AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2012 - 22

LETTERS
as mechanics, the black males are cooks or stewards, the white males pilot candidates. This gets a strong reaction, “You can’t do it, Mr. Rousch!” This leads to some very meaningful class discussions about individual rights and opportunities, and what a person needs to do to reach their goals in life. I then show the film, and follow up after with more discussions. Thank you Captain Quy for making this tribute, well done! John Rousch, AOPA 6878866 Lake Placid, Florida River dance Thanks for the trip down memory lane (“Challenges: River Dance,” December 2011 AOPA Pilot). I trekked to Alaska and combined a lengthy vacation with a seaplane rating add-on this past September. There were many high points of the trip—and, of course, flying ranks right up there. I did my seaplane rating with Alaska Floats and Skis, and had a great time. In retrospect, it would have been less anguish (since I’m not a mariner) to have reviewed FAA-H-8083-23 (which is available for free download from the web). Other than that, the twice-daily training with a checkride on the fourth day was a blast. I had scheduled a couple of days extra for a retest, but since that was not necessary, I did flight-seeing instead before continuing on with the rest of my trip. Suzanne Collins, AOPA 5677743 Virginia Beach, Virginia I just finished reading Jill Tallman’s piece and was left with one question. The quote: “...fired up the 85-horsepower Continental” left me wondering if Mr. Sweikar has an electric starter on N43459? I assume he does. On my 65-horsepower Taylorcraft, N43909, I must use an Armstrong starter (hand prop it)! If that were the case with N43459, Mr. Sweikar would have to stand on the float to prop it from behind, and do a tricky dance to get in the pilot’s seat. John E. Malene, AOPA 1082435 Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Jill Tallman responds: Stan Sweikar’s Taylorcraft does indeed have an electric starter, for the very reasons you mention. But he’s no stranger to hand propping, and demonstrated it for us on land when we shot photos of the airplane for the article.
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Dogfight: For the holidays It’s good to see you guys agree on something for once (“Dogfight: For the Holidays,” December 2011 AOPA Pilot). My only quibble would be the comparison of West versus East Coast controllers. For the most part you are right, but the notable exception is Jacksonville (Florida) Center—those guys are consistently as friendly, cordial, and helpful as any I’ve encountered anywhere. Steve Leonard, AOPA 419129 Atlanta, Georgia The LSA Starfighter Very nice article on Flight Designs CTLS (“The Last Starfighter,” December 2011 AOPA Pilot). However, at $160,000, I believe this will be out of the reach of at least 80 percent or more of the potential LSA pilots. I have seriously looked at the purchase of an LSA but find that most are well more than $100,000. I believe that most of the available LSA are overequipped with all the glass/electronic gadgetry. What use is it to have IFR capability in an aircraft that is not certified to fly in IFR conditions? I applaud AOPA and EAA for petitioning the FAA to allow pilots to use a valid driver’s license to fly up 180 horsepower, day, VFR. I also note that recently the LSA industry is unhappy with this new initiative. The LSA industry is going on about losing potential customers if the FAA were to agree to this new petition. Frankly, I would suspect that the AOPA/EAA expanded use of driver’s license medical will have little or no impact on LSA future sales. I say this because, at the current prices, I would suspect that the LSA industry’s potential customer base is relatively small and will remain unchanged going forward. Good luck to CTLS. Since I live in Hawaii, access to a LSA is nonexistent. Mark K. Crawford, AOPA 4551049 Captain Hook, Hawaii I’m still a student pilot and don’t have much flight time yet, but I took a lesson in a CTLS once, and, for sightseeing and pure pleasure, I haven’t been in anything that matches it. The article states that “Sport pilots can’t fly…above a cloud layer, but there’s nothing keeping private pilots…from flying…over clouds.” I agree that sport pilots are not permitted to do so. FAR 61.315(c)(13) specifically provides that sport pilots

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FEBRUARY 2012

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2012

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