Schofields Flying Club Ltd - 1 Tower Road Bankstown Airport 2200
(PO Box 200, Georges Hall, NSW 2198 AUSTRALIA)
Phone: +61 2 9773 3611 Email: mail@schofields-flying-club.com.au
SCHOFIELDS FLYING CLUB NEWSLETTER - JUNE 2007
Victor 1 southbound: stay east (left) of the yellow line!
Welcome to the June 2007 edition of Schofields News. There are the usual plus some new features - President's Notes by Mike Allsop, Ask the CFI by Pat Watson, X-File X075 (Caproni Ca 165) by Anthony Coleiro, Crosswind Operations (Part 5 - Crosswind Take-Off) by Pat Watson, Red Bull Air Race by Craig Hobart, About Sunglasses compiled by Latrodectus, Why Two Pairs of Glasses? by John Young, A Short Visit to Fraser Island by Peter Blackbourn, A Tough Bit of Kit compiled by Latrodectus, Tassie Flyaway (Day 6) by John Carswell, Great Circle Calculations by Latrodectus, and The Last Word from Latrodectus. As well, there's some of the usual administrivia that you've come to expect. So, read on and enjoy!
MAY NEW MEMBERS: New members for May 2007 will be announced shortly. Prospective new members of the Club can download a Membership Application Form (174kB pdf) here. Note that it is still necessary for new members to attend the Club in person with photo identification before applications can be processed.APRIL DUTY PILOT DRAW: The Volunteer Duty Pilot Monthly Draw for April ($50 free flying) goes to Scott Button and David Hunt. The Draw for May will be announced shortly. The Club is appreciates the efforts our tireless band of volunteers generously gives in helping their Club and this is one small way of saying thank you!
FAREWELL, PETER & MAT: Senior instructors Peter Kestle and Mathew Ingram have moved on to greener pastures. A special thank you to Peter who acted as CFI/CP/HAAMC for several months last year. Peter has joined AirLink at Dubbo as a Training & Checking Captain. Congratulations, Peter! Mat has moved to a salaried position with another flying school and we wish him well in his future career.
JUNE AVIATION NIGHT: Our next Aviation Night will be held at the Club on Saturday 16th June. Our Guest Speaker will be Roy Fox, a Club member of many years standing, and an antique/vintage aircraft acquirer and restorer. An example of his work will be on static display. More...
 Yannick Sasso Flying and the environment - a suggestion from Yannick Sasso I guess most of us are now getting increasingly aware of global warming and its dire consequences on the environment. It's also fair to say that flying is not the most environmentally friendly activity. For a Piper Warrior the average fuel consumption is 36L per hour, which translate to 83kg of CO2 ejected in the atmosphere. Other than not flying, there is no way to prevent that from happening, however it is possible to buy carbon offset, tree planting for example. How much does that cost? According to www.carbonneutral.com.au a tonne of carbon dioxide offset can be purchased for $16.50. 83kg offset (one hour in a PA28) is therefore worth about $1.40. This is peanuts in comparison to the hiring cost of an aircraft. It could be interesting for Schofields Flying Club to either propose an optional "carbon offset levy" in order to allow pilots to buy themselves a green conscience when flying - I would - or, even maybe more drastically, to impose that on the aircraft hire rate. This could be actively marketed to promote Schofields as a "green", environmentally friendly, carbon neutral Flying Club, and demonstrate leadership in the industry. If my Google searches are any indication, this is starting in US and Canada but nobody has done it yet in Australia. If anything, it would certainly be worth discussing amongst members? Food for thought. |
NIGHT CIRCUITS: Our night circuits event took place on Friday the 16th May 2007 and fortunately the weather was excellent. Eighteen club members flew on the night completing three circuits each under the watchful eye of our instructors. A fantastic meal was served and a great night was had by all. These nights are becoming a great social gathering where members can get together with old friends and new for a night of flying and fun. The committee would like to thank all members and staff who helped on the night with a special thank you to Vivanne for the excellent meal she provided.
COMPETITION FLYING: The next Club Flying Competition was scheduled to be held at Warnervale on Sunday, 10 June and the next Interclub Flying Competition will be held at Moruya on Saturday, 7 July. More...
FROM THE TOWER: The June-July issue of From the Tower, Bankstown's Air Traffic Control news circular, is now available (300kB pdf). It's aim is to provide the Bankstown aviation community with a bi-monthly source of news and information from an ATC point of view. You can download previous issues from our Downloads page.
DIARY DATES: The Club has a number of social and flying activities planned for 2007. You can check full details on our Coming Events page. Below is a summary of the programme for May and June 2007:
| Sun | 10 | June | Club Competition Details | Warnervale |
| Mon | 11 | June | Queen's Birthday Public Holiday | |
| Sat | 16 | June | Aviation Night Details | Clubhouse |
| Mon | 18 | June | Committee Meeting | Clubhouse |
| Sun | 24 | June | GPS Theory Course; Last light Drinks | Clubhouse |
| Sat | 07 | July | NSW Interclub Competition Round 2 Details | Moruya |
| Fri | 13 | July | Night Circuits | Bankstown |
| Mon | 16 | July | Committee Meeting | Clubhouse |
| Sun | 22 | July | Club Competition | Warnervale |
| Sun | 29 | July | Last light Drinks | Clubhouse |
Mike Allsop
F ellow members, thanks to you, May has been a record month for Schofields on the flying activity front. Our private hire hours are up, with many of our newly qualified PPLs now taking the opportunity to share the joy of flying with friends and family. Our training hours are also well up, with a great mix of PPL and CPL training plus various upgrades such as Night VFR and PIFR in demand as well. This Club provides the full range of pilot training opportunities for our members. We strongly support the principle of continuous learning and refresher training contributing to confidence, safety and enjoyment of your flying activity. Feel free to call at any time to discuss your interests with our CFI, Pat Watson, our GM, Nelson Crawshaw, or one of our friendly instructors.
On this front we held our first Night Circuits evening for the year early in May with a great turnout of keen night flyers enjoying both the flying and the dinner laid on for us by Vivianne. We had a range of aircraft in the air - Warriors, an Archer and an Arrow. We can also provide Cessnas if required (e.g. for pre-GFPT students), but they stayed in bed this time. The format of an instructor with 3 pilots swapping over after 3 circuits again worked very well. There was a good mix of people re-gaining their night currency as well as those trying it for the first time. Well done to everyone.There has also been a lot of activity on the fleet front this month. Warrior SFK has been off-line waiting for parts but should be back with us in the first week of June. Warrior SVK is back with its new engine, as is Warrior IJK. Ever-popular Cessna JNB was put up for sale by its owner and I am pleased to report that the Club has agreed to purchase it.
VH-JNB ... the Club has agreed to purchase it. There will be no interruption to its availability for our use. Cessna Aerobat SRY goes in for an avionics refresh this month followed later by a strip and repaint. The demand on the Cessnas has been very strong. This is very interesting in comparison to the Jabiru which, while very attractive in its own right as a modern trainer, has not enjoyed the same level of demand as the Cessnas. Our 12 month trial with the Jabiru comes to an end soon, and it is our intention to release the aircraft (by not renewing the lease) at that time. We will be watching this end of the market very closely and may revisit the Jabiru later.
I would be very grateful if you could email me with your thoughts on the 2-seater end of the market and your experiences with the Jabiru in particular. I would also be interested to hear your thoughts regarding the Warrior for basic training - a good number of our members seem to prefer the larger aircraft from the outset. As has been said before, the choice is yours.
Our relocation activities are well afoot. DA was approved in April and full BA approval is imminent. Preliminary site set out has commenced, and we hope to see strong on-site activity in June. We are still targeting the commencement of operations at the new site by the end of the year. Thanks go to our relocation sub-committee for the continued hard work in pushing this project along.
On a final note and for something a bit different, we ran a "non-pilots" day last week as a corporate team building exercise for a group of Pfizer account managers. The majority had never been in a light aircraft before, but with encouragement from instructors Janina Galliani and Tom Blazevic, the TIF routine proved a real buzz for them. We used the Museum as a base, laid on lunch and then drinks back at the Club. It was a huge success, and Nelson has received great feedback from the Pfizer organiser as to how well run it was and how much value and enjoyment they all gained from the experience. There is nowhere else at Bankstown where this sort of activity could be provided in such a friendly, informative and professional fashion. We are very pleased to have been able to promote the enjoyment of aviation in this way and have happy customers as a result. Well done to Tom, Janina and Nelson! Until next month, keep flying!
Mike Allsop
President SFC
Patrick Watson
We have been getting an unusually high number of incident reports lately. In fact the last one received said: "...another aircraft from this operator was subject to VCA recently. Are they using wrong fixes...?" I don't want the club to get a bad reputation so be very careful with your heights and your position fixes.
After landing, do not relax and adopt the attitude that the flight is all over - no more worries. That attitude will lead you to taxi straight over a holding point for another runway without clearance - thus another incident report. If you are subject to an incident report of any nature, you will have to fly with an instructor for some remedial work. Think of your hip pocket!What is the maximum OCTA altitude you can be at Parramatta? Some people say 2500 feet and give the excuse that they are slightly left of Parramatta so outside controlled airspace. Sorry - wrong answer. I would suggest you stay no higher than 2000 feet until you are at Pennant Hills strobe.
Going up and down the lane, I suggest you stay 100 feet low at 1900 and 2400 feet. It is better to stay at least 100 feet low than to try and stay exactly at the maximum altitude and inadvertently sneak up.
Contour flying in Victor 1 is also a problem. If you get an incident report for this one - it will be very expensive. One and a half hours advanced dual to show you your errors plus a long brief from me! That'll upset your wallet. I'll bet you have better things to spend your money on.
What is the max OCTA altitude you can be at Parramatta? Other problem areas include sneaking into Richmond Military CTR near Katoomba - Springwood area. Or cutting through R555 (Holsworthy Army area) south of Sydney. Instead of cutting it fine, why not take the proactive approach and deliberately fly further away from the boundary or where you think the boundary may be? Or descend sooner - especially approaching Brooklyn Bridge from the north?
These, and other hints and clues freely available any time from me or your favourite instructor. If you have any concerns whatsoever please don't hesitate to see me or your favourite instructor.
THIS MONTH'S POSER: Lots of people answered last month's question. Very gratifying. I was beginning to think of giving away the monthly question when no (or very few) answers were received for my SUN questions.
Instructor Janina Galliani was the first with a correct answer for last month's question. The extra distance at FL370 from Perth to New York compared to Sea Level was about 18 nautical miles. Janina even went to the trouble of working it out at 500 AMSL because she thought there was a trick when Ladrodectus added "while complying with CAR 157(1)" (She forgot about flying over the Rocky Mountains). Correct answers from all who responded. [Actually, CAR 157(1) says you can't fly lower than 1000 feet over a populous area or 500 feet over any other area - LH]
Try this month's question. You have taken the Arrow away for a weekend trip. During the trip away, you find that there is an undercarriage problem such that you are unable to raise it. The undercarriage is stuck in the down position. The Club's engineer says it will be fine to return to Bankstown in this condition, however suggests you fly in the maximum range configuration and speed.
This month's question. How does the maximum range speed with the gear down compare with the maximum range speed with the gear retracted? Is it higher, lower or the same? Why?
Until next month, Happy Flying
Patrick Watson CP/CFI
Anthony Coleiro
T he Caproni Ca 165 was a private venture designed fighter conceived by Raffaele Conflenti intended to replace the Fiat CR 32, which was in squadron service in the mid to late 1930's. The aircraft was of mixed construction being fabric covered chrome-molybdenum tubular fuselage, and wooden wings in a standard bi-plane configuration; powered by a 900 hp 12-cylinder Isotta Faschini L 121 RC 40 liquid cooled engine driving a metal variable pitch propeller. The aircraft had a semi-retractable radiator mounted under the aircraft but this proved troublesome so it was replaced with a fixed tunnel type radiator.
The aircraft first took to the air on 16 February 1938 and during the course of testing, apart from the radiator, various other modifications were incorporated into the design including an aft sliding canopy.
Caproni Ca 165 On 3 August 1939 the Ca 165 attained a speed of 466 km/h in level flight making it the fastest bi-plane with fixed undercarriage of that era. Ten days later the aircraft was delivered to the Italian Airforce for evaluation. The aircraft proved to be superior to the Fiat CR 32 and CR 42 Falco and possessed a higher climb rate than the Fiat G.50 Freccia, MC 500 and F5 monoplanes, two and a half weeks later an order was place for 12 pre-production aircraft.
On October 10 1939 the pre-production order was cancelled due to the high cost of its production and consequently all further development of the aircraft was abandoned.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- The Complete Book of Fighters - William Green Gordon Swanborough
- Flying Review International - June 1969 - Haymarket Publishing Group
Patrick Watson The Crosswind Take-Off
My first Instructor job was with Camden Aero Club - Bob Curtis was the gruff, extremely competent and knowledgeable CFI. He used to always take off in a crosswind with the ailerons in exactly the same position as they were when landing in a cross wind - full into wind. I learnt from that, added many years of personal experience and now fully subscribe to - and teach that method.
When taking off with a crosswind, position the ailerons fully into wind. Accelerate, steering with the pedals. Accelerate to a slightly higher than normal speed before rotating. Do not use flaps. (We are talking about Piper Warriors, Archers, Arrows, and Cessnas here.) As you rotate, the nose wheel will lift off first, then the downwind mainwheel, followed by the into wind mainwheel. As the aircraft becomes fully airborne, neutralise the ailerons.
Due to the inertia in the runway direction, the aircraft may "weathercock" after becoming airborne. If not, you will have to turn the aircraft into wind, in order to maintain the runway extended centreline.Let's analyse the forces involved when taking off in crosswind conditions. As the aeroplane is sitting at the threshold waiting for takeoff clearance, it is being subjected to the full force of the crosswind. If the runway was ice covered or the surface absolutely frictionless, the aircraft would be blown sideways and twisted so that the nose and longitudinal axis would be perpendicular to the runway - or aligned parallel to the wind. The only thing stopping that happening normally is the friction of the tyres on the runway.
As the takeoff roll commences, the rudder is completely stalled - the angle of attack is 90º - so does not contribute to steering. The wheels are still the one thing keeping the aircraft going in the desired direction. Do nothing that will reduce the wheels' grip on the runway. Therefore the ailerons must be fully into wind in order to keep the wheels glued to the runway.
Some pilots maintain that the controls become more effective as the speed increases so they need to be progressively neutralised. Incorrect! Utilise the increased effectiveness to keep the wheel glued to the runway. Don't forget the wings are beginning to generate lift, the aircraft is getting lighter thus reducing weight on the tyres. You need to do all you can to maintain that pressure.
Do not lift off at a lower than normal speed. The wind is usually gusty. Stay on the runway until you achieve a higher than normal speed. If you force the aircraft into the air during a gust - you may find your self disgusted ;-) Very embarrassing when you hit the ground again. As the aircraft accelerates, the forward velocity reduces the angle of attack on the rudder and it begins to effectively add to steering capability.Some pilots feel very uncomfortable when the aircraft becomes airborne in the banked condition. A bit of practice and demonstration of the ability to keep the aircraft on the centreline and completely under control soon conquers the discomfort.
I recall an Instructor Rating course I was teaching some time ago where some of the Instructor candidates subscribed to the theory of neutralising the ailerons just before lift-off. I decided to conduct some slow motion crosswind take-offs to demonstrate the effect. Slow motion was achieved by using reduced power - 2100 RPM in the Cessna 152. As we moved (accelerated is the wrong word) down the runway with the ailerons neutral, the aeroplane soon started skipping sideways and twisting around into wind. Instant Rescue? Ailerons into wind. Point proven! As with everything in aviation - practice and recency are essential.
Patrick Watson CP/CFI
Craig Hobart
T he news broke early in the year that the Red Bull Air Race was coming to Australia, at which time I thought, that would be great but going all the way to Perth? So not much happened in the organizing department, with it relegated to the "know about it but won't be going file"!
But about 6 weeks before the event my wife, Marisa, did what great wives do and put it out there, "Hey, Darl - the air race is coming to Australia. Would you like to go?" I didn't even ask her to repeat what she said... in a flash I was on the net placing airfares for us to head west, after a long exhausting search for accommodation. Thoughts of accommodation in south Perth overlooking the course were of course fanciful having been booked out years ago... So we found nice modern accommodation with distant views of the city, and as I was later to discover, was on the cycling track, the most efficient way to go to the air show.We arrived Friday morning and after checking in drove down to the course which was free of large crowds but had the full kit of entertainment with the aircraft flying around like crazy flies at an Australia day BBQ. So the boys got to enjoy the static displays, and got right up close to the planes as they slung shot past the south shores at 50 feet at over 300kph. Nice warm up.
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Some things I learned included, the Edge 540 is a better mount than the Extra 300, and the Lycoming engine is the ONLY choice when it comes to this type of aircraft (good news if you fly a Piper!). The average cost of the aircraft was between 200,000 and 300,000 Euro. Weight means everything!! If you are pulling 10g your head weighs 300kg!!! (If you had a 30kg head... LH). Strong neck required!! So too many pounds means too much drag on performance.
Sunday arrived and so did the heat, so Marisa and the boys wisely vetoed the event, while I trekked down to be with my closest 500,000 friends. The photos show how crowded it was, but what a day with much to see and hear!! The best fun you can have without blowing the budget (attending the event itself was free).
Craig Hobart
Glare is often a cause of significant discomfort when flying above cloud or when flying into the sun. Sunglasses may be required in such circumstances. There are two basic factors to consider when selecting sunglasses, namely the frame and the lenses.
Latrodectus - stunt
double in "Top Gun" Any spectacle frame reduces the field of vision. Narrow frames that carry large lenses are desirable. The most critical problem with frames arises from the presence of wide sidearms which significantly impair the peripheral visual field.
Sunglass lenses should protect the eyes from glare while not adversely affecting the visual cues necessary for safe flight. Accordingly, lenses should not be too dark, and should transmit at least 15% of incident light. The tint used should be "neutral density" (N.D.), that is, a greyish tint that does not distort colour perception or adversely affect red signal detection and recognition. The recommended tint is N.D.15.
Lenses of polycarbonate are preferred because of their impact-resistance and ability to absorb ultra-violet and infrared rays. However, these lenses can scratch readily and any scratched spectacles should be discarded.
To ensure that sunglasses provide adequate protection from solar radiation that may damage the eyes, only those sunglasses that conform to the current Australian Standard should be worn.
Flying Operations Inspectors with
standard CASA issue Ray-Bans Sunglasses that conform to the current Australian Standard also meet acceptable standards for lens quality, frame strength and lens retention.
For aviation use, those sunglasses marked "Specific Purpose Sunglasses" are recommended, provided their frames are appropriate. The lenses of these sunglasses have been specifically designed for use in conditions of intense glare, such as in flight above cloud. At high altitude, atmospheric absorption of ultra-violet radiation is reduced.
The pilot who already wears prescription spectacles for flying can choose from a number of options for glare protection. Prescription sunglasses with N.D.15 lenses can be obtained, or N.D.15 clip-on or flip-up sunglasses may be worn over prescription spectacles.
Pilots who require correction of their near vision only and who wear "look-overs" are advised to obtain bifocals and a plano upper segment. Clip-on or flip-up sunglasses can then be worn. However, flip-ups are cumbersome and there is a risk that they may flip down inadvertently as a result of turbulence during some critical phase of flight.
Graduated lens tint is another option. This provides glare protection for distant vision outside the aircraft, while near vision inside the aircraft is not impeded by the tint. It is usually considered that the use of a single tinted segment in bifocal glasses should be avoided as the visual effect of a "false horizon" may be disturbing and dangerous.
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Polarising sunglasses are unsuitable for flying Polarising sunglasses should not be used when flying. The polarising filter interacts with the cockpit transparency to produce a distorted and degraded visual field that poses a threat to air safety. |
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Photochromatic lenses are unsuitable for flying Spectacles can also be prescribed with photochromic lenses - lenses that change their density depending on the ambient light level. Under bright conditions they are like sunglasses, while in darker conditions they transmit light almost as well as untinted lenses. However, photochromic lenses have disadvantages that render them unsuitable for use by pilots. Firstly, their transition times are relatively slow. Photochromic lenses take about five minutes to increase their density to the level of sunglasses, but more importantly, the bleaching time from maximum to minimum density can be as long as 30 minutes or more, although there is a rapid lightening of the lens in the first five minutes. This may be too long when there is a sudden variation in light during a descent into or under cloud, or because of a rapid change in cloud cover. Their second disadvantage is that, even when fully bleached, photochromic lenses still absorb slightly more light than untinted lenses. Since vision is critically dependent on ambient light levels at night or otherwise when light levels are low, even this small decrease of light reaching the eye through photochromic lenses is undesirable. The inherent degradation of these lenses with time effectively prohibits their use in flying and pilots should not use them in these circumstances. |
John Young
| A comment from Latrodectus: The applicable legislation is CASR (1998) Part 67 Regulation 67.200 (conditions applicable to certain medical certificates - correcting lenses) states that:
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I recently found out why we are required to carry two pairs of prescription glasses when we fly. We were all set to go for a Sydney Scenic in the club Arrow JRY. We were all strapped in, passengers briefed on emergency exit and life jacket operation, pre-flight and pre start checks completed (all going well) time to start the engine.
My usual procedure is to start the engine with my headset off so that I can hear the starter and engine in case of nasty noises. Normal Arrow cold start procedure and the engine starts perfectly, oil pressure rising, alternator charging and idle speed set. What a good start to impress the passengers (the ego is looking good). Time to put my headset on. The headset bumped my glasses, something fell on the floor and went under the seat (where else). One of the lenses had fallen out of my glasses and the securing screw was nowhere to be seen. Bugger!! (now the ego is taking a beating). Shut the engine down, unload one passenger and retrieve the lost lens, no screw to be seen. No problem as I have a second pair of glasses in my pocket and on old pair in my flight bag so the flight can continue legally.I was lucky that this happened on the ground and I had spare glasses, but if it had happened in the air with no spares, I would be a bit one eyed about the landing. Some might say that is normal for me but that's another story.
So now I know the reason that we are required to carry two pairs of glasses!! If anybody finds a tiny screw for my glasses in JRY, throw it away as it has caused enough embarrassment and they're already fixed.
John Young
Director of Market Communications & Member Relations
Peter Blackbourn
Viv and I recently had a short break up in Queensland. We flew from YSSY to YHBA - it's hard to beat Virgin at $79 each way so we went RPT. Our destination, Hervey Bay, still has some laid back characteristics of a beach side town with a great choice of accommodation. With Viv's sister living in Brisbane, she and husband Andrew (both ex RAAF so no guess as to discussion topic) drove up to join us and provide the ground transport for our stay.
With Fraser Island just an hour's ferry trip to the East, we had pre-booked a day's adventure with one of the tour operators. There are no sealed roads on Fraser and, although we traveled in a 16 seater 4WD air-conditioned vehicle, the bouncing ride reminded me more of a troop truck than the luxury carrier we were in.When we eventually popped out of the jungle we were on the Island's main sand highway along it's East coast heading North next to the very blue water. This strip of "road" is shared not only by 4WD tour operators, but all and sundry who drive up and down, parking and playing along the side of the road as tourists do. Not so unusual you would think, but another party who uses this stretch of surface is the Scenic Flight Tour Operator using GA8 Airvans.
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It was during our morning tea break that the question was asked, who would like to go for a "scenic" flight. Being in holiday mode it was not too hard a decision to join in a short sortie of the island. Just 10 minutes later we were rolling on the sand RWY and soon orbiting the rainforests and lakes of Fraser. It seemed only a few minutes later we were over flying the Maheno Shipwreck which was on crosswind leg to return back to the sands of Fraser.
From the pictures you will see our short final approach. Once our aircraft was back on the ground it simply follows the road rules of keeping to the left. An interesting combination that seems to work, but I still wonder about separation standards.
If you ever get the chance to spend a few days in Hervey Bay either as a paying RPT passenger or better still as the PIC of one of our fleet, then go for it. Make sure to put Fraser on the agenda as it really is a place to see. Indeed you may be surprised who you see, we were when bumping into club member Bill Dawes and wife Jill. Not sure whether it's a small world or the fact that Schoies members just love to travel.
Peter Blackbourn
January 10, 1964, started out as a typical day for the flight test group at Boeing's Wichita plant. Pilot Chuck Fisher took off in a B-52H with a three-man Boeing crew, flying a low-level profile to obtain structural data. Over Colorado, cruising 500 feet above the mountainous terrain, the B-52 encountered some turbulence.
Fisher climbed to 14,300 feet looking for smoother air. At this point the typical day ended. The bomber flew into clear-air turbulence. It felt as if the plane had been placed in a giant high-speed elevator, shoved up and down, and hit by a heavy blow on its right side. Fisher told the crew to prepare to abandon the plane. He slowed the aircraft and dropped to about 5,000 feet to make it easier to bail out. But then Fisher regained some control. He climbed slowly to 16,000 feet to put some safety room between the plane and the ground. He informed Wichita about what was happening. Although control was difficult, Fisher said he believed he could get the plane back in one piece.Response to the situation at Wichita, and elsewhere, was immediate. An emergency control center was set up in the office of Wichita's director of flight test.
... the B-52's vertical tail was gone... Key Boeing engineers and other specialists were summoned to provide their expertise. Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control centers at Denver and Kansas City cleared the air around the troubled plane.
A Strategic Air Command B-52 in the area maintained radio contact with the crew of the Wichita B-52. As Fisher got closer to Wichita, a Boeing chase plane flew up to meet him and to visually report the damage. When Dale Felix, flying an F-100 fighter, came alongside Fisher's B-52, he couldn't believe what he saw; the B-52's vertical tail was gone. Felix broke the news to Fisher and those gathered in the control center. In the emergency control center, the engineers began making calculations and suggesting the best way to get the plane down safely.
The Air Force was also lending assistance. A B-52, just taking off for a routine flight, was used to test the various flight configurations suggested by the specialists before Fisher had to try them. As high gusty winds rolled into Wichita, the decision was made to divert the B-52 to Blytheville Air Force Base in Northeastern Arkansas. Boeing specialists from the emergency control center took off in a KC-135 and accompanied Fisher to Blytheville, serving as an airborne control center.
Six hours after the incident first occurred, Fisher and his crew brought in the damaged B-52 for a safe landing. The B-52, Fisher said, "Is the finest airplane I ever flew." He just couldn't resist adding this comment: "although sometimes the rudders are bit sluggish"
Day 3: 28 Dec 06 - YFLI TO YMLT
T he day dawned bright and clear, few clouds and good vis for our second flight day from Flinders Island to Launceston on the "mainland" of Tasmania. The three of us, John Hook, Howard Elsey and I, arrived at the aerodrome with the rest of the crew from the Lady Barron Hotel. Everybody decamped from the bus and farewelled Leedham Walker, our tour guide and, all round knowledgeable person for our time on the Island.
Arriving at our little SFK, JH and Howard checked the weather and submitted the flight plan while I prepped the plane for the trip to YMLT - Howard was flying this sector. THE FUN THEN STARTED. After I refuelled the aircraft the three of us jumped in and the engine slowly ground over and over and refused to do "what it was paid for". "Bugger" I said along with a few expletives from the rest of the crew. Pushing the Plane away from the bowser we tried again, and again. SFK liked Flinders Island and wanted to stay.
The little beastie still did not want to start... We called Peter Johnston in his Piper Lance, who was at that moment taxing out to Rwy 23, and an expert on hand starting engines, for his advice.
An hour or so later the little beastie still did not want to start and PJ was worn out. A Senica 3 driver from Bairnsdale Air loaned us his opinion and back muscles. Leedham loaned us the battery from his aircraft and still SFK refused to even think about working. Desperate measures were called for. A conference was held and we decided the tour must go on. Howard and his gear was packed into PJ's Lance and they departed to Launie a few hours behind time.
One home and two to go! JH and I had another chinwag. As he was booked on a tour the next day and I had that day free, JH decided to book a seat on the 1530 hrs TasAir flight to Launie and I was going to bring SFK down when repaired or started the next day. Ha Ha! After phone calls and conversations later during the day with various people both in Sydney and on Flinders Island the inevitable was reached, SFK was having an extended holiday on Flinders Island. My trusty credit card and I slunk up to the TasAir counter and bought a ticket to YMLT on the 1530 hrs service. At least I got to sit in the Right hand seat of the Cessna Titan on the way down to Launie much to JH's disgust.
Arriving at Launceston we caught a cab to the sumptuous Country Club Villa where we were booked in and, over a few beers, proceeded to regale the rest of the crews with our adventures and started looking for a LAME to repair SFK so we could rejoin the tour one way or the other. But that is another story.
John Carswell
GREAT CIRCLE CALCULATIONS: In last month's Ask the CFI question, the Great Circle distance between Perth and New York was given as 10,105 NM. Some readers may have wondered how that figure was derived so the following is a mathematical solution to the problem that you can use with your programmable calculator.
The slight difference in the answer is probably due to the source of latitude and longitude data - I've used ERSA for Perth and information from the LaGuardia Airport web site for New York.
Perth (International) airport: 31o56.4'S, 115o58.0'E (or 31.94oS, 115.97oE as decimal degrees)
New York (LaGuardia) airport: 40o46.6'N, 73o52.4'W (or 40.78oN, 73.87oW as decimal degrees)
Southern and eastern hemisphere co-ordinates are taken as negative.Let's call Perth location 'A' and New York location 'B'.
So, LatA = -31.94, LongA = -115.97, LatB = 40.78 and LongB = 73.87.
dist = Great Circle distance in NM
dist = 60.cos-1[sin(LatA).sin(LatB) + cos(LatA).cos(LatB).cos(LongB - LongA)]
dist = 60.cos-1[sin(-31.94).sin(40.78) + cos(-31.94).cos(40.78).cos(73.87 + 115.97)]
dist = 10089 NM
TCi = Initial course in oT
TCi = cos-1{[sin(LatB) - sin(LatA).cos(dist/60)] / [sin(dist/60).cos(LatA)]}
TCi = cos-1{[sin(40.78) - sin(-31.94).cos(168.14)] / [sin(168.14).cos(-31.94)]}
TCi = 039oT
If sin(LongA - LongB) < 0 then TCi = 360 - TCi
sin(-115.97 - 73.87) = 0.17 (positive, so no correction required)
Variation at PH = 2oW
Magnetic track = 039 + 2 = 041oM
Please let me know if you find this information useful. If there is interest, I will present solutions to other spherical trigonometry problems in future Newsletters.
FEEDBACK AND CONTRIBUTIONS: Well, that's your Newsletter for this month. With help (in the form of contributions) it might be possible to continue to produce a newsletter every month. Don't forget to check the latest news on the Club's website at www.schofields-flying-club.com.au. Contributions, comments, feedback, and suggestions to latrodectus@schofields-flying-club.com.au.
THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH: Next time you see someone acting stupidly, consider the possibility it might be the real thing.
Latrodectus
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