Airdrop

Flight Journal, Aug 1998

Affairs of State

I learned a lot about bush flying from Davisson's "Bush Pilot" article in the June 1998 issue of Flight Journal, including the fact that Alaska is the 50th state. In school, we learned that Hawaii is the 50th state and Alaska is the 49th. Close, Budd, but no points.

H. Johnson

Aurora, Colorado

Hawaii's a state!!? Boy, you readers are really sharp! BD

RP-63

In your April 1998 issue, the article by Allen D. Greenstone about the Bell RP at Tyndall Field, Florida, brought back many pleasant memories. This was one of the many USAAF service schools I went through that I really enjoyed. During that six-week course, I vividly remember the first time I saw an RP-63 coming at my gun position; it really got my attention!

I quickly got the hang of shooting those frangible bullets at the 63s, but I often wondered how those guys felt the first time they were being shot at. I don't think I was one of those gunners Allen had a problem with, but I did hear of that happening.

Anyway, it sure was a lot more interesting than shooting at boat cutouts in the water.

Pete Jonas, USAAF '43 to '45

Bay City, Michigan

We imagine a bigger worry for the RP-63 pilots was whether the ordnance guys would mistake ball ammo for the frangible stuff. BD

Over gross

Recently, I stopped by the hangar to see how the annual on my Super Cub was coming along and picked up my mechanic's copy of your June 1998 issue because the "Bush Pilot" story caught my eye.

It has some errors. The most severe is the statement about Alaskan airplanes allowed to operate 10 percent over gross. Not only is that dangerous, but it's also illegal. The FAA just grounded a fleet of government-owned PA-18s that were being operated in excess of 1,750-pound takeoff weight.

I'm sure the article will play well in the flatlands, but that's how some people get in trouble-listening to the uninformed.

Randy Kilbourn

Air Taxi Driver

Talkeetna, Alaska

That fact was pulled from a reference book on Alaskan aviation history. We're sure the FAA has cracked down on many violations since the time that book was written. We "flatlanders," as I'm sure you folks in the 49th state do, calculate weight and balance, density altitude, check the runway length and weather conditions and consult performance charts to make sure we don't become statistics on a takeoff attempt. Thanks for the correction. RP

Will this question bomb?

I enjoyed the article on the Heinkel He 111 in your June 1998 issue, but one question comes to mind. Why were the bombs carried (and dropped) tail down, as shown in the photo on Page 24?

[email]

Frank Perkins

They fit better under the stand-up coffee tables in the "smoking compartment" that way. In other words, we don't know. Readers have any suggestions? BD

One outstanding photo

I've greatly enjoyed the magazine since its first issue. It is always filled with stuff of interest to av fans, and every now and then, you publish a photo that launches me into nostalgic fantasizing.

The June 1998 piece on bush pilots is accompanied by a wonderful picture (pages 36 and 37) that is to me an authentic depiction of one of the virtuosities of bush piloting. It triggers my imagination beyond the modest caption that "Beavers supply remote hunters and lumber camps."

The dim light and wispy clouds suggest the Arctic prelude to winter. I see a probably overloaded, partially flapped Beaver that is taking off, not landing. The pilot has tilted one float off the water to speed up breaking free of the slick, mirror calm surface. Therefore, he does not have all the room in the world to get airborne. It must be he's taking off from a lake.

Smooth lake water reminds me of an old bush pilot who once told me that he found it useful to throw down a few sheets of newspaper before landing on windless, glassy water. The floating paper showed him where the surface really was and spared him the embarrassment of trying to fly through it That just goes to show what one excellent piece of photography can do for imagination and reminiscing!

Roy Clough Jr.

Pittsfield, New Hampshire

Tom Evans made every one of us who has ever picked up a camera jealous. BD

You missed one!

I was rather surprised, not to say disappointed, to see that Barnaby Wainfan excluded Vincent Burnelli's inventionthe 1927 breakaway leading edge in combination with high-lift flaps-from his otherwise excellent article "What's all the Flap About" in your April 1998 issue. It is particularly surprising, as both the Burnelli invention and its reduction to practice in the 1929 Burnelli GX-3 were depicted in Prof. Cantilli's excellent Fall 1996 Flight Journal article.

The story also excluded any mention of the legendary Westland Lysander, the British Army cooperation multipurpose STOL airplane that, during WW II, delivered and returned British agents to and from the cow pastures of France. I had the pleasure of making many flights in this spectacular airplane. You should really do a story on this most impressive aircraft

Chalmers H. Goodlin

Coral Gables, Florida

The article Mr. Goodlin refers to was intended to highlight the technical issues associated with achieving STOL performance. To that end, I chose historical examples to illustrate some of the more significant aerodynamic and configuration concepts that have evolved Inevitably, some remarkable machines, including the Burnelli GX-3 and the Lysander, were left out because space did not permit a thorough historical overview of STOL aircraft per se.