AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2020 - 16

LETTERS
A portion of the ramp had
been paved the day before and
the cones had been placed to
keep airplanes off the fresh
asphalt. On either side of the
cone were two portable concrete barriers that were 10
feet away from my propeller
at "thump" shutdown.
Saved by the frangible cone
but distracted by the utter and
mesmerizing darkness, I missed
and bypassed the first item in
the checklist: "Set the brakes."
Jim Conn
AOPA 675523
Alexandria, Minnesota

Home run

I must commend Mike Busch
for his excellent article "Why
Valves Stick" in the July 2020
AOPA Pilot. This is one of the
most helpful and educational
articles I've read. Most all of my
knowledge on engine temperatures was wrong. He informed,
gave advice, and explained the
science. That's a home run!
Kenneth Clayton
AOPA 9212888
Liberty, Kentucky

Great airplanes

HANGAR TALK

A wonderful article on two truly
classic airplanes ("Magnificent
Brutes"). While I have never
flown or flown in either, I have
been close to both at Oshkosh

and at my airport when I was
based for 25 years at Placerville,
where a good friend Rick Atkins
of RagTime Aero maintained
several DGA-15s-including his own and one owned
by Ben Scott. Ben won Grand
Champion at OSH one year with
his Stearman Junior Speedmail,
restored by Rick. One thing not
mentioned in Hirschman's story
was where the DGA came from.
I was told by Rick and others it
meant Damn Good Airplane.
The other classic with a
Pratt & Whitney R-985 not
mentioned was the Spartan
Executive, which outperformed
both the subject airplanes.
Spartan was an upstart company
started by a guy named Skelly
in about 1928, but really got off
the ground when J. Paul Getty
came on board in about 1935.
While the company "folded" its
wings after the war, it lived on as
a now-classic travel trailer company until about 1960.
Larry Weitzman
AOPA 504833
Hurricane, Utah

We welcome your comments.
Send letters to Editor, AOPA
Pilot, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, Maryland 21701 or pilot@
aopa.org. Letters may be
edited for length and style.

"Although a three-ship photoshoot is not uncommon,
this scenario-a first for me-would present a few
unique challenges," said Senior Photographer CHRIS
ROSE. "After several discussions and a few disagreements on which aircraft to include, it was decided that
the Bonanza and RV-8 would serve as the primary
subject airplanes while our Cessna 182 with photo windows would serve as my photo platform to capture
the cover shot." AOPA Editor at Large Dave Hirschman
piloted the RV in close formation with the Bonanza,
while a second qualified formation pilot and Rose
maneuvered around the formation in the 182 to capture the action ("IT TAKES TEAMWORK," p. 50). "While
safety and teamwork are always pivotal in every shoot,
this one required us to up our game a bit," said Rose.

16 | AOPA PILOT September 2020

I know Barry Schiff is one of the old salts who
can still converse in Morse Code-did you catch
the Easter egg in the paint scheme? It amazes
me that no one has yet to figure it out or even
notice it. I hope that doesn't mean I must count
myself among the old salts....
Demetri Capetanopoulos
AOPA 2895767
Upper Arlington, Ohio

What type of humanitarian aviation missions
have you considered or participated in?

22%
Animal rescue/transportation
34%
COVID-19/Medical 17%
34%
11%
Past U.S. national disasters
16%
16%
Missions abroad
11%
17%
Other
22%

Aviation eBrief poll

https://aopahangartalk.libsyn.com/podcast/episode-94-aviation-photographer-chris-rose

AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2020

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