Big Blades, Big Planes
Flying weather was impacted by Canadian wildfire smoke
over the weekend, with beige haze restricting visibility somewhat. Once in a
while, rain is welcome to wash the skies clean. But, for the most part, pilots
enjoyed great spring flying weather.
Transient traffic included a Cessna Skylane, a Piper
Cherokee 140, a Tecnam P-Mentor and a Cessna Skyhawk trainer. I heard an Air
Force C-130 Hercules call in on Thursday, announcing its intention to overfly
us at 500 feet, presumably on a low-level training mission out of St. Joseph.
Local trip-takers were Jeremie Platt in his Grumman Tiger,
Randy and Bettie Miller in the Cessna Skyhawk, Dan Ferguson in the family
Cessna Skylane, and Delaney Rindal on a night training mission in Sky4’s Cessna
150. The BCS turbine AirTractor applied some crop spray and the SkyDive KC
Beech King Air lofted some parachutists.
Jeremie Platt reported running across some historic
material on Drexel-area wartime pilot Arthur Linquist, who racked up 99
missions in P-47 Thunderbolt fighters. I knew him when he flew from Bishops
Landing residential airpark on Holmes Road, where he was attempting to build
Rose Parakeet biplanes from 1930’s tooling he had acquired.
Cass County landowners continue to protest against
development of a fly-in subdivision in the northwestern portion of the county.
Reportedly it would encompass 95 lots with access to a runway; houses with
hangars would allow owners to live with their airplane, taxi down to the strip
and take off from their own home base.
However, a lot of hurdles have to be cleared before it can happen, as
neighbors express concern on the noise and activity’s impact on their property
value.
A huge aircraft is
being put forth for consideration by a Radia Corporation, specifically to carry
330-foot long wind turbine blades, as well as other outsize cargo. The
WindRunner, as it’s called, would be 356 feet in length and 261 feet in
wingspan, with an 80-ton payload capacity loaded through a tip-up nose. The
monster wind turbines being erected today are beyond rail and roadway capacity,
so the only answer is to fly the blades in. The U.S. Air Force is considering
making a partnership with Radia. At this point, all is speculation.
The State of
Washington has passed legislation that imposes a 10% tax on buyers of “luxury
aircraft” in the state, defined as any aircraft costing over $500,000, which is
about the price of a good used Cirrus four-seater. Excise taxes like this sound
tempting, until it drives business away into other jurisdictions. Odd that the
lawmakers would pass such a bill in a state where Boeing Business Jets are
built, in addition to the airliners.
The week’s question wanted to know where Jumbolair airport
in Florida got its name. The 8000-foot private landng field was built decades
ago by the inventor of Nautilus exercise equipment, for his pair of Boeing
airliner private jets. He also collected elephants that roamed the estate,
hence the name. In more recent times, actor John Travolta owned the property.
For next week, tell us the name of the place Space X’s big rockets are launched
from. You can send your answers to [email protected].
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