Survey Results

Airport Planning Survey  Comment Section

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3-8-10: Be sure to check out a Safety Seminar coming up at Sanford, Saturday, March 13, 2010, starting at 10:00 am titled, "Aircraft Performance & Contaminated Runways." It will be at Southern Maine Aviation and the speaker will be Rob Montgomery speaking about Aircraft performance calculations and the more intimidating parts of aviation. "Join FAA Safety Team Lead Representative and Flight Instructor Rob Montgomery for a discussion of the practical aspects of aircraft performance, with an emphasis on runways contaminated with water, ice, snow and even grass." Click on the FAAST icon for more information. 

Spring Is In The Air    3-6-10: If you haven't been doing to much flying this past winter, than spring fever appears to right around the corner. Taxiing around the airport the other day looked more like a spring day than a winter day. If your airplane has spent the winter outdoors, you might have some extra work to do. I know from personal experience that springtime can bring some challenges keeping up with the extra requirements on preflight and maintenance. Two problems I recall when my plane was tied down on the grass were mud bugs and birds. The mud bugs would fill the inside of the pitot tube and pack it with mud. (Climbing out away from the airport with the airspeed indicator on zero would not be a good thing.) The other problem was the birds that were persistent on making a nest in the tail section of the plane. They would enter small openings in the tail section and leave me a nice present of a several eggs resting on a nice pile of grass.

SR-71 Email 2-27-10: I received another interesting email about the SR-71 that appears to be an email forward from a website. Unfortunately that usually reformats the original webpage and carrires megabytes of data. I managed to track down a website that appears to have the original source information from the email. The story told by a pilot of the SR-71 is very interesting. Here's an excerpt: "The SR-71 was the brainchild of Kelly Johnson, the famed Lockheed designer who created the P-38, the F-104 Starfighter and the U-2.  After the Soviets shot down Gary Powers' U-2 in 1960, Johnson began to develop an aircraft that would fly three miles higher and five times faster than the spy plane - and still be capable of photographing your license plate.  However, flying at 2,000 mph would create intense heat on the aircraft's skin." Click on the SR-71 icon in this article to read the full story. 

Plastic Pilot Certificate Dead­Line 2-26-10: The warnings are coming in and the last minute procrastinators are starting to scramble. The paper license you've been carrying around for thirty years is no longer any good. Those with paper certificates who plan to fly after March 31 need to get a plastic replacement certificate online or through the mail. AOPA says that they have been busy with members asking about plastic pilot certificates--suddenly realizing that the dead­line for compliance is fast approaching. Pilots are required to obtain a plastic pilot certificate by March 31, 2010. After that date, most paper certificates will no longer be valid. The FAA's mandate is based on the reasoning that plastic certificates are more resistant to counterfeiting than paper ones. Those with paper certificates who plan to fly after March 31 can request a plastic replacement certificate online or through the mail. Read more online (www. aopa.org/members/answers0310) or call 800-872-2672. FAA online registry registry.faa.gov.

UAV's Infiltrating Vast Swaths of Airspace2-25-10:  According to Popular Science, there are over 40 countries that fly UAVs. Last year, the U.S. Air Force trained more UAV pilots than fighter and bomber pilots combined. UAVs are getting faster, stronger and smarter with each generation. The new Avenger hunt-and-kill drone is three times as fast as the original Predator, which has flown more than half a million hours in Iraq and Afghanistan. The hand-launched Ravens favored by the Army stream encrypted digital data, allowing many of the 7,000 birds currently in action to serve as an instant communication relay. On the civilian side, crafts like the hovering Embla will be available to scout disaster sites as early as this summer. The slide picture gallery of 30 different types of UAV's covers anything from hand held foam models to airline size aircraft like the Predator. Click on the icons for more information...

VFR Flight on Washington's Birthday 2-24-10:  Here we go again. Finding a VFR day this week was probably a better bet on Monday, Washington's Birthday. All the weather that was out by the central states has arrived bringing with it rain, sleet and snow. Looking at the charts on Monday, I quickly made a decision to stop by the airport on the way home from work and take a quick look of the New England sky before all the red and pink dots come in. Clicking on the "Instant Radar" icon gives you an immediate picture of the VFR and marginal flying conditions across the country. Seeing all the green circles and squares on Monday was the green light for taking a flight. Here's a couple of pic's of the sky on Monday evening.

Another Portable Reader, SolidFX 2-19-10: Jeppesen charts are now available on a portable reader courtesy of SolidFX and the FX10. SolidFX uses a branded iRex reader to provide Jeppesen charts at almost real size. The FX10 has claims to have many advan­tages over NACO chart readers on the market today, most notably in search capability. Ease of bringing up a plate and switching between plates is quick as well. Options for navigation include a stylus or buttons. Each has its ups and down, but the stylus seems to be fastest. There's a learning curve initially, but the FX10 is the only option for to have Jeppesen charts elec­tronically. Price: $1,595 for the reader; $120 to $700 a year for the plates, depending on coverage Contact: www. solidfx.com

EAA 225 $1000 aviation scholarship Info~ 2-13-10: Here's some EAA 225 information just in from Gerry Peterson. "Just wanted to let you know that EAA 225 has recently added a $1000 aviation scholarship application on its webpage.  Deadline for the 2010 time period is March 31, 2010.  Just go to: www.eaa225.blogspot.com for more information and application, which can be downloaded to interested & qualified applicants.  It is a pretty good deal for the winner some aspiring pilot in the age 15 to 25 years old group (only one selected each year) and can be used to help with expenses for either sport or private pilot training at an approved flight school in Southern Maine, New Hampshire, or Northeastern Massachusetts."

SR-71 Blackbird a.k.a. the "Habu" ~ 2-13-10: Everyone has heard of the SR-71 Blackbird and the many stories behind its mysterious history. But nowadays,  you can click on the internet and all the mystery goes away with article after article about the airplanes construction and flying and engines characteristics. The best cruise speed for the engines was Mach 3.2. That's over 3,000 miles per hour... When under attack, the defense procedure was to accelerate. The curiosity and attraction to this aircraft has led some people to make some extraordinary RC models. Click on the icon on the left in this article to see a link that Jim sent in. One article said this model is powered by only one jet engine mounted in the middle. Here's another video (on the right) that looks like it has two engines (red glow from the back of the engines). Although that glow may not be fire (l.e.d.'s?). The models actually may be one in the same... at any rate, the video's are pretty awesome.