Pilot Briefing

Milestones

JFK was a seaplane pilot

ERAU historian solves 70-year-old mystery

By David Tulis

After years of speculation and dead ends, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University uncovered evidence that President John F. Kennedy soloed a seaplane in Miami on his birthday, May 29, 1944. The revelation was uncovered through good old-fashioned investigation, forensics, and a bit of luck, said ERAU archivist Kevin Montgomery.

Kennedy was injured in the Pacific theater when his PT-109 patrol boat was rammed by a Japanese destroyer during a night mission in 1943. The collision ripped the boat in half and exploded it in flames, injuring the future president’s back. The U.S. Navy lieutenant’s next assignment was to recover stateside at the submarine chaser training center in Miami, near John Riddle’s original flight school and charter operation.

The theory is that Kennedy observed the fleet of six yellow Piper Cubs on floats and became curious about flight since his older brother Joe was a pilot flying PB4Y Liberators. At that time, the flight training school was turning out pilots by the hundreds as part of Embry-Riddle’s larger effort to train aviators for the war effort.

The mystery of the future president’s flight “had been lost to time” until Embry-Riddle’s Dean Emeritus Bob Rockett began chasing down the rumor in 2004 as part of the school's heritage project. Rockett found that flight instructor and ERAU graduate Helen Hassey appeared to have coached Kennedy through his floatplane flying lessons in one of the school's yellow Cubs.

“Helen told Bob that she recalled the day that JFK showed up at our seaplane base for flight lessons. This was a shock, we’d never heard this before,” said Montgomery.

When Rockett contacted the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Massachusetts he was told there was “no record of JFK ever taking flight lessons.” Then, in 2016, a routine ‘jfk’ Google search uncovered a reference to a pilot’s flight log allegedly belonging to JFK. The Shapell Manuscript Foundation, an Israeli website that specializes in researching and posting original manuscripts and other historical data, published authenticated pages from the pilot log signed by Kennedy.

He sifted through photographs, documents, and artifacts before locating a black and white photograph that appeared to match up the aircraft’s tail number with an entry in Kennedy’s book. “I found one [registration number] that matched in his log.”

The final piece of the puzzle was put together with the help of 98-year-old Miami resident and pilot Corrine Smith, who worked at the school’s seaplane base.

“Corinne’s log revealed that two of the tail numbers recorded in her logbook matched those in Kennedy’s flight log, and we knew for a fact that the aircraft that she was flying were our aircraft.” Although Smith told researchers that she couldn’t recall seeing the dashing young lieutenant in the flight office or at the dock, Montgomery noted “it was the same plane, the same day, and is pretty amazing when you think about it.”

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First Look

Old dog, new tricks

Flying the 2018 Husky

By Dave Hirschman

The new Aviat Husky contains a laundry list of seemingly small changes that, when taken together, significantly improve the stalwart backcountry aircraft.

“This is a major evolution for the Husky,” said Scott Musser, an Aviat sales representative who has owned and flown Huskys for 20 years. “These changes have been in the works for years, and now they’re here.”

The biggest alteration replaces the airplane’s bungee elevator-trim system with a more traditional tab. The result is a lighter elevator feel that better matches the ailerons for more harmonized controls. The elevator-trim wheel is in the same location on the left side of the cockpit, and a little movement goes a long way. Two actuator cables move the tab on the elevator.

The cables aren’t as clean-looking or aesthetically pleasing as the Husky’s traditional tail—but the new airplane’s superior flying qualities make up for it. With the old bungee system, Husky pilots would typically apply full nose-up trim and hold forward stick on final to be properly trimmed for the landing flare. The practice works, but it feels odd and takes many repetitions to get used to. The new trim system allows pilots to do what they do in other airplanes: trim for their final approach speed, then flare to land with steadily increasing back-pressure all the way to touchdown.

Other welcome changes have to do with the front seat. It tilts forward, which makes climbing in and out of the back seat far less of a gymnastic feat. The front seat slides fore and aft, and it moves up and down. Husky seats used to be fixed in place and the only way to alter the seating position was changing to thinner or thicker cushions. The new seat moves forward and up simultaneously, and it is capable of accommodating much taller pilots.

The new Husky’s performance is unchanged. Full-flap stalls are gentle affairs that take place at an almost impossibly low 40 miles per hour indicated, and low cruise is 120. The landing gear with independent shock absorbers is firm but forgiving, and the airplane performs three-point or wheel landings with equal enthusiasm.

The Husky has been the Cadillac of backcountry flying ever since it was introduced in 1987, and Aviat Aircraft has made subtle refinements over the years, most of them having to do with gross weight increases. The new elevator trim and seat systems are the biggest changes since 2005 when Aviat introduced a new wing that did away with aileron spades and increased the flap area.

Aviat Aircraft faces increasing competition from CubCrafters with its FAA-certified XCub as well as a host of Experimental-category designs—and the improvements to the Husky in 2018 show Aviat is determined to play a leading role of the adventure flying market it did so much to create.

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Events

Room on the podium

The fastest racers are sitting out Reno…maybe

By Alton K. Marsh

Four of the fastest aircraft in the Unlimited Gold category at the National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada, are sitting it out this year, leaving the race open to aircraft that fly lap speeds at only 380 to 410 mph. Recent winners have flown 50 to 60 mph faster.

The Reno air races, as they are known, take place September 12 through September 16.

Sitting out the 2018 Unlimited race are Voodoo, Rare Bear, Czech Mate, and Strega, according to race officials. But are they really sitting it out? Strega crews have claimed in the past that their aircraft would retire, only to show up on race day—to everyone’s surprise.

Unlimited racers withdraw for a variety of reasons, with money topping the list. Prize money no longer covers expenses of the top Unlimited aircraft, so sponsors are required. No sponsors, no race. It is difficult to find crew members; most are volunteers. Owners can expect little return on their investment, and have trouble selling a highly modified airplane that potential buyers can’t afford to operate.

The Voodoo team’s absence seems like a sure bet. Voodoo, a highly modified North American P–51 fighter, was donated to the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California, operated by Steve Hinton Sr. The donation was made by owner Bob Button, who confirmed he is out of the racing business. Steve Hinton Jr. won Unlimited Gold races at Reno in Voodoo many times, but in the 2017 Reno race he was edged by Strega, a highly modified P–51D fighter flown by Jay Consalvi. Hinton Jr. has also won in a past year flying Strega.

Hinton Jr. is not racing this year at Reno; he is in Italy working with his dad filming the miniseries Catch-22 with actor George Clooney. Hinton Sr. has long provided aircraft support to the movie industry.

If the fastest Unlimited aircraft really are sitting out the 2018 Reno races, contenders with the next-best chances to win are Dreadnaught, Sawbones, Miss America, and Miss Goldfinger, according to a Reno air race journalist and race officials.

Joel Swager, a pilot for Dreadnaught in the past, said he is waiting to see if the top four fastest Unlimited aircraft really will sit out the 2018 race. Pilot duties for Dreadnaught are rotated each year, and Swager does not yet know if he will fly this year.

There are six categories in the two-day event: Formula One, Biplane, T–6, Jet, Sport, and Unlimited. A drama that went unresolved last year in the T–6 World War II tailwheel aircraft category will repeat itself again this year. Nick Macy and Dennis Buehn have in past years both won six races in the T–6 Gold category. But in 2017, John Lohmar won at 225.47 mph, with Macy coming in second at 225.43 mph, and Buehn coming in third at 222.7 mph. This year each six-time winner will again attempt to obtain that elusive seventh victory.

Another ferocious battle to watch is in the Sport class where Andy Findlay has doubled his investment in his Lancair Legacy over last year to dethrone Jeff LaVelle. He’s been trying for two years. This year there are many aircraft in the Sport category capable of a 350-mph lap speed, making that race an exciting one to watch.

“It was easy to go 300 mph [lap speed], but going 350 is hard,” Findlay said. LaVelle admitted last year he saw Findlay’s shadow coming for him, but Findlay’s engine quit in that race. He has overhauled the engine and taken off the vinyl wrap used by NASCAR race cars in favor of a slick paint job. The wrap tends to lift in excess of 350 mph, creating drag. The goal is the $15,000 prize money. Strike that; Findlay’s goal is to beat LaVelle.

The Subsonex Personal Jet announced it qualified for the Jet class after “Rookie School” in June. Sharkie will be piloted by three-time Reno Gold champion Pete Zaccagnino. Rookie School is required for new pilots or aircraft in the races.

Alton Marsh is a freelance writer specializing in aviation.