WingsOfun.com BLOG #61: October 22, 2014
WELCOME PILOTS
This past weekend was a wonderful weekend to fly in eastern North Carolina. I was fortunate to be at the Harnett County Airport (KHRJ) in Erwin, N.C. for their first fly-in.
TC showing HRJ Fly-in attendees the Piper Tomahawk
Despite the much larger than anticipated crowd of over 5,000, Manager Josh Pusser and his crew pulled off a great event. Special thanks to Mr. Martin for allowing us to use his Piper Tomahawk which allowed many youth their first chance to sit and work the controls of an actual aircraft.
"Keeping the fun in flying!"
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NEW PRESENTATION
“PILOT AND AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE"
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Your opportunity to continue the dialog is on Facebook:
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NEWS FROM THE WEB
*Articles*Aviation Presentations (live)*Videos*eBooks*Special Event Announcements*Operation: Fly NC program
Questions? Contact: tom@wingsofun.com
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*Feel free to use our videos on your website or at your next safety seminar.
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BEECH 1990 FLIGHT 5481 UNRAVELED
By TC FREEMAN
Here’s the scene: You are standing on the ramp of a busy maintenance hangar. In the background are the typical sights and sounds of various aircraft approaching or departing the airport. On this cool, crisp January morning the sound of a turbine engine rising to fever pitch catches your attention. Quickly looking around, the horrific image of a Beechcraft (Beech) 1900 commuter airline in a near vertical position comes into view. The aircraft is literally “hanging by the props,” like an aerobatic aircraft on the verge of a tail-slide maneuver. As the aircraft falls off to the left it becomes apparent the doomed aircraft is heading directly toward the maintenance hangar. Primal “fight or flight” instincts take over as you run for cover. Looking back you can actually see the Captain and First Officer fight to control the aircraft. Narrowly missing the empennage of a heavy jet, the 1900 bounces hard off the ramp then clips the side of the hangar igniting hundreds of gallons of Jet A fuel. The blast is horrific, small bits of aircraft insulation fall from the sky ignited.
Trying to “get your wits about you,” thought patterns turn to searching for survivors. Co-workers ban together, grab fire extingushers to search the scorched wreckage. Despite the slim prospects of survival your mind tells you to “do something - anything” to find survivors. Not until sometime later did the grim facts came out that all nineteen passengers and two crewmembers perished in the accident. While this could have happened to anyone, it happened to Dave Allison, an aircraft mechanic working on the ramp at the Charlotte-Douglas Airport (KCLT) on January 8, 2003. It was US Airways Flight 5481 and his life would never be the same.
Dave will tell you that it took a long time to get over the accident. However, in reality you never really get over it. While coping with the life-changing events of that day he made a conscience decision to get involved to prevent something like this from ever happening again. Dave worked closely with the NTSB to initiate changes that ultimately make flying safer for the public. Additionally, he became active in the safety community volunteering his time to speak with pilots and Aircraft Maintenance Technicians (AMTs) on a variety of topics but he wasn’t ready to talk about Flight 5481.
Fast forward to October 11, 2014 in Salisbury, North Carolina. For the first time, Dave is talking about Flight 5481 to a small group of Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter members. I have the honor of co-presenting this important topic that consists of causal factors from not only the flight deck but also maintenance, management and regulatory organizations. Please make every effort to attend this presentation to hear the complete story behind Flight 5481.*
*To bring this presentation to your group, company or organization, please contact TC Freeman at tom@wingsofun.com.
About the author:
TC Freeman has been flying since he was a teenager and is now an aviation speaker and author. Being employed as an Aviation Safety Specialist for state government, he has a passion for spreading the thrill of flying just for the fun of it via the website, www.WingsOfun.com.
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“We are excited to donate this segment of the WingsOfun BLOG to this great program that promotes; airport visitation, education and tourism.”
~TC FREEMAN
OPERATION: FLY NC NEWS
No new developments at this time. Discuss OP: Fly NC with fellow pilots on Facebook at:
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Upcoming Events: Good for OP: FLY NC stamp/signature, most posted to: www.SocialFlight.com.
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IMPORTANT AUDIO PRESENTATION AVAILABLE:
“OPERATIONS AT NON-TOWERED AIRPORTS”
… for pilots flying just for the fun of it.
… for pilots flying just for the fun of it.
With the issue of sequestration, the shut-down of many Air Traffic Control Towers is a possibility. Regardless, it is important to know how to safely and efficiently operate at Non-Towered Airports. In this audio book TC Freeman discusses; straight in approaches, dealing with aircraft on extended downwind and traffic pattern entries.
Available at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tcfreeman
(Run time: 34 minutes)
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Available at Amazon.com (click here) or
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*DOT: ADS-B Falling Well Short of Promises
http://www.flyingmag.com/news/dot-ads-b-falling-well-short-promises#4eVb2pLcSpzpSEYr.99
*DOT: ADS-B Falling Well Short of Promises
http://www.flyingmag.com/news/dot-ads-b-falling-well-short-promises#4eVb2pLcSpzpSEYr.99
Note: Contact your elected officials to support pilot issues that matter to you at: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
OUR FAVORITE VIDEOS FROM THE WEB ~
P-51 Crazy Horse: Learning to Barrel Roll
*Holidays are just around the corner, a P-51 flight would make a nice stocking stuffer!
***************************************************Articles*Aviation Presentations (live)*Videos*eBooks*Special Event Announcements*Operation: Fly NC program
Questions? Contact: tom@wingsofun.com
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