What's Up
by LeRoy Cook
12-30-2024
Suggested Banner: No Hitchhiking, Please
The flying year ended with challenging weather, typical of
the stalled-out fronts that refuse to move in a normal progression across the
country. For instrument pilots, the tops of the clouds were fairly low, but
widespread low ceilings made finding a legal alternate airport for the flight
plan difficult. We heard the B-2 bombers departing up in the clear, but only
their sound signature betrayed their presence.
Only a few transient arrivals made it in last week, such as
an ATD flight school Piper Warrior from Kansas City, a Cessna 172 and a
Bellanca Citabria. Jeremiah McElroy took a local Cessna 150 up to honor the 121st
anniversary of the Wright Bros. Birth of Powered Flight on the 17th,
always a worthy achievement.
There is a public airport in extreme northern Minnesota that
is closing due to limited use, unique in that it straddles the U.S./Canada
border. Named Piney/Pine Creek, it has been a local fixture since 1955, offering
3250 feet of pavement, 2500 on the U.S. side and 750 in Canada. Pilots from
either side could land and taxi across without violating strict pre-filed
flight-plan rules for entry by air. Only in America can such wide-open access
to each other’s country exist. However, MinDot no longer wants to maintain it,
so it’ll be closing at year’s end.
The push to formulate 100-octane aviation gas without
tetraethyl lead has hit another snag. The FAA authorized the use of General
Aviation Modifications’ G100UL fuel based on extensive testing, yet the stuff
now seems to cause paint discoloration and it makes nitrile rubber O-rings
swell, so it’s not as simple as pouring in lead-free avgas where 100 low-lead
was used. All to solve a minuscule pollution problem that didn’t show up until
modern testing began to pick it up.
A Christmas Eve flight from Chicago to Hawaii arrived with a
deceased passenger, but not one on the manifest list. The individual made the
poor choice to hitch a ride inside the landing gear wheel well, kind of like
climbing into a car’s trunk, except the space has no pressurization or heat.
There’s a zero chance of survival, given the lack of oxygen at 40,000 feet and
70-degree below F. temperature. Most of the time, the frozen remains dump out when
the gear is extended for landing, but not this time. Sad way to escape
midwestern winter.
Our last-week question was about “T-Route” numbered airways,
now showing up on sectional aeronautical charts. Those replace some VOR airways
that disappeared when VORs were shut down, using GPS waypoints instead. For
next year’s first question, tell us how much money was spent by German company
Lillium that went bankrupt last week, trying to create electric aircraft. You
can send your answers to [email protected].
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