What's Up LeRoy Cook

 What's Up

by LeRoy Cook

 11-25-2024

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 The Museum Minute column from last week’s news quoted a 1945 newspaper report of the City of Butler agreeing to buy an airport site from developer Grover Gilbert. Actually, the city only took an option to buy the property back then, for an agreed price plus the cost of improvements made. The option was allowed to expire in 10 years, and Gilbert’s airport languished until 1963, when a more progressive city administration finally bought it.

 

Flying weather was one-sided last Friday, when we were severe clear on the west side of the state but places as close as Clinton sat under an 800-foot overcast. Columbia, Jeff City, St. Louis and other points east only opened up around 4 p.m., despite rosy forecasts.

 

Visiting aircraft last week included a Piper Cherokee 140 from Aurora, MO, a Socata Trinidad GT, a Cessna Skyhawk and a Skylane, just to name a few. A big twin-rotor Army Reserve Chinook helicopter muttered its way down the GPS glideslope to runway 36 on Saturday. Local-based aviation acts were conducted by Jon Laughlin in his spiffy Piper Cherokee 180, Jeremie Platt using his Grumman Tiger, Jim Ferguson flying his well-equipped Cessna Skylane, and Ted VanMeter trying to resurrect a 1953 Piper TriPacer.

 

This Saturday morning holds another opportunity for the Fliars Club to meet at 0730 hours to launch for breakfast, weather permitting. We-Be-Smokin’ will be open, after closing for the holidays.

 

There probably won’t be any aviation gasoline available at Butler for a while, after this week. A maintenance refurbishing is scheduled for the fuel tank during the second week of December, and it has to be drained for the work. Fill up and use your fuel wisely, or be prepared to divert to Harrisonville to get gas.

 

The national sensationalism for the week reported a Piper Cherokee Six making a forced landing in a parking lot at the Drag Race Nationals event held in Pomona, California on Sunday a week ago. The four occupants of the Six survived and there were no other casualties. Brackett Field was nearby, where the pilot was planning to land, but when undisclosed trouble arose he kept his cool and made a controlled impact.

 

Meanwhile, last Tuesday, a Milwaukee to Dallas American Airlines flight was interrupted by a passenger who was belligerently attempting to open an emergency exit door in-flight. He wouldn’t have been successful due to the pressurization load on the door, but a flight attendant was injured in the fracas, so several passengers took charge and duct-taped him to a seat until the flight landed. 

 

The brain-teaser for last week asked the meaning of “Flight Level 600” in a flight plan. Flight Levels are altitudes used by high-altitude jets, spoken in hundreds of feet. So, FL 600 is 60,000 feet, only used by Concorde and spy planes. Now, for next week, tell us where you can be flying in an Air Defense Identification Zone. You can send your answers to [email protected].