Flying USA – September 2019

12 | SEPTEMBER 2019 FLYINGMAG.COM

FLYING SEPTEMBER 2019

INBOX

PERFECT FLIGHT

I continue to love Flying magazine for

the thought-provoking articles you pres-

ent. Dick Karl’s recent article, “In Pursuit

of Perfection” [June], reminded me that the

perfect flight is often as elusive as the im-

possible turn. On a recent flight from Fort

Worth Spinks Airport to San Angelo Re-

gional Airport, the perfect flight was about

to be accomplished. I was 6 miles from the

airport, had called the field in sight and was

lining up on Runway 18 when something

didn’t look right. The controller saw my

descent and instructed me to turn to 330

and climb to 3,000 feet for a left base to 18.

When I got on the ground, a flight instruc-

tor at the FBO laughed and said I wasn’t

the first visiting pilot to line up on the drag

strip a couple miles east of the airport. The

search for the perfect flight continues.

Gene McPherson via email

THANK YOU, DICK

I’d like to thank Dr. Karl for his outstanding

piece in the July issue of Flying [“Two

Careers Over Time”]. As a fellow physician

and pilot—just a few years behind him in our

careers—I’d like to say he really nailed it in

this piece. There, indeed, are a lot of things

we could do to make the practice of med-

icine safer and less stressful, including

adapting many of the procedures we use

in aviation. With most of my career now in

the rearview mirror, I still feel a sense of

deep gratitude for having been given the

opportunity to both practice medicine and

flfor more than 50 years. I still find both

immensely challenging and fulfilling at the

same time. Last, I’d like to thank Dr. Karl

for the great care he gave one of my fight-

er-squadron buddies back in the late 1980s

when I was a young U.S. Air Force/Air Na-

tional Guard flight surgeon. Although my

buddy, John, eventually died of his cancer,

Dr. Karl performed heroic surgery—prob-

ably bought my friend some extra time

on Earth that he could enjoy with his fian-

cée—but most important, gave him hope

and courage to live. One of my other squad-

ron mates and I flew one of our jets over

to MacDill AFB when John was recovering

postoperatively to thank Dr. Karl in person

and visit our buddy. We had a squadron re-

union a couple of years ago, and we both

fondly recalled the image we had of Dr. Karl

at John’s bedside and his speaking to John

and the two of us (still in our flight suits) as

fellow aviators.

Dean L. Winslow via email

LESSON LEARNED

A valuable lesson learned: Wait for Les

Abend’s evaluation of a situation involving

airline flying. His write-up of the Boeing 737

Max problems was spot on [“What Hap-

pens Next For Boeing,” July]. Clear, concise

and readable—even by nonpilots like me.

I recalled the Peter Garrison column in

a recent issue concerning liquid-cooled

versus air-cooled engines. He reported the

comment on the Mk 24 Spitfire by the Roy-

al Air Force evaluators [that] the airframe

had reached the limits of development,

the same conclusion posed by Capt.

Abend. Re: “I.L.A.F.F.T.” in the same is-

sue. As I write this, there is a tattered copy

of Fly For Your Life on the bookshelf behind

me. Tell Ben Younger to look me up at Bar-

ber Motorsports Park. I’ll be there for the

MotoAmerica event September 20-22.

Coffee Colvi via email

PRICE MATTERS

As a longtime subscriber and reader of Flying,

I do the cover-to-cover read every month.

John Zimmerman’s excellent article in the

July 2019 Flying [“Why Can’t We Solve VFR

Into IMC?”] is spot on. All of us VFR-on-

ly pilots need an IMC refresher in our

recurrent training. However, the single

easiest way to extend the 178 seconds to

live for many VFR pilots would be for the

FAA to relax the requirements for autopi-

lot installations in certified aircraft. There

are simple and very effective wing levelers

on the market for under $2,000 with safe-

ty features and easy installation but are

not for certified aircraft. Should the FAA

allow these proven products to be in-

stalled with a simple logbook entry? Many

pilots would have a helping hand at keep-

ing the aircraft under control until VFR

conditions are found. All at a reasonable

cost. I am a member of a type club with

over 650 members. Recently, there was a

posting in our forums soliciting interest in

a simple autopilot. Within a few days, 36 of

our 650 members indicated they would buy

today at $5,000. I suspect at half that price,

the number would jump to well over 100.

Unfortunately, the STC process for this

safety item will continue to haunt us.

Rap McBurney via email

[email protected]

SEND

LETTERS T O

COFFEE AND A DANISH

Martha’s column “Eye In The Sky?” [July] leads me to admit a similar subterfuge. While

flying traffic watch over South Florida, we would often give an airborne report while on

final to KFXE, which had a convenient restaurant. The challenge was to take off with a

coffee and a Danish before the next report was due. More than once, we had to report how

terrible the traffic was at the Golden Glades Interchange while ground-bound on the ramp.

Richard Sheffield via email