Inhaltsverzeichnis für August 2020 in Flying

Real innovation. They say it’s some magical combination of inspiration and perspiration. But it’s also a little bit of luck, a little bit of good timing—oh, and yes, a lot of sweat equity. Just ask the folks at Epic Aircraft. All along, the dream was to create and certify a high-performance turboprop using the talents and skills of a select group of pilots, engineers, craftspeople and entrepreneurs. It’s been two decades since the originators of Epic began making that first kit-built Epic LT in Bend, Oregon. Along the way, they evolved into helping owners bring LTs to life, then testing, tweaking, scrapping and scraping together funds—and going back to the drawing board on various elements more than once to get them just right. The team at Epic can be honestly…

When pilots head to Las Vegas, most think of the nightlife or maybe gambling. With nearly year-round sunshine and often scorching temperatures, the last thing on their minds is probably the weather, despite Las Vegas’ regular monsoon season that runs from mid-June through September. That’s the time of the year when Las Vegas receives most of its annual 4.5 inches of rain—and it’s also when a pilot’s IFR skills could be put to the test. That’s how we arrived at this month’s chart, the ILS Runway 12L at North Las Vegas Airport. Because of KVGT’s proximity to town—just 5 miles north of McCarran International—pilots might also find themselves flying this approach simply for sequencing. A Opposite-Direction Approach In spite of the terrain-laden territory west and north of the airport where…

I had just finished washing and drying Windbird’s hull and was just about to begin applying her annual coat of wax when my cellphone rang, startling me. I checked the number—my airline’s crew scheduling department—and my heart made a little leap of joy. This is not my normal reaction to a call from crew sked, especially while on reserve, but these are not normal times. I hadn’t flown in nearly six weeks, and like many of my fellow airline pilots these days, I could have really used some landings to avoid an extra trip to the simulator. I answered the call a little too eagerly. “Hi, Sam, this is James in crew scheduling. I’m just calling to let you know you’re released to 30 hours rest at 1 a.m. this…

For 20 years, airplanes—big ones—have set a daily cadence. Early departures roar overhead crowing the daybreak as reliably as a rooster. The departure procedure from one runway involves a heading change to avoid flying low over homes, but some airplanes are moving so fast that they thunder over my sleeping neighbors before heading over the water. The real estate agent who represented our house when we bought it said, “You should know that there is some airplane noise due to proximity to the airport.” I thought to myself, “Good.” I like airplane noise. Aloud I said, “Oh, I’m sure this defect has been incorporated into the asking price.” “Of course,” said the realtor. And so, for the past 20 years, I’ve enjoyed living just about a mile and a half…

747 Flashback In February 1970, while on final approach to Roswell Industrial Air Center [in New Mexico] for my private pilot check ride, I felt nothing could be more exciting. Indeed, having passed, I was overcome with excitement during my return trip’s preflight. Suddenly, I heard a rare roar of jet engines—Walker Air Force Base closed long ago—and I immediately turned to see this hangar-size airliner lumbering past. Yet, to my surprise, it easily and beautifully slipped the surly bonds of Earth. The lineman shouted: “New 747… Pan Am is training pilots here.” My excitement grew as I watched this gentle giant enter the overcast while huge amounts of air filled inside my chest. Today, I learned that Qantas Airlines, one of the last to end Boeing 747 passenger service,…

Tecnam announced a new version of its P2010 four-seat, single-engine airplane, with a new Continental CD-170 diesel engine, ready for certification by the European Union Aviation and Space Agency. The 170 hp engine builds on the success Continental has had with the previous 135 and 155 hp models of its liquid-cooled, turbo charged, fadec-operated diesel-engine series. The type certificate is expected by July 2020. The P2010 came previously with the Lycoming IO-360 engine at 180 hp and its IO-390 engine at 215 hp. Tecnam CEO Paolo Pascale says the diesel engine enables the new P2010 to outlast its predecessors in range because of the reduction in fuel burn, which is up to 50 percent—with a top range of 1,050 nm possible. In a virtual news conference on May 27, Chris…

A Cessna 210N, with only the pilot aboard, took off on a clear morning from Dekalb-Peachtree Airport (KPDK) and flew northbound. A few minutes later, the pilot radioed the tower that he wanted to return. “Do you need any assistance,” the tower controller inquired, “or are you just coming back inbound?” “Coming back inbound,” he said. A minute or so later, the pilot reported, “I’ve got smoke in the cockpit, and the gear won’t go down.” The controller offered the pilot a straight-in approach to Runway 20L, which the pilot acknowledged. When the airplane appeared to be heading somewhat to the left of the expected track, the controller asked the pilot whether he intended to make a left base to 20L or if he would rather make a right base…

Strange times we are living in. When writing my last column, I wondered aloud if things could get any worse. (I turn in my column two months prior to publication.) As it turns out, they could—and for entirely different reasons than I imagined. In January, I moved to New Mexico to shoot a television show. As COVID-19 quarantines began, it was canceled. I stayed put in Albuquerque, deciding to ride out the storm in a place with few cases and far from the now-nightmarish density of my home in New York. As anxiety rose nationwide, including my own, I found a comforting control in focusing on my own fears. Two years ago, my first column for this magazine told the story of losing an airplane to mountain wind shear in…

In summer 1954, I was 10 going on 11; the “going on” part is important when you’re 10. My father was in New York for some reason or another, and my mother and I were to join him there for a month. It was the first great travel adventure of my life. Born and living in Los Angeles, I had never been outside California, and now I was to go 3,000 miles away, to another city in another state. Maybe I would see Niagara Falls. I had also never been in an airplane. My mother did not fully share my enthusiasm. No doubt, she was happy to be going back to New York, where she had grown up after arriving a Russia-born, German-speaking 8-year-old in 1925. She and my father…

On short final, this capsule looks much like a model from a 1980s Star Wars play set, yet on May 31, 2020, the crewed Dragon module, Endeavour, made history by delivering NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the open arms of the International Space Station. SpaceX spent nine years and sent 21 uncrewed missions to the ISS before pulling the trigger that sent Behnken and Hurley there from atop a Falcon 9 rocket that departed Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The first commercially built spacecraft to dock at ISS filled the Earth’s orbit with hope and will inspire pilots to shoot for the moon—or Mars—next.…

PM: “Making power, power is even.” PM: “Airspeed alive.” PM: “80 knots.” PF: “My yoke.” PM: “Your yoke.” PM: “V1.” PM: “VR.” PM: “Positive rate on two.” PF: “Gear up.” PM: “Selecting gear up.” PM: “Gear is up.” PM: “Clean wing speed.” PF: “Clean the wing.” PM: “Cleaning the wing.” PM: “Wing is clean.” PM: “Speed limit is 250 knots.” PM: “Out of 10,000 feet, no speed limit.” I was serving as the required copilot and pilot monitoring (PM) for Martha, who was captain and pilot flying (PF) on this trip in our old Falcon 10. These were my callouts and my responses to the pilot flying on our takeoff. Pilots in training to be a copilot, or pilot monitoring, in the airlines refer to this as “the script.” Before…

Nearly every suburban parish in (heavily Catholic) Cincinnati has a Saturday afternoon or evening Mass but, for lots of reasons, I’ve just been going through the motions—never feeling too “connected.” But there’s a racetrack near Lunken Airport and, about a year ago, a friend introduced me to a small community of “backtrackers.” Because of their work schedules and transportation issues, these stable hands, trainers, hot walkers, veterinaries, farriers, exercise riders and jockeys can’t make traditional church services. So, my friend, a racing enthusiast, arranged for a priest to come and say Mass at a back-of-the-track building on Sunday mornings. It’s bare bones, with a card table serving as the altar in front of a bunch of vending machines, betting windows and a pool table. Now, I know absolutely nothing about…