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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0854.PDF
866 SPORT AND BUSINESS... an emergency I know just how far I can stretch my petrol supply.Soon it is time to change course from 113 magnetic to 135, the reason for this being that if I fly in a straight line from NiagaraFalls to Hartford I will pass over some mountains, in fact nearly all of my route would be over mountainous country. This is no problemother than that in case of emergency I would have very little chance of having a place to set down without damage to the plane andmyself. So, for 20 miles extra, I stick to lower country where there are plenty of fields. It's not that I don't trust the engine, butthis is like cheap insurance. I'm off the LF range legs now and must depend on the chart for navigation. Soon I recognize thetown of Cobleskill and check the time—by now I am getting hungry. My next check-point is Catskill of "Rip van Winkle" fame,45 miles away on the Hudson river, and these are the Catskill Mountains I am flying over, where (the legend says) Rip van Winkleslept for so long. 1 had packed a lunch and a flask of coffee, and this is as good a time as any to have a cup of coffee and acouple of gravy rings—we call them "doughnuts" here—so I set the cup on the ledge just ahead of the seat and pour a cup of coffee.The air is so smooth this morning that there is hardly a ripple on the coffee and it tastes good, too. By this time I can see Catskilland the Rip van Winkle bridge across the Hudson river. I think to myself that I am cheating them out of 25 cents (bridge toll) forcrossing the Hudson this time. My groundspeed has gone up to 104 this time, due to the fact that since I changed course a littlewhile back the wind is now almost directly on my tail. There are three light aircraft in sight now far below and the chart shows thatthere is a small field nearby. The rest of the trip is uneventful, and I am getting stiff from sitting for over three hours in the sameposition, but soon 1 see Hartford and it's time to start letting down. As I get closer I see three ships in the traffic pattern, two leaving tothe south and one waiting to take off. There is no tower here and no control of any kind from the ground. I enter traffic on mydownwind leg and follow a Cessna 170 in. He is faster and well ahead of me, so I hold the Luscombe off to the last minute so thatI will not hold up traffic by taxying. There is a queue at the petrol pump—a Tri-Pacer filling up, a Cessna behind him and anotherTri-Pacer behind that—so I decide to park and gas up later. The man in the office called a taxi and I was on my way. Flying timehad been 3hr 45min. When I got back there was no queue— everyone gone to lunch, apparently—but the pumps were attendedand I took 14.5 US gallons (11.6 Imperial) at a cost of £2 Is approxi- mately. The Trip Back I had expected to start the return trip at 2 p.m. and I was infact ahead of schedule, getting off the ground at 1.45. There was very little traffic now, only a lone 170 shooting take-offs and land-ings. I had asked the gas boy how many aircraft there were on the field, and he said there were about 70 private ships based thereand maybe a dozen business planes besides the trainers the opera- tors owned. Climbing out to 2,500ft I now use the 323° leg of the HartfordLF range to get an accurate heading set up, and after levelling off I get my first ground-speed check—not so good, 83. Hartford radiois giving the scheduled weather broadcast just as I leave, and it is raining in Washington. I have an idea that this low is a big one,but the weather along my route is good; just like the weather man said, there are lowering ceilings to the south of my route. My nextcheck-point gives me a ground-speed of 86 and I can see that there is an airport a few miles ahead, so I am keeping an especially sharpeye. Sure enough, there it is up ahead, and there are two light air- craft taking off to the south-west, indicating that I have a cross-wind. My next check-point is again on the Hudson river, a fewmiles to the north of Catskill, and my g.s. has gone up to 93. I get another weather report, from Albany this time, and it is stillgood (these weather broadcasts are made every half hour at 15min and 45min after the hour). An hour and a half out of Hartford,and by this time my g.s. is up to 98. That low-pressure system must be getting closer. The normal cruise for the Luscombe with thisprop is about 95 m.p.h. (with a cruise prop about 105), and soon it is time to change tanks again, having used the left one for twohours. At 2hr 22min I am over Syracuse Range station again and there is a Mohawk Airlines DC-3 coming towards me on the samerange leg, apparently, but there is plenty of separation and he passes well to my left. My g.s. is 102 now, I'm doing better all thetime. In the space of 80 miles from Syracuse's Hancock Field to Rochester's Monroe County field I pass within five miles ofeleven airports shown on the chart, only one of which is marked private. Furthermore, I am within 20 miles of 15 more. At Roches-ter I am 2min ahead of my ETA, giving me a g.s. of 109. The ceiling is 5,500ft overcast, according to Rochester radio, and FLIGHT, 22 June li > at Buffalo it is 4,000ft overcast, so it looks like I won't be home a •too soon. There is a Super Constellation taxying out at Roches- as I pass about two miles south of the field, and soon I rn.ee- .iCapital Airlines Viscount off to my right making a long £;.•,? approach to Rochester. There are two light aircraft in sight ,< : jRochester radio is calling a Cessna. By this time I have had i ;t about enough flying for one day, having been in the air 3|hr si eleaving Hartford; but, before I think it possible, I am approach ;gNiagara Falls, my ground-speed for this last leg being 128 I realize there is quite a breeze blowing, and when I get the v..-d"Luscombe 31 Kilo cleared to land" I am ready to call it a da- i was able to turn off the runway at the first intersection, less thin300ft from the approach end, and I wasn't too tired to top ofl the tanks before tying down the ship. They took 13.9 US galinis(11.1 Imperial) at a cost of £2 Is—not bad for 3hr 40min. I had covered approximately 760 miles for a cost of less than cne-fifth of what it would have cost me to drive, so now you know why so many people use private aircraft for everyday transportation,not to mention the risk involved in driving and the time saved Believe it or not, there were over 90 airports available to me withina distance of 20 miles on either side of my 380-mile route, about 20 of which had hard-surface runways and 40 had runway lights.The only airports I am not allowed to use are strictly military bases, and they are always available in case of emergency—but you hadbetter have a good excuse. Fair Share Now for the critics who will have something to say about my flying in the same airspace as commercial airliners. When I mentioned the champions of controlled airspace a little earlier I meant those unreasonable officials in the British Isles who want to eliminate the private pilot. Let me point out here that our airspace in the USA is controlled within reasonable limits; these limits are as follows:— Visual Flight Without ClearanceIn Control Zones: 2,000ft horizontally from clouds, 1,000ft above and 500ft below clouds; minimum ceiling 1,000ft; minimum visibility threemiles. In Control Areas: 2,000ft horizontally from clouds, 1,000ft above and500ft below clouds; minimum ceiling, control areas do not extend below 700ft, therefore clear of clouds; minimum visibility, three miles,or under 700ft, one mile. Elsewhere: Minimum 2.000ft horizontally from clouds, 1,000ft aboveand 500ft below clouds; below 700ft, clear of clouds; minimum visibility, one mile at all levels. Visual Flight With Clearance In Control Zones: Clear of clouds at all levels; minimum visibility notless than one mile. In Control Areas: As without clearance. Note that above 700ft it isnot possible to get a one-mile visibility minimum clearance as in a Control Zone. If visibility is less than three miles in a Control Area allflights must be in accordance with instrument flight rules. Elsewhere: As without clearance. Control Zones extend for a radius of five miles around most ofthe larger airports, and in some cases 12 miles with approach corridors extending for as much as 25 miles. Control Areas extend for a width of ten miles along the airwaysand for a radius of as much as 50 miles around major airports. In addition to these there are climb-out corridors for military jets;these are restricted areas that usually extend 27 miles from the edge of the control zone and are graduated at seven intervals as tothe altitude to avoid, starting at 2,500-10,000ft at 5-6 miles and ending up at 19,500-27,000ft at 20-27 miles. All airspace above24,000ft is controlled, but that doesn't bother us little fellows too much. Incidentally, a call to the local Approach Control will usuallygive you clearance through a military climb-out corridor unless they have jets actually using it at that time. I am sure that all pilots of light aircraft will agree with me thatthese are very reasonable restrictions, and any VFR pilot who gets caught in one-mile visibility is crazy. The big thing is that he isnot going to get in a jam with the FAA if he does and, let's face it, anyone with enough savvy to get a licence in the first place thinksmore of his neck than to go flying with one mile and 700ft. Every once in a while you hear of someone getting caught and proving thepoint conclusively. Generally speaking, the laws here were designed so that the good judgment of the pilot should prevail. There is far less danger of having a collision by meeting anotheraircraft on an airway than in driving down the highway meeting other cars. I can remember when I was a little boy back in Ulsterriding down the road with my father in his Austin Seven, 1932 vintage, and laughing at the old-timers who would climb up OK theverge when they saw us coming. These people who want to run the private pilots off the airways remind me of these old-timers arid, ina sense, they are the old-timers of this jet age, who just can"; see ahead far enough to realize that private flying can be a boon toeveryone. Sit up and take notice, British pilots. You, too, can have freedom of the skies.
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