FLYING GLIDERS IN ARIZONA

I have been fortunate to fly for a long time. I have flown pistons and jets, and if things go right I will have my first WACO ride next month but there is nothing like flying a glider. 

My first glider ride was in a Schweitzer 2-33 trainer. My pilot was not very good and he came in way high on approach and had to do a full slip to land. If I was not a pilot I would have been very scared of his approach. I went on to take my ticket, and my instructor was ex air force and national aerobatic champion in gliders. I can still hear his voice behind me when I am flying to this day.

There are three major glider ports in Arizona, one in north Phoenix, one in south Phoenix and one in Tucson. I took my lessons in the winter, and we could only stay up for about 30 minutes. All our tows were aero tow behind a Piper Pawnee. Arizona is known for great soaring in the summer when the thermals are working. I was amazed how we could glide for hours in the summer.

I learned more about weather flying a glider than I ever did flying an airplane. This was very important for staying aloft. When I purchased my high performance glider I was required to take spin training. When flying in a thermal we are at minimum air speed to get the best lift. It is very easy to stall and spin a glider if you get too slow circling in a thermal to get the best lift.

The Air Force Academy and Israeli Air Force start all their recruits flying gliders. The Air Force Academy out of Colorado Springs always has some great pilots competing in our contests in AZ.

In 1990 I was elected President of the Arizona Soaring Association (ASA), which is a subsidiary of the Soaring Society of America. One of my responsibilities was to arrange local and regional soaring contests. I loved doing this and meeting other glider pilots from around the western US. Glider pilots are a unique bunch of people. The thing I loved most was the knowledge glider pilots were willing to impart to other pilots of lesser experience. In a contest or just gliding for fun they would say stick with me and teach me how to fly cross country. It is not unheard of to fly at 15,000 feet in AZ. When flying a glider you go from point A to B and so on. You do not leave for point B until you have the altitude to get there. In all my time flying gliders I only had to land off field once. I landed on a private strip and the owners came out to meet me with water and anything else I needed that day. The strip was owned by the first President of the ASA and he had a pristine Piper Cub in his hanger. I made a call to my crew and they brought my trailer to pack me up and take me back to my base field. We all made new friends that day. When flying a glider you always have to have an out if you can not make your next waypoint. That day I hit a lot of sink and could not make it home.

When I first started flying gliders there was no GPS. When GPS came out we were not allowed to use it for our contest. Now GPS is allowed in all contest. My glider would fly for 12 miles for each 1000 feet of altitude. We used this on a chart to figure if we could get to the next waypoint. Glider flying is so quiet that at 15,000 feet I felt I could get out of the cockpit and walk alongside of my ship. The trainers are loud as there are not good seals in the ship, and it is loud inside.

There are several kinds of tows for gliders. I used aero tow. There are also winch tows that take you to 1000 feet agl and create their own thermal at release. Some people use car tows. With aero tow I would drop off at 2000 to 3000 feet agl when I found a good thermal. The first part of my flight is to stay in a thermal and gain altitude before going on course. One never flies a glider straight and level. We are always looking to gain altitude to go to the next point. When on a course we are always losing altitude until we find the next thermal and start the process over again. When I got high I can fly 180 miles without stoping to grab a thermal. There are super ships that can fly 50 miles per every 1000 feet of altitude.

If you ever get a chance go take a glider ride. I guarantee that you will be hooked!

THIS IS CNN!

AVIATION TALKING HEADS AND AIRLINE CRASHES

AIRLINE CRASHES 

AND 

TALKING HEADS

I represent two TV stations in Phoenix as an aviation expert. When an event occurs I want to have facts at hand, or I will not go on the air.

When the Asiana 777 crashed on approach in San Francisco (SFO) I was called to give my opinion, but I did not have any facts and declined. I heard talking heads giving their explanation for the crash from everything to terrorism and mechanical issues. When the facts came out it was the crew that flew a perfectly good 777 into the ground in severe blue skies. The ILS was out of service, and all the pilots had to do was fly a visual approach in perfect weather. Facts came out that these pilots flew with the autopilot after taking off and turning it on several hundred feet above the runway until they arrived at SFO, and then they turned the auto pilot off several hundred feet above the runway environment to hand fly the approach. GA pilots, like myself, hand fly the airplane if they do not have an auto pilot. If not in IMC I fly a visual approach to the airport. Lack of hand flying caused this accident.

Over the weekend a Maylasia 777 disappeared over the water in SE Asia. The talking heads came out of the woodwork. First thing I heard was the plane ran out of fuel. Then I heard the plane had wing repairs and the wing fell off in flight. Then I heard there were two aboard with fake passports and it was terrorism. The next thing that came out was that 370 was highjacked and taken below radar levels. Then I heard the plane was shot down. The last thing I heard was it must have been a pilot committing suicide.

At the time I am writing this column no wreckage has been recovered from flight 370, and no one knows for sure what has happened to this plane. Until we find out what really happened I wish that all the talking heads would go back under the covers as they have nothing relevant to say. One day we will find out what happened to 370. Until then everyone please keep their mouths shut!

READERS CHALLANGE

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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!