Pilot Briefing

AD requires Mooney M20J inspections

Mooney M20Js (201s and MSEs) have been temporarily grounded by the FAA following a fatal accident that occurred when the engine on an M20J failed after the alternate air door bolt separated from its fastener, allowing the door to lodge in the air intake.

A Priority Letter airworthiness directive (AD 95-26-16) was sent to owners of M20Js requiring that the alternate air door assembly be inspected "prior to further flight."

Initially, the AD required a 10-hour repetitive inspection of the assembly. However, that was recently revised after owners wrote to the FAA, stating that the 10-hour requirement was "absurd."

According to the FAA, a review of service histories revealed four other incidents involving alternate air doors, none of which resulted in a major accident. Mooney service bulletins regarding compliance with this AD are available on AOPA Online on CompuServe (in library: Aircraft Ownership; filename: 952616.TXT).

Aviat sold

Former New York real estate developer Stuart Horn has purchased Aviat of Afton, Wyoming, maker of Pitts aerobatic aircraft, the Husky utility airplane, and the Eagle kit biplane.

Horn purchased the company from former owner Malcolm White and renamed it Aviat Aircraft. He promised that refinements to present aircraft and several new products will be announced in the future. "We also have a long-range goal to introduce an entirely new Pitts aircraft," he said.

Among Horn's first actions was the cancellation of the proposed aerobatic Husky (see "High-Country Husky," September 1995 Pilot). He also said his company plans to build and refine a Pitts Super Stinker, a recent design from Curtis Pitts, and will sponsor it in the World Aerobatic Competition in Oklahoma City this August.

It will be flown by U.S. Aerobatic Team member Robert Armstrong, and will be the only biplane on the American team.

Pitts rolls out new design

Curtis Pitts unveiled a nearly completed new aircraft design on his eightieth birthday last December. It is expected to fly by the middle of this month. The 360-horsepower Russian M14P radial engine was not mounted at the time the photo was taken. The airplane has no official name as yet, but the unofficial name is Macho Stinker.

Pitts, designer of the famous Pitts aerobatic aircraft that captured the world title nearly two decades ago, says that the new airplane is for fun and will not be sold to the public.

It has a 23-foot wingspan with 152 square feet of wing area, and a fuselage length of 19 feet 6 inches. Four balanced ailerons — one on each wing — will not require spades (shovel-like plates attached to the aileron) to assist with control forces. The airplane is stressed to plus nine and minus four Gs. The roll rate will approximate that of earlier Pitts designs, or 240 degrees per second. The engine is geared and will turn 1,900 rpm at full power.

He was assisted in the construction by several friends. Does Pitts intend to fly it? "I wouldn't put all this effort into it and let the other boys have all the fun," he said.

NTSB issues findings in Wittman crash

The National Transportation Safety Board has determined that debonding of the fabric on the wings of Steve Wittman's O & O Special caused the April 27, 1995, crash that killed him and his wife, Paula (see "Pilot Briefing," June 1995 Pilot).

According to the report, "...the debonding of the wing fabric was a result of improper installation." Wittman constructed the airplane himself. The report also noted that wing fabric dope was distressed or missing in critical areas of the wing. The airplane was built 11 years ago to transport Wittman and his wife between Ocala, Florida, and their summer home in Oshkosh.

Wittman was an air racer, inventor, and the namesake of Oshkosh's Wittman Regional Airport. He was 91 years old.

Balloon teams compete for global record

Four balloon teams are competing during 1996 to become the first to circle the globe nonstop . Steve Fossett, who set a distance record of 5,435 miles in 1995, ended an attempt in January, due to equipment failures. He termed the nonstop flight "the greatest unachieved goal in aviation."

Richard Branson, founder of London-based Virgin Airlines, plans a flight called Global Challenger with Per Lindstrand of Switzerland and Rory McCarthy of Ireland. At press time, he was scheduled to begin his flight from Morocco in mid-January.

Henk Brink of the Netherlands plans a flight with Wouter Bakker and Dutch Air Force Col. Willen Hagerman. Finally, Breitling will sponsor an attempt by Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard and Belgian pilot Wim Verstraeten.

Fantasy of flight opens

Kermit Weeks' aviation-themed attraction, Fantasy of Flight, opened last November in Polk City, Florida.

Fantasy of Flight features an extensive collection of vintageaircraft, including the last airworthy four-engine civilian flying boat, a Short Sunderland. Other attractions include a simulated Boeing B-17 bombing mission, a dogfight over the Pacific Ocean in an F4U Corsair simulator, and "immersion experiences" that give visitors the feeling of flight through clouds and take them along on a World War I air raid.

Fantasy of Flight is open every day, and admission is less than $10. For further information, call 941/984-3500.

GPS deselection discouraged by FAA

The FAA's Engineering Division is concerned about IFR GPS installations that automatically disconnect a GPS course deviation signal from the horizontal situation indicator (HSI) whenever a localizer frequency is tuned.

Owners informed the FAA of their concerns "requiring" a relay to disconnect the GPS from the HSI. After further study, the FAA decided to "discourage but not prohibit" installers from using the relays. A hazard can be posed if a pilot flying a GPS approach inadvertently selects a localizer frequency on the VOR receiver and the guidance switches to the localizer, not the GPS.

The FAA will notify the repair stations through its district offices and has notified the Aircraft Electronics Association, in an attempt to spread the word that the relays are not necessary. For more information contact Dave Correia, FAA Flight Standards Service, 202/267-3812.

The pieces of the Marine Corps' new V-22 Osprey tiltrotor are coming together. The fuselage, built by Boeing Helicopters of Philadelphia, and the wing, built by Bell Helicopter Textron of Arlington, Texas, were mated recently to become Osprey number seven. The airframe will be used for engineering and manufacturing development. A crane lifted the 51-foot wing atop the 58-foot-long fuselage at Bell's Flight Research Center in Arlington. The tail section, built by Textron Aerostructures of Nashville, will be joined next.

Flying car builder/promoter Molt Taylor dies

Moulton B. (Molt) Taylor, creator of the Aerocar and other less- famous designs (Coot, Imp, and Mini-Imp), died in November at the age of 83 after a stroke. Taylor, who was recently inducted into the EAA Homebuilders Hall of Fame, had suffered two strokes in the early 1980s.

Taylor's most famous design, the Aerocar (of which all five remain), was certificated in 1956 as a two-place car/airplane powered by a 143-horsepower Lycoming O-320. The front-drive, pusher-prop flying car gained fame when actor Bob Cummings bought one and featured it on his television show. Taylor and the Aerocar also made numerous appearances at air shows and auto shows to generate interest in the idea. Dallas-based Ling-Temco-Vought considered producing the Aerocar, but the deal fell through.

More recently, Taylor was working on newer versions of the Aerocar using the Honda CRX and Geo Metro convertible as platforms. Taylor lived in Longview, Washington.

The Aerocar concept lives on in the hands of Ed Sweeney of Black Forest, Colorado, who was a personal friend of Taylor. Sweeney, who owns Aerocar number four, hopes to continue Taylor's dream and produce a flying car using a Geo Metro convertible. Pictured at right is Molt Taylor with the original Aerocar and a model of the Aerocar V. For more information on Sweeney's Aerocar V, call 719/495-2594.

'Wrong Way' Corrigan dies at 88

Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan, who in 1938 amused a nation caught in the Great Depression by claiming that he flew the "wrong way" on an unauthorized New York-to-Ireland solo flight, died in early December at the age of 88.

The airplane mechanic, welder, and pilot stuck to his explanation in his 1938 book, That's My Story, and a movie ,"Flying Irishman," in which he played himself." The July 17-to-18 flight came after two years of unsuccessful applications to the Department of Commerce for permission.

Corrigan had visited the bureau in 1936 and claimed that an official there told him to "get lost," so he took the advice literally two years later. The initial refusal was based on Corrigan's lack of an instrument rating and on doubts that he could carry enough fuel to make the flight, despite Corrigan's protestations that he would fly at less than 100 mph to save fuel.

In 1938 the Bureau of Air Commerce said that the 1929 Curtiss-Wright Robin J-1 was unairworthy; it was not equipped for instrument flight, had no radio, and lacked fuel gauges for auxiliary tanks. One of the tanks had been coated with shellac to stop a leak. (The repair failed on the flight to Ireland. Fuel soaked Corrigan's shoes and pooled in the bottom of the cabin, forcing him to punch a hole in the aircraft's belly fabric to drain it.) The Robin J-1 had been modified to a Robin Model B and was powered by a nine-year-old, 165-horsepower Wright J6-5 Whirlwind engine.

Airworthy or not, the craft was finally cleared by the government for Corrigan's nonstop flights from Los Angeles to New York, and from New York back to Los Angeles. After departing on the return flight from Floyd Bennett Field, New York, Corrigan claimed that the aircraft's compass failed due to loss of fluid. He resorted to an $8 backup compass, matching the pointer to previously set directional lines attached to the compass. He later claimed he put the arrowhead of the compass needle on the reciprocal of the intended course, flying east instead of west.

Instead of returning to Long Beach, California, he flew to Baldonnel Field near Dublin, Ireland, where he asked astonished officials after the 28-hour flight, "Is this Los Angeles?" Corrigan's was the eleventh solo Atlantic crossing.

He became an instant celebrity, both in Ireland, where the United States ambassador confiscated the aircraft's airworthiness certificate, and in the United States, where New Yorkers gave him a ticker-tape parade. Years later, Corrigan finally admitted in a speech that his intention from the start was, in fact, to fly to Ireland.

Despite the fame that followed, Corrigan always felt that his greatest accomplishment was working on the Spirit of St. Louis for 60 days in 1927, when he was a welder for Ryan Airlines in San Diego. He felt a kinship to Charles Lindbergh, who made the first solo Atlantic crossing that served to inspire his own flight.

U.S. Precision Flying Team selected

A five-member team has been selected to compete in the 1996 World Precision Flying Championships at Fort Worth Meacham International Airport, Texas, on September 28.

The team was selected during competition last September in DeQueen, Arkansas. Competitors were required to land within six feet of a mark, both with and without flaps and with and without power on short final. They were also evaluated on cross-country planning and were required to cross checkpoints within two seconds of the predicted time.

Winning last year's tryouts, thus becoming the U.S. precision flying national champion, was Carolyn Pilaar (left), owner of Carolyn's Flight Academy in Greenville, South Carolina. She has 27,000 total flight hours and once flew for DHL and Pan Am. The other team members are, in the order of their finish: Marvin Ellis of San Francisco; Jason Sprowls of Stillwater, Oklahoma; Sam Girardeau of Greenville, South Carolina, and Pilaar's student; and Richard Drake of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

As many as 20 countries are expected to compete in the world contest, which is sponsored by the Ninety-Nines women's flying organization and is sanctioned by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale and the National Aeronautic Association.

Citation X gets payload upgrade

Now that it has put 2,000 hours of flight time on the Citation X prototypes, Cessna says that it will expand the full-fuel payload from six to seven passengers on long-range cruise flights at Mach 0.84. Cessna says that it guarantees that the Citation X will have a lower operating cost per nautical mile than does Raytheon's slower and smaller Hawker 800XP.

First customer deliveries of the Citation X are to begin in June, when serial number 003 is to be delivered to golf pro Arnold Palmer. His airplane was completed on December 7 and made its first flight on December 22. Cessna expects full FAA certification of the Mach 0.92 Citation X to occur before the June deliveries. Equipped price of the Citation X is expected to fall in the $15.5 million to $16 million range.

AOPA members in the news

Jimmy Naylor, AOPA 148654, and his father, R.A. Naylor, both of Clinton, North Carolina, have become the first father/son recipients of the FAA's Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award. The award is named after the Wright brothers' mechanic who is credited with building the engine for their first successful powered aircraft.

Dan Pariseau, AOPA 9397397, of Brewster, Washington, received the Louis Bleriot Medal from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale for his record-setting "distance without landing" of 987.89 miles in a Christen A-1 Husky.

Sam B. Pearson III, AOPA 1079880, says in his new book, The Color of Racism, that joining AOPA helped him realize his dream of becoming a pilot. To learn more about the book, call 504/834-6291.

Rich Stowell, AOPA 863347, of Santa Paula, California, has published Emergency Maneuver Training — Controlling Your Airplane During A Crisis, a book about recovering from unusual attitudes.

Rob Spicuzza, AOPA 1122450, of Imperial, Pennsylvania, won the Aviation Council of Pennsylvania's Aviation Maintenance Scholarship. Spicuzza's $1,000 scholarship will aid in paying his tuition at the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics.

C.O. Miller, AOPA 800697, of Knoxville, Tennessee, received the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award for his efforts in developing a systems safety approach to accident prevention. He headed federal safety efforts in the 1970s.

Wally Zook, AOPA 790790, has opened Zook Pilot Services at Aurora Municipal Airport in Sugar Grove, Illinois. His company offers aircraft financing, insurance, appraisal, and location services.

Mira Rosen, AOPA 770312, of Long Beach, New York, was recently promoted to assistant manager of the New York Flight Standards District Office.

Robert Rieser, AOPA 682733, of Aurora, Illinois, was chosen as Airport Director of the Year by the Illinois Public Airports Association.

Carroll Joye, AOPA 1120903, of Orangeburg, South Carolina, was recently selected as the South Carolina Flight Instructor of the Year. Joye has been a CFI for 20 years and is currently the manager of the Orangeburg Municipal Airport.

Jim Trusty, AOPA 795382, a full-time flight instructor from Smyrna, Tennessee, was named the Southern Region FAA Aviation Safety Counselor of the Year. Earlier this year, he received the District Flight Instructor of the Year Award from the FAA.

Frank Emmert, AOPA 1263072, a grateful "cheesehead" from Superior, Wisconsin, made national headlines when a foam rubber "cheesehead" (used by Green Bay Packer fans) possibly saved his life when the Cessna 172 in which he was a passenger crashed near the Stevens Point Municipal Airport in Wisconsin.

Greg Brown, AOPA 640529, has completed The Turbine Pilot's Flight Manual, which he co-authored with Mark Holt. The book is aimed at pilots transitioning to turboprops or jets. It is published by the Iowa State University Press.

Walter S. Kyle, AOPA 1178620, of Hingham, Massachusetts, is shown in a new book, New Hampshire Life, flying U.S. District Court Judge Stephen J. McAuliffe over the White Mountains in a Grob 103B glider. The book was published by the Manchester Union Leader.

Daniel Benny, AOPA 1106065, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has been named an FAA Aviation Safety Counselor.

Norm Avery, AOPA 1143470, of Denver, was inducted into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame for his more than 30 years of aviation and space public relations work.

Ed Brattain, 83, AOPA 1278834, of Willow Creek, California, recently completed his first solo flight in a Piper Tomahawk. Brattain is now working on his solo cross-country flights in an effort to obtain a recreational pilot's certificate. He currently has 33 hours of flight time. His son and instructor, Dan, AOPA 560801, through research with the United Flying Octogenarians, determined that his father is the oldest male to start flight training and to solo.

Revolution Helicopter Corp. of Excelsior Springs, Missouri, unveiled this new paint scheme for the factory demonstrator Mini-500 single-place helicopter. It is sold as a kit for $28,850. The company claims that the kit can be assembled in one week. The scheme is called "Stars and Stripes". For further information, telephone 816/637-2800.

Engine alternatives for Lancairs, Glasairs

Light Power Engine Corporation is testing its firewall-forward conversions for the Lancair and Glasair kitplanes.

Inverted, liquid-cooled V-8s that can produce up to 600 horsepower through turbocharging are being considered as replacements for the Continental and Lycoming powerplants that these aircraft use.

The engines do not require reduction gearboxes, which add weight and complexity to otherwise efficient engines. The inverted configuration was chosen in order to retain critical propeller ground clearance (a five-blade prop should also aid in eliminating the problem).

Initial testing showed horsepower figures in the 345 to 360 range at 2,700 rpm with no turbo boosting. LPE plans to adjust the cam timing in order to obtain peak torque at a realistic 2,400 rpm cruise setting. After the cam retardation, LPE believes that power could reach 435 hp. With the boost provided by turbocharging, horsepower figures could jump as high as 600. For more information, call 304/291-3843.

The Internal Revenue Service has granted tax-exempt status to the Piper Aviation Museum Foundation, the parent organization of the Piper Aviation Museum in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. "This status will enable people to make tax-free donations [of equipment] or money directly to the museum," museum Executive Director Ginny Edmonston said. For information, write the Piper Aviation Museum Foundation, One Piper Way, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania 17745-0052, or telephone 717/748-8283.

Embry-Riddle dean honored

Thomas J. Connolly, dean of aviation technology at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, has won the National Aeronautic Association's Frank G. Brewer Trophy.

The trophy will be presented on April 12 during a meeting of the Congress on Aviation and Space Education in Little Rock, Arkansas. Since 1943 it has been awarded annually for outstanding accomplishments in aviation and space education.

Squawk Sheet

The FAA has proposed a new airworthiness directive (AD) to supersede AD 95-03-02, which currently requires repetitive inspections of Brackett air filter assemblies for loose or deteriorated neoprene gaskets that could be sucked into the induction system, resulting in a partial or total engine failure. The proposed AD will include additional filter assemblies and provide a terminating action to the repetitive inspections. The FAA estimates that 50,000 airplanes in this country will be affected by the proposed AD. Estimated cost of compliance is $63 per airplane. A copy of the notice of proposed rulemaking is available on AOPA Online in the Active Rulemaking Library (filename 95CE61.TXT).

An airworthiness directive now requires Piper PA-46-350P Malibu Mirage operators to install a placard that displays manifold pressure limits and to incorporate a revision in the Limitations section of the POH. The placard, which should be installed to the right of the manifold pressure gauge, warns operators not to exceed 36 inches MP below 2,400 rpm and 32 inches MP below 2,300 rpm. Compliance is required within two calendar months of the January 8 effective date.

Owners and/or operators of Piper PA-31s (Navajos and Cheyennes) should be aware of three notices of proposed rulemaking regarding those aircraft. The first proposed AD (90-CE-59) would require installing an improved main landing gear inboard door hinge and attachment angle assembly made of steel as a terminating action to an existing repetitive inspection AD. The second proposed AD (90-CE-62) would require an improved main landing gear forward sidebrace to reduce the number of repetitive-inspections required under a current AD. The final proposal (90-CE-63) would require a modification to each wing in the area of Wing Station 147.5 as a terminating action to a current AD requiring repetitive inspections of that area for cracks.

Following the FAA's receipt of three reports of cracks in the flange of the upper V-belt sheaves, an airworthiness directive has been proposed for Robinson R22 helicopters, requiring replacement of the sheave. If the NPRM becomes an AD, it must be complied within the next 100 hours time in service.

Engine Components Inc. of San Antonio, Texas, has received FAA approval to rebarrel cylinders for 360-series Continental engines. Serviceable barrels can be refurbished and returned to service, while worn or corroded barrels may be replaced with ECI's new forged barrel, which is through-hardened and has been machined to new limits. For additional information, call 800/324-2359.

Stoddard-Hamilton's GlaStar kit airplane has completed stability and control flight testing and will be outfitted with vortex generators (VGs) on the wings and strakes on the horizontal stabilizer. The VGs will enhance slow-speed handling and stall characteristics, while the strakes are intended to enhance elevator authority at low airspeed. Stoddard-Hamilton will ship the mods to current GlaStar builders at no extra charge.

Raytheon Aircraft has increased employment by 1,000 workers during the past year and plans to add 1,000 more over the next four years. Workers were added last year to support the transfer of Hawker assembly from Britain to Wichita and to build the new Raytheon Premier I light jet. Additional workers will be hired over the next few years for the U.S. Air Force/ Navy Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) program. The company is seeking qualified applicants for 550 currently open positions, including experienced aircraft assemblers, jig builders, tool planners, and CATIA computer engineers.

Aircraft Spruce & Specialty will host the Sun 'n Fun Sprint air race from Troy, Alabama, to Bartow, Florida — a distance of 315 nautical miles — on April 12. Participants of either factory-built or homebuilt aircraft may participate in 160-, 120-, or 75-horsepower classes. Prize money, plaques, and King Schools ground school courses are the rewards for the winners. For information, call 714/870-7551.

Bell Helicopter Textron says it will hold prices on spare parts at current levels for a second year. In addition, Bell reduced the prices of 5,800 parts in 1995, following a trend among light aircraft manufacturers.

Century Flight Systems has received a supplemental type certificate to install the Century I Autopilot in the Aviat Husky A-1 tailwheel aircraft. For information call 817/325-2517.

Eastman Kodak celebrated 50 years of corporate flying last November. Because commercial flights did not serve smaller cities and train service to locations where Kodak had facilities, such as Kingsport, Tennessee, took several days, the corporate flight department began in 1945. Initially Kodak used a surplus C-47, a military version of the Douglas DC-3. A second DC-3 was purchased in 1956 and based at Kingsport. Today's flight department operates a Gulfstream IV-SP and a Canadair Challenger.

The Cessna Aircraft Company will provide $150,000 per year for 10 years, to support an exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum explaining how airplanes fly. In an unrelated development, Cessna CEO Russ Meyer has received the prestigious Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy for 1995.

Flightcraft of Eugene, Oregon, will market Piper aircraft in Oregon, Washington, and Alaska.

AMR Combs Aircraft Parts International now offers three support publications for Piper Aircraft parts. They are a Master Piper Parts Cross Reference, a Master Piper Parts Guide, and a Master Piper Parts Compendium. For information, call 800/950-0111.

A new 95-foot-tall, $2.7-million air traffic control tower will be constructed at Central Florida Regional Airport in Sanford, Florida. It will open in the spring of 1997. The airport has more than 250,000 operations per year.