AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2021 - 18

LETTERS
W
What's in a name?
Mayday, Captain, and more
I enjoyed the article " What's in a Name? " in the
July 2021 issue. I'm surprised you didn't come
across this one yet, but when I was living in El
Paso and actively flying, I adopted a stray Chow
mix puppy-and named her Mayday. The desert
Southwest is no place for a stray pup, so the
name seemed to fit her perfectly.
Thanks for the great article.
Jim Miedema / AOPA 1131008
Rochester Hills, Michigan
Occasionally a couple of our Skye Terriers have
flown with me, but I'm really writing about a
friend who breeds and professionally shows
Field Spaniels who names her dogs aviation
names. Why, you ask? She is Bob Hoover's
daughter.
Jay Turnbull / AOPA 824215
Windsor, Colorado
Frugal or foolish
Nice article on used avionics ( " Frugal or
Foolish, " July 2021 AOPA Pilot). I had the
same concerns, but three years ago I stumbled
onto a brand-new, in-the-box factory install kit
Garmin GNS430W, which sat in an OEM warehouse
from 2012 until 2019, never installed
with everything needed. Garmin would not
honor its warranty, but the price was right, so
I bought it.
When one of the switches was sluggish, I did
call Garmin, gave them the serial number, and
was told that the unit had never been installed
and it did have a warranty from the date of
installation even though they were no longer
selling it. They suggested using the switches
and the problem should go away as some new
units had this problem until the switches were
broken in.
Walt Roberts / AOPA 937095
Jasper, Indiana
Terrain at every turn
That was a good article on the mountain
approach to Vail-Eagle County ( " Waypoints:
Terrain at Every Turn " ). You might take a look
at the Juneau, Alaska (JUN or PAJN), LDA
approach and minimums. Take note of the
missed approach spot in relation to the runway.
18
AOPA PILOT / September 2021
PILOT BRIEFING
V
C
JUST FOR FUN |
What's in a name?
How
Pet monikers that refl ect their people's passions
BY JILL W. TALLMAN
CHUCK YEAGER. P-51. Cessna. Piper. These are names, makes,
models, and manufacturers you know. But what you might not
know is that they are also the names of the much-loved animal
companions of pilots and aviation enthusiasts.
Not surprisingly, pilots tag their pets with aviation names
to refl ect their passions. What is surprising is that once you dig
beneath the surface, you fi nd names that go beyond simple tributes
to those that refl ect a lot of thought. Nobody names their
dog Caution Wake Turbulence (true story) on a whim. Winger
is a Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever (or " toller " for short), and
he belongs to Camoriah Eaton of Manato, Minnesota. Winger's
American Kennel Club registered name is Vermilion's Caution
Wake Turbulence.
We asked pilots to share their pets' aviation names, and we
discovered some patterns. For example, the aviation alphabet
i s
a
common
source : Alpha ,
Bravo, Charlie (a
name that seems particularly
suitable for
golden retrievers), all the
way to Zulu.
Then there are airplane manuThen
there are airplane manufacturers.
Cessna and Piper are very common for both cats and
dogs-Piper more so than Cessna (sorry, Clyde). But then there's
Mooney, the very good boy owned by aviation writer Jolie Lucas.
Mooney is equally at home at the airport or in the psychotherapy
chair in Lucas's Southern California offi ce, Lucas said.
How about P-51? That's the name of Allegra Monserrat
Rodriguez's dog, who lives in San Antonio, Texas, and sports a
tag that says " P-51. " Or FiFi, a ball python named for the Boeing
B-29 Superfortress, and owned by Amy Fenster?
Janet Davidson's " smooth-coated Wisconsin cheese hound "
Jennywren is named for the Curtiss Jenny biplane.
Then there's Vought-who is an Ornate Uromastyx owned by
Theresa Farley of Chandler, Arizona. If, like me, you had never
heard of an Ornate Uromastyx, you might like to know that they
are colorful lizards that grow to be about 15 inches long, and
they're considered the couch potatoes of Uromastyx-they
enjoy lounging in the sun and eating.
Aubrey Folsom's pet rats are named Orion and Hercules,
named after the P-3 and C-130. They are Dumbo rats, so
called because they have small round ears that stick out
to the side, much like the cartoon elephant. This breed of
" fancy " rat is said to be calm, sweet, and intelligent.
All of Stacie Lufk in Whitford's dogs have had airplane
names: Fairchild Metro aka Metro; Bellanca Scout aka Belle;
Lockheed Constellation aka Connie; and MIG29 Fulcrum aka
MIG. A new puppy is due to arrive soon, and Whitford said the
short list of names is Lockheed Vega or Lockheed Lodestar. " Yes,
we are that family, " she said.
Renowned aviators and astronauts provide much inspiration.
David Kelly's orange tabby is named Hadfi eld, for Canadian
astronaut Chris Hadfi eld, " whose book continues to inspire, " Kelly
32 | AOPA PILOT July 2021
about
notable
aviation
events? Eve
Lopez's dog
Derby is named
for the 1929 Women's
Transcontinental Air Race,
also known as the Powder Puff
Derby.
Wrapping up this article, I was reminded that Frederick
Municipal Airport has a canine celebrity with an aviation
name: Turbo the Flying Dog. His owner, Victoria Neuville, has
co-written a series of children's books about his fl ying adventures.
He even has his own Facebook page.
Honorable mentions go to Maverick, Goose, Tailgunner,
Aileron, Aero, Jet, Wingnut, Sigmet, Gilmore, Huey, Chandelle,
and so many more.
said. He lives in Galway, Ireland, and you can see more photos of
Hadfi eld (the cat) on his Twitter timeline (@clearofcloud).
YouTube pilot personality Steve Thorpe (FlightChops) has a
pup named Hoover. Nonpilots think he's named after a vacuum,
but pilots know better. Hoover the pup's fi rst fl ight with Thorpe
was documented on YouTube (youtu.be/zeP4-YBYy30) and it is a
thoughtful and well-produced segment that details how Thorpe
worked with Hoover for weeks to get him comfortable in an airplane,
including training him to wear Mutt Muff s at home and
bringing snacks and a favorite blanket along for the fi rst time.
An aviator need not be famous (or infamous) to earn a pet tribute.
Flying magazine Editor in Chief Julie Boatman's dog Cap'n
Billy is named for a much-loved United Airlines pilot.
There are lots of Amelias, Bessies, and Chucks (Yeager) out
there, but litters of puppies and kittens off er an opportunity to
go full throttle with aviation names. Cyndi Metcalf Cougoule fostered
a pregnant dog that gave birth to fi ve puppies. They were
named Louise Thaden, Bessie Coleman, Eddie Rickenbacker,
Jimmy Doolittle, and Chuck Yeager. All the pups were adopted.
" We kept the mama [named Amelia] and she is living her best life
with us after spending two years in a junkyard, " Cougoule said.
Bonus points go to Shawna Malvini Redden, whose two
Maltese-poodle mixes are named Clyde Pratt and Walter Whitney.
Can you guess their namesakes? Redden says, " We could not
decide on their names to save our lives. So, they each have two. "
The dogs are named for Clyde Cessna, Walter Beech, and Pratt
& Whitney.
aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 33
What about your pet? If you have a pet with an aviation name-
particularly if it's not one mentioned here-send us an email at
pilot@aopa.org, with the subject " Pet names. "
pilot@aopa.org, with the subject " Pet names. "
EMAIL jill.tallman@aopa.org
What the LDA plate doesn't show anymore is
the 3.2-mile long S-shape sequence flashing
light string leading to the runway end. Back
in the 1960s and '70s there was not a DME
associated with the LDA approach and of
course no GPS. Also look at the Juneau Six
Departure.
In 1974 an Alaska Airlines 727 got the
DIBOL intersection wrong and ended up in
a mountain at the cost of 117 passengers and
crew. A week later there was a DME at Coghlan
(CGL). I was sitting on the ground in our
Boeing 720A in Juneau waiting for the Alaska
Airlines flight to land so we could get our takeoff
clearance. It was a long wait.
Dick Welsh / AOPA 1665837
Bellevue, Washington
Misfueled!
I enjoyed reading Mike Busch's informative
article " Misfueled! " I appreciate his tips. I'm
a student pilot and professionally I'm a state
retail fuel inspector for the Department of
Agriculture. I have been trained and also
checked many airports' tanks and fuel trucks.
I agree with Busch about contamination.
When we do our state inspection you will be
surprised what I find and end up issuing violations.
I like his perspective: Don't trust them.
Smell it to double check. Don't become comfortable;
someone else is doing the job but it's
your life up there.
Waseem Akbar / AOPA 6414408
Atlanta, Georgia
Fun article in AOPA Pilot
this month. Of course,
I had to see if my two
West Highland White
terriers (Westies)
were named and I
didn't see them. They
are Jeppeson (sic)
" Jepp " and Captain.
Thanks for the read.
Karl Van Nostrand /
AOPA 1274414
Austin, Texas
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http://www.youtu.be/zeP4-YBYy30 http://www.aopa.org/pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2021

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