Mike
McMahon Pilot and Past CFI at Skyhaven passed away at Wentworth-Douglas
Hospital Tuesday, January 9, 2018 1-29-18:
The pilot community around Skyhaven Airport offers our deepest sympathies
to the family of Mike McMahon. Mike earned his pilot license and ratings
at Ossipee Valley Aviation here at Skyhaven and received his instrument
rating in 2003. He also became a very active instructor with Ossipee Valley
Aviation and later with Rochester Aviation. He also spent some time with
Southern Maine Aviation. One night I went to Southern Maine Aviation for
a night check ride in one of their Skyhawks and the instructor was Mike
McMahon. At the time, there was no FBO at Skyhaven. His love of aviation
also brought him to the Collings Foundation where he travelled the country
in a WWII aircraft as a co-pilot.
In
tribute to Mike, here's a few articles from the past from the Ossipee Valley
Aviation & Skyhaven Airport website. Goodbye Mike.... CLICK
HERE
The
Shark “twenty-first century airplane” made in Slovakia 1-26-18: The Europeans
apparently do not have the LSA restrictions that we have in the U.S. That
gives them the freedom to optimize aircraft and engine designs for a light
small aircraft. So, what do you get? The answer is Wow! Take the Shark
for example. It has a Rotax engine with a variable speed prop with auto
pitch control so you have no pitch control knob to worry about, cruises
at 146 knots and stalls at less than 45 knots.
If Southern Maine
Aviation buys one, put me down for a check ride.
Franky
Zapata's Ezfly 1-21-18:
AOPA had a short article referring to the inventor of a
hover platform that's not much bigger
than a doormat. Back
in 2016 a video was released showing him flying and hovering around
over the water that some refer to as a flying Segway. In
an interview he did back then, he supposedly said that the platform
had 4 turbine jet engines he called "turboreactors" that developed 250
hp each for a total of 1,000 hp. It also has two smaller engines on the
sides for stability. Up until that point the article sounded somewhat legitimate.
A closer look at the platform shows what looks to be like four turbine
engines like the ones used on model aircraft radio controlled jets. Those
engines spec out around 5" in diameter and about a foot long and develop around
52 lbs of thrust each. That probably equates to around 25 hp each, not
250 hp, for a total of 100 hp. Sonex
aircraft uses a PBS turbine that develops 250 lbs of thrust but it's
around 10 inches in dia and 24 inches long. PBS also has a small 5.8 inch
diameter that has 88.8 lbsf. At around 360 lbsf total, my guess is that
would be the one they are using... maybe...
.
Boeing's
'Son of Blackbird' Hypersonic Strike Aircraft 1-18-18:
Boeing recently announced a concept aircraft called the 'Son of Blackbird'
hypersonic strike aircraft that could go five times the speed of sound
with apparently nobody sitting in the cockpit. What about the SR-72?
EAA
225 Holiday Gathering 1-9-18:
Hello
Everyone, I forgot to include that we will be holding our a traditional
“Yankee Swap” at our party this coming Sunday, if there was any doubt.
You are not obligated to participate, but if you wish to be a part of it,
we usually keep the cost for the surprise gift at around $10. Hope to see
you this coming Sunday starting at 4pm at the Skyhaven Airport Pilot’s
Lounge. If you have any questions you can respond to this email or
call me at (603) 512-2356.
EAA
225 Holiday Gathering 1-7-18:
Hello Everyone, PLEASE NOTE: There will be no Tuesday evening meeting.
Instead, EAA 225 will be gathering on Sunday January 14 from 4 to 6pm for
our annual holiday party with a short meeting. Please read the newsletter
for more information. Thank You and hope to see you at the Pilot’s
Lounge at Skyhaven Airport. Regards, Gerry
Shock
Cooling: Time To Kill The Myth 1-5-18:
In a recent Avweb article, the writer expresses some frustration over erroneous hangar
talk opinions about small aircraft and engines that become accepted and
preached as gospel by mechanics, cfi's and people in positions of responsibility.
Two popular ones that come to mind are "shock cooling" and "oil filler
cap vapor release." I read an article one time about an Alaskan bush pilot
that argued against a performance section in his aircraft POH, said that
aircraft engineers know how to design planes but don't know how to fly
them... what? I guess that kind of sums up the staying power of the myths.
Click
HERE to read a copy of the shock cooling article.
.
VFR
In January 1-4-18:
I thought I'd take advantage of the warm day yesterday (3rd) with a nice
balmy 24°F. Even so, the density altitude was still minus 2,000
feet. That meant over 1,000 feet per minute climb in a humble 160hp Skyhawk.
Some pilots don't like to fly in the winter, but they are missing out on
experiencing the dramatic increase in aircraft performance.
.
Density
Altitude Minus 4,500 1-1-18:
New Years Eve around 11pm ASOS reported in the remarks section: Density
Altitude minus four thousand five hundred.
.
Space
Weather Women 12-31-17:
Tamitha Skov was featured in Popular Mechanics as the spaceweather
women. She has her own website and publishes YouTube videos of the solar
forecast. Solar flares happen all the time but most of them do not have
a major impact on the earth except for creating the Northern (and Southern)
Lights. However a large solar flare like the one in 1989 that was responsible
for shutting down the Quebec power grid can cause electromagnetic disruption
on a large scale. It also damaged half of the solar cells on the GOES-7
weather satellite and shortened its lifetime by 50 percent. There is also
a 10% chance of the earth getting hit by a very large solar flare that
compares to one that happened in 1859 called the Carrington Event. At that
time, the northern lights covered the whole United States down to Mexico
and gave telegraph operators electric shock. I wonder how they are doing
on the GPS backup system?
.
Alton
Bay Ice Runway Raffle12-24-17:
Southern Maine Aviation is having a fund raising raffle for the Alton Bay
Ice Airport. "Raffle to Benefit the Alton Bay Ice Runway. The ice runway
at Alton Bay is the only FAA approved ice runway in the 48 contiguous states
and Hawaii. It is maintained by a group of volunteers who donate
a lot of time and personal vehicle use. Tickets are $2 each., or 6 for
$10. Drawing is January 20, 2018, following our safety seminar.
You don’t need to be present to win. Tickets and Skydive are for
2018 season. Coupon for fuel must be redeemed by 7/1/2018.
All other prizes must be collected by 3/31/2018. Prizes are transferable.
Buy your tickets at: Southern Maine Aviation, LLC, 199 Airport Road,
Sanford, ME 04073, 207-324-8919"
VFR
to Nowhere 12-23-17:
Mother Nature has decided to blanket her red and pink tfr's all over the
eastern part of the country.
..
Trump
TFR Shuts Down Florida Coast 12-22-17:
According to
AOPA, the FAA was very happy that in November, the Trump TFR had no violations?
Various agencies are patting themselves on the back for a job well done.
However, it's only recently become widespread that you can now show TFR's
overlaid on your electronic tablet sectional charts. No calculations required!
New England had its share of TFR abuse during the Bush and Obama administrations.
Now, it's Florida's turn. AOPA proposed a giant cutout on the TFR to help
save the flight school at Lantana, but according to the most recent TFR,
it looks like they weren't to successful.
..
GFA
(GraphicalForcasts
for Aviation)12-19-17:
NOAA website has updated their weather service information with a user
interactive map that allows you to quickly interrogate the menu system
without waiting for different webpages to download for every menu option.
You can quickly go from METARS to TAFs. Click on the below
map to check it out.
..
Landing
On Old Orchard Beach? 12-13-17:
On October 1st, 2017 (last October), there was a fly-in at Old Orchard
beach. The whole event is said to be organized by a 15 year old student.
By the looks of the poster, they are planning on doing it again in 2018.
"Thousands of people lined Old Orchard Beach on Sunday afternoon to watch
15 small planes descend from the sky and land on the sand, much like aviator
Charles Lindbergh did 90 years ago. After taking off from Biddeford Municipal
Airport a few miles to the west, the parade of planes circled to the east
and then came in from the north to land on the beach under cloudless skies.
Organizers estimated that between 5,700 and 6,300 people attended, standing
20 feet deep along 3,500 feet of barrier fencing set up to keep them off
the landing strip."
CLICK
Here for the article by pressherald.com.
..
EAA
225 MEETING Tuesday, December 12, 2017 12-11-17:
A few words from your next President: Hey
everybody, First off thank you for electing me to club
president. Also, a big thanks you to John
for all he has done to bring the club this far and for staying on to further
help guide us into the future. The December EAA meeting is at the Skyhaven
FBO pilot’s lounge. Meet and greet around 6:30 with meeting to follow at
7pm.
..
KC-46A
Pegasus at Pease Air National Guard 12-06-17: Although
the delivery of the KC-46A
tankers has been delayed, recent publications are now talking about
potential delivery dates. The
Air National Guard is also working on some delays on two hangars that
are being worked on to service the KC's. Senator
Hassen was briefed in October "on the latest developments with the
KC-46 air refueling tanker, including a progress update on facilities preparation,
and toured the base. Pease Air National Guard Base is home to the 157th
Air Refueling Wing of the New Hampshire Air National Guard and will become
home to the U.S. Air Force's next generation refueling tanker, the KC-46."
I have to say, when I press the transmit button on the mic to call Portsmouth
tower, I'm still tempted to say Pease tower.
..
TRUMP
TFR NEW
YORK, NY ON SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2017 11-30-17:
...
LANDING
FEE'S at Airports in New England 11-30-17:
In an email letter to its renters, Southern
Maine Aviation chief instructor warns pilots to beware of unexpected
landing and handling fees. Apparently, one of their Skyhawks landed at
an airport in Massachusetts and they received a landing fee bill for $130.
He said the airplane landed and took off five minutes later. AOPA
has been reporting about FBO's gouging pilots with unreasonable landing
fees and ramp fees. It sounds like the infamous $100 hamburger may end
up costing around $500 to $700. If you want to be a frugal pilot, you could
take the Skyhaven Flying Club's
Skyhawk (at $95/hr) to Sanford
Airport's Cockpit Cafe for total cost of plane and food for around
$70.
..
No
BLACK
FRIDAY Deals on Skyhawk's 11-23-17:
Looking for a deal on a brand new Skyhawk? According to aviation publications,
Cessna is holding the line for a new Skyhawk at a little over $300,000.
Sales are flat and access for the general masses remains limited to the
fleet of pre-1990 planes, but that's becoming limited as well. Southern
Maine Aviation no longer has their 172m and the light sport is gone also.
So, how many Skyhawks did Cessna sell last year? According to GAMA, the
answer is 100. Just for the record, car sales in the U.S. for 2016 was
17.6
million.
..
Updated
FAA Aeronautical Chart User's Guide 11-17-17:
AOPA reports in a recent news email that the FAA is updating the charts.
They now have a what's new title. That makes sense. One recent change that's
being advertised is the red TFR circle around Disneyland. AOPA
called the new blue circle "thin blue circles depicting permanent temporary
flight restrictions (TFR)." The
FAA website legend calls them, "Permanent Continuous Flight Restriction
Areas."
..
...
EAA
225 Meeting November 14 11-14-17:
Hello Everyone, The November EAA meeting is at the Skyhaven FBO pilot’s
lounge. Meet and greet around 6:30 with meeting to follow at 7pm.
Regards, Gerry
.
..
.
New
Horizons Space Craft 10-27-17:
Back
in January of 2015 I reported on a spacecraft that was about to visit Pluto.
That was two years ago and it has now travelled another billion miles (4
billion miles from earth) and will be visiting a piece of rock floating
in the outer regions of the solar system called the Kuiper Belt. It is
scheduled to arrive in January 2019. The radio signals sent to the spacecraft
take 5 hours and 15 minutes to get there. In October, they plan to send
a program update. Yes, an update just like when you get one from Microsoft
to update you computer, the space craft will received a program update.
However, the electronic code sent to the spacecraft will be flying through
space for 5 hours before hitting the antenna of the spacecraft...
.
Shooting
Touch and Go's 10-23-17:
The warm weather continues to make October the warmest October ever recorded.
Here's a Skyhawk from Southern Maine Aviation doing some touch and go's.
.
Wing
in Ground (WIG) Cargo Flying Boat 10-17-17
Did you know that 99% of the ocean surface has wave heights less that 13
feet?
Ever find yourself
hovering in ground effect waiting for the plane to touch down? Aviation
articles talk about a magic distance between the wing and the runway that
generate ground effect that gives the plane more lift and less drag...
hmmm. Somebody from NASA gave some serious thought about this and is proposing
a WIG flying boat that would take advantage of ground effect generated
over the ocean water and fly about 20 feet above the surface to take advantage
of the extra lift and less drag.
a
hover platform that's not much bigger
weather
women. She has her own website and publishes YouTube videos of the solar
forecast. Solar flares happen all the time but most of them do not have
a major impact on the earth except for creating the Northern (and Southern)
Lights. However a large solar flare like the one in 1989 that was responsible
for shutting down the Quebec power grid can cause electromagnetic disruption
on a large scale. It also damaged half of the solar cells on the GOES-7
weather satellite and shortened its lifetime by 50 percent. There is also
a 10% chance of the earth getting hit by a very large solar flare that
compares to one that happened in 1859 called the Carrington Event. At that
time, the northern lights covered the whole United States down to Mexico
and gave telegraph operators electric shock. I wonder how they are doing
on the GPS backup system?
