AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2011 - 24

LETTERS
Hawaiian surprise I enjoyed reading “Never Again: Hawaiian Surprise” in the July 2011 issue of AOPA Pilot. The author should be commended on his handling of the problem. I can say without reservation I would not have lowered my altitude as requested by air traffic control to make myself more visible to his radar. I would have instructed him to accommodate my plan and not have accommodated his. I was glad to read the controller finally let the author fly the coast. With more altitude

and visual ability he could have safely accommodated the controller. Without visual contact his GPS could tell him where the coast was, or the controller could have helped. Air traffic control is not in charge. Emergency situations require the pilot to take control. Janet Willis, AOPA 1106534 Ormond Beach, Florida 60 at 60 Craig Fuller is losing weight by doing what Charles DeGaulle did when he quit smoking: announcing his intention to the world (“Fly Well: 60 at 60,” July 2011 AOPA Pilot).

One of my favorite things about flying gliders is when the instructor says, “Oh, you don’t weigh enough. We have to add ballast.” So when my weight crept up, and I almost didn’t need ballast, I had to lose. May I also suggest a food diary? I use one online (MyFoodDiary.com but there are many) that calculates everything, such as sodium and fats and protein and gives lots of reports, like BMI. I am scrupulously honest about what I eat, as well as how much I exercise, and in two months have lost 19 pounds. So tell Craig, good luck, and if it gets hard, this really helped. Huldah Taylor, AOPA 6151615 Chalfont, Pennsylvania Good on Craig for his willingness to be a test pilot for weight loss as his high visibility clearly makes him a role model for other older AOPA members, fair or not. But if Craig really wants success and/or you want your coverage of it to do so, in my judgment there is so far too much emphasis on weight and too little on health. As we age, range of motion, strength, endurance (physical and mental) and other physiological features relevant to flying will erode, so they all require intervention. Losing weight only marginally impacts those other physical changes, so focusing on them to the exclusion of a comprehensive health improvement plan is going to send an incomplete, inaccurate message. Besides, we’d all like our president to be healthy in fact, not just in appearance. Jack Tyler, AOPA1030903 Jacksonville, Florida Walking the walk The story about Jamie Beckett winning a city commission seat in Winter Haven, Florida, and acting as a tireless advocate for the city’s airports was very interesting and inspiring (“Rally GA: Walking the Walk” July 2011 AOPA Pilot). I did take exception with the statement regarding “years of watching the city mismanage one of the local airports.” While I cannot speak to the specific situation in Winter Haven, I have observed that those with an interest in their local airports are often too quick to claim “mismanagement” on the part of the local airport authority or governing body. However, public-use airports, especially those that receive federal funds for airport improvements, are bound by a number of regulations and stipulations that do sometimes restrict what actions their governing bodies can take regarding development and management of
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2011