Fly like an eagle and land like a crow

Tadeusz Wrona is the pilot of Polish Airlines (Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A.) Flight LO 016 who yesterday performed an emergency gear-up landing in Warsaw. It appears he did the landing perfectly (video). Wrona is a Polish word for crow. The complementary pun now in vogue among aviation fans is "Fly like an eagle and land like a crow."

Reference:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2016661754_apeupolandcrashlanding.html

China Eastern airliner orders

News media outlets have widely reported China Eastern canceled an order for twenty-four 787s, in favor of purchasing forty-five 737s. Not as widely reported is the airline also ordered fifteen A330s from Airbus. I interpret these actions as dissatisfaction with the delivery delays of Boeing’s Dreamliner and a tactical adjustment on route structure. Hopefully it is not indicative of dissatisfaction with the Dreamliner itself.

Reno Air Races

I got the desire to see the National Air Races from my dad. He saw Jimmy Doolittle race in Cleveland. I defer to my sister, the family historian, about which year. I, too, went to the National Championship Air Races and Air Show. For me, it was last year at Reno. The slogan associated with the Races is Fly Low, Go Fast, Turn Left. That is exactly what the racers do. They did in Cleveland (and Chicago before that) and they do in Reno. Last year The Reno Air Racing Association canceled the final race, the Gold Cup championship for the Unlimiteds, because of high winds. The event is dangerous, but I believe the organizers do all they can to assure the safety of the racers and spectators. With new housing erected, the Air Races no longer ran in Cleveland. Years later they moved to the desert, in part because of the risk to those who were not associated with the race.

The Gold Cup championship race for the Unlimiteds is the last race of the last day and is the climax of the Races. Propeller driven, piston engine powered, airplanes - most of which were designed originally as fighters for World War II - compete in a spectacle of noise, power, and speed. One of the most disappointed of the pilots last year undoubtedly was Jimmy Leeward, a highly accomplished pilot who flew Galloping Ghost through lower level qualifying races to have a chance to compete against the preeminent Strega, Voodoo, and Rare Bear. Safety, though, took priority and the race was canceled.

This year, in the first Gold Cup heat of the weekend the four met September 16. Strega and Voodoo were leading, and Galloping Ghost had passed Rare Bear when tragedy struck. Martt Clupper wrote an excellent article on what likely caused the accident. Telemetry data shows Galloping Ghost was flying at 495 miles an hour as it rounded Plyon 7 for the straightaway in front of the grandstand. Questions have been raised as to why the pilot did not do more to avoid hitting the spectators' area. The telemetry data reveal the answer; Mr. Leeward experienced 21Gs immediately after the trim tab broke off the airplane. No human could withstand such force. The FAAs planning did not, and could not reasonably have been expected to, assume such an event. Eleven people have died and scores of others were injured. I thank God the human loss was not more.

Some people are calling for the end of the Air Races. Others want to impose more restrictions in hope of reducing the possibility of another accident and loss of life. Did I expect to die when I went last year? Of course not, but I knew that by being there my probability of death was greater than for many other activities. I made the decision, fully expecting to live, but with the knowledge (remotely in the back of my brain) that I might not. I hope the Air Races continue and I look forward to attending the Fiftieth edition in 2013.

References:

Clupper, Martt. "The Galloping Ghost Tragedy... Life, Risk, And The Future." AirPigz. 20 Sept. 2011. Web. 04 Oct. 2011.

Howe, Jim. "P-51 Galloping Ghost Reno Crash Telemetry Data." Aerobatic Display Teams, Flight Demonstration Squadrons. 29 Sept. 2011. Web. 04 Oct. 2011.

Penny-wise and pound-foolish - Congress and the FAA reauthorization bill

I am pleased Congress reached agreement on the debt limit. I understand it took priority over all other legislative matters for the past few weeks. I also understand there are philosophical reasons to debate the budget for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). I do not understand why Congress would take a recess before addressing the FAA reauthorization. A temporary extension until Congress reconvenes seemed a reasonable compromise. Instead, the government cannot collect federal airport taxes, the FAA furloughed 4000 employees, and many airport construction projects are on hold. Has anyone noticed the economy is weak and tax revenues are down? President Obama correctly characterized the situation as "another Washington-inflicted wound on America."

Aviation "incident"

Yesterday, on his second day as an intern at Chicago Executive Airport, my son, Josh, witnessed an incident - a euphemism for an accident. Confidentiality prevented him from sharing specifics, but this is what I understand happened. An airplane had just taken off from runway 31, when it veered left, losing altitude, heading toward the Atlantic Aviation hanger. The pilot gained enough control to avoid crashing into the hanger or parked airplanes and land on taxiway L. Seemingly the aileron cable broke. No one was injured and the fire department was turned back before it arrived.



From Josh's description, I gather the airplane was a single-engine Cessna, probably designed by his grandfather. As I recall a story from my dad, his only "incident" as a pilot was at the same airport. Dad was making a delivery flight, was low on fuel, and he had to fly around and below jurisdictions for Midway and O'Hare. He had to fly in formation to the airport with another airplane as one of them did not have a radio. Yes, general aviation was more basic in the 1960s. On approach Dad lost power and I think he had a forced landing short of the runway. While Dad's short-term memory was failing him in the last few years of his life, given enough time, he could still pull up long-term memories. I miss being able to talk with him and I know he would be greatly interested in what Josh is learning in his studies to be an air traffic controller.

Chinese Stealth Fighter

The Chinese government allowed the release of photographs of what may be a new fighter prototype. Some observers speculate the photographs are fake. This potential new aircraft, combined with Russian developments, suggests the U.S. lead in fighter technology - especially stealth - is dwindling. Apparently we do not have any new manned aircraft in queue following the troubled F-35. The U.S. dependence on China for manufactured products and financing our debt is a concern.

Reference:
Sweetman, Bill. "China's Stealth Striker." Ares: A Defense Technology Blog. Aviation Week - The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 27 Dec. 2010. Web. 30 Dec. 2010.
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/defense/index.jsp?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&newspaperUserId=27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7&plckPostId=Blog%3a27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post%3acaf36660-d425-4fbc-a284-008017b2b444&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest