardware underpinning NextGen...

And still more good? How about surprisingly strong attendance at airshows and fly-in events this year -- excepting some of the more narrowly focused trade-type events, like NBAA, AOPA's Summit, Dubai and a couple of smaller ones.

Also good, the resurgent interest many communities have shown their small airports as a good thing; nice to read about airport saves in numbers that makes me wonder whether the pace of closures is finally slowing...we can all do more...it's only the places we need to travel by air, after all -- and all worthy of public support, just like highways, in spite of the ignoramuses at that aforementioned McNewspaper.

Finally, a personal favorite good: the continuing loyalty, support, encouragement and participation of our Uncontrolled Airspace listeners stands tallest in my look back.

Fifty-two weeks, 52 episodes? Can that be right? Seems like just last week that we finished Episode 115 on Jan. 6; and a couple of days ago we canned #166 recorded Dec. 29; from our appearances at Sun 'n Fun and AirVenture and Ponca City (yeah...I know...), through meet-ups in Lakeland and Oshkosh and Wichita, New Hampshire and Florida...well, you get the picture of the year.

To all of you, thanks for the support, the letters, shout-outs, visits, messages, beers and brats and best of times. And we're still around to try for another year.

So let's do it even better, safer and happier in 2010, eh.

Happy New Year to us all.

Dave

Season's Greetings to everyone -- no exceptions...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Higdon) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 18:11:00 +0000

Wichita -- Nothing like the sharp edge of powder snow powered by 40-knots plus to put a pilot in a holiday mood on Christmas Eve...the winds wiped clean paved surfaces exposed to its power, driving the white crystalline precipitation downwind to pile up on upright, upwind surfaces -- or to scream over an obstruction only to pile waist deep in the wind shadow behind the object.

The driven powder provided its own wind indication downwind of objects out in open fields, evidence of the power and direction visible for days in the future. These elongated triangles of bare ground pointed downwind thanks to rotor turbulence beyond the wind shadows that sucked up snow and carried it onward.

It was Christmas Eve. And the weather was making news as it was remaking travel plans.

And knowing well the storm's likely impact on the waves of weather-challenged drivers -- not to mention the Human Mailing Tube fleets as well as on generally more-human aviation conveyances -- the decision came easily to make an early grocery run for holiday indulgences. The Weather Channel folks kept up a steady patter about the week's second major maelstrom of winter weather, one which let folks in the middle states experience much of what the Eastern Seaboard endured the weekend before.

Other than moving up my visit to the store, the weather little influenced plans for me.

No way anything under my command would fly anywhere on the Christmas Eve, and knowing that early made it easy to turn my thoughts and communiques to loved ones and friends, both nearby and distant, sharing snippets of plans, small talk about our success in evading Mall Madness throughout the season -- and the usual banter of pilots who think common thoughts of the pilots and passengers unwillingly plagued by Mother Nature's insistence that a White Christmas come to as much as the country as possible.

So it came to be, with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day across the middle and much of the eastern U.S., enjoying either fresh snow's clean sparkle or enduring the gray morass of old snow seasoned with salt and petroleum exhaust. Mother Nature will out.

That means some of us missed out on planned visits, some got part-way there, and others sat stuck on the flip side. But no matter where we landed, if in fact we lifted off at all, it's always warming and inspiring to know of so many people of so many different faiths recognizing that a shared spirit can make a holiday among all their own holly days.

Our friends who don't fly never get to experience the wonder of soaring over a winter landscape, seeing the sunrise cruising above golden plains, or watching a sunset into a vast ocean while approaching from the east. For me and many others similarly afflicted, getting airborne feels like a gift every time, even on those days when the "gift" is one we'd otherwise return to the store.

Makes me feel like every gift is a flight which can be balanced only by passing on the gift to others, to pass on the gift, if you will, as often and as well as possible.

So Merry, Happy, Ho-Ho, to friends and fellow flyers, for strangers and friends not yet met: the best of wishes for you and yours, for health, happiness and harmony.

To smoother skies and perpetual tailwinds in the New Year.

And a heartfelt "Thank you!" for making us a part of your aviation life.

-- Dave

Over the river...and over the woods...and over and over...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Higdon) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:50:00 +0000

Took a few minutes Thursday to grab a look at my favorite flight-watching web site and watched in amazement at the hundreds of dotted lines drawn across the Continental U.S...and it gave me a moment's pause to reflect on the value of our airplanes and of aviation to the nation -- and the sacrifices of those who labor in aviation at levels where flying's 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year nature comes into play.

For each of those dotted lines edging its way across the map at least one pilot was at work employing great skills and well-learned knowledge to take safely to their destinations the charges in the plane.

For each of those dotted lines, someone somewhere helped prep the flight with fuel, maybe a tow or hangar removal.

Unseen on my screen was a cadre of aviation professionals at work managing those hundreds and hundreds of flights with air-traffic control services, in towers and TRACONs and Centers spending part of their Thanksgiving watching their own screens so that others could safely transit the nation.

Unseen on my screen was the workforce of our Flight Service, the contractor's employees who strive to provide a public service from a for-profit company that tries to balance the interests of its customers with those of its shareholders -- most of whom probably don't even know the company is in this business.

Also unseen, but well known from experience, was the thousands of faces wet with the tears of joy at the sight of family and friends delivered safely through the skies to experience Thanksgiving with them, of children and parents, husbands and wives and brothers and sisters and cousins and in-laws, many of them like my friends, who used their winged machines, their skills and privileges to travel to them and enjoy the glow and warmth of family and friends gathered for the holidays.

And in four more weeks the process will repeat itself with one friend flying off to see his children, another fetching parents and child to unite at a common location, and still another winging off to deliver gifts to far flung children with little to look for over the holidays save the late-night visit of an old, bold pilot bearing the ultimate gift of unselfishness and generosity.

To all in the system, to all who used it or worked it and made it happen, hope yours was a great Thanksgiving. For you, to you, our thanks.

And to all our great listeners, however you spent your holiday weekend, here's my note of thanks for you and for living in a world that lets us enjoy the freedom of flight like no other civilization in history.

-- Dave

KASH Meetup

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Hodgson) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:47:00 +0000

On six days notice we still managed to get 11 people to our Saturday morning brunch at Nashua NH's KASH.

One of the attendees came in his nordo/no-electical-system Cub. Here's a video of him hand-propping and departing.

Thanks to all who came out. It was great to meet you all.

-- Jack

(Thanks to listener rfelty for the pic and the video.)

Episode 160, then 159

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Hodgson) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:37:00 +0000

Don't Panic!

I just posted Episode #160.

Now I know that I haven't yet posted 159. It's coming. I'm relatively certain that this isn't about to become another #104 situation. #159 will be along real-soon-now.

Veterans Day: The Living Memorial

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Higdon) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:07:00 +0000

Shared an adult libation recently with a good friend, a former combat pilot who flew WWII and Korea, and another good fellow who served as an air controller in the latter conflict. The subject of the moment centered in some of the military memorials they visited on different swings around the country: The D-Day Museum, as it was originally called, in New Orleans; the WWI institution in Kansas City; the WWII Memorial and Vietnam wall in D.C.

Great places, those and others too numerous to recount. But it seemed to me that, and this was my words to them: "You can see the greatest memorial to our veterans every day, without leaving your hometown, in the nation around you, the citizens here and the hope and promise still represented by our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution."

We are the embodiment of what our service women and men have fought to protect, a living, breathing memorial to the successes of their service.

Hundreds of millions of living memorials, their homes, their jobs and businesses, their lives and freedoms, memorialized daily in their abilities to go about their daily lives and benefit from the liberties promised by those ingenious documents and won by the blood, sweat, tears and lives of the women and men who served to assure it all continues.

From the Revolutionary War to Iraq and Afghanistan, rather than reuse a word getting threadbare with use and try to label every one a hero, let me raise my toast with a greater word and thank them as true patriots -- patriots willing to serve, whether in a rifle company or a supply unit, whether on the front lines of a war with no lines, or in the support offices back in the States.

As the events of the last week so tragically demonstrated, all can be in harms way on any given day. We can, it seems to me, honor them best by remembering the ideals of our nation, by living and supporting those beliefs, by working toward the common good and the guarantee that we all benefit and enjoy those promises.

Those of us who do not -- those who act to impose their own view of America on those who disagree, to those who would enforce one narrow view of the world or their beliefs on others with different visions of the same freedoms -- dishonor the efforts of those who served and they deserve none of what they receive, least of all any label approaching "patriot."

To the True Patriots among us, those who serve and those who serve to support the promise of our nation, one and all of us, and the living memorials that are America's citizens and the country they endow: Thank you all.

-- Dave

Terry Fowler 1959 - 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Hodgson) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:16:00 +0000

Dear Friends,

It is with the greatest sadness that I share news of the passing of our friend Terry Fowler, Co-Chair of Sun 'n Fun Radio. Terry passed away this afternoon (Saturday, October 24) after a long battle with Leukemia. He was 50 years old. Final arrangements have yet to be made, I will pass on them as soon as possible.

Sun 'n Fun Radio would not be what it is today without Terry. His love of Sun 'n Fun and dedication to SnF Radio made it the success it is. He helped implement nearly all the technological advancements we've made and helped shape radio policies & procedures.

We will miss Terry, his smile & infectious love of aviation immensely.

Dave Shallbetter
Chairman, SnF Radio

UPDATE from Terry's family:

At his request a family only service will be held at graveside. In lieu of flowers, the family request donations be made to sun-n-fun.org. The Sun-n-Fun Fly-In was one of the happiest weeks of his life because he was around airplanes and friends; the American Cancer Society (Hope Lodge) 2121 SW 16th Street, Gainesville, FL 32608, which provided him with a home away from home during his treatments; to Amy Misakonis and her team who are running a marathon to raise money to help individuals with blood cancers (http://pages.teamintraining.org/cfl/DMG10/amisakonis); Spacecoast Feline Network, P.O. Box 624, Cocoa FL 32923; or a charity of your choice.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date. To contact the family please email them at Terry.Fowler@crashanddash.us

I had mentioned to Dave that I will do something at next year's Fly-In because it will be easier on people than having to travel.

As you know Terry was diagnosed on opening day of the Fly-In this year. I will never forget that morning. When the Dr. came in with the results Terry was thinking "a couple of pills or a shot and I will be out of here so I can get to Sun-n-Fun.

Autumn arrives on the soft ruffle of shuffling leaves...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Higdon) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:57:00 +0000

Sept. 22, 5:18 p.m. EDT; 2118 Zulu...Fall officially arrives...The Almanac

Unofficial prediction from this weekend's fortune cookie: "Your world will be soon filled with flights of fancy and sights of joy..."

How's that for a knowledgeable cookie fortune?

Few times of the year hold more appeal for flying than Fall -- for all types of flying...personal, business, recreational, commercial...well, maybe not that last one...

The days' temperatures become ever-more temperate trending toward actually cool and ultimately arriving at actually cold. Our landscape seems like a wild changeling creature, departing the verdant greens of Summer and shifting softly through the color wheel of Autumn before arriving at the stark contrasty conclusion of trees laid bare against the Earth.

The on-and-off-again appearance of snow and ice at northern latitudes and the dull desert flatscape of western longitudes makes the passing of the Autumnal Equinox a barely detectable transition save for the words of astronomers and the shedding leaves of the deciduous trees.

While the shortening days become evermore detectable and the bands of colors wave across the continent week by week until we arrive at the Winter Solstice, the quality of flying across the landscape becomes an evermore appealing act.

To watch the leaves change from aloft, to relish in the smoother skies of cooler days, to anticipate that first white blanket of soft chilled fluff makes the shorter daylight opportunities more valuable with each passing day.

And thinking ahead to the aura of a moonlight flight across a snow-cloaked landscape draws me back to passages past, when the soft yellow glow of our only natural satellite gave the landscape below a texture and glow singular in its beauty.

So here's to the Fall flying ahead, to the challenges, yes, and to the wonders, most definitely.

With a nod to music that Fall always sends me back to, a few lines from the Moody Blues album "Threshold of a Dream," a piece of spoken-word performance called simply, "The Dream."

"When the White Eagle of the north is flying overhead,
And the browns, reds and golds of autumn lie in gutter dead,
Remember then, the summer birds with wings of fire flaying,
Come to witness spring's new hope, born of leaves decaying."

And as new life will come from death,
Love will come at leisure.
Love of love, love of life and giving without measure,
Gives in return a wondrous yearn for promise almost seen.
Live hand in hand and together we'll stand,
On the threshold of a dream."

Welcome to Fall flying, my flying friends...enjoy it while you can...and then, do it again.

-- Dave

A latter-day Wright passes...but his wings live on...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Higdon) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:03:00 +0000

A quiet, humble, happy aviator passed Sept. 1, and outside a small circle of family, friends and admirers, the news generated less notice than was proportional to his impact on today's flying.

But I seriously doubt that Francis Rogallo would have been upset. He knew the impact of his most-important work -- work done in partnership with his wife Gertrude -- because he retired to a center of flying for the machines spawned by the effort: Kitty Hawk, where for decades now pilots have brought their Rogallo Wing hang gliders to soar the on-shore winds deflected off the dunes at the same spot where the Wright Brothers taught themselves to soar those same sand ridges.

Francis and Gertrude moved to the Outter Banks after he retired from active work -- which included engineering and design work in the 1930s and 1940s for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and again in the 1950s for that agency's successor, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The couple, working in their home, designed, prototyped and flew in their own wind tunnels a flexible, frameless wing that held potential as a personal flying machine and as a recovery and load-carrying wing.

NACA wasn't particularly interested and, patent in hand, the Rogallos worked further on their invention -- one of about 25 inventions for which Francis held patents.

Jump ahead a decade or so to the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik and suddenly America was interested in everything it could find to help it catch up in the Space Race. NASA approached Francis and the couple released the patent to NASA for use as a remotely piloted vehicle platform and aerial recovery machine.

Rogallo recovery devices like the Parasev were built and tested to altitudes as high as 200,000 feet and speeds to Mach 3.0, for potential use recovering capsules and rocket boosters...A combination Rogallo wing and Jeep like vehicle called the Fleep was flown by remote control and in ways was a predecessor to today's Trikes, a combination of a Rogallo wing and a powered chair.

Astronaut Frank Swigert, later to become one of the crew of the ill-fated Apollo 13, flew a full-size Gemini capsul to a soft landing under a Rogallo "parawing" design. Ultimately, NASA decided on ocean splashdowns under conventional round parachutes and Rogallo's NASA work was shelved.

But Rogallo's frameless flexwing design was still headed for greatness when, after a magazine article detailed the NASA research flying of them, tinkerers and backyard aeronautical engineers embarked on their own quests to transform the basic delta-wing design into a personal flying machine.

And thus hang gliding was ultimately born. Tens of thousands of people who craved access to the air helped drive hang gliding to a level of popularity in the 1970s that inspired dozens fo manufacturers and scores of schools. Though the boom flattened and the population declined, the movement never gave out and remains a singular way to fly even today, thanks to ground- and aerial-tow launching, as well as mountain-top and, of course, sand-dune soaring.

Decades later, a small, dedicated cadre of pilots around the world still carve their way silently through the skies suspended beneath the descendants of Francis and Gertrude's original design.

From flat kits to ground skimmers to sophisticated soaring machines capable of staying aloft for hours and covering hundreds of miles, today's machines still bear the fundamental elements of the originals.

My entry into aviation was due to the Rogallo wing and my first 300 hours were accumlated under a wing only slightly evolved from the original. My first powered flying came in a hang-glider trike powered by a small two-cylinder two-stroke engine.

More than 30 years later, when my mind turns to thoughts of my favorite flying, hang gliding at Jockey's Ridge often comes to mind -- or Lookout Mountain, Grandfather Mountain of the old East Cliff near my Indiana hometown.

It was there at Kitty Hawk that some 26 years ago my good fortune allowed me an encounter with an eldery gentleman setting up his wing to make some flights at the park near Kitty Hawk. The winds had been with me that day and the gentleman came out to fly after seeing me carve elongated figure 8s above the dunes for nearly an hour -- a long, rare flight at that site.

He accepted my offer of help on his launch and off he went, climbing slightly, turning parallel to the dunes and soaring for several minutes...then he landed and started back up the dunes. His older-generation wing differed considerably from mine and he asked a number of questions, inquiring about the double-surface, the hinged crossbar and the variable geometry system of the wing. It needed bigger air to soar than mine, so his flights ended more quickly when the winds abated.

But he was happy with his short stints aloft and seemed to care little about setting any records. He just enjoyed the experience of floating in the air, with only the sounds of the wind over the wing as background noise.

After his second flight, he started to tear down, thanked me for my help and introduced himself as, simply, "Francis." Unknown to him, I knew who he was the instant I saw him. Politeness and courtesy restrained me from acting like a kid meeting Santa for the first time.

But watching Mr. Rogallo lug his wing back to his car left me wanting to pour out the questions built up in my brain: what inspired the idea? did you ever think that your work would launch an entirely new era of personal flying?

Would you like to try my wing?

But he seemed perfectly at home there and fine being just another one of the local pilots priviledged to live at and fly above the dunes where the Wright Brothers taught themselves to fly. He did acknowledge the thrill of his flying, his personal high point, when he talked briefly about the joy he felt when he first soared long enough to break the Wrights' personal best in one of their gliders at the dunes: 8 minutes.

Eight minutes. I knew exactly how he felt, since the same joy swelled in my chest the first time the winds on the dunes lifted me high enough to make a 360-degree turn -- and let me look back at the Wrights Brothers Monument a few miles to the north.

His work and that of Gertrude lives on today and we can safely credit the evolution of hang gliders into ultralights to that same groundbreaking work.

In fact, it was better than groundbreaking -- it was skybreaking.

In memory of all you gave us, Francis, I hope you're soaring some great dune in the sky, where the winds stop only when you're ready for a break.

I, for one, will never forget our brief meeting or the lifetime in aviation your work gave me. You will be remembered forever as the Father of Hang Gliding and a Pioneer in Personal Aviation.

Thanks, Francis and Gertrude.

-- Dave

Thoughts on our fellow flyers on Labor Day

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Higdon) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Sometimes we seem to take for granted the luxury of our end-of-summer holiday, our last long-weekend opportunity until Thanksgiving and one that comes while the weather is still good enough to enjoy pretty much anything we want to pursue...save for skiing, maybe...

But the occasion is more than an excuse for some extra discount shopping, one last getaway to the campground or even a short holiday trip via private plane.

This holiday, helped into existence by a then more-influential Labor Movement is a reminder of all those people who labor to serve their fellow citizens in all arenas -- blue collar, white collar, no collar. Like the phenominon of "the weekend" itself, this three-day variant actually has many parents, from those in organized Labor to those with religious motivations and others with social consciousness about giving people time with their families.

Remember, it wasn't too long ago when "weekends" didn't exist as a two-day break from the labors of paying bills and feeding families -- let alone holidays tacked on to the now-traditional two-day weekend to give us and our families three-day breaks like this one.

So in light of these facts, it's particularly worth remembering our fellow citizens for whom today -- and Labor Day Weekend -- are nothing different from the rest of the 365 days on the calendar.

Today, airline pilots and their flight attendants in the main cabin are working -- as are cargo flyers, search-and-rescue aviators, aero-medical crew, law-enforcement flyers, as well as ramp crew to service our aircraft when we stop at the FBOs on our Labor Day Weekend flights, stand-by mechanics and, of course, those fine folks staffing the towers and tracons and en route centers, the flight service-station network, weather observation stations and the staff who maintain the equipment that makes their work possible.

All these jobs are staffed and operating or standing by to help the rest of us along in our holiday-weekend pursuits, to help us when we're lost or hurt or just need a few gallons of fuel, a crew car of some air in the tires. All these folks are missing out on part of the joy of this end-of-summer fete' and away from families and friends who miss their participation.

So here's a thought for the day or the week: Take a moment, if you cross paths with any of them, look 'em in the eye and say, "Thanks. I appreciate you being here and working today." And if the opportunity arises, buy 'em a cup of coffee or a soda, shake their hands and leave it at that.

There's no doubt in my mind, they will appreciate your comments and your offer.

Happy Labor Day to us all.

-- Dave

Unprecedented -- and irrefutably necessary...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Higdon) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:36:00 +0000

It happened Monday, after a weekend of dueling press releases and press conferences -- and in 30 years of covering aviation, it struck me as absolutely unprecedented. And it was, according to contacts in and out of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Monday, following equally unprecedented public rejection of preliminary information from the NTSB investigation of the Hudson River mid-air, the NTSB ejected the National Air Traffic Controllers Association from its role as a "party" to the investigation. Sadly, by the time the dust settled and the ejection was past, the NTSB corrected some badly portrayed information in its press release from Friday, Aug. 14.

It happened this way: the NTSB release in effect said a controller who had handed off the Piper Saratoga should have seen and warned that pilot of dangerous potential traffic conflicts ahead of him; NATCA strongly disagreed with the portrayal, issued its own release and called a press conference to make its case -- all outside of the NTSB rules and the agreed-upon process. NTSB staff next reminded NATCA of its obligation and its responsibilities but on Monday, NATCA officials repeated the process with another press release and press briefing in effect ratcheting up the dispute.

So the NTSB pulled the plug on NATCA's participation. And then the board clarified its report to note that the controller in question could not have seen the threatening traffic. But, again sadly, the damage was done for this inquiry.

My observation of "sadly" comes because that sort of correction is not unprecedented in an accident investigation of this type and now NATCA's knowledge and voice will be missing from the remainder of the inquiry. As one contact, a former special assisant to a board member told me Monday, every one who agrees to serve as a party to an investigation -- from the airframe and engine representatives to the maintenance and ATC reps -- is briefed on their role, has the rules explained, and signs an agreement to let the NTSB be the source of all public info released during the investigative process.

When disputes happen -- and they happen regularly within investigations, my contact confirmed -- the drill is to handle them within the context of the team and the NTSB process.

During a period of my career when covering the Safety Board was a regular part of my beat, the NTSB was always forthcoming with what it could safely say it knew and unwilling under any circumstances to engage in conjecture or hypotheticals; the participants, the "parties" worked as groups, weighed evidence and information, and generally came to a consensus that moved forward toward a final report and probable cause. Sometimes, rarely, information was poorly worded, or misinterpreted between the field and a press officers who handled the media; sometimes the information changed as new evidence came to light. And the ever-present "eye-witness accounts" so attractive to the media often ebbed and flowed with theories and explanations -- most of which eventually proved incorrect and the board in time disposed.

Overall, the process has generally worked well and served the public interest in improving safety. That's how the process is designed to work; that's how it's worked, effectively, for the more than four decades since the board's creation.

Imagine, for a moment, how different these decades of excellent -- not perfect, but damned good -- investigative work would be received if every party headed out on its own and issued its own interpretation of evidence and information...imagine how difficult it would be to establish even a hint of credibility about the results, if every party could offer its own self-oriented spin on the information.

NATCA is coming off a period in which its membership struggled under an FAA management that refused to engage in meaningful exchanges about important issues; the controllers union did great service to its membership and the public in taking on some of the foibles of the past FAA management. Now it has new management and new progress at the FAA.

But it appears that NATCA's staff fell into old habits and confused the NTSB for the FAA in taking public a solvable dispute. It's paid the price in the NTSB's decision to protect and secure the integrity of its investigative process.

And that's how it should be. Hopefully, when the next sad occassion requires the participation of NATCA as a party to an investigation, it won't make the same error of judgement and it will make clear to the safety board that it now understand the process and its responsibilities.

-- Dave

Oshkosh 2009 Highlights

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Hodgson) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 17:11:00 +0000

Really nice video of highlights from AirVenture Oshkosh 2009. Not from EAA but from an attendee. Another example of all the personal media that came out of this year's fly-in.

They flew in, they flew out -- and in between they, and time, flew, too...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Higdon) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:52:00 +0000

Whatta week, whatta hoot, whatta blast.

Sitting back in my office in Wichita, it's difficult to conceive that Oshkosh 2009 is over...it's over, I'm out.

So much fun, so much flying, so many old friends, so many new...and so great to see so many of you great folks there...and so great hearing from so many who couldn't make the trek.

The sense of melancholy that accompanies last-day coffee always surprises me a bit, knowing that just a few days earlier it felt like it would never end and continue through an eternity of aviating and air-show living...

Not suggesting that such an eternity wouldn't be a lot like heaven...but would expect the porta-potties to be, well, a bit more upscale.

To all who said "Hi," or pinged their greetings, thanks. You became a higher point in what was already for me the high point of any year.

To those who didn't make it or pay attention, "Hello! Here's next year's dates: July 26-Aug. 1..."

The best time to start planning for next year's Oshkosh is the day after the last one.

Be looking for ya!

Clear!

Dave

Mission Accomplished!

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Hodgson) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:04:00 +0000

UCAP Meetups at Oshkosh

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Hodgson) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:13:00 +0000

We had our second meetup last night at a local food&beverage place called Friar Tucks.

About 15 people in attendance, counting Dave, Jeb and me. Had a great time.

Spent about a half hour in the bar waiting for our table, then gathered around three tables all pulled together.

Lots of good conversation, making new friends. Hangar, err, restaurant flying.

JimG was taking pics. I'll post a link to them when able.

Big Thanks to our Listeners

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Hodgson) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:16:00 +0000

We usually don't make a big deal about audience size. As a rule we're pretty happy that there's even a couple of people listening.

But I'm pleased to report that, as of this morning, July 2009 has become the best month ever for downloads of UCAP podcasts.

Thanks to everyone who listens.

Predator UAV at OSH Behind the Scenes

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Hodgson) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:22:00 +0000

EAA produced video.

Recording UCAP #146 at Oshkosh

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Hodgson) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:39:00 +0000

Photo by Phil Weston.

Oshkosh Pics

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Hodgson) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 22:31:00 +0000

I've posted some early pics from AirVenture Oshkosh 2009.