AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2014 - 12

LETTERS
Citation Airlift

Texas Tall Tale

Braving Bravo

RARE WARBIRDS UP FOR SALE

JETS DELIVER SPECIAL OLYMPIANS

The Voice of General Aviation

LITTLE BIRD IN BIG AIRSPACE

www.aopa.org/pilot | August 2014 | $6.95

August 2014

AOPA FLY-INS

NEW REGIONAL EVENTS
SPOKANE, WASHINGTON

AUGUST 16, 2014
p. 70

Carbon Cub on Floats | Consolidated PBY | Cessna Citation Airlift

Climb aboard and head
for the Greenville,
Maine, splash-in
in a Carbon Cub.

"Your latest issue of AOPA Pilot magazine
(August 2014) was the best I have seen in
33 years of membership. Please tell all your
staff a hearty thank you, well done, and keep
up the good work!"

Seaplanes
+

Celebrating

SPECIAL FOCUS

Clayton Wilson
AOPA 786307
Spring, Texas

CARBON CUB
ON FLOATS p. 74

CONSOLIDATED PBY p. 84
CITY SEAPLANES p. 92

www.aopa.org

YEARS

and feel rather alone among a
sea of older men-some welcoming, some not?
The letter writer attempted
to chastise AOPA by saying that
AOPA Pilot needs to represent "all aviation enthusiasts."
Absolutely correct. To its credit,
AOPA Pilot did exactly that with
the "Women Find Their Wings"
article, demonstrating that it
indeed represents all of us, not
just the 93 percent.
Beth Christensen
AOPA 5279078
Beavercreek, Ohio

Bill Rimer
AOPA 429021
Ester, Alaska

Thanks for the article on
using Pledge on the windscreen. I've been using this for
about five years when I lived
in the Chicago area. I moved
to Arizona a few years ago and
continued to use Pledge, but,
a warning-during the growing season, whenever I use
Pledge on the windscreen or
anywhere else on the airplane,
it attracts numerous bees,
maybe from the citrus odor. If
you leave any openings into the
cabin (air intakes, doors, windows), the bees will find their
way in and, obviously, this is
not a great situation to be in
just prior to a flight.  So if there
are bees around, I switch to Gel
Gloss spray, which has more of
a petroleum odor and does as
good a job (at a slightly higher
cost) without attracting bees.
Al Aven
AOPA 6292847
Marana, Arizona

Letters

Letters about letters probably don't fill editors with
12 | AOPA PILOT October 2014

excitement, but in this case I
feel compelled to respond to the
pair of August letters criticizing the June "Women Find
Their Wings" article. The first
writer seems to equate this private project with a government
effort; not true in the slightest.
The second letter suggests that
nebulous innate differences
between men and women are
the sole reason so few women

"respond to the magic of flight."
He also calls the issue "unimportant to most people." Maybe
among his cohorts it seems that
way. The proportion of female
pilots in the United States has
been hovering around 7 percent
for many years. Is that because
women somehow just aren't
interested? Or is it possible that
many women are put off by the
fact that we walk into the FBO

Erratum

Lee Griffin's name was misspelled in "Pilot Briefing:
Flight for a Cause" (August
2014 AOPA Pilot). AOPA Pilot
regrets the error.
We welcome your comments.
Editor, AOPA Pilot, 421 Aviation
Way, Frederick, Maryland 21701
or email (pilot@aopa.org). Letters may be edited for length
and style before publication.

HANGAR TALK

Having Pledge on the airplane's
front window takes a lot of the
pucker factor out of flying in the
rain, especially in the mountains and when landing.

Senior Editor AL MARSH
first heard in 2013 from
Bob Fuller, founder of the
Short Wing Piper Club.
Fuller recalled a Piper TriPacer, normally valued at
$25,000 to $36,000 on
today's market, that had a
makeover from two owners totaling $150,000 ("A
LOT OF LOVE-AND MONEY," page 72). Added to

the story is a Cessna 182
modified by the son of
the inventor of the Weber Grill, who upgraded
his aircraft using AOPA's
2011 Cessna 182 Crossover
Classic as a starting point,
and a Cessna 310 turned
into the ultimate traveling
machine by husband-andwife airline pilots.

A great trainer is easy to
fly but hard to fly well.
It's responsive and rugged, with low operating
costs that allow students
to fly a lot. "That description fits the Cessna 150s
and 152s in which my
generation of GA pilots
learned to fly," says Senior
Editor DAVE HIRSCHMAN.
With AOPA's "Reimagined" aircraft program
("GA AIRCRAFT REIMAGINED," page 66), the association is testing whether
these still-numerous trainers-carefully restored
to as-new condition-
can economically and
reliably serve individual
owners, flying clubs, and
flight schools.

JIM MOORE returned from

Kenya with a story and a
new name given by the
pilots of the Kenya Wildlife Service: Kamau Mwangi. It is a common name,
and a sign of respect that
was mutual ("TRAINING TO
STOP DESTRUCTION," page
80). Earning a Kenya private pilot license costs
roughly $10,000. The
per capita income in
Kenya, however, is $816
per year. KWS pilots pay
for their own primary
flight training. "You have
to admire that perseverance-and passion. I'm
not sure I would or could
have made that kind of
sacrifice myself," Moore
says.
http://www.aopa.org/pilot http://www.aopa.org
AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2014
