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Thanks
Arthur

AVIATION MUSEUMS IN ARIZONA

AVIATION MUSEUMS

Being a pilot I love going to aviation museums. We are fortunate in Arizona to have 3 wonderful museums. 

Yesterday I had the chance to fly up to Valle, AZ (40G) with my friend Roger Whittier aboard. The weather at 40G, 6000 feet, in the morning called for shirtsleeves even though I had a sweater and flight jacket along with me. It was a beautiful sunny day in AZ.

The museum in Valle came about from the overflow at Chino Airport Museum in CA. Chino needed a place to show excess aircraft and chose Valley Grand Canyon airport for this task. 40G is just 40 miles south of the Grand Canyon, and when the Grand Canyon Airport (GCN) is extremely busy in the summer, 40G runs Canyon tours to make up for the over crowding of GCN.

Most of the planes at Valle are in flyable condition, unfortunately one that was not is the Steerman that had a cracked spar. This plane along with several others at Chino and Valle have been used in Movies and TV shows.

The highlight plane at Valle is the Constellation (Connie) that was used by General MacArthur. The staff at Valle opened up the Connie for us and it was a great tour. Engines start consume 40 gallons of fuel.

Pictured here is the famous Connie tail. Connie’s have a reputation, like the V Tail Bonanza, of waggle in the tail area so MacArthur always sat up front in the plane.

Flight engineers panel on the Connie

Connie flight deck

Another plane of interest, which was in another hangar, is the Ford Tri Motor. It is still flying, and due to the weight of the plane, takes a type rating to fly it. You can train in this plane and receive a Tri Motor rating at Valle.

There were several historical display cases which included personal uniforms, log books and historical data on several individuals from WWII, Korea and Viet Nam.

In the lobby of the terminal building are several vintage cars. 40G is one of the friendliest airports I have flown into and worth the trip.

There is a small museum in Mesa, a suburb of Phoenix, that contains the Commemorative Airforce planes of WWII. My favorite airplane there is the B17.

There are docents at the museum to give you a complete history on all the airplanes that are in the hangar and outside.

The largest museum in AZ is located in Tucson, The Pima Air and Space museum. There are several large hangars and in addition several planes are located outside.

The SR 71 is one of my favorite all time airplanes.

The F4U means a lot to me as my Father In Law flew this plane in Korea. Also in his squadron were 2 famous baseball players, Ted Williams and Jerry Coleman.

In addition to the Pima museum, a short private bus ride away is the boneyard at Davis Monthan Air Force Base. A docent will be on your bus to give you a complete history of the planes on Aviation Row. Almost every military plane is there from WWII through Viet Nam. This includes B52’s, A10’s and F4’s. There are not many F4’s left as the airforce rebuilds them as drones for target practice. They fly about 4 missions before they are shot down for practice.

B52'S at the boneyard

So if you are vacationing in AZ and are interested in Aviation we have plenty of museums to keep you busy.

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PHOENIX DEER VALLEY AIRPORT...AND CRASHES

FEBRUARY 3

NOT A GOOD DAY TO BE FLYING AT

PHOENIX DEER VALLEY AIRPORT (DVT)

DVT is the worlds busiest General Aviation (GA) Airport. The motto of DVT is we do not want to be the busiest airport but the best airport! Well DVT is the busiest airport but nowhere close to being the best. DVT is owned by the City of Phoenix and when they appoint a new airport manager the announcement starts off with “After a nationwide search etc.” The last 2 airport managers were promoted from within Phoenix City employees. One was in charge of swimming pools for Phoenix, and the other was in charge of the sign shop at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (PHX). DVT definitely gets what it pays for which is not much.

The pavement at DVT is a disgrace. After several meetings DVT agreed to repair the major cracks. The only problem is DVT did not notify the pilots, and several of us went to fly to find out we could not get our planes out of the hangars. The pilots came down on management and not only did this happen once more but it happened 3 more times. The second time was for more crack repairs. The third time was when the pavement surface was turning to black dust that was interfering with breathing and airplane operations. It was so bad pilots were going to call the EPA to have DVT shut down. DVT then seal coated the pavement. The last occasion a seal coat was put down in front of the hangars and again no announcement. All in all I would have to say DVT is one of the worst run airports in the country.

Approximately 60% of the operations at DVT come from TransPac (TP) flight school which used to be PanAm flight school. TP flies mostly Piper Cherokee 180’s and trains Chinese students for their airlines. On the February 3, a TP airplane with 3 aboard, crashed off the end of the runway. If you follow my blog you know that TP has had numerous accidents and deaths over the past 4 years. I am thankful that all 3 souls got out of the plane before it burned to a crisp.

While the North runway was closed, less than an hour later, a Bonanza landed on the same runway with gear up. It is assumed that the Bonanza had an electrical problem. Instead of flying away from the airport and manually cranking down the gear, this person decided to land gear up on a closed runway.

The only people, besides TP, that do not want TP to leave DVT are the Controllers as they are paid based on the number of operations. Regular GA operations are way down at DVT and if TP were to leave, DVT would revert back to the sleepy airport it once was. The FAA came down on TP after a midair with the other flight school out of DVT, Westwind Academy. 4 souls were lost in this accident near the training area. The GA population is amazed that TP is still able to obtain insurance to continue flying out of DVT.

Taxiway Alpha (A) is crumbling apart. DVT has finally agreed, with FAA financing, to replace the taxiway 100 feet north of its current location. DVT has started sending out information to the to the pilots by email on the construction. The only problem is the emails have incorrect information such as Taxiway A will be closed from A9 to B3. These are 2 separate taxiways. When you do not have a real airport manager no one knows what is going on.

Only time will tell what the future will bring, but it does not look promising for DVT.

After I wrote this I was reminded by a dear friend that PHX placed an electrician at DVT as airport manager. He contracted with a company that never applied their product in the heat of Phoenix to resurface the pavement. The tenants objected to using an untried product. After completion our feet sunk 2 inches in the pavement as it could not handle the heat. We could not pull our planes out of the hangars. Another DVT disaster!

LAWSUITS-ASIANA CRASH SAN FRANCISCO (SFO)

The lawsuits have started to be filed on the Asiana Airline crash in San Francisco (SFO). I am not surprised that Boeing is being sued because they have deep pockets. 

The first basis of the class action against Boeing is they did not have an oral warning that the plane is flying too slow. If these attorneys want to sue somebody let it be the FAA. The NTSB has recommended to the FAA for years that all airliners have an oral call out when planes are flying too slow. The FAA has sat on it behind and done nothing on this issue. 

The second basis of the suit against Boeing is improper flight training on the 777. Hmmm, I thought it was the responsibility of the airline to provide pilot training and for the pilot to obtain a type rating on the 777.

I have to hypothesize as I do not have the facts from both sides and the NTSB. With what little information I have it just seems plain and simple that the Asiana pilot(s) flew a perfectly good Boeing 777 into the ground because they were incapable of flying a visual approach. Visual approaches are one of the first things taught in pilot training...how to land the plane. I am willing to bet that I have more actual stick time than these pilots have. They depend on automation turning on the auto pilot about 300 feet above ground until turning it off 200 feet above ground when landing.

There will be several motions filed and I am sure Boeing will file one for dismissal. I hope that this suit will be dismissed, as if there was ever an accident that was pilot error, this one would be in the dictionary.

SUPER BOWL AND GENERAL AVIATION

The Super Bowl is 2 weeks away and is being played in New Jersey this year. My question is how many are going to brave the unknown weather in an outdoor stadium for a night game. 5 years ago the Super Bowl was here in the Valley of the Sun (Scottsdale/Phoenix) and next year will return, to a warmer climate and an indoor/outdoor stadium with real grass.

I chaired the Super Bowl Committee for Aviation and am do so again for next years game. There are numerous differences between Scottsdale and NYC in the winter, mainly being the weather. We were very fortunate to have New England and the Giants in the Super Bowl here. Both teams are in an affluent area, and I am sure that a lot of people that came to the game appreciated our warm weather.

This year’s game has Denver versus Seattle. FBO’s are expecting a lot of private jet traffic for the game. If New England was in the game it would have cut traffic by over 1/2 as most from that area would just drive. The question remains how many of the private jet owners plan on flying to the game? Time will tell.

Even through our game is in Glendale 1 hour west of Scottsdale (SDL), most jet owners prefer to stay in Scottsdale. The airport is located amongst numerous resorts, high end shopping and golf courses. Parties are held outside weather permitting. In addition to the Super Bowl the Phoenix Open Golf tournament is held in Scottsdale the same week.

Some of the ground factions on the committee are Airport Staffs, FBO’s, FBI, Homeland Security and Scottsdale Police and Fire. Air factions are ATC Towers, TRACON and Albuquerque Center. The last Super Bowl came off well until Monday after the game. It seemed that 288 jets wanted to depart SDL at the same time, in addition there were a lot of Net Jet arrivals to pick up golfers after the tournament, all from a single runway airport. To make matters worse at 12 noon we had thunderstorms over the airport that shut the airport down.  

Phoenix Deer Valley (DVT) is the worlds busiest GA airport and located approximately 15 miles west of SDL. DVT takes the overflow from SDL when it fills. The flight schools in the Valley and Luke Air Force Base all stand down Monday after the game to help open the airspace.

We have changed a few things for next year allowing only departures in the morning. Arrivals will have to wait until after noon. If the winds prevail DVT departures will be to the east on runway 25 and SDL departures will be to the north on runway 3. If the wind does not cooperate departures will slow down as both DVT and SDL use the same IFR departure.

ATC has worked close with us, and it is now up to Albuquerque Center to join the party. We will be meeting with them next month.

Looking forward to a great game in 2 weeks and to see how many planes show for a cold weather outdoor game.

Am really looking forward to having the Super Bowl back in the Valley the following year and hopeful that 2 affluent cities will be represented in the game.

HEROES

Growing up to where I am now, I have had a lot of heroes in my lifetime. When I was a youngster, and being involved in sports, my heroes were football and baseball players. As I have aged and began my involvement in aviation my heroes have changed.

My biggest hero is none of the above, but is my oldest daughter. Julie received 2 fellowships working at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. After 5 years at Hopkins she moved to Palo Alto, CA and is an anesthesiologist at Stanford’s Packard Children’s Hospital specializing in transplants for children. In addition she teaches 2 days a week at Stanford Medical School and travels the world volunteering her time to perform her job in underprivileged nations. Needless to say she is my biggest hero.

Bob Hoover is reaching the twilight of his career. Bob is a WWII fighter pilot vet, and to me the best stick to ever fly an airplane. Bob’s performances in his air shows boggles the mind. He has probably forgotten more about flying than I will ever know. There are several You Tubes showing Bob’s flying accomplishments.

You probably have not heard of Pam Melroy. I met Pam when she, along with the rest of her STS crew, were honored at the Fiesta Bowl Parade. Pam is not large of stature coming in at just over five feet tall, but she is one of the most brilliant people and outstanding pilot that I have ever met. Pam attended Wesleyan undergraduate school, MIT graduate school and retired as a Colonel in the Air Force. What Pam is most known for is being an astronaut. Pam was the 3rd female shuttle pilot and flew several missions on the Shuttle. I can not begin to imagine the thrill of flying to space on top of what amounted to a bomb with controlled energy.

John McCain, US Senator from Arizona, is a true War Hero. McCain was shot down in Viet Nam flying an A6 through SAM ALLEY and was captured as a POW. While at the “Hanoi Hilton” he was tortured on numerous occasions. When the N. Vietnamese found out that John was the son of a US Admiral they agreed to release him early without his comrades. McCain refused this release and stayed until all were released. I do not know if I am man enough to go through what McCain did and survive. 

Chesley Sullenberger was the right man in the right place when his US Air flight went down in the Hudson. I can not think of any other pilot I would have wanted at the controls of this incident. Sully is also a glider pilot and Air Force Academy graduate. Being a glider and power pilot I think we think a little differently in the cockpit. We know our glide ratios and can quickly compute whether or not we can get from point A to B. Sully had to compute several options of either turning around to Newark, going to Kennedy or even Teterboro in NJ. He realized quickly that he could not glide to any of these airports and chose to land in the Hudson.

Most accidents I have seen of dead stick landings, the pilot does not keep their wings level and cartwheels into the ground. Glider pilots are taught to keep wings level landing on one wheel until the glider runs out of energy and stops with one wing dropping to the ground.

I have talked to several airline pilots asking them their opinion on this landing. They all answered the same that they hoped they could do the landing. With so many things going on I do not know if they could. Sully never quit flying the airplane all the way down. 

The last heroes I will mention are Orville and Wilbur, the first powered test pilots. Without them who knows when powered flight would have started. I am very thankful to these 2 brothers.

Finally I would like to express my thanks to all who read this BLOG. It is truly a global world with the Internet, and I am amazed at the numerous Countries where people have an interest in Aviation. So thanks for taking time to read my thoughts and hope you enjoy them.